Irritable bowel

[MichaelNomad123]

I have consistent IBS, but I would never describe it as debilitating. I just have a rather unpleasant shit once a day for a period of time. I have no idea what triggers it or how to control it, but factors that seem to impact mine are: red meat, stress, coffee, cigarettes and alcohol.

I had healthy poops up until a week ago and I had been having healthy poops for several months prior to that. I'm back to liquid explosives now. Hopefully it will sort itself out shortly. Alcohol seems to be the biggest contributor, with coffee being a close second. I think coffee is my trigger right now, because I don't drink beer or whiskey anymore and I have been having a coffee in the mornings lately.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I have consistent IBS, but I would never describe it as debilitating. I just have a rather unpleasant shit once a day for a period of time. I have no idea what triggers it or how to control it, but factors that seem to impact mine are: red meat, stress, coffee, cigarettes and alcohol.

I had healthy poops up until a week ago and I had been having healthy poops for several months prior to that. I'm back to liquid explosives now. Hopefully it will sort itself out shortly. Alcohol seems to be the biggest contributor, with coffee being a close second. I think coffee is my trigger right now, because I don't drink beer or whiskey anymore and I have been having a coffee in the mornings lately.

It's a no brainer. We want booze and caffiene. But it has an effect. Question is, which is worse?

Me, I'm 'IBSc' to the extent it almost killed me last year. I spent almost a month without a bowel movement.
Pain.
Starvation.
More pain.
The 'cure' resulted in the shits for almost six months, including the insomnia that went with it (less then an hour's sleep for six months).
I'd personally take six months with barely any sleep, the psychosis that went with it, and the shits, compared to having toxic faecal matter build up in your bowel to the point where it is literally in danger of exploding, causing death by septic shock.

I'd suggest stopping booze and coffee, but TBH I know how hard that is. Case in point, despite my experience, I'm actually drinking booze now, after a several coffees. So, yeah, don't listen to me.

One thing I guarantee. It gets worse. As time progresses, it gets way worse. If you can sort it pout now, just pleeeeaaaaase do it. Diet. Less triggers. Be kind to your colon if you can.

 

[MichaelNomad123]

It's a no brainer. We want booze and caffiene. But it has an effect. Question is, which is worse?

Me, I'm 'IBSc' to the extent it almost killed me last year. I spent almost a month without a bowel movement.
Pain.
Starvation.
More pain.
The 'cure' resulted in the shits for almost six months, including the insomnia that went with it (less then an hour's sleep for six months).
I'd personally take six months with barely any sleep, the psychosis that went with it, and the shits, compared to having toxic faecal matter build up in your bowel to the point where it is literally in danger of exploding, causing death by septic shock.

I'd suggest stopping booze and coffee, but TBH I know how hard that is. Case in point, despite my experience, I'm actually drinking booze now, after a several coffees. So, yeah, don't listen to me.

One thing I guarantee. It gets worse. As time progresses, it gets way worse. If you can sort it pout now, just pleeeeaaaaase do it. Diet. Less triggers. Be kind to your colon if you can.

Aye. It was particularly bad after drinking. I haven't drank in a long time now, other than a little blip in a hotel room courtesy of my good friend Mister Jameson. My diet is pretty great, though. I haven't eaten red meat in over 2 years. Fish is the only meat I consume these days. Coffee I cheat with every now and again, but it isn't consistent anymore

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Aye. It was particularly bad after drinking. I haven't drank in a long time now, other than a little blip in a hotel room courtesy of my good friend Mister Jameson. My diet is pretty great, though. I haven't eaten red meat in over 2 years. Fish is the only meat I consume these days. Coffee I cheat with every now and again, but it isn't consistent anymore

That sounds good to me. I aim for that too. Ah Mr Jameson. I've had dubious relationships with most scotch and still come back to my cheap peaty friend.

 

[MichaelNomad123]

That sounds good to me. I aim for that too. Ah Mr Jameson. I've had dubious relationships with most scotch and still come back to my cheap peaty friend.

