IBS/Gastritis really worried it is something else

I am really not sure what is going on. It started out with a burning sensation in my upper abdomen which I put down to something I ate that disagreed with me. It continued for days with fluttering in my lower and upper abdo (spasms really). It felt like it did when I was pregnant! Pops and bubbles and a really loud grumbly tummy, that went off every 5 seconds. I also felt bloated with a firm upper tummy that does go down through the night. I am burping an awful lot too. I have put on weight during this lockdown so hard to guage the bloat really but definitely a difference this last few weeks. GP prescribed my Lansoprazole 30mg on the 16th as she suspects Gastritis, and it has definitely made a difference to the burning. However I am concerned it may be something more.

I am 39, have 2 children and I know I suffer health anxiety. I can't help but worry it is Ovarian Cancer as the symptoms are very similar but then the realistic part of me wonders if it may be IBS? I did go to my GP a year or so ago with tummy troubles and she dismissed me querying IBS. I have always had issues that seem to worsen with anxiety. I suffer constipation quite regularly but have recently started probiotics and starting to eat porridge for breakfast is making me go more regularly but stools are still firm.

Right now I have an achy lower abdo, much like period cramps (period was 2 weeks ago). I have PCOS so my periods are irregular but my lower abdo has been achy for 2 weeks on both sides. Tummy is softer than it has been but I have also been getting tenderness under my ribs on both sides. Tummy sounds appear to be coming from my left hand side most of the time. They are that loud, that for weeks I thought it was the fridge!
My question is do my symptoms sound like they could fit IBS? What worries me is the fluttering/ spasms in my lower abdo (not painful) and the bloating. GP seems fairly confident I have Gastritis and I guess the fact Lansoprazole is helping is a positive but why am I still so achy?

Yes sounds very much what I get with IBS, particularly the fluttery feelings in low abdomen area. I too have gone through the fear of ovarian cancer as well as bowel cancer, but have had 2 pelvic ultrasounds earlier this year as well as a colonoscopy and all were fine. When my lower bowel is playing up, I often get burning under ribs as well. I’ve had mild gastritis in past, but also find I get pains high up where the bowel bends around on upper left side. Have you tried the low FODMAP diet? That can help get to bottom of whether there’s particular food types setting you off. If it is still going on in a few weeks though I think it’s still worth you going back to GP to see if there’s anything else they can suggest to help you, ie other IBS treatments etc. If you’re still worried tell them about your fears about ovaries and say you need to be reassured. Whether that’s through them feeling your tummy again or sending you for ultrasound if you haven’t already had one recently. If they explain why they’re not concerned about this area then perhaps that might also be reassuring. It could very likely be just 2 separate niggly issues, ie normal pelvic pain that you get with pcos (I also have this), on top of IBS, but it’s the HA telling you that they’re related to the one thing (that’s just what we do when we are in a HA panic!)

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Originally Posted by Aussie11

Yes sounds very much what I get with IBS, particularly the fluttery feelings in low abdomen area. I too have gone through the fear of ovarian cancer as well as bowel cancer, but have had 2 pelvic ultrasounds earlier this year as well as a colonoscopy and all were fine. When my lower bowel is playing up, I often get burning under ribs as well. I’ve had mild gastritis in past, but also find I get pains high up where the bowel bends around on upper left side. Have you tried the low FODMAP diet? That can help get to bottom of whether there’s particular food types setting you off. If it is still going on in a few weeks though I think it’s still worth you going back to GP to see if there’s anything else they can suggest to help you, ie other IBS treatments etc. If you’re still worried tell them about your fears about ovaries and say you need to be reassured. Whether that’s through them feeling your tummy again or sending you for ultrasound if you haven’t already had one recently. If they explain why they’re not concerned about this area then perhaps that might also be reassuring. It could very likely be just 2 separate niggly issues, ie normal pelvic pain that you get with pcos (I also have this), on top of IBS, but it’s the HA telling you that they’re related to the one thing (that’s just what we do when we are in a HA panic!)

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Thanks for your reply. I haven't had an ovarian ultrasound since I was pregnant 4 years ago. I did have bloods back in June, when I was diagnosed with low iron and Raynauds (Raynauds not from bloods but symptoms). I have had ovarian drilling back in 2015 to enable me to conceive. The bloating comes and goes but I have put on weight during lockdown which doesn't help. I had a back massage the other day and the masseuse I go to is fantastic and she said I am really tight all over. She said my glutes are like rocks so wondering if I'm tensing my muscles all the time which is giving me aches. I am having the odd niggle under my ribs (both sides) and then the odd sharp pain near both ovaries but I am also having lower back pain from where she worked on my muscles. I find it so hard to decipher between ovary/period type pain and just general achiness from my lower back. The fluttering is driving me crazy. It isn't painful but so noticeable. I swear it feels like pregnancy! My tummy is soft and the burning has settled most of the time. I've taken 5 days worth now of Lansoprazole and probiotics.

Interestingly I also have Raynauds, have had it about a year now. I know people can get it without any underlying condition, however it appears mine likely linked to autoimmune condition. After having blood tests many times for that sort of thing and all coming back normal, about a year or so ago, a couple of my antibody or marker tests (can't remember which one, I think ANA or something) came back positive. As my other inflammation markers and bloods came back normal I haven't been diagnosed with Lupus or Sjogren's etc. but Rheumatologist is classing it as an undifferentiated connective tissue disorder (there's quite a few people in my family who have autoimmune things so I wasn't really surprised). It is probably the culprit for many of my inflammatory and pain type symptoms, annoying but in a way reassuring. If you've got muscle issues in your glutes etc. then they can also very likely refer pain around to the pelvic area making you think you have gynae issues, but actually it's musculoskeletal. Many years ago I went through months of pelvic pain which terrified me but ended up getting rid of it after much physio treatment on my glutes and dry needling, exercises etc.