Pregnancy and ibs

[MumofthreeandBean]

Recently diagnosed with ibs, I'm around 6.5 weeks pregnant and really struggling, I'm worried my food is not in me long enough to give any nutrients to the baby. Also I am hardly eating due to nausea and only drinking water.
I had new tablets to help which I started a couple of months ago but I don't think they are doing any good. I'm also now getting indigestion aswell which I thought I had got rid of, hubby is fed up of me feeling ill, I need positivity x

What a rubbish time to be diagnosed with IBS

If it helps, you will get to grips with managing it and working out some of your triggers, and I find I go through spells of it being bad and then it calms down for a while, so it won't always be as bad as it is now. Have you tried keeping a food diary? And if you don't think your medication is working then go back to your GP, there are a few options available that they could try for you :)

Definately keep a food diary and see if anything aggrevates it. I was diagnosed with ibs about 6 years ago and have slowly worked out what foods make it worse. Things like muesli, brown bread, wholewheat pasta, brown rice make my stomach blow up so I look about 6 months pregnant. But milk is the worst for me especially cream. I have the odd bad day but most of the time it's fine now as long as I watch what I eat. Good luck hope it calms down for you.

With regard to the nausea, Maybe try eating little and often. I find porridge and oatcakes keep me going and as they are quite bland they don't make me want to puke at the moment! My nausea came back with a vengeance yesterday, not fun!

I'm an IBS sufferer and cannot recommend peppermint tea highly enough! It's the only thing that helps to settle my stomach/digestion. Appreciate it's not for everyone, as it does take a while to get used to it, but for me it works. I'd usually lie on my tummy too, but being pregnant I haven't been able to do this, so have relied on the tea and baths/hot water bottles instead. Hope you feel better soon and you're not suffering too much with other pregnancy side effects like morning sickness.

I have ibs too. The first trimester was very rough for me. Midwife said, just eat what you can keep down. I used to maintain a mostly vegan/veggie diet as it was the only thing that helped control ibs. But have had to eat some meat in the pregnancy in order to keep energy up. I can't have dairy or most fruit so understand how difficult it must be for you. I am 100% looking forward to being vegetarian again as I do not like meat at all.

My first trimester I literally lived on toast, rice and Coca Cola. It was all I could keep down.

Second trimester I'm better at eating balanced diet but fruit and certain carbs set off my ibs. Although that could be the morning sickness too!

A lot of people recommend ginger or peppermint tea, for me I can't keep them down.

Soup can be nutritious if you can stomach it.

I hope you are feeling better soon x

Thankyou all X
I have been back to the dr today and changed my meds, not got to see my consultant until January but I might try and bring it forward.

I am trying to eat little and often, I am eating no dairy as it really does not agree with me but then dh said does anything agree with you at the minute?!
I am hoping I start to get a grip on this and I have already eliminated some foods that I think I have an issue with but it is so hard!!
Been feeling poorly for so long and this baby was a surprise and I just don't want anything to go wrong

Have you tried following the fodmap diet? I know it's hard, but try not to worry about the IBS - worrying about it makes it worse x

Fodmap didn't work for me,
I try and stick with bland foods as much as I can.

Have you been prescribed anti sickness tablets? Worked wonders during my pregnancy.

No, I am on omoperazole and mebeverine at the moment, I switched back to these a few weeks back and so far I'm a lot better, the tablets the consultant had me on were not working at all and I was in the toilet all the time and had awful reflux.
I'm never actually sick but feel nautious a lot of the time.
Only eating bland foods too at the moment seems to help.

I gave up on anything prescribed. The only thing that ever helped was something I bought over the counter in France. I stick to fodmap when I'm bad, which obviously hasn't worked for you. I also use silicol gel that really helps and I take magnesium, calcium, zinc combined vitamin all the time. It's safe for pregnancy. Hope you're feeling better x

Thankyou, it does help to hear what has helped others.
For now I am managing, hoping it stays this way until baby is here but I have a while as not due until june

I'm due June too, feels like a life time away doesn't it! Good luck x

Come join the June thread, friendly bunch!