Please help, IBS- severe diarrhoea, hot sweats, faint, cramps

Hi everyone I am a 28 year old female, I am diagnosed with IBS. With this is have a mix of diarrhoea and constipation, wind, daily stomach cramps and low back pain,. I deal with severe anxiety, I was housebound for 8 years and have started going out over the last 3, my anxiety does make ibs worse.

However every 8 months or so I would have very severe episodes (I do not know whether this is due to IBS or something else so would like to hear if this happens to anyone else) where I have really bad cramps and urgency to go to the toilet, when I get to the loo I have very bad diarrhoea that won't stop, I start sweating profusely and feel very faint to the point I am too weak to sit on the toilet, I end up falling off the toilet onto the floor and have to take all my clothes off. I find it hard to get back onto the toilet even though I am still having bad diarrhoea, as I am so weak and faint, I have passed out before from this too.

As I said before this would only happen every so often, I'd say 8 months or so, however on the 1st jan this happened again and I had to shout to my boyfriend to help me (which was very embarrassing lying on the floor naked having terrible diarrhoea and feeling boiling and faint) this happened again on the 11th jan which has sent me into a complete anxious state. Usually this wouldn't happen so close together, I don't even know if this is a severe case of IBS or something else entirely. I am scared to go out, I have started uni and I am terrified to go in in case this happens as it's not just urgent diarrhoea it's the fact I am having to take my clothes off as I start sweating and passing out on the floor, I can't do this outside my home, this is really horrible for me when I'm a recovering agoraphobic.

I have been eating very healthily, mainly salmon and white rice... I am a scared to eat though.

I'd like to hear if anyone else has this happen to them with IBS or if they know it's something else causing it.
My mum has severe ulcerative colitis so I worry about developing this too. I have had celiac tests before when I was diagnosed with IBS.

Any help would be appreciated, I am of course going to talk to my dr too but wanted to see if this is something any of you deal with.

Thank you

Do you ever pass blood or mucous with the diaharrea if so there is. Chance of you also having colitis seeing has your mum as it, I'd suggest you see you gp and ask for stool tests to check calprotecting levels and also bloods aswell to test for inflammation markers.

If its ibs tour calprotecting should be normal ibs diesnt give high faecal calprotecting levels 0.50 is normal anything above that is high but normally crohns or uc in a flare can be into the 1000,s as your mum would probably know, if only effect the colon were has crohns can effect you from your mouth to your backside..

IBS can be severe and can cause tour problems if you have severe diaharrea you'll soon get dehydrated so plenty of fluids, I'd suggest seeing a gp and asking to be referred for further test your mum also having uc should be enough of a prompt for them to refer you to help rule this out..

I have crohns and had colonoscopys x2 with biopsies mri scans and was finally diagnosed by pillcam as my crohn's is in my small bowel were they cant get with colonoscopys and with the medication i take it's out me in remission so there is light at the end of the tunnel

Hi Mozie,

thank you for your reply, I do have mucous and blood but I think the blood is more so from haemorrhoids because of the ibs as opposed to blood mixed in with diarreah.

I'm pretty sure my dr did some blood tests a year or so ago to test inflammation markers but I will double check.

I am just a little vexed as to why these severe episodes only happened every 8 months or so and now I've had two within two weeks, it doesn't make sense to me.

I am glad you are in remission and that the drs found out what was causing your pain.

My mothers colitis is very severe so it does worry me about developing it.

Thank you for your reply

I too seem to have normal IBS months then BAM...one day itll be as if Ive got some weird bug but I'll still feel semi human. March 2019 I ate at subway , something I normally have an the next morning was awful, terrible cramps all day and two baaaad episodes. I think we just have to accept our guts have a volatile mind of their own. Winter is worse though cos of bugs - you may just have a mild stomach flu, how you feeling now?

Thank you for your reply,

the issue is this happens exactly the same without fail with the exact same sequence of symptoms from an intense cramping to the sudden urgency to get to the loo, severe diarrhoea, burning up and profuse sweating to the point I have to take all of my clothes off, weakness and feeling so faint I fall off the toilet and collapse onto the floor and I am too weak to get back onto the toilet despite still having diarrhoea. I have passed out due to the previously too.

It's not a one off thing like a stomach flu, as it is something that has happened for years about twice a year until Jan 1st when it has happened twice in the space of two weeks. Every time it's the exact same symptoms without fail. I could deal with the diarrhoea it's the profuse sweating and collapsing on the floor that makes it more severe, I'm terrified it's going to happen when I'm out or at uni.

I was ok between jan 1st, I tried to get on with uni after that episode but then out of nowhere on jan 11th it returned, so now I am afraid to go to uni this week! I also ate very bland food in between the episodes and drank loads of water so I am completely baffled by it. It's as if my body shuts down during this time or as if my levels of something drop until I have gone through the pain and diarrhoea then I feel ok... weak of course but it's passed.

Have you had the profuse sweating and collapsing with your bad episodes? I am unable to find anyone who has had the same which is what I am wanting to find. I just want someone who's had the same sort of thing re occurring so I know it's ibs and nothing else.

Actually, if you're just eating rice and salmon you aren't really eating healthy, do you eat veggies as well, whole grains? Do you use artificial sweeteners at all, those can cause some major issues with the bowels?