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How to cope with IBS in daily life?

Posted , 4 users are following.

emma86470
emma86470

Hello all, I was diagnosed a few months ago and have been prescribed mebeverine, amitryptiline and paracetamol for pain. I have pain predominant IBS which means I do not suffer from some typical symptoms such as diarrhoea or constipation, but I have pain with little respite--perhaps a day and a half between flares. I can tell when one is coming on because I feel light-headed and extremely fatigued, and my mind doesn't work--I can't think of the right words and I make lots of mistakes. My muscles are very weak and ache. After that initial stage the pain sets in in the whole lower left-hand quarter of my body, and I am even more useless for several days until the flare ends. My worry is that although the medications do help somewhat with the pain (e.g. reducing the severity of it after eating), they don't really address the other problems such as mental fuzziness, weakness and extreme fatigue, and these are having a very severe effect on my ability to work well. No matter how much I rest or even if I go on holiday, it doesn't seem to prevent the next flare. For this reason, I don't know whether it would even help to take time off or (as my GP suggests) cut back on my hours. How do others cope with the impact on work and pace themselves so as to manage the condition?

1 like, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • pippa58442
    pippa58442 emma86470

    Posted

    The medications you are taking will only help the pain and won’t help the fogginess and fatigue. The low dose anti depressant can actually cause fatigue so it may make your IBS fatigue worse. Maybe ask your doctor for something else.  

    Cutting back on your hours will help to give you more rest to help with the fatigue and mind fogginess.    It will also help to reduce stress which can flare up IBS and lengthen flare ups.  Maybe consider your doctor’s advice on this.  Try a food diary or the Low Fodmap diet since you get pain after eating.  Maybe you have some food intolerances.

     My IBS is largely in remission and responds very well to Buscopan and painkillers.  I get total relief from my medications.  Inititally, they only reduced the pain.  As long as I stay calm, my IBS is kept at bay.

    • emma86470
      emma86470 pippa58442

      Posted

      Thanks so much—this is really helpful. I’d be very interested to know whether you’ve tried mebeverine and found it less good than buscopan. I’ve just seen you can buy buscopan OTC so I might do a trial of it and see. I felt as if the mebeverine was helping at first but then it stopped. Also, would you mind me asking what painkillers you have been put on? Paracetamol doesn’t really work well but obviously I would aim to avoid NSAIDs. 
    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 emma86470

      Posted

      Mebeverine gave me terrible indigestion and made my constipation worse so I threw them out within four days.  I already have chronic reflux and Mebeverine worsened this too.  I wasn’t prescribed painkillers, I bought them myself along with Buscopan. I find NSAIDs are far more effective for me than Paracetamol so that’s what I take for my IBS alongside Buscopan if my pain is bad.  My flare ups are rare now so I don’t need to take these strong painkillers too often.
    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 emma86470

      Posted

      I found Buscopan very mild but at the same time very effective and I haven’t experienced any side effects from it,  Mebeverine only gave me side effects with no relief at all.
    • sam18386
      sam18386 pippa58442

      Posted

      Stupid question but can you crush buscopan to take it? I was given it for pain but can't swallow the tablets!

    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 sam18386

      Posted

      You could try crushing them or soaking them in water and see what works best for you,  I don’t think matters what method you use.  It very much depends on the individual because everyone is different.

      They are very small and are one of the only tablets I can swallow whole without a huge amount of water or soaking them in water to soften them.  When I break tablets up, my throat spasms more because it detects more tablets to swallow and therefore more hard work.

      .

  • sam18386
    sam18386 emma86470

    Posted

    Hi Emma, I would suggest you cut the mebeverine as this only made things much worse for me. You could try yoga or some other sort of relaxation as this was my blessing in disguise, it really helped me to relax.
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