For everyone worrying about their IBS symptoms

[NoraB]

Hang in there Nora, I wish I could do more to help. Hope your phone consult with the GI goes better than you expect Sending you positive thoughts x

Thanks. The positive thoughts very much appreciated. X

[flumpkin]

Tell me about it. I've had unexplained abdo pain for 3 months and I am only being physically examined on Wednesday because I told my GP my mental health is falling apart because I'm in a level of pain all the time with no idea what the problem is and no way of reliving the pain. I have a gastro appointment via phone and I can't help but wonder what use that will be - especially when I struggle on the phone. I can see myself coming off that call even more frustrated than I am now.

Hope you get some answers on Weds Nora. I can’t believe you still haven’t managed to see someone. As you know I have had similar abdominal pain for roughly same length of time, will be 3 months by end of Dec. Although I think yours is more severe (mine is a constant 3-4/10). It just hasn’t gone away at any point during that time. It does not stop me sleeping but is on my mind 24/7 whilst awake as always there niggling. Dull ache, sometimes more stabby or like stinging skin. Occasionally more round towards my back but mostly right side between hip and naval. Throwawaylurker, your comment about lying their still, checking if hurts is literally me! Apart from an ok abdominal exam by locum dr and ok bloods I have had nothing else. I was referred for abdominal and pelvic scan but there is a 12 week wait. I tried going privately through work but heard nothing since initial phone consult with their dr who said will refer to consultant. Like you I just want some answers.

I am keeping it together better than normal but the constant pain makes me worry something is really wrong and it is just being left. Keep stumbling across articles in news that I refuse to click on - normal health click bait stuff which will be a huge trigger and spiral for me.

Let us know how you get on. I haven’t been posting here as I know I am just after reassurance. I have been searching old posts for similar symptoms and trying to reassure myself it is muscular and has just been going on a LONG time or maybe even pain predominant IBS. Like you, I just need answers.

Take care and fingers crossed for weds

Love flump xx

[NoraB]

Hope you get some answers on Weds Nora.

I'm not holding my breath mate. I don't have much padding now and I've had a good furk about and I can't feel anything - which in itself I take as a good sign and given that I had a clear colonoscopy in 2017 - it's unlikely to be something like cancer inside the colon.

Also, I can trace this shit back to an event - which was me being a pillock and dragging out my abdo trainer to do some oblique exercises despite my abdomen being weakened since my youngest was lifted out of it 11 years ago - and 10 years of fibro where I basically did shit all exercise - so methinks I've done myself a mischief? Weight loss isn't unusual for me, and I was doing physio from March to when this pain started - 3 months ago. Winter is generally my 'fibro goes nuts' time so I feel like poo generally. Muscle atrophy? Haven't exercised in 3 months, as my lovely physio told me - use it or lose it. So, I'm being logical, but, you know - pain?

I've also pulled a muscle in the middle of my shoulder blades - I reached into the cupboard yesterday and that was it. I've been attached to my heat pad ever since- alternating it between tummy and back so I'm grumpy as hell!

As you know I have had similar abdominal pain for roughly same length of time, will be 3 months by end of Dec. Although I think yours is more severe (mine is a constant 3-4/10). It just hasn’t gone away at any point during that time.

I know lovely. You have my empathy. Abdo pain is a git. The problem with me is my fibro. It's a miscommunication with pain signals and in someone else, this might be a 2/10 pain or just a vague niggle. But to me, it's a 7/10 or worse. I think there may a structural issue but my fibro is affecting how I perceive the pain. However, pain is pain and I'm breaking down in tears most days now because there is no let up, and my day is starting at around 3am now. (shoot me and have done with it)

Dull ache, sometimes more stabby or like stinging skin.

Yeah, my pain changes but it's always in the same place.

I am keeping it together better than normal but the constant pain makes me worry something is really wrong and it is just being left. Keep stumbling across articles in news that I refuse to click on - normal health click bait stuff which will be a huge trigger and spiral for me.

Having had a mental breakdown with HA - I know what NOT to do. I also know that you can be in pain, and for a long time, and there be nothing seriously wrong. I couldn't walk properly for 4 months (Nov 2019 - March 2020) and it hurt when I was standing and sitting. That was another Christmas totally buggered! Turned out to be 'mild' inflammation in my buttocks affecting the nerves. My fibro hyped it up, but, as I say - pain is pain and it was all very real to me! So, try to keep your fear in check lovely. Don't go Googling - no good can ever come of it unless you are researching anxiety and you can control yourself not to veer into the HA fodder.

Like you, I just need answers.

At this point, I couldn't give a shite if I do have somat nasty as long as they can take this bloody pain away! I'm starting to fantasise about a general anaesthetic just for some peace!

Take care and fingers crossed for weds

Ta lovely. You're a good un. X

[AnxiousAussieGirl]

I'm writing this as much for myself as for everyone else that needs some reassurance. Hopefully the next time I have a flare-up of IBS I'll remember to look back at my posts and save myself a lot of anxiety.

I've suffered from IBS since I was a child, usually brought on by anxiety but often triggered by bad eating habits and encouraged by anxiety due to the symptoms.

Like most Health Anxiety sufferers I always think the worst, Google my symptoms and find something terminally wrong with me sound familiar?
And each time I get a new bout of IBS I do it ALL over again!!!

The symptoms aren't always the same and new symptoms cause new worries. The worry prolongs and magnifies the symptom.

I'm going to try and list all the symptoms I can remember and I'm sure you'll find yours on the list.

