can anyone talk to me about ibs please? I'm confused and in agony

[SalemsCity]

Hi,

My gp thinks I have ibs. I have been having horrendous cramps across my lower stomach and a really awful pain in my right side. Also really bloated, look 9 months pregnant sometimes.The first time this happened (around 3 months ago) it lasted a few hours then went completely. The next attack lasted a full day and into the night. The next one lasted 5 days and I found that I was constipated during this flare up. I was in so much pain I went to the gp and they were convinced it was my gallbladder and referred me for a scan. By the time the scan came through I hadn't had any pains for a few weeks and hoped they'd gone for good and nothing showed on the scan so all okay. But then the pains returned worse than ever and I'm now on day 15 of this flare up. Been back to the gp, they're convinced it's ibs and not something sinister because if it was something sinister it would be constant rather than coming and going. I don't know if I should be pushing for tests of some kind though? It doesn't seem right to send someone away with an ibs diagnosis when no tests have been carried out. She prescribed buscopan which hasn't done a thing.

I know a couple of people with ibs and their experiences are completely different to mine. I know everyone experiencesibs ddifferently but. . They have both always suffered with digestion problems which then manifested itself into ibs. I have never had any problems with cramps, constipation, indigestion... I'm just worried at how sudden it came on and from nowhere. The other thing is that their flare ups last a couple of days at most so not like mine at all. They were also both investigated with barium meals and colonoscophy (sp) to rule out anything sinister before being diagnosed with ibs. Having said that they were a little older than me (both in their early 40s, I'm 32).

I am working myself up into a state, googling my symptoms and coming up with ovarian cancer, bowel cancer, colon cancer etc. Can anyone please give me some feedback on theor own ibs symptoms and whether they sound similar to mine? And also did your gp investigate other avenues first?

Sorry for the rambly, waffling thread. I'm in pain and really worrying. Any replies will be much appreciated.

Thank you Raw. Really interesting post. I will check out that blog. Interesting (sorry I keep using that word but I really finding all this new information interesting!) that it could be my gallbladder reacting to an intolerance and causing pain. It seems to be in the exact spot for the gallbladder. Interesting what you said about migraines too.

Raw,Would you mind giving me an idea of the kind of things you'd eat in a day please? I am completely clueless about food I must admit. I grew up trying to abide by the Eatwell plate but now it seems there's so much conflicting info out there, i.e one minute we're being encouraged to go for low fat alternatives the next we're being told to avoid them .

Prior to the ibs starting my typical day would be -
Breakfast - cereal (Weetabix usually) and a banana.
Lunch - sandwich (egg mayo or cheese and tomato) or an omelette with whatever veg we had in.
Dinner - things like pasta with a tomato based sauce, lasagne, shepherd's pie, jacket potato, pizza (all homemade).
I'd snack throughout the day and evening on carrots and houmous, breadsticks and dairylea, fruit, chocolate, crisps and cakes and biscuits (homemade and for the last say 9 months I have been substituting for dh with gluten free flour, baking powder etc and xanthum gum!)

I'm a sahm and definitely would snack too much out of boredom (wouldn't eat all the above in one day though obvs!). Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I've never had to watch what I eat because I'm slim. Maybe my eating habits are catching up with me now.

So, what can I eat now? Would something like Quorn cocktail sausages be okay? I could put them in a salad (I find salad alone isn't very filling). For soups I normally bulk them up with lots of potatoes, should I be avoiding them because they're quite carby. Is egg okay - so an omelette with veg?

Any advice really, really appreciated. Thank you so much all for reading my posts and replying. Feel like I'm finally getting somewhere although it still feels like a minefield!

Yes I think minefield is about right... So much bollocks in current nutritional advice, and it's really hard to let go of some of it, I know... "Fat is bad" for example, that's a tough one to let go of... Fat is bad, if it's the wrong kind of fat, but by that I mean chemically extracted, heat treated fats like "veg oil" and hydrogenated veg oils more than animal fats !
Actually the key thing with the diet/lifestyle I follow now is the emphasis on fresh, seasonal foods and good quality animal fats and protien, little or no processed foods which means avoiding a lot of the things that might be making you unwell (additives), even it you don't have a food allergy or intolerance.

Marks Daily Apple blog really is an excellent place to start (other interesting (!) blogs include Robbwolf paleo solution and Wheatbelly blog, if you are a big reader, you will enjoy them... You lose nothing if you try an exclusion diet for a few weeks and it doesn't help you, but I think there is a good chance it would help.

Our family eats mostly this way (paleo/primal), me because I really have to for health reasons. Our teens eat a bit more rice and other grains when eating out especially, but that's their choice of course.

Typical day would be...

Meat (leftover roast usually), berries and nuts (handful of) with coffee with cream. Sometimes fish or almond pancakes instead.

