Could all this be IBS?
Posted , 2 users are following.
I am a 54 year old woman going through a lot of anxiety and stress regarding my marriage, family and future. I have recently been successfully treated for an over active thyroid and also had four years on antidepressants (been off those now for a year) and take temazepam nightly for insomnia. I have dropped over two stone in the last 18 months and am now underweight according to my BMI. I have always had a poor appetite in the mornings, but recently this has become worse. I have nausea, a constant rumbling in my stomach and colon. I have cramptind pains which radiate to my back. I have a general soreness and rawness feeling throughout my whole intestine. I also have diarrhea shortly after eating during the day and bloating and wind in the evening and through the night. My insides rumble all night long.
So far I have tried colpermin which helps a bit with the cramping. I am on omeprazole but that gives me vivid dreams and nightmares all night long and still no relief. Can all this be IBS?
0 likes, 5 replies
pippa58442 evergreen
Posted
Sounds like stress related IBS. Peppermint oil sometimes helps with symptoms although it gives me heartburn and doesn't help my IBS pain. I find Buscopan works for me.
Keep a food diary to see if you have a food intolerance and try a different antacid medication since you are having reactions to omeprazole and are getting no refief. I assume you have seen your doctor if you have been on omeprazole. Has your doctor suggested IBS?
evergreen pippa58442
Posted
Doctor thinks it is depression. I was given the omeprazole back in December as at the time he thought it may be a stomach ulcer. I didn't take it as my appetite retuned (I wasn't getting all the other symptoms then, just loss of weight and appetite). I have only just started the omeprazole 3 days ago but have had the dreams and even sleep walking last night. I am going back to the doctors on Monday and wanted to be able to say I'd tried the omeprazole before I went. I had thought aboout food intolerance. I am trying to rule out one thing at a time.
pippa58442 evergreen
Posted
I don't think your symptoms are entirely due to depression, they seem more GI related. With IBS you can get anxiety/depression because of the impact your symptoms have on your quality of life and especially if doctors cannot diagnose you. If you have had a sudden barrage of stress in your life or you suffer from chronic anxiety, it can trigger IBS. Worry makes IBS worse. I have always been an anxious person, however, in 2014 I had one stressful episode after the other and in February 2015 I started getting stomach cramps. I was diagnosed with IBS in mid May of that year.
If you have had depression before, your doctor will automatically try to pin all your symptoms on mental health problems even if this is not the case. Ask your doctor to seriously consider IBS in his investigations and I would still try a food diary if you are having diarrhoea after eating because Irritable Bowel can cause food intolerance.
I would also ask your doctor about seeing a GI specialist.
evergreen pippa58442
Posted
Thank you. I am sure not all of it is down to stress and anxiety because I used to get loss of appetite and nausea when stressed. That is how it affects me. This feels much more physical so I do think it is a GI problem, but obviously all the stress doesn't help and confuses things. It is frustrating that the doctors automatically think it's all in my head. Basically, I was told to return if I needed treatment for depression, but otherwise to wait until I started feeling better mentally and was eating normally again and if I was still getting weight loss, they would investigate further. I can't go on like this though, so I am going back on Monday and will ask again. I am so weak with muscle wasting. I run a horse livery yard but cannot ride or lift the h things I used to be able to. I haven't been strong enough to ride a horse in over a year.
pippa58442 evergreen
Posted