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At a loss.. need answers!!

Posted , 6 users are following.

Forestflower
Forestflower

So to start with I'm going to warn you I will be some what open about certain things and it may be a little TMI for some. So be aware.

I am a 21 year old female who has suffered on and off with ibs since diagnosed at 10.

I am some what active, eat a some what healthy diet currently and am on a mixture of medication for ibs symptoms and mental health issues.

In the beginning, my symptoms were just slight cramps when I'd eaten greasy fatty foods, after visiting the doctor I found out it was due to ibs and I was put on mebeverine tablets 3 times a day and cut out all fried and heavily fatty foods. For about 2 years this helped my ibs subside and I thought I was misdiagnosed and had gotten better.

I kept up the restrictions and water intake and carried on the medication through out, needles to say after about 6 months I began expierencing bloating when eating bread, pasta, potatoe and rice so decided to reduce the amount of these foods. Things got better and I was able to eat them normally again, things stayed pretty calm for the next 3 years untill I was between 15-17 when I had a major flare up and passed out from the pain, ended up needing an ambulance and they suggested I try buscopan for the pain. After that one incident the buscopan seemed to help the cramps and burning subside but I also had anxiety stress added on top of the the food I couldn't eat. it took another 8 months for tfor my body to get back to normal and things were once again OK for a short period of time.

Then roughly 2-3 years ago including this year I had another flare up, same thing happened accept I was taken to hospital and given a suppository for the pain and sent home and advised ibuprofen and buscopan once again.

After this I started to realise not only could I not have fried fatty foods, but my stomach couldn't handle butter, milk, yogurt or cream. After I got to talking to a friend that too suffered with ibs I decided to visit my doctor, to which he suggested the foodmap diet. I completed the trials to no avail, there were no solid triggers as foods would affect me in different ways sometimes than others and once again I decided to visit my doctor. At this point (the middle of last year) if got to the point where I was near on ready to give up (or so I thought) my symptoms at this point were more, cramps, burning, bloating, acidic nausea and the defecation problems known to ibs (which is never expierenced before) most of the time being IBS-C. I tried to eat more fibre and drink more, herbal digestive supplements and a strict time table for when to eat. I joined a local gym ( as the doctor always advised exercise would help) but this had no affect. I am now currently paying for a gym membership I cannot use due to anxiety and unpredictable ibs flare ups and toilet habits.

This year I've been to my gp and asked for blood tests for things such as celiac desease,gluten and lactose intolerance and general food intolerances as well as the normal things they check such as thyroid . All came back FINE. I had lanzoprizole added to my daily medication which seemed to help with the bloating and helped me release built up acidic acids but after a while they no longer helped even with a higher dose. Last week I was given ibs relief peppermint oil capsules and had my lanzoprizole changed over temporarily to ranitidine and have been told to make an appointment for a c13 breath test to test for a bacterial infection in my intestines.

I am in so much pain, feeling bloated constantly and never feeling saticfied after a bowl movement.

I am now combination ibs with bouts of constipation and diareah and most days go between the two. I go back and forth to the toiletat least 5 times a day and haven't had a bowl movement that I haven't had to strain for in over a year.. in the consequence of this I now have hemeroids which make things even more painful and a lot of blood loss from both external and internal. I have recently got a cream for that which helps the pain a little but makes no difference when I'm constantly irritating them when needing to go to the toilet.

I struggle to eat because I feel sick from being bloated and am currently living off of water,activia yougarts and oat and seed cereal bars, I cannot eat a "meal" not even "little and often" and I'm afraid if I have stool build up, it might affect my appendix which is the last thing I need as my health anxiety hypochondria chose appendicitis as my biggest fear.

As many of you will know yourselfs these situations affect you physically and mentally, I already have diagnosed mental issues such as depression and anxiety disorders but this disorder is ruining my life..as my anxiety progresses my ibs stands in the way of me going out for self exposure purposes, and when I feel I CAN go out and am mentally prepared my ibs has completely different plans.

