I feel frustrated with ibs

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I feel frustrated with ibs

by Louise Hunter
(Glasgow area)

I have been recently been told that i have ibs after 3 years of going back and forth to the doctor and even the hospital.The doctor thought that it was my kidneys so i got treated for them and then at the end i still was in pain! The pain never went away so i just learned to work with it that was up until 5 weeks ago when i was out for a friends birthday i knew that i needed the toilet and i really needed to go, i was complaining of a sore left side and had bad spasams that never seemed to go away. On the day that i was going to work i collasped and ended up getting rushed into hospital, at this point they were still trying to figure out what it was, i got all tests done while i was at hospital, they discharged me and sent me home with co-codamol. I still had the pains the next day and went to the doc and this was when i was told. I didn't know much about ibs the doctor wasn't much help either she just said to me to eat a plain diet! All the while i had to get my fiancee to phone in sick for me, which my absence rate is already terrible! i was stressed about that as well so my doctor gave me a line off for a week, after that week i still wasn't right so i took another week off, my work were not very supportive with me either they wanted me to see their occupational therapist they kept on bugging me all the time that my doctor told me to try and take things easy well that was easier said than done! The week i was due back at work i ended up getting rushed into hospital again! this time they gave me more tablets and prescription for lactulose as i had been consiptated for weeks! So i had a 2 weeks off this time.I went back to work on tuesday there and i was not great as my mebeverine that i had been taking for the spasams had ran out so i was cold turkey for my first day back, this put me in a lot of pain and up and down to the toliet probably about 5-6 times on the one day!Got the tablets after i finished work and took them the next day for work and i was ok still up and down to the toilet but i could cope with it, then my friend who is training to be a nurse wanted to take me out after work for a 4 mile walk round the park near were i stay. I said to her this wasn't such a good idea as i am still not right but the way she made me feel was that it was all in my head and that i am fine, she said that she has ibs as well and that she can go weeks without going and when she does she is in soooo much pain. This really annoys me when people say this, i think that half of the people that i have spoke to that have stopped me half sentence saying that they have it as well probably have diognosed themselves! this bugs me they have no idea how i feel and that each day is a struggle with food and being scared because i don't know how my body is going to take it! untill they can say this has happened to them then thats when i will listen! My friend took me for a that walk and it has made me sicker than i ever thought possible! i went into work the next day and ended up getting sent home due to really bad spasams again and ended up in the toilet at work for half and hour and shaking! Even my section leader said that i have came back to soon which i knew myself but because of them i had to come back cause i knew that i wouldn't get piece otherwise. i asked my section leader before i got sent home if i could get a hoilday put in for me for the next day as i am still not right and i don't want to be marked as absent, i never got a phone call which she said that she would get my boss to phone me but he never did so i phoned and i got another manager and she said that she will get it sorted don't know if they did, was due back yesterday and could not move out of bed had to get my fiancee to lift me out of bed and take me to the toliet the spasams were really bad badder than i have ever had them! i could not walk with out being in so much pain, i know this is not normal and the docs are useless and i really do feel all alone, don't know if i should take more time off work arghghhhh!!!! if i do take more time off then i will be in soooo much trouble! people please help!!!

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I feel frustrated with ibs

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Aug 16, 2010

My life is hell
by: Anonymous

I have it, though the doctor doesn't help much, the pain is different from how they describe ibs should be, my bowel movements aren't irregulaur there's just lot's of pain.

I have to plan my day around it, every movement I make, I can't get up or lie down fast, can't lie on my side. I can't bend my middle, not just because of the bloating but the pain, which is like a ripping sensation. So I don't know if that is ibs it seems like something a lot worse, my quality of life is awful, I'm 20, had this for 3 years. My friends and family don't understand...they treat it like it's a stomach ache or period pain, look, I can handle period pain...but not ibs pain.

A friend said to me she had ibs, though she moves so freely, and is a bit of a busy body, and gets frustrated when she arranges outings and I back out. She doesn't understand because she doesn't have it!!!!

I want to die!!!

Apr 27, 2010

Have you tried fasting and a food diary?
by: Rick

Hi Louise,
Sorry to hear you are going through so much pain and stress with this issue.
I appreciate I might be 'stating the bleedin obvious' here, but have you made any attempts to try to log which foods upset you? I know it sounds like a chore, but keeping a food diary can really help you to establish which foods to stay away from, and it doesn't take long to build up a list of good and bad foods.
Also, have you considered fasting for a day or two? I personally find that when my IBS is giving me major problems, if I fast for about 36 hours - only sipping filtered water, it's like hitting the reset button and the IBS problems go away for a short while. Fasting is actually quite easy to do once you get past the first 6 hours. Then afterwards, if I only eat the things that I know won't trigger the IBS, things will settle down nicely.