Oddly enough, I seem to fair better with hard spirits than I do with beers or ciders. I wonder if it's to do with the water intake or something. I'd be flowing black slurry after some guinness but not so much with any type of whiskey

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Oddly enough, I seem to fair better with hard spirits than I do with beers or ciders. I wonder if it's to do with the water intake or something. I'd be flowing black slurry after some guinness but not so much with any type of whiskey

Carb intake maybe? I spent my life drinking beer thinking it was less harmful than spirits. didn't realise each pint was like a loaf of liquid bread in terms of the carb content.

 

[Gentleman]

IBS can also be caused by anxiety. Hope it gets better for you guys.

 

[Deleted member 94]

Yes stress is a big trigger, according to my consultant there are neurons in the gut which will react to heightened stress and worsen IBS predicament.

 

[Buffy5120]

It's a no brainer. We want booze and caffiene. But it has an effect. Question is, which is worse?

Me, I'm 'IBSc' to the extent it almost killed me last year. I spent almost a month without a bowel movement.
Pain.
Starvation.
More pain.
The 'cure' resulted in the shits for almost six months, including the insomnia that went with it (less then an hour's sleep for six months).
I'd personally take six months with barely any sleep, the psychosis that went with it, and the shits, compared to having toxic faecal matter build up in your bowel to the point where it is literally in danger of exploding, causing death by septic shock.

I'd suggest stopping booze and coffee, but TBH I know how hard that is. Case in point, despite my experience, I'm actually drinking booze now, after a several coffees. So, yeah, don't listen to me.

One thing I guarantee. It gets worse. As time progresses, it gets way worse. If you can sort it pout now, just pleeeeaaaaase do it. Diet. Less triggers. Be kind to your colon if you can.

Why didnt you just let it kill u

 

[Deleted member 94]

I've had 'IBS' all my life. In reality I think that was a catchall diagnosis for me just drinking too much and eating badly. In the later years I developed IBSc and have been to A&E with it (to no avail, long story).
'IBS' is to me a kind of 'We don't know, so we'll guess it's down to mental health and call it a syndrome' diagnosis.
Mental health does, I believe have an influence on your gut action, as seretonin acts as a form of communication in your gut as well as your head, I believe. I've no doubt there is some connection here with the gut/brain axis.
However, I'd say the connection is nebulous and not understood and it's dismissive to just lump it all in as 'idiopathic' and a 'syndrome.'
A huge amount of things can effect your gut, all the way along it's length. One of the most obvious is the crap carb laden diet we invariably gravitate towards. Many people will be suffering from dysbiosis, whereby their gut biome is destroyed. Antibiotics and medical scans don't help this.
Personally, I'm taking a good quality probiotic and also an inulin supplement as a prebiotic adjunct, as well as eating a good balance of prebiotic vegetables. This hopefully helps in the production of butyric acid which can then provide the colon cell walls with sustenance in an effort to maintain gut health.

Butyric Acid: What Is It, and What Are the Benefits?

Butyric acid is a fatty acid that's created when bacteria in your gut break down dietary fiber. It's also found in lower amounts in some foods. Research suggests it may benefit your digestive health.

www.healthline.com

I think if you take a probiotic then it's also worth ensuring your diet contains enough prebiotic material (a mix of good quality soluble and insoluble fibres) so the little guys have enough to feed on.
I do also take medication, which I alter the dose of myself as required.
Personally I do not believe that exercise has any direct effect on 'IBS' or colon health whatsoever, but ofc it has an indirect effect by promoting general health.
And hydration is necessary with a diet rich in prebiotics too. I struggle with this due to other medical concerns.

When I read stories of people and ask them to detail to me what was going on in their lives before their first bout or flare you'd be surprised at the numbers correlating being under stress as one condition. There are neurons in the gut which react really badly to stress amongst some people and those with IBS put them under stress and see what happens.

Shop bought probiotics are too low strength and costly most people have resorted to buying probiotic yogurt starters and making 24 hour yogurt and going on scd type diets. Too many complex carbs in everything readily available in supermarkets. Some people claimed cure just through juicing and eating a lot of well prepared fish.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Why didnt you just let it kill u

Because dying of starvation and sepsis is a long drawn out torture.

