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Constipation and diarrhea

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katykat1234
katykat1234

I know some people might already be tried of me posting but I'm trying to see if anyone else is experiencing the same thing, get some advice, and just overall, learn more about IBS and symptoms of it. Ok so for the past week or so, I've been experiencing constipation. The pieces are either small and pebbly, small and thin, or just a thick log (not very long) that's hard to push. I having some diarrhea too but I still feel like my bowel is still not emptying fully. It sometimes not the size but the amount recently. More come out with diarrhea but it doesn't fully come out in one go. I found myself having to go multiple times a day but can only poop out a smallish amount every time. My stool color right now is about medium brown, not dark dark but a bit darker than the light brown stool I've been experiencing (ugh, blood in stool scares again even though I never see obvious blood). So yea, anxiety acting up, got extremely stressed last night, diarrhea in the morning (just not complete but about 80-90%?). It really annoying how my brain always thinks of worst-case scenarios like cancer, or something extremely serious. Help? Still haven't been officially diagnosed with IBS, yet.

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • paul75665
    paul75665 katykat1234

    Posted

    Hi Katy

    Really sorry to hear you are struggling at the moment, being in the investigation phase is always the worst part of getting a diagnosis, so many questions, thoughts and worries swirling around inside of you, wondering what’s causing these symptoms. I really do know how you feel, especially with your anxieties playing up, my anxiety made me almost believe there was something seriously wrong with me, and only after 3 years of investigation and almost every test being done on me that can be done, only now have I learnt to accept my diagnosis of IBS, although I am under investigation for Crohn’s disease of the small bowel.

    Just wondering, what investigations and tests have you had so far regarding your symptoms?

    The bowel movements you are experiencing are typical IBS symptoms, however you mentioned blood in stool, which is not common with IBS. How do you know you have blood in your stool? From what I’ve researched IBS does not cause blood in the stool, perhaps on the stool or toilet paper, especially with your constipation phases, but not in stools. The fact that your stools are brown is good, it shows no bleeding higher up your GI tract. I had stomach ulcers and trust me, you know if you have them just by the state of your stools. If you had stomach ulcers stools would be very dark, almost black, loose, sticky, tarry and very smelly (the smell reminded me of silage that is fed to cows).

    Your doctor should be exercising some urgency in getting certain investigations under way, especially concerning blood in your stools, do you have any pending treatment planned? What tests have you had done up to now? Even simple blood tests can reveal quite a lot, and could help put your mind at ease to a certain degree.

    I do hope you get some answers sooner rather than later, do take care and all the best.

    • katykat1234
      katykat1234 paul75665

      Posted

      Thanks for replying, I DON'T have blood in my stool. I was just saying how I'm really scared of getting blood in stool. Right now, I have a small fissure but it doesn't drip blood in the toilet. Just hurts and a little bit of blood when I wipe, nothing excessive. A few times, I got scared that I have blood in my stool but further investigation shows its just undigested food, lol. So yea, no blood, just my anxiety worrying about every small thing.

    • katykat1234
      katykat1234 paul75665

      Posted

      Also, would weight loss be normal for IBS? I don't have any significant weight loss. Maybe a few pounds flucuations. I weighed my self a lot, the anxiety keeps pushing me to do it. This doesn't happen when I'm constipated but when I get diarrhea, I lose like  from almost a pound to a pound or 2 pounds. It usually goes up after the diarrhea clears up. So is it also a symptom of IBS? Again no blood in stool, no dark stool, no significant weight loss, or those red flag warning signs that I'm aware of.

    • paul75665
      paul75665 katykat1234

      Posted

      Hi Katy

      My apologies for misreading your post. No blood in stool is a very good sign.

      Undigested food could well be a sign of IBS, your bowels have moments of hyperactivity and can sometimes push food through your digestive system too quickly, hence why you get undigested food. Do you get any bloating? This is another symptom of undigested food as the food is basically fermenting in areas where it shouldn't be, and fermentation produces gas, hence why you get bloated.

      I have IBS and my weight fluctuates a lot, but only at the most a few pounds one way or the other. Did you know that you can have anywhere between 5 and 20 pounds in weight of stools inside you at any one time? Obviously if you have 20lbs worth of stools in you, you won't evacuate it all in one go as some won't be ready to pass. Why not weigh yourself before and after having a bowel movement, sometimes you'll be surprised by how dramatically your weight will differ. Not meaning to be graphic but I lost just over half a kilo in weight after a bowel movement today.

      Try not to worry if you can, I used to be very much like you in the sense that every little pain or change in my body started to make me anxious. Now I've accepted my diagnosis of IBS I am generally a lot calmer, however when I have a really bad day I do still worry and anxious, but my symptoms do get very bad when having a bad day, so understandable really. Do try and stay as calm as you can, anxiety and stress go hand in hand, and it will make your symptoms worse.

      Take care and all the best.

