Weight loss injections and IBS/functional bowel and dyspepsia

[Limehawkmoth]

I’m After hearing experiences and advice of people who’ve been on weight loss injections but with previous history of IBSd and other functional gastrointestinal issues like dyspepsia.

I’ve had appalling gastrointestinal symptoms for 12 years plus. Eventually have just had gastrointestinal consultant put it down to functional issues. Brain/gut messages. I get acute bowel pain, vomitting and dirarrhea, attacks last 4-6 hours usually after eating. Usually triggered if I get hungry or miss meals, but can be random sometimes. I’ve been told to eat more smaller meals, take PPIs and amitryptiline. I also had gallbladder out years ago. I’ve had every test under sun so liver, pancreas etc are all good apparently.

I need to loose weight. Lots. But it’s an issue because of what happens when I eat after not eating for even 1 meal missed. I mentioned weight loss injection to consultant, who was very keen. But didn’t give me advice on which sort or what it would do to my symptoms

frankly I’m scared it will make my symptoms worse, but I’m all out of ideas for getting weight reduced ( I’m now pushing obese levels), I’m totally fed up and facing life long drugs that aren’t good (PPI), and potential for more weight gain on amitryptiline.

anyone offer experiences of weight loss drugs with these conditions…did it make symptoms worse, is it successful, did it even help with the functional gastrointestinal condition

ive asked for gp appointment since getting this diagnosis, but haven’t yet even got one…

I’m watching this with interest. Same boat as you, awful IBS symptoms, I’ve heard WLI can either be a good thing or make you considerably worse.

My experience as one individual with IBS and occasional stress related dyspepsia and now on a maintenance dose of GLP-1 medication… if I don’t eat enough I get heartburn, but the need to focus on nutrient dense protein (sticking with low fodmap protein), veg and whole grain carbs has really helped my IBS. I have made sure I’ve kept up with gut-directed hypnotherapy which is a game changer in and of itself. I would get this on board first- there are good apps available for this inc Happy Inside.
if you haven’t tried FODMAP protocol or IBS yet I would do these first and get digestion more stable.

Mounjaro has cured my IBS. It’s given me constipation in its place (pretty bad, I go every 5/6 days and it’s painful) but I’d take that a hundred times over from my life before.

As with the poster above. Bad IBS for about 10 years following a bad bout of gastroenteritis. My symptoms were terrible cramps, diarrhea that would last for hours until I was literally just passing water. Triggers seemed to vary, some foods became obvious (bye bye prawns!) and some sporadic (dairy). Sometimes stress seemed to be involved too. I could usually keep it under moderate control with buscopan and loperamide, but much to my shame there have been occasional accidents. I would normally have to "go" 3-4 times a day even if I wasn't having a bad flare.

I started mounjaro on 20th Jan this year. I had my last IBS flare on the 28th. Since then I seem to have a new normal - I go every couple of days with occasional straining and hard stools but mostly just...going.

It's been almost miraculous for me (and I've lost 25lbs so far too). I know of people who have suffered gastro issues while on it and have had to stop, but for me it's been fab.

My advice would be to give it a go, under the supervision of your doc. If you're lucky like me it might help, if not you can always stop taking it.

A friend is on mounjaro and it’s cleared up her IBS. She has lost minimal weight but stays on it because she has a life now, where before it was very much ruled by her gut issues.

I’ve been diagnosed with IBS for about 50 years. Going on Wegovy has eased it.

Like Mengo’s friend I haven’t lost very much weight, but my gut issues have reduced.

Constipation was a significant problem at first, which is possibly unsurprising as my frequent diahorrea meant the muscles I needed to use to 💩 had been hardly used for years. I was moved up doses of Wegovy very slowly (hospital advice) because of this, but the constipation is under control now as long as don’t miss any of the things I do to prevent it. I added them in one at a time but now take a daily probiotic, kefir, psyllium husk, linseeds, bran cereal and a gentle walk.

I have had IBS for 20 years, triggers are spicy food, stress and eating too much amongst other things and used to have big flare ups once a week with loose stools most days. I have been on monjouro since beg of Jan and haven’t been this solid in years with only 2 big flare ups in 3 months. I get slight constipation a couple of days after jabbing but I will take that over what I had previously any day. I am currently on 5mg and seemed to have settled in a pattern of losing 2lb a week which I am more than happy with.

I’ve had pretty bad IBSd for about 30 years. Several colonoscopies as it was so bad. Anyway, just taken 10th jab and no IBS since about day 4 of my first jab. I get the occasional bout of early morning diarrhoea but it’s not every day by any means, it’s over by 9am and it is nowhere NEAR as bad or as urgent as the IBS was. I’ve also had no constipation and no abdominal pain.

Really helpful esp link to hypnotherapy, thanks

Thanks for all your messages, I wasn’t expecting to hear that symptoms reduced ! I heard that weight loss can cause diarrhoea so was worried.
I’ll look at in’s diet and hypnotherapy stuff and then probably take plunge. I really really want to avoid taking PPIs

I'm taking MJ for the second time, (after a 1 year break due to bad nausea and vomiting side effects--now resolved by micro dosing) and my awful IBS-D, heartburn and occasional dyspepsia has completely disappeared, as it did the last time I took MJ. The effect was immediate both times, literally hours after the first jab and it feels amazing!

I had IBS symptoms for over 30 years. Numerous food intolerances and gallbladder removal definitely a major factor (bile acid malabsorption). Mounjaro has changed my life in regards to the IBS. Before MJ I sometimes had to go several times a day. I'm at goal weight and will be staying on a low dose as long as I can afford to for the anti-inflamatory benefits and to stop IBS coming back. The one thing I would recommend is signing up to a calorie tracker - even before you start MJ to lose weight - so you can keep a note of when you have a bad IBD flare up and look at the macros of what you ate in the 24-48 hours previous. If you've had your gallbladder removed it might be helpful to keep the amount of fat, particularly saturated fat, under 30g per day.

I’ve suffered from IBS for over 20 years with terrible gut pain, waking up at night, avoiding high fodmap foods and reliance on osmotic laxatives. Been on wegovy for 8 months and seen a big improvement in my symptoms. Not sure if it’s due to more sensible eating and exercise but I definitely feel better and am now at my goal weight. I’ve been fortunate to stay on a low dose (0.25) and don’t plan to stop.

MJ has been life changing for me due to IBS. I only wanted to lose 20 lb so wasn’t looking to stay on it long, but it has all but stopped it. I can’t remember the last time I took immodium, I will leave the house straight after a meal so I’ve decided I will just stay on it, I hope it continues to help even if a low dose.

Ive heard it’s not good for IBS c with slower digestion, my IBS is the opposite and manifests mostly as an overactive system so MJ slowing it down has just changed me.

That said your IBS sounds worse than mine, I would be very careful and you might find providers are hesitant to prescribe with IBS.