I was 21 years old had a stomach bug and after that never was the same again I had a 18 month old daughter at the time which was hard going to look after a baby and myself wen I was really poorly with it, I had loose bowels and would shake and sweat lots they came on all of a sudden I would b fine 1 minute and attack as I call it would come all of a sudden taking time off work for this was hard as no one believed me I went to the doctors and nothing was done at first it took ages for them to take me serious which gets u down after a while I had tests done and nothing came back so they said IBS was the course of it my mum paid for a york test which came back as wheat and gluten so I stopped eating things wiv it in I was ok on that diet for a while and then last year i ended up in hospital had more tests done and just found that they still havent found anything so its put done in the words of my consultant as bad ibs!!

I am an 18 year old female who was diagnosed with IBS, acid reflux, and Barrett's Esophagus. I live in constant, incessant pain. No matter what I eat or don't eat, nothing works. I have been like this for a year and 3 months now, and have no clue how this started. My stomach has only one feeling; pain. I don't feel hunger or full, all I feel is more or less pain. Most of the time I can only tell when I'm hungry when I'm feeling weak. I've been on a strictly all healthy diet for about a week now, but I don't feel the slightest bit better. Any advice?

By: tortugachica

Hello all.

I wanted to share my story on the site about IBS. I am a 20 year old female living in Sacramento, California. I was diagnosed with IBS (the doctors didn’t say what type it was, but I believe its IBS-A) about 5 months ago, so I’m a newbie to all this. I know I still have a lot to learn about living with this condition, but I hope my story can help contribute to this site…

Dear Online Community:

I was diagnosed with IBS about 9 years ago (although I know I have had the condition for most of my life). My carefully controlled work environment was shattered when I was told I would have to move to another site 15 miles away and involved a cross-country journey. I had the humiliating experience of having to explain why this was impossible. They promptly sent me to see an unsympathetic doctor at their Occupational Health Clinic. In the end they compromised and I was sent over for one day a week which was fine as I could control my condition with increased doses of loperamide that I am prescribed on a regular basis.

So for the longest time I've thought I had mild IBS, more so travelers being that nearly every time I'd get ready to go somewhere I'd get the urge to "go". Then while on long trips I'd get anxious also.

When I first joined this forum I was getting ready to leave for Air Force basic training. I was so worried that I would be rushing everywhere and not have the chance to use the restroom when I needed to. Amazingly not only me but it seems to be a trend that for the first week or two NO ONE has a bowel movement lol. Eventually it happened and I discovered it wasn't a problem if we needed to go, or more like it never was an issue.

I don't have a story to share with others at the moment. This flareup of whatever is wrong with me is all new to me and I'm frightened, I live alone, am 68 years old, and very sick. I joined this site to see what I could learn from others. The Dr. doesn't even know what's wrong with me yet. I'm having abdominal CT scans done next week. Thank you.

By: Stevie 2009

In March of 2009, halfway through my first year at university, I was diagnosed with Hayfever. Moving back home for the summer I ran out of medication and by mid-June I was rushed into hospital.

Little did I realize that a wheat allergy causes Hay fever-like symptoms. That was when IBS was mentioned. The doctors told me that cutting out wheat would stop all my symptoms. However, there were still further problems. I still had chronic constipation and unimaginable stomach cramps/pain.

After keeping a food and bowel movement diary, a wheat allergy, gluten, lactose and egg intolerance were found to be the cause of my pain. From July-January I found it relatively OK coping with IBS, there would be the odd days where it would be exceptionally bad, but these were very rare. I was even beginning to get confidence in the kitchen and by November I could eat egg and was starting the process of introducing meat back into my diet (I had previously been a vegetarian).

I have battled IBS for years now. It didn't have a medical name the first time I experienced it. I can probably date my first encounter with it over 20 years ago. I couldn't figure out why I had a quirky stomach along with embarrassing symptoms that I could not reveal even to those closest to me. The symptoms were infrequent at that time and I was able to still continue with an uninterrupted social life most of the time, but I feared that people who knew me would think it was psychological in origin, even though I knew it was not "all in my head."

My 5 year old son experienced a stressful event at school one morning last week. He came home and had diarrhea that afternoon. Complaining with a tummy ache and now two days after the event his diarrhea has turned into nothing but mucas when he goes to the bathroom. My research found that stressful events can bring on symptoms of IBS. I am begging for answers that will help his symptoms go away.

By: Carrie Griggs