[IBSD88]

Prob very obvious but is IBS a form of autoimmune? I would presume it is as coeliac disease is,the only reason I ask is because I am still trying to balance all my symptoms, as I get one under control the others become worse.I still get D but its far less frequent and painful than it used to me,My sickness has been getting worse, so I am on some ant sickness tablets which are helping quite a bit.headaches however are getting worse and anything I take for them makes the first two worse so i will prob have to live with them.however my major killer is overheating, I used to overheat when I had D which is pretty unsuprising, but now there is nothing else it just overheating but my whole body goes into prepare for death mode, I lose all energy, my body feels like its not working, I start sweating and everything hurts even the hair on my head feels like its sandpaper.I have no idea what I can do to help this symptom.I also have chronic insomnia, ridiculous appetite swings and a pain that I just dont know where it comes from. but I have no idea what to do next.Anyone have some better ideas than my doc as he doesnt really know anything just asks what i want to try and next meeting is wed morning and want to come up with something new as might be having a big change soon and no way ill manage the way I currently am.

 

[Kathleen M.]

While there are some minor immune system changes it does not appear that IBS in any way falls under "autoimmune". None of the markers that indicate autoimmune disease are seen in IBSers.Not sure but some people when they have BM's or abdominal pain (and those that faint at the sight of blood and some other things like that ) have an over-responsive Vagus nerve, now some people can feel hot or cold or get sweaty on the way to a full faint, but I don't know if that matches your overheating thing. It does kind of match the sense you are just completely shutting down??

 

[RichardW]

All the symptoms sound completely familiar to me; also feel hot a lot, have had bouts of terrible nausea (and by bouts I mean they last 6 months), pain I can't really locate, headaches and insomnia. I'm treating the latter two separately as I'm convinced the headaches are sinus related. But yes, all sounds like IBS to me. Auto-immune is an interesting idea, perhaps the body isn't able to regulate internal flora properly? Many people get relief from probiotic concoctions.

 

[IBSD88]

ive tried pre and pro biotics and though they did very little they didnt all together do nothing.the way I was thinking about autoimmune is just that autoimmune is just where 1 body part doesnt work how its meant to and that you have no control over it and considering that most IBS'ers have lost immunity to one or more of lactose, dairy, wheat, etc it could all be linked.dont know why that popped into my head the other night as it makes no difference as autoimmune has no real treatments either but it just seemed to fit in with the fact that even though IBS is mainly digestive it impacts other parts of the body too.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Lactose intolerance has nothing to do with the immune system nor do most of the other IBS intolerances (celiac disease does, food allergies do). They are not allergies or immune system issues. Usually the problem is something either isn't processed by that person, or isn't digested/absorbed by any human and the extra gas (compared to a non gas generating food) means extra pressure pushing on the intestines. Sometimes it is a problem in the nervous system signals so you may not respond properly to the "I ate" or "it is time to get up and start moving" signals. The "I ate" does change with meals as a high-fat or large meal needs different things from a small, light meal. So some people do find certain kinds of meals are a problem but again that has nothing to do with the immune system.Autoimmune isn't one part of the body forgets how to work (that more defines functional disease) but where the immune system (which will attack every single thing it is not part of the self and it has to learn what is self and what is not) attacks a body part as if it were an invading organism. The colon never gets destroyed in IBS like you would see in Ulcerative colitis or other autoimmune diseases that actually physically alter that part with wave after wave of destruction. Like there are many kinds of arthritis. Some just make the joint hurt when you use it. Some, are autoimmune and the body is actually destroying and rebuilding the joint so you see a lot of deformity that you never see in people who just overused a joint until it wore out.