Sorry posting for traffic and I really want people to talk to as I keep googling things that alarm me. I have a doctors appointment on Friday so it feels like a long time to wait and I assume I will have to have more tests so no answers then either. I promise this is not any kind of troll pls don’t read if you don’t like bowel chat but I’ve tried to be discreet.
I’ve had IBS C & D and reflux my whole adult life. Generally it’s ok, I’ve had bad flare ups in the past but these were often self inflicted from bad diet choices but I made dietary changes and it’s been very stable for well over a year. I used to sometimes go up to 10 days with no BM but I had become very regular.
A few months ago I had very bad pain for hours that was very much like how you would expect gallbladder pain to feel like, with an upset stomach and changes to my stools. I went for an ultrasound and bloods and everything was normal from liver, pancreas, gallbladder, liver function everything was fine no stones. The pain hasn’t come back. They didn’t test my stools at that stage as it wasn’t too bad.
I had some weird changes to my bowel habits the last few months on and off, then suddenly 3 weeks ago I felt unwell out of the blue and thought maybe I had a bug coming on as I had stomach cramps and some upset stomach. But then it kind of didn’t develop into what stomach bugs usually carry on like (intense then over with), but it didn’t go away either. It would come and go.
Generally I have no specific abdominal pain apart from the discomfort from extreme bloating and wind and constant problems going to the toilet. I don’t want to TMI… there is no blood I’m aware of, but either I cannot go at all, or I have an upset stomach. It’s unpleasant in terms of smell and colour, and it’s sticky and not normal at all. I know what my normal is and this isn’t it!
I thought maybe I was constipated so I’ve tried different constipation remedies but this just seems to make it more frequent but never normal. I must be constipated as I am not going regularly enough but I can’t seem to fix this.
Like I said I have no pain, no blood, I don’t feel otherwise physically unwell apart from this bloating and excessive gas which isn’t always present, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. Gas is very extreme when I need to go for a BM (which I may add is often a very small amount), then it will calm down again. I haven’t had any other red flags like unintentional weight loss or symptoms of a bowel obstruction but I am worrying about a bowel obstruction happening.
I did try a full on disimpaction using medication about a month ago and I was very very full up so this worked although was awful and exhausting, but then I could not get it back to normal afterwards. It’s like nothing in my body is working properly and my muscles are not pushing waste along, or there is a blockage.
I have tried to eliminate dairy and cut down on gluten but I cannot work out what is a trigger. I haven’t gone the whole hog of a GF or DF diet as I don’t know what the cause is. It doesn’t seem related to any one food item specifically.
My DP says not to get all worried it could not be something sinister but I am worrying a lot 😞