IBS in pregnancy (bit long)

[womma]

I'm 16 weeks pregnant, and have had really awful sickness from week 5. I've lost two stone, and just returned to work after being signed off for three weeks while I lay in bed with my trusty bucket. It's been a right laugh so far.

At the weekend I had a tummy bug, not too bad, but I needed another day in bed and felt quite poorly. Yesterday I was having terrible stomach cramps and became worried it was the baby moving around in distress. My out of hours GP told me to go A and E to get checked. It turned out the cramps were bowel spasms, really uncomfortable and unpleasant. The doctor told me to treat it like IBS, so I've got some peppermint oil tabs to take.

I've never had any problems with constipation or anything like this. I'm also chronically constipated and really can only eat very small amounts of food.

Does anyone have experience of dealing with this? Any advice for a miserable pregnant lady who only has one poo a week, if I'm lucky?!

Hiya, I have IBS and am 30 weeks pg, however I had it before I was pregnant, so can't really help with that bit of it.
But for me, working out which foods triggered it and then avoiding them was key, for me it's dairy. My GP recommended keeping a food diary and then eliminating the obvious/ more common things, so I tried wheat first, this didn't make a difference, so then I tried dairy. But I'd guess you need to be careful about getting all the right nutrients if eliminating while pg. FWIW, and I've no idea if it's connected, but I have had bad morning sickness & was medicated for it from weeks 5 to 22, still being sick now and also have noticed that if I do eat something that normally triggers my IBS, it also makes sickness/ heartburn worse since I've been pg.
No constipation advice, except prunes!
Good luck, and I hope you feel better soon...

Fibre supplements are your friend for the constipation. You can get fybrogel on prescription and in supermarkets and pharmacies but it isn't the most palatable stuff. I swear by http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/benefiber-soluble-fibre-food-supplement-powder_1_10450.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=benefiber&utm_campaign=Brands+%7C+Vitamins&utm_content=sTYTlj6pH%7Cdt_pcrid_13884217284_kword_benefiber_match_e_plid_ benefiber as it is truly undetectable in drinks.

Try it for a week and if it doesn't work get your doctor to prescribe lactulose.

The peppermint should also help calm things down on the spasm front which should generally help your bowel function.

Sorry that link is evil www.chemistdirect.co.uk/benefiber-soluble-fibre-food-supplement-powder_1_10450.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=benefiber&utm_campaign=Brands+%7C+Vitamins&utm_content=sTYTlj6pH%7Cdt_pcrid_13884217284_kword_benefiber_match_e_plid_

Thank you! Right, off to get some prunes for a start.

I'm so limited with what I can eat with this pregnancy, just the thought of dairy makes me feel bilious, which might be a good thing?! At this rate I'll be living off miso soup and grapes until the baby comes.

I feel like I've been given someone else's body and it doesn't work at all like my old one, I don't know what to do with it!

I hope we both go back to normal once our babies are born. Good luck!

Thanks LadyM, any advice is very gratefully received. I think I'm just going to ask for Lactulose now because I've never known constipation like this, I'm so full and
bloated, and my poor old bum doesn't seem to be working any more.

The peppermint tabs have helped the spasms already, they've certainly calmed down today.