    • katykat1234
      katykat1234 paul75665

      Posted

      I get frequent bloating especially when I eat "trigger" foods like lots of dairy or foods high in fat/fried. It is usually accompanied by upper abdominal pain, a BM would really help the pain but I get constipated around those times, so yea, it doesn't go away as fast. I had a BM, weigh myself, I was at 106. Last night, I was at 107-108! I weigh myself a lot and always see these fluctuations but never thought about until read something about weight loss being a symptom of colon cancer. I know I dont have cancer, I'm not going to die, everyone thinks what I have is NOT cancer but my brain keeps giving that anxiety. Basically, I'm a worrying freak! I never knew weight fluctuation is another sign of IBS, puts my mind at ease a bit. The most amount of weight I've ever lost was about 5-6 in more than 3 months. It was because I got sick twice (it's the flu season where I live and most of my classmates were sick) and I had diarrhea the for more than a week. I think I gained a pound back or so. Since then, no significant amount of weight loss.

      Calming down, no stress, just relax, be happy really helps me. On days that I'm happy and not stressed, my symptoms really improve. But at the end of the day, when I'm alone, the worries come back and I start to feel tired, sad, and my symptoms start to get worse. 

      So yea, i have no alarming signs that I'm aware of. My doctor said my blood count was a bit low which freaked me out because it's a sign of colon cancer. But we found out I just need to take some multivitamins and for some reason, that month, I was extremely stressed and my doctor said that could cause my heavier-than-usual period. Been taking vitamins, stress is still a bit off but my period is back to normal.

    • paul75665
      paul75665 katykat1234

      Posted

      Dont be so hard on yourself, you are not a worrying freak at all! It’s easy for us to entertain our worst fears when we know something is not right inside of us. The fact that we can’t actually see what’s wrong makes the feeling of anxiety worse. Your doctor gave you a diagnosis of IBS, they wouldn’t have done that unless they were as sure as they could be through test results and looking through your notes and symptoms, that this was the cause of your symptoms. Unfortunately that doesn’t really give us peace of mind, as we can’t see what is causing all our problems. We can also make it worse for ourselves by being so anxious that we start to look up our symptoms, put two and two together, and can easily come up with the wrong answer, I know I’m as guilty as anyone for doing this in the past, and it has usually just added to my anxiety, unnecessarily.

      Have you considered CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)? It’s a form of counselling that helps train you’re brain to react and think differently to certain situations. I have received CBT and it has helped a lot in getting me to think differently. Beforehand, I would stress, worry and get anxious about any little change in my body and health, now it’s only when I have really bad days that I worry, but even then I’m never as bad as I used to get, I just curl up and deal with my symptoms as best as I can as I know they won’t amount to anything worse and before long will ease. Perhaps it’s something to think about.

      Do take care, try not to worry (easy to say I know), try and take some comfort in the fact that your test results aren’t really showing anything too severe and keep in touch.

  • JayJayBee
    JayJayBee katykat1234

    Posted

    Hi, my GP said I had IBS some years ago. No tests were done, he just said it was after listening to my symptoms. I put up with the constipation/ diarrhoea,painful shifting of my stomach as it’s contents lurched their way towards my bowels, the constant trembling I felt in my gut, the wind, the awful escalation of all of this when I lay down in bed... etc...etc. First of all I read that apples being rather acidic can cause some of the problems and as I ate one every day, I stopped eating them to see what happened. A definite improvement. Next my GP told me to take probiotic drinks. I didn’t notice any difference but more recently I started taking kefir, a fermented yogurt type probiotic full of beneficial bacteria which I blend with banana and frozen fruit. The result was a delicious smoothie which I have in the morning for breakfast...and most of my IBS symptoms are vastly improved or disappeared completely. The one thing I am left with is periodic, very painful trapped wind which happens once or twice a month. It is so bad I can barely walk and it makes me shriek! It has been suggested that it may be an intolerance to lactose and indeed when I read up about it, it does sound likely so I am embarking on a trial of lactose free milk. I drink it in cappuccinos every day so this is entirely feasible that this is the problem. I am going to try it for two or three weeks and will report back on the results..

    ‘I also think stress plays it’s part and getting anxious about the problem drives it into a vicious circle, so I am trying hard to combat this. I am naturally a very anxious person so this is challenging to say the least.

    Making these small changes has reduced my problem drastically and in turn my stress levels have lowered.

    i hope this is of some use to you, good luck with your diagnosis!

    • katykat1234
      katykat1234 JayJayBee

      Posted

      My doctor said he is very very sure it's IBS but they still need more test results. So far, nothing alarming. My dad also been suffering from basically the same thing as me (except he has no constipation but severe diarrhea). He went to  over 10 doctors and specialists for almost a decade. Nothing was found wrong. So I feel a bit better that someone in my family in experiencing the almost same thing. My symptoms are getting slightly worse because of the amount of pressure recently. School tests, health anxiety, fiancial crisis. Just UGH, my life is struggling a bit right now. My mom even thinks I should see a therapist. Hopeful, by the time this dreadful year is over, I'll feel better, get a diagnosis and live my life like a 14 year old should.

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