I've been an IBS sufferer for about 9 months now, and I've been to multiple doctors, even urologists, to try and see if they could find the source of my pelvic pain. I've had a CTscan (/w contrast) done, my PSA levels taken, my blood taken for allergy tests (including glutten), and of course countless urine samples but everything showed no problems. What has been very strange lately though, is how my IBS has been acting lately and how much it has changed over just a few days. Before, I would have an immense amount of pain from sitting down for long periods of time, prolonged bowel movements and full bowels, excessive and persistent flatulence, and even things completely unrelated to worsening IBS (like sexual activity). I even suffered MORE pain after passing my stool, as opposed to relief, which I hear is what most IBS patience typically get. Now, its been a month since I've seen a GI doctor who diagnosed me with IBS and put me on Elavil 10mg. He encouraged me to eat high amounts of fiber, especially soluable, and avoid certain foods (which I had already been avoiding for the most part). However, I read up on IBS and how taking in too MUCH fiber can actually cause IBS to become worse in some patience, and that suddenly increasing your fiber intake dramatically in a short amount of time is especially risky. I tested this theory, and over the course of just a day or two, several of my long persisting symptoms practically disappeared. Pain after bowel movements was gone, excessive gas was gone, and indigestion (which had just started bothering me a month ago) practically vanished. I did two things over the past week to significantly reduce my symptoms and unbearable pain, and that simply was to not eat nearly as much per meal (and per day), and also reduce my fiber intake from about 90-120% to about 50% every day.I must add, that I do not believe I suffer from IBS caused by either diarrhea nor constipation, because even with a low daily fiber intake, I am still able to have normal and consistent bowel movements. Rather, I think my problem lies more with nerve and/or muscle fiber dysfunction, that may be provoking bowel spasms that which in turn causes trap gas and bloating to occur. It may even go deeper than that and assume I have CPPS (Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome), which has heavy ties with IBS. I've read all about CPPS and its relationship with IBS, and how CPPS can not only cause IBS to occur in some patients but also imitate the symptoms of IBS through something called nerve cross talk. Has anyone else ever had similar experiences as I have, and actually gotten better by reducing their fiber intake, or simply avoiding foods to prevent gas? I feel like I am finally beginning to go in the right direction, but I still have a lot of room for improvement before I feel completely better, so I have come here to seek the guidance and advise of this forum, so I greatly appreciate any feedback from you all. Thanks in advance.
