IBS and pregnancy - any experiences?

[Cosmogirl]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone out there has any experience with IBS and pregnancy. I have suffered for a few years with IBS symptoms - mainly suffer with stomach pains and diarrohea (sp?) Some months I can feel fine and have no symptoms. It seems to get worse when I eat too much dairy or OD on certain foods. Feeling stressed or anxious is also a trigger.
Drinking water and talking immodium help me a lot when I suffer an 'attack'.

My DH and I are thinking of ttc first child in the next year or so and wondered if it would make symptoms worse or better. Part of me hopes it will give me something else to focus on thus making my anxiety worse - however, part of me worries it could get worse. Any thoughts would be really appreciated.

Hi I supposedly have ibs but i am sure it is dairy intolerance. I was told by midwife symptoms may be worse but if anything it was better whilst pregnant. Everyones body is different i guess!

Mine got better when I was pregnant. Maybe because I was eating better, and also the hormones apparently can reduce the bowel spasm.

Thanks for the responses Sidge and M4MB. Good to hear you both saw an improvement while pregnant.
I'm not sure either that what I have is true IBS, it is so random and I think it is linked a lot with anxiety as I can be quite a highly-strung person - get nervous about stupid things. Hopefully having a baby to worry about will shift the focus of worrying about silly little things in my own life that really aren't that important. That is the hope anyway!
We wil see I guess

looks like we're unanimous here. mine improved massively whilst pg and breastfeeding, and i could eat all kinds of stuff that i would usually have to avoid or just have a very tiny amount. it was fab!
it hasn't been as bad since, either, and i have had 3DC. there has been gradual improvement after each pg. The answer to that is presumably have a huge family
ok maybe not

My IBS completely disappeared during PG & BF and only came back several months after stopping BF

adding my tuppenorth ... I'm 26 weeks pg now, and mine has improved 100% - can basically eat anything now, even stuff that was previously guaranteed to trigger an attack - aubergines, courgettes and bananas, for example. Long may it last (the improvement, not the pregnancy, you undestand ... )

Wow I am liking how this thread is going .
Felt compelled to post today because had a bad spell after a bit of a stressful, and to be fair, indulgent weekend [OD on cheese - not clever]. But I am encouraged by the responses so far. Thanks ladies

cosmogirl - mine was also heaps better when i was pg, and didnt really resurface till about two months after i stopped bf.
good luck.

you bowel slows down with pg
causes horrific constipation iin a 'normal' bowel so u would imagine it would normalise an ibs - good luck!

Yup, mine went away whilst I was pg as well!!

I had one of my worst attacks when I was 36 weeks pregnant - don't remember having any during the rest of my pregnancy - and my waters broke the next day.

No idea if there was any connection!

Don't remember getting it with 2nd pregnancy.

yep, mine disappeared too.

and - even better - hasn't returned.

btw have you tried a candida elimination diet, in truth I thinks that's what really sorted me out, it just coincided with getting up the duff!

Oh this is great! Maybe I should just get on with ttc right away!! Only kidding, we won't rush into it, but am glad to see all the encouraging responses.

Haven't heard of the candida elimination diet but will google it and see what it is all about.

Imworthit - I have heard of people getting a bad attack of diarohea (never know how to spell that evil word!) just before going into labour. S'pose I could cope with that then, but not the whole way through a pregnancy - would be a bloody nightmare.

looks like you've got your answer cosmogirl - get one in the oven asap (well hey it's almost next year so why bother waiting?) then have about 24 kids, breastfeed them all.