 

[Buffy5120]

When I read stories of people and ask them to detail to me what was going on in their lives before their first bout or flare you'd be surprised at the numbers correlating being under stress as one condition. There are neurons in the gut which react really badly to stress amongst some people and those with IBS put them under stress and see what happens.

Shop bought probiotics are too low strength and costly most people have resorted to buying probiotic yogurt starters and making 24 hour yogurt and going on scd type diets. Too many complex carbs in everything readily available in supermarkets. Some people claimed cure just through juicing and eating a lot of well prepared fish.

What kind of juice and fish?

 

[Deleted member 94]

Juicing you know making smoothies like stuff from fruits, can also use coconut milk while making them. I don't know about what fish you are on your own to figure that out what I will say is certain fishes have anti-inflammatory oils in them and need to be cooked in certain ways. I am a vegetarian so can't help.

 

[Eren]

Or

I had ibs for about 10 years between 6 and 16. I was always in pain, had flatulence, at some point I started to have diarrhea every evening for almost 2 years, I often felt like vomiting and sometimes I would faint, I also had chronic sinus infection and a lot of pimples what often does correlate with ibs. When I was 17 we did allergy testing not the prick test (didn't show anything) but blood analysis because my mom got me to a alternative working doctor. She was a doctor but mixed it with natural treatments. So the results came in and I was allergic to milk and egg, so at first I stopped that and after about 3 months all my symptoms were gone even the pimples. I write that because your body has to heal from the damage first so even if you don't eat the triggering food for 2 days you can still have symptoms for months depending on how much your gut is screwed over. Then I also started eating healthy (paleo) and I really benefitted from that in various ways. My mum is not allergic to anything but got some kind of ibs anyway 5 years ago. So the doctor did a colonoscopy didn't find anything and said it's ibs. Then the naturopath doctor ran tests and diagnosed sibo, I can't exactly explain what it is but you can Google it. She treated her and after 6 months she was fine. There's also leaky gut syndrome and it's treated with diet, supplements and probiotics at least by naturopaths because doctors don't acknowledge it you can also Google that . Of course you could have something like crohn's disease but then a normal doctor should find something, you should really get a colonoscopy. Sibo treatment worked for my mum and online are enough people who got rid of their ibs symptoms through that or that leaky gut treatment . And it takes time it doesn't just disappear in 2 weeks. I don't know if it's that but if I was you I would try. It's better than feeling like shit all the time.

The problem is that I do not associate it with any food. A few months ago I had a strong relapse, I always had strong pain, I was like this for more than a month, and during that time I only ate toast with oil and things like that, a soft diet.

 

[Risa]

The problem is that I do not associate it with any food. A few months ago I had a strong relapse, I always had strong pain, I was like this for more than a month, and during that time I only ate toast with oil and things like that, a soft diet.

Well some people don't have trigger foods and their guts are still damaged you don't need an allergy to get leaky gut or sibo. Also toast is not the best thing to eat when you have problems with your gut, grains in general. I don't know, I just wrote what I know about this. I hope you get healthy. I always hated my symptoms.

 

[deadgirlahsatan]

I was diagnosed years ago. It has been getting way worse so i am getting retested.

Idk why u were not tested. U have to get tests done in case it is something else.

Sorry ur suffering. Ibs is hell.

 

[Kramer]

Yeah I do. It's awful. A colonoscopy and stool sample ruled out everything else.

Take a daily probiotic. That stopped my diarrhea problem,

 

[StuFin]

I saw the title of irritable bowel and thought it was going to be a thread about @BipolarGuy.

Thank god it's something more pleasant and important.

 

[DontGiveAshiit]

Sign me in.... I have benn suffering from IBS for years, did countless of tests and what not, nobody knows the root cause for it, or what can help it or reduce its effect. I have tried all kinds of diets, work out regulary, taken all kinds of supplements and sh*t, nothing changes...

