[lil85]

hello everyonei just wanted to see if anyone could offer me some advice about my "IBS".i was diagnosed by my dr about 6 months ago as i was suffering from bloating, tummy pains and lose mushy bms. all the dr did was examine me *down there* and have a prod at my tummy.i went away abit confused n admitidly i ignored things

anyway, the pains went away a little *unless i eat bread or pastry etc and i get the odd prang* but i do still suffer with bloating, again after eating certain foods and up until last week my bms were still very untidy and mushy etc. i also had one hemoroid and this has bled only once about 3 weeks ago..ive seen no blood since so my mom said it was probs the hemoroid.i got really worried it was something really serious (and still am) so i altered my diet. I have stopped drinking fizzy pop and have avoided bread and anything too doughy. ive replaced snacks like crisps with fruit and i drink a lot of water. ive been doing this for just over a week and i have seen a slight improvement, my bms are not messy or mushy anymore and are more firm but sometimes they float and they are very light in colour now. but it is an improvment to what they were.i have an apointment with a gastorentoroligist (i cant spell that) in a couple of weeks as my dr wants some more tests carried out to see if it is celiacs diesease or anything else (which i am petrified about) before all this happened i lived away from home for a year with my boyfriend...we didnt eat the best foods and i had very little fruit and no veggies at all. i wondered if this could have triggered my daily problems with my bms etc?has anyone else had to go through all of the tests i will have to have? i am so so so worried i have something serious and i have no one to turn to.i hope someone may beable to help me.thank you x

 

[S_LIne]

Hello mate. You might possibly have a gluten tolerance or allery to something. If you had blleding but only one time I wouldn't worry to much as you said you have hemmoroids. I really wouldn't worry about it being something else as there woulod be more bleeding than one time 3 weeks ago. The reason they poke and rubs your stomach is to check for tenderness. It really seems like IBS to me if it were something more serious it sounds dumb you'd know it. Best of luck.

 

[blondeoverblue24]

Welcome! Sorry you haven't been feeling too well.We still aren't one hundred percent sure as to what causes IBS. There are a lot of theories out there, the one that gets brought up a lot nowadays is the alteration of bacteria in the intestines, whether it is too large a bacterial population (termed bacterial overgrowth) or antibiotic treatment killing off the good bacteria in the GI tract. There are also theories regarding serotonin (95% of your body's serotonin is gastrointestinal) and altered perception of pain, bloating, etc. For the most part, dietary studies have come up as negative, so it's unlikely that the diet you described while you were living away from home was the ultimate cause. Though it is good that you've brought back some fruits and vegetables into your diet, as a balanced diet is important for anyone.Testing varies from doctor to doctor, but I am assuming your gastroenterologist will start out with bloodwork for celiac disease. They usually run two antibody tests on the blood, and if it comes up positive, you're more likely to have celiac disease. Typically, they will then follow that up with an upper endoscopy, to take a look at the lining of the small intestine and to confirm that you have celiac disease. If the bloodwork is negative and you are not having any upper symptoms like heartburn or difficulty swallowing, most doctors will not do an upper endoscopy.In addition to the celiac disease bloodwork, your doctor might get a complete blood count (looks at the red and white blood cells, platelets), electrolyte studies, liver function tests, thyroid function tests, and some will do a marker of inflammation, either a C-reactive protein or an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (depends on your doc's preference). All of those can be obtained by bloodwork.Depending on your age and the kind of symptoms you've been having, your doctor may want to do a colonoscopy. Typically, they try to reserve these for people they think might have inflammatory bowel disease (Ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease), or people at higher risk for colon cancer. Some symptoms that are more indicative of inflammatory bowel disease include bleeding, nighttime symptoms, fatigue and weight loss; however, these symptoms are possible in IBS as well. If you have a family history of inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, or are over the age of 40-50, doctors are more likely to get a colonoscopy. Colonoscopies sound pretty scary, but actually are not too bad (I had one about 5 years ago).Through all of this, though, remember that you are definitely not alone. As long as this board is here you will definitely have someone to turn to. Please let me know if you have any other questions

 

[lil85]

Thank you for the replies.I am 24 just gone (in august) and we dont have any history of bowel cancer or serious illness' in the family. i am a huge worrier though so this is always at the front of my mind.my apointment is 2 weeks today and that is just for a consultation. do you think if my GP thought it was anything bad he'd have got me seen sooner? this was the first apointment tht came up as i had a few hospitals to chose from.ive had an uncomfy day today and i am trying to think what it could be...bms aren't too bad but my stomachs been uncomfy. it feels rather like period pains but with bloating! last night i ate some spring rolls and prawn toast and drank cava lol. so i guess it could be that. its so frustrating lately not knowing what the problem is

 

[phef]

hello everyonei just wanted to see if anyone could offer me some advice about my "IBS".i was diagnosed by my dr about 6 months ago as i was suffering from bloating, tummy pains and lose mushy bms. all the dr did was examine me *down there* and have a prod at my tummy.i went away abit confused n admitidly i ignored things

anyway, the pains went away a little *unless i eat bread or pastry etc and i get the odd prang* but i do still suffer with bloating, again after eating certain foods and up until last week my bms were still very untidy and mushy etc. i also had one hemoroid and this has bled only once about 3 weeks ago..ive seen no blood since so my mom said it was probs the hemoroid.i got really worried it was something really serious (and still am) so i altered my diet. I have stopped drinking fizzy pop and have avoided bread and anything too doughy. ive replaced snacks like crisps with fruit and i drink a lot of water. ive been doing this for just over a week and i have seen a slight improvement, my bms are not messy or mushy anymore and are more firm but sometimes they float and they are very light in colour now. but it is an improvment to what they were.i have an apointment with a gastorentoroligist (i cant spell that) in a couple of weeks as my dr wants some more tests carried out to see if it is celiacs diesease or anything else (which i am petrified about) before all this happened i lived away from home for a year with my boyfriend...we didnt eat the best foods and i had very little fruit and no veggies at all. i wondered if this could have triggered my daily problems with my bms etc?has anyone else had to go through all of the tests i will have to have? i am so so so worried i have something serious and i have no one to turn to.i hope someone may beable to help me.thank you x

Hi there! I was sure before my first colonoscopy that I was dying of colon cancer or something dreadful. As it turned out I had nothing but three polyps that were pre-cancerous and my IBS was confirmed. The tests isn't fun, at least the day before isn't any fun with the bowel prep but after it was over I felt much better knowing my "self diagnosis" was wrong and I wasn't dying from anything.You need to find a different regular doctor because your IBS is probably not going to be cured by changes in diet and adding fiber and such. My now retired GI doctor told me I shouldn't have to give up much of anything if he was treating me correctly and he finally found a combination of meds that worked for me. The only things I had to remove from my diet permanently were things in the cabbage family, brocolli, and those really gassy foods. I went back to drinking coffe and most other things that I wanted. Most doctors don't understand IBS so look for one that does.