IBS

[HappyMummy82]

Hi I'm after a bit of help and advice here. I have started having IBS symptoms again after having my second child. I think I started getting a flare up last year but as everything was done over the phone nothing was ever really checked. I have have been prodded and poked by my GP in the last two weeks and no lumps or bumps were found. I don't have any idea about the IBS diets or anything like that because before last year I never had anything like I did last year. At the moment my symptoms are constant gas pressure which is really uncomfortable. I have cut out carbonated drinks, alcohol, tried to stick to non dairy food, exercising and taking Buscopan but nothing seems to be working. I am getting really fed up with this as ever since I had my second son it's been one Health thing after another and I just feel depressed and feel like just going on a water diet where I eat nothing and just drink water because I don't know what I can eat. Just wondering if anyone has gone through this or is going through it and can give me some advice. I had a referral to a dietician but unfortunately because I was pregnant they couldn't do anything. I tried to ask my GP for a referral back but she wouldn't do it. Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm just miserable.

It's miserable, isn't it?

If it's destroying your quality of life you really need a referral.

I'm having tests and have been trying various elimination diets, and don't yet have a diagnosis after two years, and it's getting worse.

I started with gynae (it really flared up after hysterectomy) and they referred me on to gastro-enterology.

I have IBS and lymphocytic colitis - I’ve had IBS for years, ever since a bout of giardiasis, but the LC was only diagnosed 2.5 years ago.

When it was diagnosed, the consultant told me I needed Cholestyramine - it is an anti cholesterol drug, I think, but it is also a bile acid binder.

He told me that, in many cases, people with IBS don’t reabsorb bile acid properly - it is produced in the liver, enters the small intestine just below the stomach, does it’s job of digestion and then should be reabsorbed by the small intestine.

In people who don’t reabsorb it properly, it causes irritation and inflammation in the large intestine, leading to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or exacerbating it.

Since I have been on Cholestyramine, my symptoms are so much better - much less diarrhoea, cramping and bloating - so I would definitely recommend you ask your doctor about it, @HappyMummy82.

It comes either as sachets, which you make up with water, but my consultant said they were nasty to drink, so he prescribed cholestagel tablets, which are a bit less effective, but much nicer to take.

Thank you guys. I have been prodded and poked by my GP last week and she didn't feel anything. The only symptom I'm really getting is this constant gas pressure. I have another telephone appt with my GP on Thursday as I am just not happy with the treatment I got from the doctor before. I had a dietician referral last year but they couldn't do anything when they finally got in touch because I was pregnant. Funnily enough pregnancy made it better last year but I'm not getting pregnant again as I get really bad birth anxiety and I'm not going through that again. I asked my GP last week for a dietician referral and she said that we should wait and see what happens. I don't know anything about IBS and have read flare ups seem to happen for a few days but this one has lasted a couple of weeks. I don't have any clue about diets or what I'm not supposed to eat. They say stress causes it which is true in my case as life has been stressful recently but I feel stressed having this so I'm not being able to get rid of it because of the stress. I'm only able to drink water and peppermint tea at the moment and as for food I'm trying to go as dairy free as I can but don't know what else could be causing it. I'm clueless when it comes to this! I will definitely try some of the ideas you have given me.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

I have IBS and lymphocytic colitis - I’ve had IBS for years, ever since a bout of giardiasis, but the LC was only diagnosed 2.5 years ago.

When it was diagnosed, the consultant told me I needed Cholestyramine - it is an anti cholesterol drug, I think, but it is also a bile acid binder.

He told me that, in many cases, people with IBS don’t reabsorb bile acid properly - it is produced in the liver, enters the small intestine just below the stomach, does it’s job of digestion and then should be reabsorbed by the small intestine.

In people who don’t reabsorb it properly, it causes irritation and inflammation in the large intestine, leading to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or exacerbating it.

Since I have been on Cholestyramine, my symptoms are so much better - much less diarrhoea, cramping and bloating - so I would definitely recommend you ask your doctor about it, @HappyMummy82.

It comes either as sachets, which you make up with water, but my consultant said they were nasty to drink, so he prescribed cholestagel tablets, which are a bit less effective, but much nicer to take.

Do you know if you can take this while breastfeeding?

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius Thank you for your help.

@NotPersephone

Have you had a colonoscopy. IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion ie it should not be made until everything else (including cancer) has been ruled out.

Too many GP’s play fast and loose with this ime.

Thank you for your help. Funnily enough my mum suggested a colonoscopy yesterday as she is having one today so I wonder if I might have to have one.

@SpindleWhorl

It's miserable, isn't it?

If it's destroying your quality of life you really need a referral.

I'm having tests and have been trying various elimination diets, and don't yet have a diagnosis after two years, and it's getting worse.

I started with gynae (it really flared up after hysterectomy) and they referred me on to gastro-enterology.

Thank you for your help. Yes it is miserable. I just want to have a life where I don't have these miserable things happen to me. All my friends seem to have bodies without issues after giving birth and I'm the one who has the rubbish body. I hate this. I need to find a way of eating and drinking that doesn't flare up this stupid thing everytime but I haven't got a clue about diets.

I honestly don’t know if you can take cholestagel while breastfeeding, @HappyMummy82 - and I seem to have discarded the info leaflet that came with my last lot - sorry.

Do you have INS-D, INS-D or mixed?

Worth looking into SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) and also IMO (Intestinal Methanogenic Overgrowth). Roughly speaking SIBO corresponds to IBS-D whilst IMO corresponds to IBS-D. If you have ever had D as a symptom, then it’s possible there is an element of SIBO even if your general symptom is C.

A lot of SIBO/IBS is actually triggered by food poisoning. It’s kind of like long covid a an initial acute illness can leave behind a long term chronic illness. Repeated bouts of food poisoning can actually make it progress to being an autoimmune disease.

There is a blood test to see if the root cause is food poisoning and if so there is an antibiotic treatment path that is successful in a lot of cases (trickier if it has reached the autoimmune stage).

Anyway, the research work of the MAST Programme at Cedars-Sinai has been very helpful for me. Knowledge of this work is patchy in the NHS but there is some awareness of it, for example some hospitals do breath testing for it.

Sorry I meant IBS-D or IBS-C.

@StrawberryPuff

Do you have INS-D, INS-D or mixed?

Worth looking into SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) and also IMO (Intestinal Methanogenic Overgrowth). Roughly speaking SIBO corresponds to IBS-D whilst IMO corresponds to IBS-D. If you have ever had D as a symptom, then it’s possible there is an element of SIBO even if your general symptom is C.

A lot of SIBO/IBS is actually triggered by food poisoning. It’s kind of like long covid a an initial acute illness can leave behind a long term chronic illness. Repeated bouts of food poisoning can actually make it progress to being an autoimmune disease.

There is a blood test to see if the root cause is food poisoning and if so there is an antibiotic treatment path that is successful in a lot of cases (trickier if it has reached the autoimmune stage).

Anyway, the research work of the MAST Programme at Cedars-Sinai has been very helpful for me. Knowledge of this work is patchy in the NHS but there is some awareness of it, for example some hospitals do breath testing for it.

Thank you. I have no idea if it is even IBS. I've just assumed from looking on the NHS website at my symptoms and my doctors have never said what it is although one doc did assume it was but that was over the phone without checking. It seems to come on after very stressful situations so I've always assumed it was IBS. I have an appt with my doc on Thursday so might try and see what she says.