 

[walktothewater]

Have you tried a probiotic? Two very good ones are Alflorex and Dr Udo's. Both quite expensive unfortunately but they basically cured my IBS.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I think probiotics can indeed help, as most people with IBS will have a depopulated gut biome. That doesn't imply causality, but the two do go hand in hand.
I am using Alflorex, and along with inulin, flax seeds and a good diet, I feel it has helped.

I've not heard of Dr Udo's but will look it up.

I've also taken Bioglan Biotic Balance, not sure how effective they were.

And my old tertiary care gastro recomended VSL3 (I think that was the one). I've not taken it cuz I can't get it on prescription, my GP seemed to want to ignore the gastro's advice. It does appear to be very expensive.

Probiotics area dark art IMHO. There are so many strains of bacteria in your gut acting in such a complex way, I suspect it can be trail and error finding one that might work for you. Plus they are expensive and half of the formulations out there are probably junk.

I do however think they should be used as part of a healthier diet and with a good prebiotic supplement. Just taking them on their own... *shrugs* who knows?

 

[succor]

I was diagnosed with IBS-C years ago and would go weeks without a bowel movement since I was a child, but that became my normal. And then about 5 years ago it progressively got worse and worse until about just over a year ago when everything sort of just collapsed on itself. Now I have IBS combination C and D to the severity that they're trying to screen me for Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis, but since I'm on such high dose of steroids (and have been since February) it's hard to catch inflammation in my intestines so I haven't been able to get a concrete diagnosis.

I have a CT enterography scheduled for tomorrow that's actually causing me a lot of anxiety. I've had a lot of unpleasant procedures done already so I'm not stranger to them, but due to being disabled I'm not able to drive a car by myself. My partner is going to have to take me to the appointment, but because his job is unforgiving they are not allowing him to take the day off, so he's going to have to drop me off at the imaging center. This means I'm going to be there alone during the whole procedure. If this was just an xray or an MRI I would be fine, but I'm going to have to drink a large amount of contrast and then sit there and wait for almost two hours, and THEN get the scan. I have a difficult time drinking prep even in the comfort of my own home, and I have anxiety being around strangers, so having to drink the prep in the office and then sit there by myself feeling sick and in pain is really giving me so much stress right now.

I'm going to bring my phone and probably my Switch to try and distract myself but I'm terrified. Sorry for the rant. I'm not dealing with this very well.

My IBS/IBD/whatever this is has severely cut down my quality of life. If you can identify your triggers, even if they're things you really love, please do your best to avoid them to avoid causing further damage to your insides. I wish I had quit smoking before I did, I might have bought myself some more time if I had.

 

[DontGiveAshiit]

I was diagnosed with IBS-C years ago and would go weeks without a bowel movement since I was a child, but that became my normal. And then about 5 years ago it progressively got worse and worse until about just over a year ago when everything sort of just collapsed on itself. Now I have IBS combination C and D to the severity that they're trying to screen me for Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis, but since I'm on such high dose of steroids (and have been since February) it's hard to catch inflammation in my intestines so I haven't been able to get a concrete diagnosis.

I have a CT enterography scheduled for tomorrow that's actually causing me a lot of anxiety. I've had a lot of unpleasant procedures done already so I'm not stranger to them, but due to being disabled I'm not able to drive a car by myself. My partner is going to have to take me to the appointment, but because his job is unforgiving they are not allowing him to take the day off, so he's going to have to drop me off at the imaging center. This means I'm going to be there alone during the whole procedure. If this was just an xray or an MRI I would be fine, but I'm going to have to drink a large amount of contrast and then sit there and wait for almost two hours, and THEN get the scan. I have a difficult time drinking prep even in the comfort of my own home, and I have anxiety being around strangers, so having to drink the prep in the office and then sit there by myself feeling sick and in pain is really giving me so much stress right now.

I'm going to bring my phone and probably my Switch to try and distract myself but I'm terrified. Sorry for the rant. I'm not dealing with this very well.

My IBS/IBD/whatever this is has severely cut down my quality of life. If you can identify your triggers, even if they're things you really love, please do your best to avoid them to avoid causing further damage to your insides. I wish I had quit smoking before I did, I might have bought myself some more time if I had.

