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IBS getting worse

Posted , 9 users are following.

emma86470
emma86470

I'd really appreciate some advice on the following.

I was diagnosed with pain predominant IBS just over a year ago at the age of 52. I had had occasional episodes of 'nervous diarrhoea' in my late teens and twenties, then decades without any such problems. My current experience is really different, it's a deep pain like when you burn yourself on the iron, and extremely localised in one place.

When I was diagnosed the pain was waking me up at night and I was finding that in order to pass wind I had to change position, as if it were getting trapped in one place.

I was prescribed various painkillers and antispasmodics. The painkillers allow me to keep my job, though I cannot have any sort of social life or leisure activity, I basically just down my pills, go to work, stagger home, go to bed, and I only go out anywhere else if I have to, because of the fatigue and pain.

I am noticing that despite changing my diet and despite all the painkillers the attacks are closer together and increasingly more painful. I barely have a day of respite. When I first went to the doctor about it, it was a very slight pain that I only noticed when bending to the left. Now it is really hard to concentrate on anything else. I find it really hard to connect the pain I am feeling with the descriptions of cramping and spasms typical of IBS.

I've had scans, X-rays, etc to rule out cancer, and at the time all these picked up was a small amount of diverticulosis.

All I can say is that it is absolutely nothing whatsoever like the 'nervous diarrhoea' episodes of my youth and that the pain feels worse--not just in the sense of 'more painful' but of 'differently painful' as in a much deeper, sharper pain as if I'd eaten a sharp object or something were being stabbed deeply into me. I can feel no lumps or anything else.

It's really hard to explain it in words, but I wondered whether this quality of pain was typical of IBS. Is it normal for IBS to get slowly but inexorably worse? Why does it feel so different, and in a different place, from diarrhoeacramps? Why does wind get trapped until I shift position, and why does the pain go away (completely and instantly) when I manually lift my lower abdomen upwards?

If anyone can relate to this, I'd be very grateful.

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • marsh23433
    marsh23433 emma86470

    Posted

    Hi Emma/these problems that you have relates to ibs.Ibs is an anxiety problem which has no cure.You get stomach problems after you have eaten and feel better after you have had a poo.the antispasmodic tablets will help you get rid of your stomach problems.Have a look at fodmap which tells you what you can eat and what you cannot eat.You can get times when you may get diarrhoea and constipation all at the same times/.Can i suggest that on the internet there is a web page called the ibs network.which is very good.I am 66 male and when i started this problem i was getting what you are getting now.,so i started to investigate and looked about fodmaps,and tried to see what i could eat.What painkillers have you got from your doctor.

  • emma55259
    emma55259 emma86470

    Posted

    I feel my symptoms are very similar to yours . My pain started 5 years ago and like yourself it was minimal pain at that time but now, 5 years later, I live in constant agony and discomfort. I can't work and spend all day in my bed ! I have to change position too to past wind and when I go to the toilet! I suffer chronic back pain . My entire back is in spasm but most of the pain is from my lower back and when I get my husband to put alot of pressure on my lower back its helps move things and makes me go to the toilet . I cant explain it either. I take antispasmodics too to help relax my gut and bowel but it never fully takes my symptoms away. I am terrified that this will be me for the rest of my life , They need to treat IBS more serious as it is so debilitating . I honestly feel because it's not a physical illness that people can see they dont understand what we all suffer through .

  • pippa58442
    pippa58442 emma86470

    Posted

    IBS is very unpredictable and can get better or worse over time. New symptoms can appear in response to stress or diet. The only thing I can think of is something new you have eaten which is causing symptoms or stress. Everyone has their own IBS. My IBS has got better with time. Perhaps ask your doctor for a different antispasmodic or a higher dose.

  • amandahc
    amandahc emma86470

    Posted

    I am so sorry that you are having such a bad time with this. But, delighted you are following it through with your doctors. If you are really worried about cancer then ask them if they will consider you for any screening tests they may be running. I did two of these, several years apart where you send them stool samples on little sticks over a period of time and they monitor you. I first saw a specialist when I was about 19 and he told me to '60's and it got progressively worse. I have colofac which I take if I feel a spasm coming on they have worked for me, for about the last twenty or so year,, I do not take them all the time. Now in my middle seventies I find I am developing food allergies which cause almost instant diarrhoea , onions. mushrooms, chocolate to name but a few! However the biggest culprit for any onset of a period of IBS is bread. Not immediately, but if I eat it regularly after a few weeks I have terrific bouts if IBS and once irritated my colon takes ages to calm down. I too had all the tests including cameras and was declared perfectly fine. My mother had this problem and we as a family have lots of different allergies. Whether this is related I do not know. Stress can set me off but as I said stopping all breads especially brown bread, keeps the gas and IBS bouts down to occasional times not regularly. I writhed in agony and contemplated going to casualty before I discovered the colafac, works for me not for others I know. This problem is not really understood by doctors I think. When I was young I got all the wrong advice about eating more vegetables etc and bran of all things!! All gas producers.. I do still eat everything , regardless but in small quantities.,, except for the dreaded bread!! I am not gluten intolerant because I can eat all other products with flour,, so it must be the yeast. I gave up trying to fathom it and now just see what suits me.. Good luck and know that when you do find your own diet solution life will be a lot better.

    Incidentally to put it rudely when I get the first symptons I feel pressure on the anus and without colofac that pressure increases to such a terrible pain, as if there is an enormous balloon of gas waiting to be passed and I feel totally locked down.

    • maria47829
      maria47829 amandahc

      Posted

      What are some of the things you can tolerate? I'm a huge bread person and your post is making me wonder if I should back off some.

  • emma86470
    emma86470

    Posted

    Thanks so much to everyone who has responded. I think if it were cancer I'd be dying by now. But I am wondering whether it could be diverticulitis instead of IBS that keeps flaring up and down. I was thinking about how far the spasmodic paralysis of my colon could explain why I get the pain. Given that I don't ever have diarrhoea or notable constipation it's just really hard to square my symptoms with the IBS, but I do have pains in my muscles and extreme fatigue. It is getting harder and harder to work but when I am not stressed out it does seem to improve.

    • pippa58442
      pippa58442 emma86470

      Posted

      Remember, you have been diagnosed with pain predominant IBS which means that pain is your main symptom and bowel habit change is less of s feature. This is a valid explanation for not having much bowel habit disturbance. You were diagnosed by a doctor who is the expert, so try to accept and trust what you have been told. Ir is very common to doubt your diagnosis.

  • wandering_soul
    wandering_soul emma86470

    Posted

    I am 74 years old and have had IBS for a few years. To this has been added GERD...which brings with it a whole new set of pain and disturbances. I have had a full medical workup and was told i have to just learn to live with what I have. I take the meds available and have gone full FodMop.... i haven't had any dairy or wheat products in months. I do feel somewhat better but not cured. Everyday is a tight rope walk, especially afternoons. I spill this tale of woe because i am sure others are in the same boat. I only add it to tell those interested that this is a condition that one can live with and one should never despair.

    Be bLessed and good luck

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