IBS-C, suddenly IBS-A?

[traceace]

Have any of you ever dealt with a sudden shift in your IBS type?

I had a colonoscopy to make sure nothing is wrong with my colon and it's IBS as my doctor suspected. That was not last Thursday but the Thursday before. Since then, I've noticed that I've gone from having constipation issues to waking up every morning, having a normal BM movement (soft easy to pass) and then having maybe two bouts of D. Afterwards my stomach feels crampy and I have had some pain even when not going. I've also had pains right of my belly button which is making me nervous.

I have a lot of bowel obstruction HA, I will admit, and this is actually triggering me. I also have been very stressed/anxious all week for an unrelated reason. Do you think the stress is what is causing the sudden appearance of D? I am very new to the actual diagnosis, so I was hoping for some insight from IBS 'pros'.

[Monkey_Mo]

I have prominently IBS D+ and I always find that it is exacerbated by stress/anxiety so that could well be the cause. However I often find that it is a number of things that trigger mine and sometimes I don't even know why, I just get an attack seemingly out of nowhere.

As for cramps and pain, unfortunately I'd say that's pretty standard of IBS, when it's flared up. I rely heavily on Colpermin (peppermint oil capsules) to help with these symptoms and they're pretty effective most of the time. Other people have had success with Buscopan tablets or Mebeverine (unsure of trade name, Colofac I think?) so you could try either of those. But I don't believe you can interchange any of the above or use in conjuction with each other.

I think there is a helpful post at the top of this topic section, going into detail how IBS works and the symptoms.

It's unfortunately quite common and, I find it difficult to talk to friends/collegues about it as the nature of the problem is quite embarrassing! But I find this forum helpful as it makes me feel less lonely or down about it.

[PinkRoxy]

That can be normal. I have pain too when I go normally. Lately I have been having constipation issues I hate it as it makes me look quite fat around my tummy. But its because Im full and quite swollen.

I don't know if it happens to you but I do find that if I take a lot of fibre supplements and/or foods I tend to get a lot of pain before I need to go and when I go. It helps keep me regular at times but the pains are like spasms and sharp shooting pains and my lower back is really painful like I have a bad period.

I was just wondering if you are finding that is happening to you because if you are taking a lot of fibre stuff whether its medication or foods or drinks then you may have the same effect as I do.

[traceace]

I have prominently IBS D+ and I always find that it is exacerbated by stress/anxiety so that could well be the cause. However I often find that it is a number of things that trigger mine and sometimes I don't even know why, I just get an attack seemingly out of nowhere.

As for cramps and pain, unfortunately I'd say that's pretty standard of IBS, when it's flared up. I rely heavily on Colpermin (peppermint oil capsules) to help with these symptoms and they're pretty effective most of the time. Other people have had success with Buscopan tablets or Mebeverine (unsure of trade name, Colofac I think?) so you could try either of those. But I don't believe you can interchange any of the above or use in conjuction with each other.

I think there is a helpful post at the top of this topic section, going into detail how IBS works and the symptoms.

It's unfortunately quite common and, I find it difficult to talk to friends/collegues about it as the nature of the problem is quite embarrassing! But I find this forum helpful as it makes me feel less lonely or down about it.

I'm seeing my GI doctor on Wednesday so I'll ask him about the different kind of meds I can take. Thank you for the tips. And pointing out that post, I can't believe I missed that.

I'm still struggling to figure it all out, too. The random pains are terrible for my anxiety, it's hard to accept that there's no cause but my bowels being stupid.

---------- Post added at 06:00 ---------- Previous post was at 05:55 ----------

That can be normal. I have pain too when I go normally. Lately I have been having constipation issues I hate it as it makes me look quite fat around my tummy. But its because Im full and quite swollen.

I don't know if it happens to you but I do find that if I take a lot of fibre supplements and/or foods I tend to get a lot of pain before I need to go and when I go. It helps keep me regular at times but the pains are like spasms and sharp shooting pains and my lower back is really painful like I have a bad period.

I was just wondering if you are finding that is happening to you because if you are taking a lot of fibre stuff whether its medication or foods or drinks then you may have the same effect as I do.

I don't really know how fiber is yet with my stomach. I was fine on it (I had been taking it for a week or two) before colonoscopy after I have been having a lot of D. So I'm not sure if it's from stress or my intestines are still messed up from what it went through.

I hope you feel better. This illness is awful.

[Monkey_Mo]

After about 7 years I'm only just starting to understand my IBS and it still takes me by suprise many times, also I've found that it can suddenly 'change' for no apparent reason e.g. I used to be able to have a tea or coffee with breakfast, before I left for work and not have a problem; but then out of the blue, it started to exacerbate things and I found that 10 mins into my commute (usually about 35-40 mins) I would be needing to 'go' and have to really use all my strength and will to not have an accident in the car so I had to alter my routine so I didn't find myself in that situation anymore.

It has definitely played a part in triggering quite noticeable anxiety within myself and that in itself now has become a problem; it's like the chicken and the egg sometimes, it's hard to know if the IBS caused/es anxiety or whether anxiety causes/sets off the IBS.

Hope it goes well with your doctor tommorrow x

I'm hoping by sharing the above it's not offputting, as I know how scary a new 'condition' can be but as I'm sure you will find on this forum, sharing our experiences helps us to feel less isolated.