My life is pretty restricted due to My

Anxiety disorder without the added stress and symptoms and pain from ibs.

I just don't know what to do now..

ANY help would be appreciated and I thankyoufor reading

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • pippa58442
    pippa58442 Forestflower

    Posted

    IBS can go into remission for a period of time and then come back again often during periods of stress.  Keep on Buscopan and Ibruprofen for flare ups and don't worry about anything else since all your tests have come back negative.  Buscopan and Ibruprofen help me a lot. Worry will increase your flare ups.  Anxiety and stress are my enemies too. However, I have learned just to live with it since this is part of my personality due to Aspergers.   If you are still struggling with anxiety you could ask you doctor for an anxiety medication.

    Try ice to shrink your haemorrhoids and use a stool softener to make motions easier to pass and prevent fissures and piles.  Don't strain too much; if you are having incomplete evacuation try laxatives or fruit so long as this isn't one of your trigger foods. Oranges, grapes and prune juice help me.

    Don't worry if you are struggling to go to the loo because you will manage in the end.  If I can't go or don't do much, I simply accept this as my IBS and after a while I do the backlog all in one go.  Avoid all the foods you are reacting to. Have a look at the free from range in the shops to find good subsitutes.

    • Forestflower
      Forestflower pippa58442

      Posted

      Thankyou pippa!

      I am on 40 mg propranolol and 2g sertraline for my anxiety and depression.

      Yes stress does seem to make it a lot worse, which is hard as my health anxiety makes me panic that my ibs symptoms are because I have cancer or some dramatic condition as my mind goes on over drive!

      I will give the ice ago, I've been having 3 sitz baths everyday and doctor gave me scheriprot cream for the hemeroids. I try my hardest to go naturally but I think my inner sphycture ( probably wrong spelling) is lacking as it's meant to be your "involuntary" sphycture and it deffiniately doesn't do its job! Sorry tmi!!

      So with avoiding the foods I react to, I don't always get the same reaction like sometimes I can have milk and be fine and sometimes I can't.. so should I just cut those foods off all together too?

    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 Forestflower

      Posted

      You could try cutting them out completely if your reactions to them are unpredictable and see what happens.  

      My enemy in the beginning was google to give doctors more to work on because they couldn't diagnose. As a result,  I imagined I had all sorts of nasty conditions that had been missed. All the tests I had didn't reassure me because they were all negative.

      My mum got piles occasionally and found ice and haemorrhoid lotions good too.

  • leeniepie
    leeniepie Forestflower

    Posted

    I think you need Meds for your anxiety. Also ibs cannot cause appendicitis so don't worry about that.

    Take the buscopan daily, get a laxative to soften your stools and you can get numbing cream for the piles.

    Stop eating yoghurt and oat/seed bars. Dairy is often aggregating to ibs and seeds are awful for digestive issues. Ask your Dr to switch your ranitadine to oesomeprazole- it is in the same family as lanzoprazole but stronger and is the only thing that fixed my excess acid. Take liquid antacid too. Once you get the excess acid under control the burning,nausea and feeling of fullness will go.

    • Forestflower
      Forestflower leeniepie

      Posted

      I forgot to mention the yogurt I eat is probiotic and I was advised to eat it by my doctor as well as the oats and seeds that's why I have it daily i might have to give them a rest and see how it goes. I am already on anxiety medication but it doesn't help much and I've been on many different meds for it as well as therapy so I just have to sort of deal with it as best I can.

      I will try to get an appointment tomorrow for the change of meds, a friend of mine told me about one called omeprizole maybe he meant the one you just mentioned but got it wrong. Thankyou!

    • leeniepie
      leeniepie Forestflower

      Posted

      No he wasn't wrong. In strength it goes lanzoprazole-omeprazole-oesomeprazole.

      Most drs know nothing about an ibs diet. He probably told you to up your fibre too- without telling you that insoluble fibre is terrible for ibs but soluble fibre is a godsend!

