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Need some advice on IBS symptoms please

Posted , 3 users are following.

caz19600
caz19600

Hi there,

I'm a long term anxiety sufferer which over the years has switched between general and health anxiety.

It's for this reason i'm trying to be logical and not immediately panic, but cutting out googling symptoms has left me unsure. Apologies now for the detail but as an IBS forum i'm sure you've heard it all.

It has been suggested by doctors that i could have IBS triggered by my anxiety but not, to my knowledge, advised by the doctor as an official diagnosis. I've been prescribed to take fibre gel in the past. I had a barrium enema years ago for anal pain which didn't show anything of concern, so i was advised it to be proctalgia fugax. The pain i get feels like its right in the center of my anus, sharp sometimes radiating to my lower tummy/groin and usually lasts a few seconds and goes just as quick.

I use to get it maybe once every other month with no clear triggers. I seem to get it more often now (maybe once or twice a month) and when i do i get a sudden urge to go, sometimes hard painful stools, sometimes soft/pebble like (though i've never had what i'd class as consistent bowel habbits), sometimes a bloated feeling and in the last several months mucus passed a little while after a bowel movement...this isn't always but feels like i've had this more recently than i can recall. I seem to get alot of flatuence when this happens too.

It's the mucus that worries me most. Tried keeping a food diary but haven't really been able to identify a trigger yet.

I guess what i'm wanting here is advice on whether these symptoms sound normal in line with IBS and based on experience what foods may be causing the flare ups (if any). My stress levels in terms of anxiety tend to be hit/miss but with todays 'mucus-ee' episode i've been ok.

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read and reply.

1 like, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • dom0323
    dom0323 caz19600

    Posted

    Food map diet you need to see a nutritionist. All IBS is different for everyone. Make list on what you eat and if you feel hurt or bloating scratch that off thats a trigger watch how much fiber you eat depends if you have IBS-D or IBS-C. Flaxseed is good to use here and there. Get a drink called Probiotics it's a smoothie that you can drink a cup a day reason why you need good Probiotics in ur system to balance out the bad ones. They also make pill in it but talk tonur doctor about it first.  Yopliat yogurt is good the light kind ..I'm still new to. But doctor told me I have IBS-C but my nutritionist feels I have Gastroparesis so I'm waiting for results.  But I hope that helps and others reply to with thier advice. 

  • pippa58442
    pippa58442 caz19600

    Posted

    Sometimes IBS is not triggered by food; my IBS is only triggered by stress and I can eat what I want. My pain, when it flares up, is lower abdominal and moves all over my stomach. Constipation is my usual trouble, but I can get diarrhoea now and again with stress.  

    Maybe the anal pain is due to hard bowel movements, a haemorrhoid or fissure which can result from straining from constipation.  I haven't heard of this type of pain with IBS, but everyone is different. Since Proctalgia fugax has also been mentioned, I would see a different gastroenterologist since you don't have a clear diagnosis.

    If you do in the end get a diagnosis of IBS, mucus and bloating is very common with this condition so I wouldn't worry about that.

     

  • caz19600
    caz19600

    Posted

    Thank you Dom and Pippa for taking the time to reply, i really appreciate it.

    I'll book in with my doctor again to discuss it further but will continue keeping a food diary in the meantime to see i can work out if the triggers are food or stress related. Xx

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