Someone help, I was told I have a spastic colon (ibs) are these normal symptoms?

Posted , 3 users are following.

So about 3 months ago I ended up getting a random sharp pain in my lower left abdomen, didn’t think anything of it until later that night I went out for a birthday party and ended up having a really upset stomach and diarrhea. Symptoms persisted so I went and seen my GP and was told just a stomach bug, had a follow up with no changes so I got blood work, urine, and stool tests done everything came back good. Symptoms getting worse as the weeks went by, I had persistent pain in my lower left abdomen, slight change in stool so I went to the emergency room and had a CT scan done, blood work again, and X-rays with all results coming back clear. They didn’t find anything wrong with me but suggested I go see a GI doctor. Scheduled an appt and the first thing doctor told me is I have ibs and prescribed me bentyl, with my symptoms not getting any better and having trouble sleeping at night now because the pain would wake me up in the middle of the night I went and seen another GI, had an colonoscopy done and it came back clear. He took tissue sample for biopsy but haven’t gotten the results back. He diagnosed me with a spastic colon, told me to keep taking the bentyl because it will help. I feel pretty good during the day but it’s at night where my symptoms get worse, I wake up in the middle of the night with this pain in my lower left abdomen, it’s like someone is squeezing my colon or as if I have a knot there that isn’t relieved no matter what I do. Can anyone relate to this? 

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi, spastic colon IBS, the symptoms you describe are classic IBS, IBS has many symptoms, and can be quite severe.
    • Posted

      Thanks for the reply, everyone keeps telling me ibs shouldn’t be waking me up in the middle of the night, and if I had ibs I should have bowel troubles.  Diarrhea, constipation

      Right now I’m not having any bowel troubles, just the pain. 

    • Posted

      Sometimes I get bowel habit change and pain. Other times this switches to pain only. Occasionally, I just get bowel habit change. Last year I got severe diarrhoea with my flare up but no other symptoms  Every flare up and person is different.  Don’t worry about this.  At the start of your symptoms, you had slight bowel habit change which is a sign of IBS along with your other symptoms.  Concentrate on what your doctor told you.  I had a lot of pain and bowel habit change to start with, but now this had settled down.  Symptoms commonly come and then go into remission.  They can also be constant.
  • Posted

    Sounds like classic IBS symptoms which vary from person to person..  Trust your doctor, follow his advice and persevere with the Bentyl.  If Bentyl doesn’t help, ask for a different antispasmodic.  There are many on the market and you may have to try several. I got IBS relief on my second antispasmodic.  Mebeverine made me ill and didn’t help any of my symptoms but Buscopan helped me with no side effects. IBS symptoms can wake you from sleep; mine did. I have had a spasming and squeezing feeling in my colon too.  All your symptoms are normal for IBS. 
    • Posted

      Thanks for the reply, that was very helpful.  It’s a good feeling to know that this is pretty common, although I would rather not have this and wouldn’t wish it upon anyone else lol
    • Posted

      It is a horrible condition but luckily my IBS is in remission just now even after a three days of stress from losing gloves I had just bought and I never got to wear.
  • Posted

    Hi, you can try enteric coated peppermint capsules, many people use them for digestive cramps and spasms, they are anti spasmodic.

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.