Wouldn't it be wonderful to be like people who don't have IBS and never have to give a second thought to your intestinal tract?

I'm sure that most of what I have experienced has been experienced by someone on this site.

My IBS began with constipation from Calan, a drug for a cardiac arrythmia. To counteract that I had to rely on laxatives and glycerine suppositories. Finally that turned my IBS into one of almost constant diarrhea with cramping and pain so intense that I was sure I was dying of stomach cancer or some similar disease. My family doctor wanted to do a barium x-ray series on me. I decided at that time if I was going to go through that test I would rather have a colonoscopy so they could actually see what was going on.

"Don't eat too much Mandy." "Ugh, You wet the bed again!" These were common phrases that my little 6 year old ears heard on a daily bases. Fed up with my habits of puking after meals and constantly wetting the bed at night, my parents decided it was time to go to the doctor. The doctor didn't have a name for it then, but I knew it was something more than just wetting the bed when I felt a grown man's finger go up my rear door.

I recall drinking a large glass of metamucil, eating grape nut cereal, marking every poopy on the calendar, and daily tauntings from my sisters. The doctor did a procedure using a catheter and all was assume well.

I was regular for a short time and heard, "Eww Mandy poop," constantly from my sisters. That is where something so natural became embedded in my head as nothing more than embarrassment.

Time went on and gas, cramping, bloating, and lack of bowel movements became the norm.

Hello, I have just joined the support group today,I have had ibs for many years the past 5years diagnosed as severe and this year got to the stage it is ruining my life. My symptoms which i suffer from every day are: Indigestion,nausea,stomach and pelvic pain, bloatedness, piles, flatulence,I chronically strain every day on the toilet,even when I have Diahorrea,my BM is always soft,but difficult to pass,its a nightmare!I have tried every alternative therapies on the market and my GP has prescribed a lot of meds as well but nothing has helped.At the moment I have just been prescribed 20mg Amitryptiline to take at night to see if it helps my pain,so keeping fingers crossed.My GP says I am not typically constipated,but really does not know what to do to help me. Just to ty and stop straining. I can't!It's the only way to get the stools out,which is not normal! I also have chronic fatigue syndrome which I have had for 11years.

HELP!

By: Diana63

Well I had an episode over the weekend and it was so painful. Does this sound familiar to anyone....

The first stage is going to the toilet feeling absolutely normal.

After the first round of "matter release" about 2.lbs of it, I know by this point that it's going to get worse.
The second round is the killer.

I have to take all my cloths off as the sweating is profuse from all over my body apart from legs and hyper ventilating makes me dizzy. I then have another matter release of another 2.lbs+ and the vomiting then kicks in as my body is trying to get rid of the causes of abdominal pain. It's not so much as Diarrhoea but more of a mud consistency which sinks and piles out the top of the water. (I know this isn't pleasant to read but we've all been there).

My condition started about five years ago. My stomach had swollen up and it was very painful, but my torso had a very warm temperature without and increase in temperature taken with a thermometer. With this I had a terrible body odor. I had a peptic ulcer some years before. Endoscopy revealed chronic gastritis with peptic ulcer disease. The doctor gave me Nexium. I was also treated for H. pylori.

For five years I suffered. What had happened was yeast had entered through the ulceration and had thrived undetected. After treatment with fluconazole this condition was remedied.

Hope this helps someone.

By: doug78340

I've read a lot of stories in this section and mine is very similar but I think the more everyone reads about sharing symptoms, the less we feel alone.

I am a 23 year old female with IBS-C. I have had it since I was around 13, throughout my teens it would only be really bad around my time of the month, once I got to my late teens it was horrendus. I was constantly ill at work (as a beauty/massage therapist) and would constantly have to rush off to the toilet, the pain was always so bad that I would vomit.

I visited the doctors on many occasions and have been given various fibre supplements and anti-spasmodics but with no luck.

In December 2007 my husband and I had our daughter- my mum had said that maybe having a child would make my IBS better. It did not. Having gone through a long, painful labour, I can now confirm that the pain from my IBS is worse. I'm sure if you're a sufferer reading this you will understand!

I need advice on severe constipation. I suffer from IBS-A(both) I just got over having D, consistently, for approximately 3 months. I was diagnosed a little over 2 years ago and I mainly had C. I was afraid to take anything for the D because I had horrible problems with the C. Well I am now back to the C, aside from adding extra fibre, my diet has not really changed. In the last 4 days, starting my 5th today, I have taken various laxatives exlax, lactulose, senokot-s, and a sodium phosphates oral solution. I have only had 1 small BM. I NEED HELP because I do not see the gastroenterologist until June 2010. I am eating plenty of fibre and drinking approximately 4 litres of water, daily. The medications that I take are cipralex 10mg(anti-depressent) dicetel 50mg X2(specific for IBS) bentylol 20mg X3(anti-spasmotic) and morphine 10mg X3-4(periodically for severe pain). I find my pain is worse when I am over active, have my menstral cycle and I have severe D.

I really need some help on how to manage IBS. I am so lost. I know the main cause is stress which i get from all ends of my life.

I eat well, stick to the diets of people with IBS, avoid the foods that make me ill. But still...

The past month or so, i have been so bloated its unbelievable. I take medicine, i throw up, i dont eat, it doesnt help. I dont have support at home on this. all think its a lie and im over acting.

Does anyone have ideas on how to manage IBS or what i should do?

By: rougetraveller

I'm 20 years old and as far as I can remember I've suffered from IBS and constipation for around 9 years. I've always had problems with my stomach but it all started when I was about 11 years old. I had a tear on the bowel, unknown to me and my family and had trouble going to the toilet, I was in so much pain and eventually stopped going all together. Eventually I had to be sent to hospital to be put under to have an operation called a manual evacuation because I was so feceally impacted all they could do is remove all the faeces and give my body time to heal.