Lower right hand side pain (I always think this is appendicitis)
Pain around navel area
Pain below ribs
Upper left hand side pain
Chest pain (I always think this one is my heart)
Back pain
Pain moving from chest all the way down to groin area.
Bloating
Alot of wind with constant belching
Stomach gurgling and grumbling
Diarrhea
Followed by constipation (without taking any medication)
Acid reflux
Burning in throat on swallowing food (due to acid)
Complete loss of appetite
Weight loss
Dry mouth
Bad taste in mouth

All of the above will disappear if I can get to sleep (even just for a nap). But symptoms return as soon as I'm fully awake and start focusing on my stomach.

Because I get really anxious when I have these symptoms they can continue for months. I've had flare-ups that have lasted for six months where I've tried eliminating every food I can think of that might cause symptoms and I've been down to only rice and water and STILL in pain and the weight has just dropped off me which of course feeds the imagination....(I've even had to hide the bathroom scale away). As soon as I accept that it's the anxiety that's causing the symptoms, something seems to click in my brain and the symptoms leave like magic.

What else helps?
Hot water bottle for pain.
Walking regularly
Drinking plenty of water
The FODMAP diet. Even though my IBS is triggered by anxiety it seems that my gut becomes tender and eating the right foods definitely does help. Or maybe just the fact that I'm trying to do something about it helps....

The thing is, the symptoms do go. And I can be fine for months and months and eat normally again.

I've given up going to the doctor, the diagnosis is always the same. They give us pills and send us for tests but what else can they really do? we're looking for reassurance to relieve our anxieties. Another test is one way of providing this.

At the end of the day it's the anxiety that controls my IBS. I'm sure a lot of you will agree with me.

OMG you’ve said exactly what I’m going through 👍👍

[ThrowawayLurker]

Throwawaylurker, your comment about lying their still, checking if hurts is literally me!

My aches come and go. I don't even know if I'd call my pain. I start each day trying NOT to think about it but all it takes is one twinge and it's back on my mind.

I've felt these twinges before in my life, but I'm just so anxious now because my FIT came back positive at my checkup last month, that I'm probably more hypersensitive to them right now. They're really hard to describe too. Almost like being poked in the front, or squeezed on the side or rubbed the wrong way on the back.

[flumpkin]

How did your appt go today Nora? I called hospital today who think I may get ultrasound appt in feb. So thinking only 8 wks to go before get some answers hopefully. Hope you got somewhere today xx

[Joystick]

I'd like to add my thanks Beckybecks. I found, long ago, that if I worried at something in my mind then when I finally stopped it would move down my body into my stomach and the IBS would start. I guess it has to come out somewhere. I still keep trying to identify foods that make matters worse and I now eat a diet that is light in wheat, dairy and I try to avoid as much sugar as possible (although I sometimes fail - especially with regard to chocolate). I feel better on the diet but it doesn't always stop the IBS flaring up. Then I go around in a circle and look again at diet although I know that often it makes absolutely no difference. Also, symptoms change over the years (I've suffered since childhood) - now I would only consult a doctor if there were red flag symptoms, otherwise I just think 'here we go again.' It's hard not to worry about it sometimes and it really can disrupt your life/plans. This is definitely more the case in the circumstances we are living in now - locked in and restricted, perhaps concerned about distant family members/friends etc. It's great to be able to express this among people who understand as I'm in a flare at the moment. Anyway, thanks again Becky.

[pulisa]

I've had IBS-C for decades and I don't think diet makes any difference for me. Abdo surgery has made it worse and I got prescribed prucalopride at one point but now just use laxido (1 daily when I need to) to keep things moving. I've also just bought some magnesium citrate to try as an alternative.

I'd only consult a doctor with red flag symptoms like you, Joystick. IBS is a pain but a benign pain.

[wilf1]

Mine is an odd one , the pain feels to the right of my belly button , if i put my hand on it i feel nothing , if i sleep i am fine , the worry , well i am eating 30% of what i usually do , hence lost 20 lbs , but the pain usually gets worse in the Afternoons , the more i think the more it hursts. bowel fine but not eating much , fatigue is terrible , i have been through the mill , with worry through the years , and test after test , all fine , my last episode was a numb area below my thumb lasted for 2 moths , i thought it was MS , i wonder if mine is a trapped nerve , or a pulled muscle , but in my mind its everything , this has been going on for 5 weeks now

[Joystick]

I have Laxido too, pulsila. In December 2019 I had stopped taking it altogether - the result of the wheat free/dairy free/almost sugar free diet I think, but then they took my BP at the surgery and decided it was high so prescribed calcium channel blockers. Guess what the result of that was - by the end of the first week I could feel 'nothing' happening inside me. I felt I was waiting for my next heart beat and my digestive system came to a complete full stop. I've never got it back to normal since and rely on at least half a sachet a day - so annoying. I took the rest of the medication back and said no more. I had a BP monitor for a week - hate taking it - and we agreed my BP was not that high so they left me alone for a while. They repeated this last autumn and it worked out at about 140/80 ish - I refused to panic at that and they've left me alone again but want to repeat next month (March). I now hate having my BP taken and I don't even like taking it myself, so doubtless it will be high - I now have my own monitor which I will start to use next week as I know it takes about 2 weeks for me to come to terms with the machine before they start threatening me with more medication. It's not something I like to use too regularly - it could become obsessive which would not do any good at all. If it's not one thing .....

At least the spring is on the way and we may be able to move around a bit more and see a few more people soon. Always look on the bright side ... de dum, de dum, de dum, de dum, de doo doo