[Garrym]

My doctor has just diagnosed me with IBS, but I am not sure. All I have had done in blood work and a double contrast barium enema which showed nothing. My symptoms are a somewhat constant urge to pass stools which is usually mucous/slush/diarrhea/loose stools, a horrible "gurgling" type feeling down below somewhere both relieved after I pass whatever comes out :/ and gas, lots of gas also I have a pain just below my sternum (sp), its like a pressure pain and when its at its worse and I relax my stomach its agony, the doctor doesn't seem at all concerned about this, is this pain normal? Its been going on for over a year now although most of winter it disappeared (always felt like it was just around the corner though) but over the last few weeks it is back to its worse and I am felling bad and depressed.Sound like anyone elses symptoms?

 

[Kathleen M.]

IBS can cause a lot of pain and everything else sounds pretty consistent with IBS.IBS is a nerve problem and when the nervous system starts sending pain signals when it shouldn't "nothing" can be quite painful.You didn't mention bloody diarrhea, unexplained fevers, or unexplainable weight loss even though you are still eating a lot more food than you used to. That and the medical tests all point to IBS.Pain that lessens when you pass gas or have a BM is classic IBS and not really a symptom of anything else.

 

[Garrym]

Thanks for the quick reply. No bloody diarrhea or fevers, I do often lose my appetite but I think that is down to anxiety and have lost weight as a consequence. I guess I better get use to it and try and control my stress and anxiety levels, wish it was that easy :/ I gather I am not the only one that keeps questioning if it is something more serious?

 

[Kathleen M.]

Something about IBS does seem to set off people's anxiety in a major way (which then tends to set off GI symptoms so it can be a vicious cycle).It it pretty common for people to worry that they must have something else much worse wrong with them. It is hard to believe IBS causes so many obnoxious symptoms, but often it is more obnoxious than a lot of other things.