I also did CT for this purpose not long ago. This really wasnt that bad, the thing they let you drink there is actually quite tasty :), and you just sit and wait there for a while, so bring something to pass the time. The procedure itself is very simple, they just put your lower body into that tunnel, for a minute or two and that's it.
I understand your concerns but just trying to cheer you up, try to take it easy

 

[succor]

I also did CT for this purpose not long ago. This really wasnt that bad, the thing they let you drink there is actually quite tasty :), and you just sit and wait there for a while, so bring something to pass the time. The procedure itself is very simple, they just put your lower body into that tunnel, for a minute or two and that's it.
I understand your concerns but just trying to cheer you up, try to take it easy

I really, really appreciate it. It's super comforting to hear from someone who's done it already! I'm just scared because part of my issue is that eating or drinking too much makes me super nauseous and crampy, and I'm also severely emetophobic, so being around so many people while feeling sick gives me a lot of anxiety. But if the drink isn't that bad then maybe I'll be ok. :) Thank you for the comfort!

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I was diagnosed with IBS-C years ago and would go weeks without a bowel movement since I was a child, but that became my normal. And then about 5 years ago it progressively got worse and worse until about just over a year ago when everything sort of just collapsed on itself. Now I have IBS combination C and D to the severity that they're trying to screen me for Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis, but since I'm on such high dose of steroids (and have been since February) it's hard to catch inflammation in my intestines so I haven't been able to get a concrete diagnosis.

I have a CT enterography scheduled for tomorrow that's actually causing me a lot of anxiety. I've had a lot of unpleasant procedures done already so I'm not stranger to them, but due to being disabled I'm not able to drive a car by myself. My partner is going to have to take me to the appointment, but because his job is unforgiving they are not allowing him to take the day off, so he's going to have to drop me off at the imaging center. This means I'm going to be there alone during the whole procedure. If this was just an xray or an MRI I would be fine, but I'm going to have to drink a large amount of contrast and then sit there and wait for almost two hours, and THEN get the scan. I have a difficult time drinking prep even in the comfort of my own home, and I have anxiety being around strangers, so having to drink the prep in the office and then sit there by myself feeling sick and in pain is really giving me so much stress right now.

I'm going to bring my phone and probably my Switch to try and distract myself but I'm terrified. Sorry for the rant. I'm not dealing with this very well.

My IBS/IBD/whatever this is has severely cut down my quality of life. If you can identify your triggers, even if they're things you really love, please do your best to avoid them to avoid causing further damage to your insides. I wish I had quit smoking before I did, I might have bought myself some more time if I had.

That's a horrible story and one I can relate to, I too have been without a BM for what must have been almost a month and it's one hell of a nasty feeling.
I've had a few CT scans and they have not been that bad, though i can also relate to not wanting to drink the contrast dye as I suffer from polyuria too.
I'm guessing you are having the scan today, so please come back and tell us how it went.

 

[succor]

That's a horrible story and one I can relate to, I too have been without a BM for what must have been almost a month and it's one hell of a nasty feeling.
I've had a few CT scans and they have not been that bad, though i can also relate to not wanting to drink the contrast dye as I suffer from polyuria too.
I'm guessing you are having the scan today, so please come back and tell us how it went.

Update: I ended up having to reschedule to Thursday, as the prep requires 6 hours of fasting and I ended up having to break the fast 3 hours before the exam arrival time due to a sudden drop of blood sugar (I'm prone to those). :( Sighhh. At least I have a little more time to mentally prepare! Thank you for checking in. :)

 

[Deleted member 94]

That's a horrible story and one I can relate to, I too have been without a BM for what must have been almost a month and it's one hell of a nasty feeling.
I've had a few CT scans and they have not been that bad, though i can also relate to not wanting to drink the contrast dye as I suffer from polyuria too.
I'm guessing you are having the scan today, so please come back and tell us how it went.

Did your doctor not prescribe medications for the constipation?

