The pain of IBS???

[Jo3016]

Hi

Am entering my 3rd week of this latest bout of IBS. The abdominal pain is so horrible - really crampy most of the time. I feel bloated and uncomfortable too. I have BM urgency every morning although not overly loose now and feeling of incomplete BM for the rest of the day. And awful wind too!

Saw another doctor today with my fears of bowel and ovarian cancer even though I don't have bleeding, weight loss, fatigue and don't get woken in the night. She felt my tummy and has ordered blood tests. She said it is classic IBS, especially as I have had it 4 times before. I have previously had colonoscopy, barium xray and ultrasound too.

But the pain is so horrible and relentless - right across my belly button, up under my ribs sometimes and low down too. Surely this can't just be IBS? I am so stressed about this ruining my holiday (which begins this Saturday) that i just can't relax and think positively! I just don't know what to do!!!

[blueangel]

I know from my own experiences that IBS pain can be really variable - it can either come and go over a period of weeks or months, or be constant. I've had pain under my ribs, burning pains low in my abdomen, all over abdominal pain and left- or right-sided as well. When I get it really severely I will also get bouts of dreadful indigestion.

Has your doctor given you Buscopan or Colofac? If not, you can get Buscopan from a pharmacy; they can be quite useful in reducing the cramps, but they don't always work on everyone. It might also be worth trying Fybogel as it can help to regularise your bowel.

I do sympathise though; it's dreadful and when you're in a bad bout of it, it feels as though it's never going to go away.

[emmawalton]

i haev a bout of it today, feel dead bloated and across middle of stomach cramps too and pain in sides, glad i am not the only one feeling like this and i suffer from HA too so always think something worse.

[Jo3016]

Hi

The doctor gave me Mebeverine which I think is also known as colofac. I find it helps for a couple of hours while I am eating and just after and then the pain comes back.

This is my 5th bout of IBS in about 6 years. I have just had 18 months symptom free (mostly). It always starts after a stomach upset due to either infection, antibiotic use or hormonal problems. It just seems to trip some kind of switch and everything goes haywire!! These flare-ups have lasted months in the past with pain and bloating and gas every day!! I think I make it worse by being very doom and gloom about it all. The doctor said yesterday that a lot of ibs symptoms are made worse by a negative attitude. She said medication is a lot more likely to work if I believe that it is!!