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alexm
21-02-08, 19:58
Hi guys.

Long time since i have posted, sorry. I have a long suffering unresolved complaint that i need some help with.

Its been going on for a good 5 years and has never got any better... let me explain.

When i was 15-18 i was diagnosed with IBS. is was extreamly dehabilitating as other sufferers know. anyway with getting older and maturing i seemed to grow out of this along with the help of some peppermint essance tablets from the doc's.

For the past X years (lost count but will say 5, im now 28) i have had a 'feeling' in my right lower abdomon. i cant really describe it as a pain, its more of an uncomfertable feeling that shouldnt be there. sometimes this 'feeling' can get worse or sometimes i dont really notice it as my mind is occupied by work or whatever, but 99% of the time its there.

I cant pin it to any route cause... tried diet change, cutting out tea and coffee, alcohol etc. what i have noticed is in extream stress it does get worse. for example, last november i went on holiday with the girlfriend (our first time) after a few days the 'feeling' got worse untill i felt priettly much like i should be bed ridden, or i had no motivation to go out etc, got my health anxiety panic on about having to go to forign hospital etc..vicous circle. Its seemed to spread to the rest of my stomac and felt like mild cramp, bloating etc. upon returning home after a day it went back to the normal feeling as if my stress was amplyfying it and was all in my head. (i dont like being away too long from home.. i like my home comforts so this could have been a stress factor)

as im sat typing this i can feel it, its like from the right hand side of my belly button all the way round to my spine at the back. feels 'inflated' 'tender' 'bloated' sometimes like i just need to burp and maybe that would help. the latter feelings in my head i think because if i touch and manipulate my stomac it dosnt hurt

When eating my tea and i have it bad i sometimes feel very slightly sick, like i cant eat no more etc. but i dont ever have a loss of appetite

one thing i have also noticed (though this goes back to my bad IBS days) is that if i havent had a regular bowel movement ie if im delayed by a day or two my stools sometimes have like a strange translucent white coating, i dont mean a compleat coating is more of just bits, almost like a marble effect. (sorry for the minging descriptions) i had kind of put this down to a possible mucus IBS thing but not sure since it only looks similar.

i also find if i ly in bed on my left side its uncomfertable as it seems to amplify the feelings.

Obviously i have been to different doctors a number of times and explained all this. some have given me zantac, some have said its the way i sit at my desk (i dont sit at a desk anymore) others that is muscle pain. most recently one said it could be a symptom of IBS. All the doctors pysically examind me and said there is nothing amiss there and there is "nothing really to go wrong there"

so im really at a loss... just wondered if anyone can relate to all this?! maybe someone has same symptoms.... just seems like im stuck feeling like this forever.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post... i really appreciate it.

Alex:yesyes:

aurora
22-02-08, 05:36
Hi Alex,

I am struggling with IBS type symptoms myself at the moment, but have not been formally diagnosed with it, so I know how it feels to wonder about whether it is "just" IBS or something else. If I were in your situation, I think I would definitely go back to the Dr. and request an ultrasound to see what's going on in there, even if they don't seem to think you need one. Maybe they will realize that you need one just for peace of mind. Hope things work out for you!

jill
22-02-08, 09:58
Hi Alex,

I can understand your concerns, but looking at what you have written, the triggers when you notice your pain more or when it gets worse, it seems to me to be ibs, anxiety related.

It known that STRESS, is a very big trigger for IBS, also, the food you eat. You say you changed your eating habbits for awhile, manybe you need a full healty diet change. This has to be done slowly and the benfits of this can take time to be noticed and done over a long period of time, the healthy eating has to be for the rest of your life, if this is whats causing your problem. For us all, healthy eating IS the way to go, buuuttt, doing it, changing it, can be dame hard, ohh we do like to eat and drink rubbish. This is one thing I am finding very hard to do, to get my head round and make the change, yet I know full well that in the long run, I will benfit from it.

Are you still on healthy eating? if so, it still maybe someting you are eating that is triggering the ibs, this is possible, you could try taking certain foods away, there are lots of threads on ibs on hear, take a look around.

Please DON'T feel like your stuck like this forever, ohh boy, Mrs anxiety love's this type of negative thought, please try and change this way of thinking. I know you have been like this for along time but negative thinking and seeing noo way forward feeds your anxiety. Please, please be kind to yourself, use alot of self reasurance and tell yourself YOU WILL get to the botton of this, (ohh sorry about the pun, did.t mean it that way LOL) the thing I have found is, if you can laugh about panic, anxiety, it helps us move on a little.

I do know what you mean about forign hospital, ohh boy do I. I had my first pa going on holiday. On holiday Mrs anxiety (or should I say ME) new what my fears where, being in a forign hospital, I could even see myself in there with them all shouting at me and I could not understand them at all, of course, this was all in my mind, Mrs anxiety was playing with me, this NEVER happend, just ME, my mind, playing the negative game.

Hun, can you not go back your gp and ask for peace of mind? meaning, talk to your gp, tell him that a scan will help to put your mind at rest. Do YOU, yourself feel that this will work, would a scan put your mind at rest?

I do not have ibs, but have had the mucus you are talking about a few times, I have also had the odd pain from time to time, but for me I feel its my diet and when my stress levels get higher than normal.

I have delt with my daughter with pa, anxiety for many years, she suffered along time before I did and I know that anxiety can take many shapes and many forms, you can in your own mind relate it to many things. Anxiaty CAN casue what seem like mager health problems. I myself on the onset of my daughter problems was running round like a headless chichen, worring sooo much. She got every test under the sun, even the gps or specialist did not know what was wrong for the firts 3 years, so the only way forward was to rule out things, well thats what the spcialist said. So, from the age of 3 years up utill she was 6, she had alot of test, then they came up with, panic, anxiety.

My daughter probs or should I say, anxiety was maninly in the begining, all based around her tummy, feeling sick, being sick and alot of other symptoms too. She is ohh 15 this year and doing great.

Ohh sorry about the woffle, LOL I do understand what you are going through, but please, if you feel that a scan would give you peace of mind, pop back to your gp and ask for one, tell your gp how you feel and how its effecting your life, after all, peace of mind goes along way.

YOU TAKE CARE

HUGS TO YOU,

LOVE JILLXXX

alexm
22-02-08, 11:34
thanks for the reassurance guys, i guess i just feel stupid asking the doc.

i eat quite healthy as it is to be honest, but sometimes grab the odd 'conveniance' food. positive thinking is perhaps the hardest especialy when different docs over a perioid of so many years keep saying 'theres nothing wrong' and people who should normaly support you start telling you to stop being stupid.

:doh: