Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS)

A

Amanda76

Member
Location
Eastern US
Hello:
I had an intense pain in lower abdomen which occurred once every one and a half month's period.
I made an appointment with Gastroentologist who performed Colonoscopy two years ago.

He said that there are no cancer nor infection in my colon, but I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS)
that causing an intense pain in my lower abdomen as I described in detail in my bowel moment and
Pain.

A way back in my early 60s, recalling hearing Diagnosis(a bit surprise tho'), I sometimes had Pain in my lower abdomen which aggravated as I age, .... but not sure to say.
Anyone has IBS?
 

My sister went through severe abdominal pain once a month for months a few years ago. (She's now 90 years old). Her doc said something about a blockage. I don't know how he treated it, but she went from 130 something or more down to 103 as he tried for a cure, avoiding surgery. When she told/wrote me he prescribed a laxative I was shocked and very angry. How stupid! She was down to 101 before he finally took care of it with surgery. Thankfully she came out okay, the blockage was taken care of and she has been fine since. I don't know what the blockage was.
 
Elsie said:
When she told/wrote me he prescribed a laxative
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That worked for me. I thought of it on my own. Instead of hours of day or night being in pain and restricted when and where I went, I took a stool softener and laxative. IMO, it cleared out the offending area and allowed it to heal.

I go through bouts of IBS. Sometimes I have to be put on antibiotics and those work too.
 

@Amanda76 I have it. And hate it soooo much. I've tried the Fodmap diet which works but I can't seem to stick to it. Part of my IBS is lactose intolerance, and I still eat the occasional ice cream. Its all so horrible, I never make morning plans or appointments since I need to be home near my bathroom. It doesn't act up every day, more like half the time. When it started, some ten years ago, I lost a ton of weight, but unfortunately that didn't last. It was the only good thing about this.

And the doctors have no clue or suggestions about making it better! GI docs are the worst.
 
Marcy Sheiner said:
@Amanda76 I have it. And hate it soooo much. I've tried the Fodmap diet which works but I can't seem to stick to it. Part of my IBS is lactose intolerance, and I still eat the occasional ice cream. Its all so horrible, I never make morning plans or appointments since I need to be home near my bathroom. It doesn't act up every day, more like half the time. When it started, some ten years ago, I lost a ton of weight, but unfortunately that didn't last. It was the only good thing about this.

And the doctors have no clue or suggestions about making it better! GI docs are the worst.
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Same for me.....
 
I've suffered with this miserable disorder most all of my adult life, and I've talked to others who have it, but we don't always get the same symptoms. I can go weeks, sometimes months without symptoms, then they re-emerge, even though I've made no dietary or other changes.

If I get extremely upset about something, or get to bed way outside of my normal time frame, I'll usually have a flare up, which is most often expressed by irregularity or severe abdominal cramping.

I do best by going to bed and getting up about the same time every day, eating soft cooked rather than raw vegetables avoiding greasy foods and red meat, maintaining the same weight, and trying to keep stress minimal. I take Metamucil every night, 450 mg Cascara Sagrada, and 750 mg of magnesium. I try walking every day.
 
I struggle with IBS as well, but I've managed to keep it pretty much under control with diet. I used to take dicyclomine, but I prefer to avoid prescription meds if at all possible.

The state I live in is so desolate, though, that long drives spike my anxiety. It's not like more urban areas, or the East coast, where I grew up, with an exit every mile or so. There are at least 20 miles between exits, and most of those exits are marked "No Services." It gets stressful.
 
Marcy Sheiner said:
And the doctors have no clue or suggestions about making it better! GI docs are the worst.
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I read an article a few months ago by one of the foremost GI docs in the country--don't remember his name--and he said, "A lot of people aren't going to want to hear this but all of our research, including the latest research, has unfortunately led us to the conclusion that some poor people are just born with terrible digestive tracts about which not a darn thing can be done other than for them to eat very little (and by little I mean 2 or 3 bites) at a time and wait several hours before they eat again."

