Bowel issues ibs?? Health anxiety

[Loobylou1987]

Hi, I’m 34 for aslong as I remember I’ve had issues with my bowels, constipation to diarrhoea. When I have my period my left side hurts when I have a poo like it’s being jammed by something maybe and when I have diarrhoea I sometimes feel it just right near hip bone when I poop 🤣🙈 I have a tilted uterus and told it would push more against bowels, I also had a lap to remove a Fallopian tube for an infection and they found endometriosis on my bowels. I’ve had 2 children and if I’m honest between having my children my stools were fine but now my son is 4 I’ve tended to go back to my constipation stage like before I had children 😣

I don’t know if I have ibs as doctors always say eat more fibre blah blah. I’ve had constipation so I took a dulcolax and it worked 😅 and now my left side hurts like it’s bruised. I also get pain when I wake most mornings like left sided pain and goes when I trump! Doctor said it’s wind and again eat more fibre etc as probably got sluggish bowels.

So symptoms are
Constipation that goes to diarrhoea
Mucus in stool sometimes
Left sided pain every so often
Morning gas pain that’s relieved by trumping 🤣
Stomach cramps

I’m panicking I have bowel cancer or something as my friends husband wa just diagnosed and I suffer with health anxiety so now I’m monitoring every symptom. I’ve had a ct scan and ultrasound and X-ray beginning of year as I had spotting aka my Fallopian tube and nothing flagged up besides fatty liver and my tube.

I’ve had ibs on and off and sensitive stomach, it’s miserable isn’t it.

Do certain foods trigger it? I’d say definitely ibs, the fatty liver won’t help. Is there anything you can do about the fatty liver? Is your GP concerned about that?
What does your diet consist of?

No she said nearly everyone has fatty liver 😂🤦🏻‍♀️ It’s only mild she said. Just to cut out fat etc and usually coffee sets me up off but I’ve been ok with it at minute. I am wondering if I should go gluten free see if that helps as I don’t have a great diet I’m a snack and I eat crap And drink fizzy pops and I like prosecco!

Oh do they, I dread to think what mine looks like lol I eat a lot of junk too . You could try the gluten free, see how it goes.
Prosecco doesn’t agree with me, but I do enjoy it at the time!

Bowel endometriosis can cause all this, in fact it's really common. It would be worth getting a referral to a specialist endometriosis centre (one of the ones on the BSGE accredited list) to have the extent of it assessed, in case it needs to be dealt with.

Sorry you're suffering.

My dietician thinks I have bile acid malabsorption, this has similar symptoms but is definitely triggered by eating fat.

Thanks my gynaecologist just sent me away after I had my lap and to take the pill!

Stop fizzy drinks and start kefir

Mine is a hell of a lot better since I switched to a low fat low FODMAP diet. I did this for six weeks till I felt symptoms ease off, then I started trying to reintroduce different foods.

Low FODMAP is gluten-free and mostly lactose-free (I went hard core for the first two weeks, I was so desperate!) and it also cuts out things like onions, garlic, pulses/legumes, apples ... you may have heard of it?

I took a gut biome supplement until I could introduce a little kefir every day. Now I've introduced a very small amount of real, fermented sourdough bread. I eat a lot more berries, oranges, red grapes, 13g raisins daily, peppers, olives, pickles and gluten-free pasta or rice or potatoes. And tomatoes. Thank goodness I'm ok with tomatoes! But weirdly, not lentils.

From Day 1 you can still eat lean meat and fish if you like. Also eggs and tofu. Just watch the fat content of meals. There's a whole Monash University website and app about it.

Have you been tested for coeliac disease, OP?

@lazylinguist

Have you been tested for coeliac disease, OP?

No I haven’t I’ve had bloods done. But nothing specific just fbc

Might be worth asking for a test. Maybe have a look online at the symptoms of coeliac. Apparently there's some evidence that endo is more common in women with coeliac too. It's important to know if you have it, as it can have some pretty serious long-term effects if ignored.

Don't give up gluten till you've had a coeliac test.

Ask for a referral to a gastroenterologist

don’t have a great diet I’m a snack and I eat crap And drink fizzy pop

How does your digestion work when you eat unprocessed foods? If I eat only processed snack foods I do get terrible pains in what I think of as my guts.

So long as I drink lots of still water min 2l per day snd also eat lots of salad-y stuff, at least one portion from my stapes of white cabbage, spinach or celeriac each day, it all works properly. I can eat meat / eggs / mayo etc with these bug it's the veg that keep my digestion running properly.

Our bodies are not designed to live off junk food. As you are noticing.

I'd suggest you set yourself a six week challenge of fresh unprocessed foods and lots of water and observe the impact on your digestion.

No need to worry about any thing wrong with you til you have tried eating the way your body wants you to. Good luck.

Gluten and dairy free fixed my IBS after 10 years of hell