    • Forestflower
      Forestflower leeniepie

      Posted

      Also I wasn't meaning ibs to be a reaction to cause appendicitis, I've been told that stool build up (from constipation ect) can cause an infection which can lead to the appendix to get infected and cause appendicitis?

    • leeniepie
      leeniepie Forestflower

      Posted

      Never heard of this personally. The worst thing that could happen from constipation is bowel obstruction but things have to be very severe for this
  • dse
    dse Forestflower

    Posted

    Dear forestflower,

    I completely relate to your Dilemma, but I'm so sorry you have had to experience it at such a young age. I suffer from IBS c, but I did not get it until my mid-40s. I've gone to 3 Gastrointerologist in past 3 years, have had 2 colonoscopys, an upper GI endoscopy, several blood tests, seen 2 nutritionist, followed fodmap diet, and tried every prescription and over the counter medication and herbal remedy, but to no avail. My anxiety and depression have just increased or been created by this condition. I'm taking sleeping meds as well and constantly on the internet reasearching anything having to do with this condition. Everyone around me thinks I'm crazy or exaggerating, even all the doctors I've seen. I'm telling you all of this just to let you know that you are not alone. This is a condition that doesn't seem to have any rhym or reason and for some of us there are no simple fixes. The one advice I did want to give you from my own experience is that oats can irate IBS c and cause bloating as do most cereals. I was having gluten free oatmeal every morning and figured out that was making my symptoms worse. Activia is also not good cause it has lactose. You should not have yogurt unless it is lactose free. I have also eliminated raw vegetables because it is also suppose to cause bloating and cause constipation in IBS c sufferers. So most foods and fibers I thought would help with constipation, are actually making it worse. Anyway, I have still not found the solution but I thought I would share some of these tips with you. I am going to see a NeuroGastrointologist in NY this May, because I was told this type of specialist is the best to consult for IBS related issues. Good luck and if I discover something that helps me, I will be sure to share it with this community.

    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 dse

      Posted

      It just shows how different IBS sufferers are.  I don't have food intolerance with IBS and don't get bloating.  Activia and milk help me a lot.  The only thing that triggers my symptoms is stress.

    • Forestflower
      Forestflower dse

      Posted

      Thankyou lovely! It really is a comfort to know I'm not alone, it does become stressful when you're expierencing such symptoms and no one will listen or understand the extent of it all..

      I hope this appointment in may gives you some answers and I send you the best of luck! Ibs isn't really taken into consideration as there isn't much they know about it but it's definitely a battle everyday.

      See I was told oats seeds and probiotic yogurt would be good for me, but I guess the general practitioners aren't really too knowlagable in those areas/:

      Thankyou for the advice!

    • Forestflower
      Forestflower pippa58442

      Posted

      Indeed! I had no idea for a long time that ibs even caused un natural bowel movements ect, when I was diagnosed I was just told that my body can't digest food properly which would explain my pain, it wasn't untill I started expiercing that side of it and went to the doctor that I realised that's the most common symptom of the condition.. stress affects me a lot but the food sensitivies are draining because as I said sometimes I have to steer clear and sometimes I can go months on end eating something that had triggered me in the Past but isn't at that time.

    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 Forestflower

      Posted

      I started with constipation but I didn't realise I had a change of bowel habit because I was always prone to constipation before IBS.  I didn't even figure it out when I got loose stools.

  • rhonda19552
    rhonda19552 Forestflower

    Posted

    Hi

    Oats have a binding effect so that wouldn't help.

    Take care it's hard not to be anxious

    I have pi ibs d I think and get anxious everyday

    sad it's awful so all you can do is try to breath through it

    • Forestflower
      Forestflower rhonda19552

      Posted

      Yes! Oats and bananas ect, but my gp told me to eat those because I have combination ibs and he reckons the only way to relieve the pain from the symptoms is to treat one side either D or C so told me to have binding foods high in fibre ect..

      It really is awful I spend a lot of my day doing breathing exercises to control anxiety, I know what ya mean!

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