When I first read that, I felt depressed but the more I thought about it, it made me feel better. Because all my life, I've heard over and over from other people (who don't suffer from it of course) that I must be doing something wrong: You're eating the wrong foods; You're not drinking enough water; You're drinking water at the wrong times; You're not taking supplements; You're taking the wrong medications; You're taking the wrong supplements; You're letting stress get to you too much; on and on, it's always "You", "You", "YOU".

So after spending years trying so hard to live correctly with such a yucky, embarrassing condition and nothing,, nothing, nothing ever works, it was kind of refreshing to hear from an expert who's studied it for years to say it's not usually my or other sufferers' fault, we've done nothing wrong other than chose the wrong parents to be born to. Finally, somebody understands.

I did read from another IBS sufferer on the Mayo Clinic site, who's only in her 30s (!) and is on a totally liquid diet and goes in to the dr. once a week to be on an IV so he makes sure she's getting her vitamins and minerals. Poor thing but like she said that's the only way she can function and she's got to work for at least 30 more years. So it could be worse for me because I can actually once in a great while successfully digest solid food. (I can't ever count on when that'll be, because of course not, sigh.)
 
KSav said:
The state I live in is so desolate, though, that long drives spike my anxiety. It's not like more urban areas, or the East coast, where I grew up, with an exit every mile or so. There are at least 20 miles between exits, and most of those exits are marked "No Services." It gets stressful.
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I had to post this for my fellow IBS sufferers, who can surely appreciate it: When we lived in rural Nevada we'd often take trips to Salt Lake City, which meant driving across the Bonneville Salt Flats! Not even a tree or a bush to hide behind should worse come to worst.

Ugh! Fortunately it took only about 45–60 minutes to cross.

salt flats.jpg
 
What really helps my IBS-C (IBC with constipation) is the Walmart version of IBGard. A lot cheaper and the same ingredients. The most active ingredient in IBGard is purified peppermint oil. You can also just get the peppermint oil capsules that are even cheaper.

Try that for a while and see if it helps. Can't hurt anything, unless you're allergic to peppermint oil.

I also take 400 mg of magnesium citrate tablets twice a day on the advice of my Gastro. It has to be "citrate" not "oxide".

My last colonoscopy and endoscopy (recently)showed a serious lactose intolerance and a condition called "redundant colon". I am off any kind of dairy products (waaaah! I love my milk, cheese and ice cream and she told me that Lactaid milk won't help me....it has to be something like soy milk ...ugh. I bought some coconut milk today and though I wouldn't want to drink it, it should be fine on my cereal).
 
Irritable Bowel Syndrome - Physiopedia
 
Thank you, all for sharing experience and management(treatment) for IBS.
For the past one and a half years, I've been on Miralax(Dr's recommendation), Dulcolax(one cap), Lower Bowel Stimulator(made by bark) and 250 Magnesium which has been helping my regularity, although I need bathroom several times in the morning and twice during night.
I thought this med regimen pretty much resolved my conspitation.

However, I started to experience an extreme pain caused by a hard stool accompanied with fluid back and forth in my lower abdomen which is noisy enough for me to hear during sleep. Normally, it started around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon and continued until around 3 o'clock in the morning.

An extreme pain occurred almost once one and a half months' period. It happened 3 times for the past months. So, I went to my Gastroentologist who is a caring and hard-working G.I. doctor. I can discuss with the Dr. regarding my annoying issue in detail. The Dr. told me that when I feel 'Pain Attack,' to take twice dosage Dulcolax, not during an intense pain which I did. During an intense pain, I hardly slept until I got a great relief after having passed the next morning.
 
Amanda76 said:

@Ted01​

Strange to say, .... Snapshot shows on HP, above. but it does not show on other PC with Dell.
Just wonder why an excellent snapshow you created does not show on PC with Dell?
Both are same Browser. Google.
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IDK, Amanda...
I'm always seeing & experiencing little anomalies like that on some posted image...
both mine and postings of others. I can't figure it out 🤔
 
Yes I do, and have diverticulitis flare ups. What I started doing was keeping track of my movements. I could be lactose intolerant but thru process of elimination, does appear to be so. I just deal with it as the occasion arises.
 
I struggle with IBS. Lately with flare-ups I’ve had severe heartburn. Anybody else experienced this with a flare-up?
 

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