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Evolution of IBS

1257 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  allyjellybelly
Hello all.As you can guess, I have IBS. I believe it's a combination of IBS-C and IBS-D. Some days I have perfectly normal stools, some days I have watery, frequent stools, some days I don't go to the toilet for 48 hours.I almost always have gas and I suffer from acid reflux too. Now, I will say that IBS is annoying as hell and I'd be glad to cure it, but I'm "lucky" in that way that my IBS doesn't really prevent me to live a normal life. Except for vacation.... I won't be able to enjoy certain types of vacation any more but that's not a real problem. The only thing that makes my IBS "bearable" is, I believe, very simple: whenever I feel I need to go to the bathroom, I can hold it up like a normal person if needed. Even when I'm in a period of frequent, watery stools, I can hold it up when I have to. I think this is really a good thing.But I got to be honest, I'm an axious person. And my biggest fear at the moment is not the IBS I have at this day, but my fear is that it will evolve into an extremer case where I won't be able to hold up my stools any more. My fear is that one day, I won't be able to sit in the bus on my way to work, take a walk in the streets, enjoy an evening in a pub with friends, etc without the fear that I could suddenly have an attack of diahrrea and that I'd have to find a bathroom within 60 seconds if you see what I mean.So, my question is, is it common for IBS to evolve into an extremer form? Is it usual for IBS of my type to evolve into a form where you could have a sudden onset of diahrrea and where I basically lose my ability to hold it up when needed?I know this question might sound weird and stupid, but that really is my only fear. My doc says IBS usually doesn't evolve so drastically, but she knows I'm an anxious person and she might just be telling that to reassure me. Does anyone know an answer?
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IBS does not typically get worse and worse every year (or suddenly overnight) until you are completely home-bound and disabled. A lot of diseases have an inevitable progression like that, but IBS is not one of them.IBS sometimes gets a lot better, sometimes stays the same and a few people do get worse. However the anxiety that it must get worse (or whichever thing you get anxious about) can make it worse than it would be if you won't so worried. If you look for every indication it must be worse today than yesterday that isn't good for you and can make a milder case into one that is more severe if you don't work on controlling the anxiety. Anxiety makes almost every health problem a lot worse than it would be on its own. I mean they never say you'd be just fine if you'd be just a little more anxious.
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