I was diagnosed with IBS-C years ago and would go weeks without a bowel movement since I was a child, but that became my normal. And then about 5 years ago it progressively got worse and worse until about just over a year ago when everything sort of just collapsed on itself. Now I have IBS combination C and D to the severity that they're trying to screen me for Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis, but since I'm on such high dose of steroids (and have been since February) it's hard to catch inflammation in my intestines so I haven't been able to get a concrete diagnosis.

I have a CT enterography scheduled for tomorrow that's actually causing me a lot of anxiety. I've had a lot of unpleasant procedures done already so I'm not stranger to them, but due to being disabled I'm not able to drive a car by myself. My partner is going to have to take me to the appointment, but because his job is unforgiving they are not allowing him to take the day off, so he's going to have to drop me off at the imaging center. This means I'm going to be there alone during the whole procedure. If this was just an xray or an MRI I would be fine, but I'm going to have to drink a large amount of contrast and then sit there and wait for almost two hours, and THEN get the scan. I have a difficult time drinking prep even in the comfort of my own home, and I have anxiety being around strangers, so having to drink the prep in the office and then sit there by myself feeling sick and in pain is really giving me so much stress right now.

I'm going to bring my phone and probably my Switch to try and distract myself but I'm terrified. Sorry for the rant. I'm not dealing with this very well.

My IBS/IBD/whatever this is has severely cut down my quality of life. If you can identify your triggers, even if they're things you really love, please do your best to avoid them to avoid causing further damage to your insides. I wish I had quit smoking before I did, I might have bought myself some more time if I had.

I have a diagnosis and manage my disease as follows

In the morning after waking up I take a liquid antacid to neutralise the stomach acid I find the liquid version works faster.

Then I wait a while for it to kick in.

Afterwards I mix about 4 to five dessert spoons of my preparation of 24 hour probiotic yogurmet yogurt with a small amount of water to make a thick liquid using electronic wisk. I then drink this.

I also drink two teaspoons of inulin in lukewarm water, you'll see if the water gets cloudy. I also drink a can of lucozade which around here is energy drink made with glucose.

I will do this ritual in the afternoon also.

My diet mostly consist of fruit and vegetables and is plant based.

Seems to be working for me so far, I am still taking meds, but this routine made the difference where meds weren't working.

Putting it out there if any of you are interested in this.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Did your doctor not prescribe medications for the constipation?

I was already on medications but they had stopped working. Long and complicated story, not helped by me moving house and virtually stopping eating as well as stopping the medications. When I was in hospital, I knew what medication I needed and the dose too, but they refused to give it to me. I had to leave, get an emergency GP to come out and TELL him what to prescribe. That worked, eventually, but it took months to regain any positive balance.
Now I take the medication, a good probiotic, inulin powder, flax seeds and have a much healthier diet packed with a wide variety of vegetables containing resistant starches to try and support butyric acid generation.

 

[Deleted member 94]

When I went of meds a long time ago my condition worsened I thought I was doing the right thing and believed I was healed. Sadly was mistaken, the doctor told me it takes months for the meds to build up in your body to start working again.

 

[Deleted member 94]

It's worth noting that there is a huge variety of helpful bacteria in the human gut. Probiotics come in many different combinations. From the crappy useless yoghurt drinks you get in Tesco to the stuff that NHS tertiary care will prescribe if you are lucky, that costs 50 quid on ebay for 10 satchets.
If your microbiome is deficient, the only way to see if probiotics might work is to try lots and lots of different good quality strains, which can be expensive and time consuming. Also, probiotics will require the correct prebiotic mix of soluble and insoluble fibre to work well, which means either a wide variety of vegetable matter or supplementation.

I can't help but be suspicious of many IBS diagnoses. It's a catchall lazy attitude to what may be an underlying problem. Anything with the words 'idiopathic' or 'syndrome' in the title usually really means 'we don't know or can't be bothered to find out.'

Look at pharmaruined's elixir in this thread I'm going to give it a try because it makes sense to me also in line with what you said.

https://sanctioned-suicide.net/threads/your-honest-opinion-about-my-situation.55750/#post-1023212