Lunch - homemade soup, or a big salad with chicken or seafood.

Dinner- roast chicken with roast veggies and grain free stuffing (date and pecan is pretty good, or just some seasoned sausage meat), or lots of stirfry/Thai style curries. Or steak and veg mash with salad... Normal food really but just a little bit different.

Butter, raw coconut oil and virgin olive oil for cooking, double cream for coffee and olives, veg sticks with homemade salsa or avacado dips as snacks.

But really... That's me, you need to find what works for you!

And chocolate of course! I need that... But dark (minimum 70% and usually 80% or more. We have some pretty much every day.

As a low carber, my diet is primarily fat and protein, with carbs coming mainly from vegetables and salad. So my typical day would be:

Breakfast - either full fat natural yoghurt, or eggs in some form. Boiled or hard-boiled usually - at the weekend I might make an omelette or scrambled eggs

Lunch - some form of protein, with salad dressed in an oily dressing. I'm restricted by what's available to buy locally (Pret-a-Manger or a Sainsbury's Local) so sometimes I take leftovers in from the previous night's dinner. Yesterday I had a ball of mozzarella, with a few sliced cherry tomatoes, a few dollops of pesto, all dressed with extra virgin olive oil.

Dinner - again, protein with some kind of veg. One of my favourites is roast chicken (which I roast with lots of butter or oil, salt and pepper) and roasted vegetables - a selection from peppers, courgettes, shallots, leeks, cauliflower, and sometimes chillies and garlic

Last night I had some leftover cooked sausages (The Black Farmer ones, which are very low carb) with some leftover egg-fried cauliflower rice.

Oh - and you have to eat the skin off the chicken!!!

Sadly we have no pret or itsu locally (I live in rural Scotland) for lunches out and about, but on holiday recently in South East England I was amazed at what I could buy (low carb and grain free "clean" ready to eat options like sashami and seaweed). I am used to making do with a bag of nuts and a coffee or a cube of cheese and a bag of salad leaves grabbed from a supermarket on days out (if I haven't brought my own stuff).

YY to the skin on the chicken, the fat on the lamb or beef (and fattier cuts are cheaper too), roasts are great (economical especially if you have a freezer to take advantage of special offers, NewZealand lamb etc), and easy to adjust the carbs... Potato/sweet potato for those that want them but just as easy to roast a big tray of courgette, onion, mushroom, some carrot in coconut oil and herbs. I always think a good mix of colours on the plate looks appealing!

with my IBS this would

Breakfast - cereal (Weetabix usually) and a banana.

have me in agony. I also cant eat a lot of diary, so yoghurts etc are all a big no.

Scrambled eggs etc are fine.

Thanks both. I'm vegetarian and would really struggle with low carbing I think for this reason! But tbh I've been thinking of eating meat anyway because I'm prone to bouts of anaemia and meat would help me get my iron levels back on track I'm sure. Just such a huge change for me. The other thing is that some of the food that might be okay on the low carb diet is listed as a no-no on the fodmap list. Also I'm not sure if eggs make me bad, it could be a coincidence but I've had pains after eating eggs. I think over the coming days and weeks I'm going to have to experiment with different foods and see what helps but I'm definitely going to go down the low carb route and start reintroducing meat slowly. Will let you know how I get on. Will be off to the gp next week to ask for more tests too, just to be sure that it's definitely ibs.

Thanks again for all the time you've taken to reply.

X post with Eve. I've found I've been bad after yogurt and cheese too so could be dairy with me, yet I can drink milk with no problems . I guess it just takes time to see what's ok and what's not.

Does anyone know if the gp can/will do allergy/intolerance tests?

Rose Elliott has a vegetarian low carb plan that might be worth looking at

IBS should be a diagnosis after other likely conditions have been tested for. My dd was mis-diagnosed with it for 5 years despite her consistently telling GPs about blood/mucus in her poo, a stomach that looked pregnant every time she ate and episodes of severe pain. She was hospitalised with suspected appendicitis at one point, which was a severe flare up of colitis.

It was when she got settled in one place (after uni) and had more consistent GP care, that she was sent for a colonoscopy/sygmoidoscopy etc and immediately it was clear what the problem was.

You might well have IBS but need testing to eliminate other conditions. If your GP doesn't suggest this, then I'd be firm and tell them this is what you want to be done. DD has been in a lot better state since her diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Good luck. Bowel problems are so miserable.

I agree with the pp, I have Crohn's disease & my consultant said IBS should not be diagnosed by a GP & shouldn't even be mentioned until all other possibilities have been ruled out. Bowel problems are miserable & the tests aren't pleasant but it is best to get any changes in bowel habits checked out. I'm having a flare up of my Crohns at the moment & it's no fun but my drs do take good care of me.