My 12 year old son

Hi its a worry when it's your children

But yes it can

I have had ibs for 12 years it started with severe food poisoning where I was passing pure blood

I have flare ups that last for months with pain lower tummy your tummy everywhere

Maybe keep a diary as to everything your son eats to see if that triggers anything also try probiotic capsules with the highest cultures I take 50 billion strain. And it helps but everybody is different

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I hope your son feels better

Take care

Kev

Hi kiki,

Yes i have had these issues since early teens znd i missed school alot. Social services even got involved but nobody could find anything wrong with me and i was only diagnosed with ibs tears later.

My gp said that with ibs sufferers due to having a sensitive gut we are prone to getting more sick and suffering the worst symptoms and flare ups. A simple tummy bug for me can set me back days even up to an entire week.

And yes the pains far worse and excruciating. If i go anywhere abroad im bedridden for atleast the first week from food poisoning or an upset tummy with diarrhea and vimitting. Its a sistematic process which i have had to accept and get used to.

I feel for your 12 year old truly. Give him plenty of love and understanding.

Let us know how things fare.

Hi kiki75

   I had same problems in last teens but docs didnt find the cause of my problems till my 30th. I am now 50, Kevin is right keep a diary of what he eats and drinks. And take the tablets , you can get these from health food shops as well. I am afraid he will probly have flare up for the rest of his life but you can get them so they dont come often. I have them about 2 times a year now. But over the years I have to limit my wheat, dairy and many others. Also instant coffee and fizzy drinks are now completey off my diet. A lot of ibs suffers find glutton or lactose  are a problem  for them. Good luck with your son

I am an ibs sufferer and so is my 9 yr old son. My son's ibs flares up when he is stressed. He takes buscopan and paracetamol at the same time to resolve the pain. It doesn't always work on the first dose.

I agree if I get a stomach bug it's extremely painful. Your stomach feels like it's knotting and being pulled. Pain can be worse than child birth.

Complex fibre can be a major kick off. Quite often the healthier you eat the worse the symptoms are. If I eat a peach I am in agony for 48hrs.

A food diary is a good idea. Dairy can also be a factor for me.

I really hope his symptoms get better.

Thanks for your replies. It is good to know that others with IBS have more severe pain during a tummy bug. Initially when he started with tummy pain I kept a food diary and could not find anything that was a trigger. However when he has a flare up certain foods make him worse, pizza, fried food etc, junk basically! He has had buscopan and that didn't help much. There seems to be absolutely no pattern to his pain, the cause or what makes him better. I am just hoping it might be something he grows out of! My husband thinks that the diagnosis of IBS is rubbish and the doctors simply don't know what is wrong with him. He thinks the doctors should be doing more to find out what is wrong. I however think that the hospital have done as many tests, scans etc that can be done and there is simply nothing wrong that can be found.

Sometimes food diaries don't reveal everything. For example one of the foods that starts an IBS flare up for me is onion. I didn't realise that one particular brand of tomato ketchup contains onion, another doesn't. So on my food diary, if I simply entered tomato ketchup, rather than specifying the brand, I couldn't detect a patten. Same with pizza, so now I make my own topping. 

I also agree with other posts - IBS sufferers are genuinely more sensitive to pain. In many ways I felt the same way as your husband does and was sceptical about IBS.....until I had it!!!

hope your little boy feels better soon. It might be worthwhile asking your GP about the Low FODMAP diet. It is scientifically proven to reduce symptoms in the vast majority of IBS sufferers, but for a child, guidance from dietitian on following the diet is recommended  

Jan

I was diagnosed wth IBS in May last year.  It took three months and eight doctors to identify it.  All my tests revealed nothing.  When everything has been ruled out, IBS is diagnosed.  Only once you have experienced IBS yourself, or a relative has it do you realise that it is a real condition.

I take Buscopan and ibuprofen/paracetamol when I have a flare up. It helps to reduce the intensity of the pain but it doesn't get rid of it entirely.  I have dull pain all the time but usually I don't need medication.  I had a remission from June right up until before New Year and then I had an attack.  I had agonising stomach pain, nausea, gas, stomach rumbling and upper digestive tract pain all at once.

tummy bugs can lead to IBS they irritate the lining of the GI and symptoms can be as typical as IBS sometimes worst

Hi Kiki75, I can totally understand what you're saying about your son and bugs especially stomach ones, I suffer really terribly with stomach bugs and find my health doesn't settle until a week or so later, you need to get your son to take ginger or mint if he can tolerate it when these bugs start.  He needs to clear his stomach completely for 24 hours then once he's done that really SLOWLY re-introduce food and drink a little at a time, I have eventually got it down to 5/6 days now and by then I can eat properly but I keep my diet blander than the doctors say that way I keep my system free of bugs, the other thing to do is probiotic his diet with drinks or yogurts a week after he is better they'll build his tummy back up to full strength!  Good luck and may he have a bug free year!