IBS is getting worse and effecting my mental health

Posted , 6 users are following.

So I'm an 18 year old male and I've suffered from severe IBS for almost 3 years now, but it has got worse in the past few months and seems to get worse as each day goes by. I have cut all gluten out my diet and most dairy out my diet and try and do a reasonable amount of exercise each day however I still end up with stomach cramps and constant trips to the toilet; I'm talking 6 or 7 times a day usually with bad wind and either loose stalls or constipation. I find I feel I need to go urgently about 5-10 minutes after every meal, which is turning into a problem as it is stopping me from working and making me miss my bus everyday. I need to go about 3 or 4 times before I leave my house in the morning in order to feel partially empty and still I'm not.

This is stopping me from going out, I can't stay doing friends houses or overnight anywhere as it's too embarrassing and no one truly understands. I've tried different probiotics for a few months but neither had any effect on me at all.

I'm begging anyone to help me with a solution for this or some help! I just want to stop these constant trips to the loo and stomach cramps and feel human again, especially as I'm supposed to be starting university in September after putting it off for a year to try and resolve this!

This is really effecting my mental health and making me extemtly down because of it, and it's very difficult to talk about as not many people truly understand how it feels. I've been to the doctors countless times who don't really care and say 'just follow the diet your on and relax more', which isn't a permanent solution as it doesn't stop these toilet trips or pain. I've had a colonoscopy and it has ruled out Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis or any 'severe' conditions, which just leaves IBS.

Any help would be much appreciated! I really need this all to stop so I can finally go to university and live my life without all this anxiety and pain everyday, otherwise I don't know how I can go on with this.

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • Posted

    Have you tried the Fodmap diet and antispasmodics such as Buscopan?  Nurofen is also very good.  Try Imodium and bananas to reduce the trips to the loo.  You could ask about gut targeted hypnosis and see if you can get refered to an IBS clinic. 
  • Posted

    I have a very similar type of IBS to you and its one of the worst forms to have because you cant take any medication for it,  well you can but if you've taken laxatives for IBS in the morning and then you get a day were your IBS decides to alternate you're going to be in trouble if you're out of the house.  To cut the story short there's no stopping it once its started,  certain foods may help but you will never fully stop all the symptoms,  i know its not what you want to hear but i dont know what else to say to you.  I see these IBS topics all the time in my gmail and decide to not comment because there's no real answers.  However i will still tell you all the remadies i know of that might slightly help you out. 

    Activated charcoal Will draw toxins and gass away from the gut and turn them into a passable solid,  good for taking before meals if you get trapped wind.

    Pepermint coil capsules: Can help with soothing the bowel lining so the pains not as bad. 

    And then there's aloe vera juice which has the mostu sucess,  it basically works the same way as the pepermint but it can give you the Sh*ts if you drink to much. 

    As for foods there's a couple that i personally cannot have as you have similar symptoms to me you could try cutting them out to see how you get on,  i will list them all bellow.

    Carrots

    Pea's

    Onion (definetly a no no even small traces of it can have ibs sufforers creased in paint and it will go through you)

    onion rings

    Fats such as lard, olive oil, sun flower oil and even foods high in fats such as chicken off the carcass, chippy chips, tuna in oil, pizza and anything deep fryed.

    Energy drinks 

    Fizzy/ gassy drinks

    wheat bisks

    Prunes

    figs

    Brown bread

    Brown pasta

    Ice cream

    Beans (another bad one like onions)

    Garlic (also very bad like onion and beans)

    Off the top of my head thats all the triggers i can think of at the moment,  try cutting some of them foods out see if it help as its helped me alot compared to how bad things were when it was un controlled.

     

  • Posted

    I'm 21 and had to leave university due to the exact same problem. Although I have extremely bad nausea to which stops me from doing absolutely everything as I have a phobia of being sick. I feel so sorry for you Luke. It is such a horrible thing to go through. Since I left university all I do is sit at home and do nothing but worry about my symptoms. Worry if I'm going to be sick/worry that I'm going to be in the bathroom for three hours on the loo.

    I have lost 4 stone since mid last year so I know it's more than IBS for me. I went from 12 stone to 7. I'm yet to be seen by a professional at the hospital because like you my doctors do not care and just send me away with pills like codeine and tramadol.

    Here is what I do to try and control my symptoms:

    Small regular meals instead of the three main dishes. I find a lot of food really doesn't help your stomach.

    (If you smoke) Don't!! That will only make symptoms worse.

    STAY AWAY FROM ALCOHOL / while you have your symptoms.

    Don't eat late at night! Your not giving your body enough time to digest your food before you go to sleep.

    As for your diet - I agree with the person above, I stay away from all the things he has mentioned. ESPECIALLY SPICY FOOD/fast food!

  • Posted

    Hallo Luke

    My daughter has got IBS too One day she had to go to America which was work related .Normal she used to drink a glas of wine with her meals at night  but not when she was in A merica Then she noticed  that her stomacck was not sore anymore  When she came home  she drank an other glass of wine  and the pains came back again Then she tought about wine and grapes and started to look things up So what she came up with that it could be  Sulphonimids  I think she tought that this was the reason  in the wine 

    Wether it was  the spraying on the Grapes or the wine itself  I don,t know  So she stopped drinking wine all together  and no more sore stomack  And  it use to be really bad she even was operated  for her IBS 

    I am just wondering could the stuff Sulphonimids be  in other drinks or food too?????

    I hope that it will be any help  for you to

    Regards 

    Nellebelle

     

  • Posted

    I can't tolerate gluten or wheat, but there is now a good range of Free From foods.  It has cut my bloating and wind right down.  Perhaps something to add to the list of foods to avoid.  I hope you can find a diet that works for you, as you will love University life.

  • Posted

    I have formally been diagnosed with ibs, but have been having a lot of the symptoms and have had to cut things from my diet in the past due to migraines. Take my suggestions with a grain of salt!

    But, I find that things that are processed or contain a lot of fake ingredients affect me greatly. You may have already cut a lot of these things, but one ingredient in particular that I cannot have with my migraines is MSG (monitoring glutamate). It can also be found in ramen, seasoning, etc. It is found in Doritos and things like that. It is listed MOST of the time on ingredient list, but is sometimes hidden under other ingredients. For highly sensitive individuals the natural form of msg could also affect you. Specific things will break down to form msg in the body, but the body is made to process this natural form, not the synthetic one put in products.

    Keeping this out of my diet has helped me greatly with my migraines, and I believe with the development of my new ibs like symptoms.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.