Hi All
After Several weeks of googling away and driving myself up the wall I thought I'd actually sign up somewhere, see if anyone can relate..possibly stop myself going mad! (this may be long)
I'm male, 32 now (nearly) and was "diagnosed" with IBS when I was about 14/15 I use the term loosely as it was one of those head scratchers where I don't think the doctor really knew or cared and just shuffled me out the way without anything more than a few blood tests. I don't even remember what caused me to go there in the first place, possibly constipation as I've always been more on that side of things than the other.
For the last 15-16 years I never really struggled with it, I remember one time drinking a coffee from a shop with frothy milk and being doubled up in agony for several minutes afterwards. I also can recall various times of having griping..waves of pain going over my entire stomach/abdomen which again would pass after a short amount of time and that was that. If I ever had problems it was 90% of the time constipation but I found fybogel tended to sort it out one of them for a couple of days and things returned to "normal" I chalked it all down to IBS and just carried on as normal.
Now to my current issue. About 7 weeks ago I had one of my "small flare ups". They would tend to be a bout of constipation, a bit of a dull ache lower left abdomen and the worse ones would sometimes irritate my bladder, nothing new or out of the ordinary, pop some fybogel and all would be good. Only this time it wasnt. I had fairly bad constipation and could only pass the odd pellet. I don't know if any straining caused..any damage but for the next week or 2 it was quite hard work to have a movement (it tended to build up for several days then I'd have a fairly positive day of having 3-4 decent BM's) and that would carry on. It also seemed quite uncomfortable to pass urine
The dull ache never left, 24/7 - I say 24/7 but it doesnt really bother me when sleeping and in terms of "pain it's really not bad - perhaps a 3/10 (its more an irritation than a pain) that would then drop to a 1 or so after a BM but shortly go back up to a 3. I still have it now. I've spent the last 6 weeks + trying to up my fibre/drink more water/eat better (I've burnt through 60 fyobgel in 4 weeks) I'm on multvitamins and tumeric now too. In terms of BM's I think I'm getting on top of it I'm generally going twice a day and theres nothing really to report about them - fairly consistent..brown..sausages, what I'd regard as normal! Urinating seems generally fine now too. Yet this ache won't go and its stressing me out, I've had it in my head its some sort of tumour as constant pain "can't be harmless" I took a week off work and spent most of it in bed googling bowel cancer and alsorts (I've never taken time off work) I sit at work googling symptoms, I come home from work and google symptoms. It's literally taking over my life.
I did book a doctors appointment at the start of all this but it took me 3 weeks to get in presumably because I had nothing falling off. I was poked for about 5 seconds, asked if I wanted some mebeverine, had some blood tests and a urine sample and sent on my way. Everything came back normal (last week), the mebeverine doesn't actually seem to be doing anything which stresses me out more - how can it be IBS if IBS medication doesnt work. I've developed other symptoms but I honestly don't know now whats actual symptoms or what I've probably given myself due to spending 6 weeks+ googling if I have cancer. My pelvic area feels inflamed, it goes down my legs and feet and sometimes into my arms but mostly my lower half - it also seems worse on the side I have my ache. It's there all the time and the more I'm aware of it...the worse it is. Can my stress be making my IBS do all this? am I just going mad? what else could it be thats causing all this. I did have a fall about a week before this all started and landed quite hard on my tailbone, I had some pain for a couple of weeks but that disappeared, perhaps its nerve damage from that?
I toyed with perhaps its celiac disease (I had a blood test for it years ago, nothing) I don't think its any of the inflammatory diseases as I've never had the runs. I've been on stool watch for the last 6 weeks paranoid I'm going to find blood - I never have. Diverticulitis? I don't know - I'd imagine thats more painful. Nothing seems to fit - I keep going back to cancer though really I'm not entirely sure that fits either (I never saw blood and apparently I'm not anemic to warrant any further investigation) I've lost a few pounds in weight but thats because I'm trying to (oddly the same week I changed my diet to try and eat better is also the same week this all started) I just don't know what to do. I need to get another doctors appointment next week despite having a massive phobia of them ..purely for my sanity but I'll have to wait weeks again, then perhaps more weeks for a referral. My life has been a complete misery for nearly 2 months.
Don't suppose anyone has any rational thoughts? (as I sit here panicking about my burning feet..which actually are not burning whatsoever), infact I've just walked the dog and now the ache seems lower into my bloody groin!
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A huge tip dr Google is a no no it only keeps the cycle going and is not healthy for you you need to try and kerb this less and less sure it's not easy but really there is no benefit from it it only winds you up more mate. Can I ask what you are doing to get better have you spoke to your dr about your HA? I am pretty sure they can help, you can get better but only you can make it happen 
Once you can tackle your HA then you are on the road to recovery it's hard but do able though. Let us know how you get on!! ATB