Fasting is also a good way to start off an elimination diet where after a fast you only eat one or two kinds of food for a day and see how you react. If you get a reaction, you keep changing the food types until you no longer react, at which point you add a third food for a day - and so on. It's not a great deal of fun to do, but you only need to do it once and afterwards you should have a really good idea of what you can eat without triggering IBS.

For legal reasons, I have to state that you should consult your doctor before undertaking any major new diet regime, although personally I find with these things, common sense should usually prevail.

Good luck with it all.

Regards
Rick
From IBS-Life,com

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Apr 27, 2010
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Submitted by: Rick

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Hi Louise, Sorry to hear you are going through so much pain and stress with this issue. I appreciate I might be 'stating the bleedin obvious' here, but have you made any attempts to try to log which foods upset you? I know it sounds like a chore, but keeping a food diary can really help you to establish which foods to stay away from, and it doesn't take long to build up a list of good and bad foods. Also, have you considered fasting for a day or two? I personally find that when my IBS is giving me major problems, if I fast for about 36 hours - only sipping filtered water, it's like hitting the reset button and the IBS problems go away for a short while. Fasting is actually quite easy to do once you get past the first 6 hours. Then afterwards, if I only eat the things that I know won't trigger the IBS, things will settle down nicely. Fasting is also a good way to start off an elimination diet where after a fast you only eat one or two kinds of food for a day and see how you react. If you get a reaction, you keep changing the food types until you no longer react, at which point you add a third food for a day - and so on. It's not a great deal of fun to do, but you only need to do it once and afterwards you should have a really good idea of what you can eat without triggering IBS. For legal reasons, I have to state that you should consult your doctor before undertaking any major new diet regime, although personally I find with these things, common sense should usually prevail. Good luck with it all. Regards Rick From IBS-Life,com

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Apr 26, 2010

I am very sorry
by: Siân@IBS-Life

This is extreme and debilitating IBS. Some people do not suffer it as badly, but I know that when it is severe, it really is unbearable.

As you have had all the tests, now it is a case of trying to help yourself, which is really what Rick and I do. We try everything to see if it works and this has been going on for many years.
I have had people say it is 'all in my head' - I would say it is all in my bowels, although stress certainly makes it worse and you are stressing about absenteeism from work. The more you stress, I find, the worse IBS gets, and I know employers are rarely sympathetic to any absenteeism.
Has your GP suggested you take anything for anxiety - approaching the IBS in that way? I can't advise it, because these kind of drugs are addictive, but I've been on them for years. I remember the first time I took a Diazepam, and was amazed at the calmness. Of course, that effect wears off in time, although I refuse to take more.

I've been prescribed 15 mg Codeine Phosphate for pain and diarrhea, Mebeverine, Diazepam (2 x 4 mgs per day) and that is only what I am prescribed. I take Slippery Elm Food before bed and when I can afford it I take Peppermint Oil capsules because many people have reported excellent results, and I have spent weeks with a hot water bottle literally clamped to my stomach.

I am extremely sorry I cannot be of more help. :(

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Apr 26, 2010
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Submitted by: Siân@IBS-Life

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This is extreme and debilitating IBS. Some people do not suffer it as badly, but I know that when it is severe, it really is unbearable. As you have had all the tests, now it is a case of trying to help yourself, which is really what Rick and I do. We try everything to see if it works and this has been going on for many years. I have had people say it is 'all in my head' - I would say it is all in my bowels, although stress certainly makes it worse and you are stressing about absenteeism from work. The more you stress, I find, the worse IBS gets, and I know employers are rarely sympathetic to any absenteeism. Has your GP suggested you take anything for anxiety - approaching the IBS in that way? I can't advise it, because these kind of drugs are addictive, but I've been on them for years. I remember the first time I took a Diazepam, and was amazed at the calmness. Of course, that effect wears off in time, although I refuse to take more. I've been prescribed 15 mg Codeine Phosphate for pain and diarrhea, Mebeverine, Diazepam (2 x 4 mgs per day) and that is only what I am prescribed. I take Slippery Elm Food before bed and when I can afford it I take Peppermint Oil capsules because many people have reported excellent results, and I have spent weeks with a hot water bottle literally clamped to my stomach. I am extremely sorry I cannot be of more help. :(

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I feel frustrated with ibs

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I feel frustrated with ibs