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Help with IBS!

Posted , 7 users are following.

egghead
egghead

At 20 years old, after two and half years of suffering, I have finally been diagnosed with IBS. Although I still have my doubts.

I had an awful bout of glandular fever that started all the problems off and since then, I have been feeling horrendous. Cannot get through a day without clutching my stomach in pain because of horrendous cramps, having waves of nausea, or having to run to the toilet as soon as I eat. My stomach makes the most awful noises, I frequently have headaches and feel tired and lethargic all the time. I cannot go for an evening out with my friends without having to come home early and I head straight to bed or straight to the toilet. My IBS has stopped me from working for the last month as I am in such agony that some days I can't even walk.

As well as having IBS, I had an endoscopy last year and a specialist diagnosed me with Reflux Oesophagitis. Still never know if I'm spelling that right!

I take 20mg of Omeprazole a day and get through about a bottle of Gaviscon Advance every two weeks and I thought they were helping but now I'm not so sure. I think they help with the Oesophagitis a bit but I want to find something that isn't going to affect me in the long term and something that is natural.

Also I keep finding myself having a number of infections and last week I was on very strong antibiotics for a kidney infection which two weeks ago caused me to scream in pain and collapse in a toilet in Amsterdam (not my finest hour!)

I wake up every day feeling terrible and I can't get my friends and boyfriend to understand. I know it's nothing life threatening but it is ruining my life. I cannot go through every day feeling like this, I am getting so down and I cannot exercise as much as I used to and for a dancer who was dancing about 3 hours every day it is really upsetting.

I do not drink, smoke or do drugs. I don't eat chocolate, eat much fast food or drink caffeine anymore. In fact my diet is so healthy that all my friends poke fun at me and don't understand how I can eat so well!

I've started taking Probiotics, not very strong ones just something to help aid digestion. I used to take them a while ago and they seemed to help.

Going to the doctors over and over to be told there is nothing wrong has been difficult. Finally being given some answers is quite reassuring as for over two years I have been made to feel like a hypochondriac. Even sometimes I would question myself and think it was all in my head. But now I realise that being woken up in the middle of the night by unimaginable cramping pain and feeling sick every single day is not normal.

To top this all off I also embarrassingly struggle with a completely irrational but incredibly terrifying phobia of vomit (Emetophobia). I have had Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Hypnotherapy but unfortunately neither of these have worked! A normal day in my life goes like this; I feel incredibly sick because of my IBS, I then suffer from a panic attack because I am scared I'm going to vomit and I then have awful pains of IBS because the stress of the panic attack has triggered my IBS. A horrible cycle that I can't seem to get myself out of!

I just really don't know where to go from here and I feel so alone sometimes. No one seems to understand and for someone my age and being a girl, it's so embarrassing to have all these combining things. I know the phobia is stupid and I wish I didn't have it but I can't help it and I've tried my best to sort myself out.

Please can someone recommend some natural remedies or advice for anything.

Sorry I've blabbered on for so long, didn't realise how good it would feel writing it all down!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • kristen26
    kristen26

    Posted

    Have you tried symprove? It's a liquid probiotic and i read about it in an article a few months ago and the woman who tested it out suffered from terrible IBS and this probiotic made a huge difference and it allowed her to re-introduce foods into her diet that she had previously avoided. I haven't used it. I use optibac high strength every now and again so I can't vouch for it but i remember reading it absorbs into your system better so is better for the system. I don't suffer from IBS which is why I haven't tried it but I'm always looking out for natural remedies and alternative therapies.
  • deb16
    deb16

    Posted

    Hi, I feel your pain! I used to suffers with terrible IBS for years , to the point of collapsing in the street in pain. I found that cutting out wheat products helped me. I am not celiac, but even now years later when I eat bread ( which I still do occasionally) I can feel a sharp pain low down start to build up. Pasta is worse for me and I avoid that completely.

    Cutting out wheats also gave me more energy and I didn't feel so tired all the time .

    I went through years of hospital tests and meds, but just something as simple as cutting out wheat helped me

    I lived on gaviscone and Rennies but by controlling my wheat intake I do not have gurgly upset tummies any more. I hope you find out what helps you. Good luck

  • bj36263
    bj36263 egghead

    Posted

    How are you doing now?

    This is exactly what happened to me. Havne't been normal since a bad case of glandular fever 15 years ago. Deal with CFS, fibromyalgia and IBS. It's crazy how it can hijack your system the way it does!

  • chloej
    chloej egghead

    Posted

    I'm also 20 and it does feel like it's taking over your life. When I met my partner he never understood until one day he saw how bad I could be and if I'm honest I nearly pooed myself because he didn't understand my urgency to need the toilet! My friend have now dealt with it but some still don't understand like when I go out I have to know where the toilet is. I'm meant to be going London end of January and we are getting the bus which is 2 and a half hours luckily has a toilet! But I've started to take something that's very natural called aloe Vera gel. I started working for a company once I have my little boy just to help with the income and I was advised to try the products so I did two weeks later I hardly ever suffer with my ibs anymore. I had constipation but now I have normal bowel movements.

    I've met so many people struggling with ibs and there's so many reviews about this product saying how good it is! I'm thankful I had to go back work so I descovered it!

    But your never alone there's so many of us out there, even if for a chat I'm always up for a chat if you just need someone to talk to, you shouldn't feel alone! So please message me if you want to!

    I hope you feel better soon!

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