wind and diarrhoea. Please help

[susie1]

This may be TMI but please can anyone tell me - when you have IBS diarrhoea do you get the cramping followed by diarrhoea that can be a combination of diarrhoea and wind. this is happening so much at the moment. is it common with IBS? trying to make sense of everything and getting nowhere.

[tan235]

I haven't officially been diagnosed with IBS but this is what prompted my visit to the Dr ... although I would have diaherroa then straight after constipation - talk about weird.

How long has it lasted?
They say anything longer than 3 weeks prompts a visit and any blood an urgent visit.
Mine has been lasting 2 months! Constipation though ... sorry TMI - I"m just so happy to find a site where you can talk about poop!

[debs71]

Hello,

Yes, you do. It is called IBS-A. (alternating IBS) Some people have IBS-C (just constipation) Some IBS-D (diarrhoea) Some both (A)

Cramping is the bowel working on overdrive. It figures therefore that diarhoea follows. Gas builds up with all of this going on, hence the wind.

The symptoms can be anything of the following: abdominal cramping, low pelvic pain, left or right side cramping/nagging pains, nausea, constipation and/or diarhoea, pan under ribs (usually left sided), wind - belching/passing wind frequently, abdominal bloating, pain up the back passage (proctalgia fugax).....and the list goes on. People also freak out about blood (often when wiping) but again, this is not unheard of with IBS. Constipation and straining causes either a small anal tear (so you bleed a little) or hemorrhoids (internal or external) which can bleed. Not a big deal, and no need to see the doctor about. Over the counter meds can help/sort this. From what I know, the only blood that a doctor needs to know about is fresh blood in stool/the toilet bowl when pooing, associated with a change in poo appearance - like thick, black/tarry looking poos.

Constipation and then changing to loose stools is not strange at all when it comes to IBS. It is often the status quo. I have mostly constipation, but have also had loose, soft, gooey poo that keeps on coming. The bowel can go from sluggish to sped up with no rhyme or reason, but stress and anxiety is a classic kick starter of it. I think that focusing or worrying about BC has to be thought about rationally - we are anxious people, anxious about basically everything when we are in a peak of anxiety. IBS is triggered (along with other things like certain foods) predominantly by ANXIETY. What are the chances that your symptoms are totally unrelated to your anxiety, and are actually something serious??

There are several sites where you can read up about IBS, to try to put your concerns into perspective. One of my favourite sites for anxiety is calmclinic.com. It is an amazing website for anxiety/mental health sufferers and also talks about all of the associated physical ailments. You will not believe just how many there are, and it explains all of them in relation to/how they are driven by anxiety.

This is the IBS page: http://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/symptoms/ibs

[susie1]

Thank you for your replies. I have just visited that website and done the anxiety test. I scored 59 and the 'you don't handle stress well and are always asking 'what if?' is spot on. The only way I can describe my bowel motions is like a tomato ketchup squeezy bottle when it's nearly empty. This is obviously too much info and a lovely analogy but it's pretty accurate . Can't believe I'm describing this to strangers(but then I wouldn't discuss it over coffee with friends!)Does that point to constipation / diarrhoea? Debs - thankyou so much for your patience with me.I really am trying to keep calm but sometimes it just gets too much

[debs71]

No worries at all.

IBS is scary when you are not sure what is going on, and/or haven't much experience of it. When I first got the left side nagging pain in 2001, it really freaked me out. It was only when I saw my GP and she felt that my colon was in spasm, that I calmed down a bit. She was not worried at all and just sent me off with some Fybogel and anti-spasmodic meds.

What you describe about your poos could be either C or D, but I personally tend to not focus on exactly what it is, suffice to say it is probably IBS.

I would though advise anyone who thinks it may be to just get it confirmed by their doctor first. Most doctors just put together your collective symptoms and make a diagnosis that way, but there is a specific test these days apparently. Mine was easily diagnosed as I had the pain from the spastic colon (which sent me to my GP) but a good doctor will suss out IBS from what you tell them.

I hope you feel better soon.x:hugs: