IBS or something else? Worried.

[tag]

Hello,

I suffer terribly with Health Anxiety & worry consistently about everything which afflicts me (imaginary or otherwise).

I think my intense fear of dying stems from having had a friend die of c*nc*r at a relatively young age (early 20s) as I've seemingly been a severe worrier ever since then.

I'm now approaching 40 & am terrified of developing something terminal.

I've had what I've always understood to be IBS on & off for about 8 or 9 years.

It's usually consisted of the usual kind of things - diarrhoea, random aches & pains in the abdomen/back, feeling full up after eating very little etc.

I take Colofac/Mebeverine when the flare ups are at their most concerted & usually the problem goes away after a bit when the anxiety subsides.

Last September time I became obsessed with the fact that I might have Oesophegal c*nc*r as I was getting what I know understand are possibly the symptoms of Acid Reflux - irritated, tickly throat, occasional heartburn & I've also had long-term post nasal drip etc. Being an ex-smoker I'm particularly paranoid about throats, chests & so on.

My doctor, who is well aware of my obsessional worry, was very reassuring but referred me for a blood test which came back absolutely fine. He prescribed me Omeprazole & this seemed to do the trick for a bit.

Unfortunately just before Christmas, I learned that a former colleague & somebody of a similar age to myself had just passed away after a long & nasty battle with stomach c*nc*r. This was after a friend's father had also succumbed to an aggressive Pancreatic c*nc*r earlier in the year.

Ever since then I have been experiencing all manner of abdominal pains, twinges, feeling queasy & so on as well as leaping on every other 'sign' that something's not right with me - glands up, feeling tired, think I'm looking thin & drawn, belching a lot - blah, blah.

My appetite - when I'm not frantic with worry - has been, and sort of still is - fairly good, which I try & tell myself is A Good Thing & last weekend I actually felt, for the first time in ages, slightly better.

However, in the last week I have started getting much more queasy & am getting a recurrent pain between my navel & my breast bone - quite often 1/2 hour or so after eating. This afternoon in particular it's been getting worse & coming & going in waves. Its onset coincided with a dose of the runs followed by a couple of days where I could hardly go at all - classic IBS symptoms..?

That 'end' of things seems to have settled down now & if anything I feel I want to go more & when I do, it's fairly solid & not a nasty colour (sorry - probably TMI.. )

Anyway, I've been trying to eat sensibly with regards to IBS & do try & help myself where possible. For instance,I've started eating Linseeds with my meals on the recommendation of my GP & I drink Actimel in the morning.

I've been a regular at my doctor's door (he knows that I'm a major worrier & is very sympathetic) throughout all this & recently have seen him 4 times in as many weeks..

He has had a good feel about & prodded & poked & felt all round my stomach & abdomen as well as listening to my heart & chest & says that I am suffering with IBS.

I suppose my question is, does this sound like IBS to you out there who also suffer with it? I haven't experienced it like this before & it worries me greatly as you can no doubt tell from my rambling post (for which, apologies incidentally but I felt I should put all the info down).

I would greatly appreciate any help & encouragement as this is slowly starting to drive me & my long-suffering family mad.

Many thanks in advance.

[debs180]

Hi,
In simple terms YES...all sounds typical ibs to me.....i have suffered for nearly 3 yrs now and all ur symptoms sound like mine. i know how hard it can be to believe that its just ibs when the pain/aches/discomfort gets intense....u r not alone with worrying about this, just wish i had the answer we all crave!!!!!

Debs x

[tag]

Thanks for the reply Debs - it really is just so frustrating dealing with IBS as it just feeds the spiral of stress & anxiety.

For instance, last night when I got in I had a meal of cold chicken & salad - a relatively 'trigger-free' meal & it actually did seem not to cause me any major problems.

However, this morning, on the recommendation of my Mum who also suffers from IBS, I ate a wholemeal honey sandwich in the car on my way into work & almost instantly felt bloated & queasy with a bit of a sweat too, followed fairly soon after by the feeling that I wanted to, er, poo.. is the intant bloat/queasiness something you ever experience as well?

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it & that's the thing I think which makes me fret. In my mind it can't be anything else but stomach c*nc*r but I'm assured by my GP that this isn't the case.

Oh well - I hope that you & everyone else manage to get some relief from this sooner rather than later.

Thanks again

[blueangel]

Hi there

I am an IBS sufferer as well and have been having lots of problems with it over the last 3-4 months. I am very cautiously keeping my fingers crossed at the moment as it seems to be calming down a bit (although I am not going to be confident about this until it has been OK for at least a month).

The nasty thing about IBS is that the symptoms often change a lot. This is one of the things that has bugged me about it - the pains move about, sometimes you get wind, sometimes you don't; things come and go - you can be OK for a couple of days then the pain's excrutiating again.

My GP has also been very good with me about it, as he knows I'm very anxious. He had a good prod at my stomach and said that the important thing is that if there is anything in there that shouldn't be there, it's easy to feel as our abdomens are soft and squishy. Also, he pointed out that "nasty" illnesses have consistent symptoms which get worse over a period of time - they don't come and go as that's not the nature of that sort of illness.

Hope this helps!

[tag]

Thank you for your reply too BlueAngel - I really do appreciate people taking the time to respond.

I know what you mean about the symptoms - I guess that if there were anything untoward going on then I'd consistently be bloated, sick, nauseous etc, rather than just when eating. Also, my GP has felt my abdomen a couple of times in the last month & as you say would hopefully have detected anything nasty.

I wish you well & hope that your IBS does diminish as seems to be the case.

All the best.

[honeyp1e]

i have all these symptoms main one is usually nervous/butterfly stomach feeling or a tight squeezing spasm feeling between my ribs & belly button which really freak me out but tonight my stomach looks pregnant and i cant stop passing wind theres loads of it i get like a contraction feeling untill i pass wind then it goes am worrying so much as i have never had it like this before is it just ibs ??