Bowel question

[Hypo]

Ok, so I have always had IBS. A mix between D and C, but mostly C.

However, for the last three weeks this has been happening:

I don't go to the toilet for a week as I'm constipated. I get a stomach ache and cramps then go to the toilet once or twice and have loose stools. Cramps go.

Then I don't go for a week again and it repeats.

I am of course worried that I might have bowel cancer. I have no blood and once I have had a um good clear out (excuse my vulgarity) I just don't go for a week.

I know loose stools is a symptom of bowel cancer but I don't know if they mean daily, lots of times a day or simply when you need a toilet and I'm not going to google it.

I am thinking of taking a medication so I don't leave it a week until I go to the toilet and see if this stop it happening. Does that sound like a good idea or do I need to see a GP straight away?

[popejoan]

You do not need to see a Gp straight away, no.

Have you tried probiotics? They help a lot. About your bowels, anxiety is causing it. I had loose stools, diarrhea, constipation, diarrhea like cramps, even blood in my stool (I'm still 100% sure I saw blood clots in my stool) and had iron deficiency. OFCOURSE I convinced myself I had bowel cancer. Waited for around 2 months to have a colonoscopy. They found nothing at all. They even gave me a report back with pictures of my photogenic bowels. I don't even look at them for reassurance anymore.
I still have loose stools and cramps though because I still have Ha and severe anxiety.

[anthrokid]

Hypo, do you have any food intolerance? It could just be that your body doesn't like a type of food you've been eating.

[debs71]

I do sympathise, Hypo.

I agree with popejoan. There are other symptoms that are more indicative of something serious bowel wise.

Like you, I also suffer from alternating IBS - I swing between constipation and diarrhoea, though not really bad diarrhoea, just a sense of urgency and soft, gooey stool (sorry for TMI!)...like you, I mostly suffer constipation.

The past three weeks or so, my IBS has been a nightmare. Just as you describe, I have gone from being constipated for days on end, only to have a really uncomfortable, loose bowel movement and cramping, belching, etc, so badly. Now I am back to constipation again. I also worry like hell that something serious may be happening, but then I hear and read of so many other IBS sufferers with similar issues, that I just have to come back to it being the annoyance that is IBS.

I am not sure what to advise actually. As far as taking something to help you go to the loo, based on purely my own experience, I would be a bit wary. About a month or so ago, I was so uncomfortably constipated and bloated that I finally resorted to taking a laxative called Dulcolax Pico liquid. It was a very bad decision, as I had profuse diarrhoea for hours on end and horrendous cramps that had me doubled up all night. Never again! I think that IBS is such a tenuous condition that it is very easy to tip things too far. I just try now to eat as well as I can and keep a balance between enough fibre but not too much. I also avoid common trigger foods as much as possible and drink tons of water which I do find helps the constipation. Exercise also helps move the bowels along in the right direction!

As far as the doctor goes, well it may be worth a go. I do fear that you may get the normal 'Oh, it is just your IBS, I'm afraid' spiel that we often get, but you never know.

Good luck!

[swgrl09]

I deal with the constipation game frequently too ... it's not fun. I agree with the suggestion of getting exercise ... that seems to help for me, and my doctor also suggested it. Sometimes I use Miralax, it's gentler than some of the other laxatives ... it isn't really a laxative but just helps keep you moving.

I also have used fiber supplements in the past ... it's supposed to bulk up your stools.

In the end, my bowels work the best when I exercise regularly and eat a lot of fiber, but I am not very good at staying consistent with that. You'd think I'd learn.

If it helps, when my mom had a tumor in her colon she had diarrhea non-stop every day. I don't know if that is always the case, but it wasn't a constipation thing for her.