[Guest]

I am very new to this bulletin and I have been reading and looking at so many of the posts here. It seems as though the problem with alot of IBS people, is that they need to go to the bathroom alot in a day. Is this only the people with the D? What are the main problems of the IBS sufferer with the C? When I start to get symptoms of GI problems, I always only need to usually go to the bathroom once in a day. I only get that mucousy type of bowel movement instead of the D, and tend to get the thin and few BM when I feel I am a bit C. My main symptom I have the most problem dealing with is that I just feel sick and lousy, like I am being poisoned might be the best word to describe it. If it was only pain I could live with it. I also get these symptoms usually only once in a year, which last for maybe 2 weeks and sometimes up to 1 month or 2. Does many IBS sufferers have it like this, the type of IBS that is seasonal only once a year? Or is it supposed to be alot more throughout the year or no pattern at all?

 

[Mynzaboxer]

Your not alone in this type of pattern. I had my first IBS attack a year ago August. After the usual tests (colonoscopy,endoscopy, UpperGI/lower bowel series,Ultrasound, bloodwork) I was finally diagnosed with IBS.I can go as long as 2 to 4 months and not have an attack ... then BAM, it hits me and can hang on for a couple of weeks (though usually no longer than a week). Like you, aside the the GI symptoms of bloating, stomach pain & Diarreah ... I can also have a variety of stools from mucousy and hard during this time, to water, bright yellow and burning (gross I know).But most of all...it's just feeling, like you say,'sick & lousy' all the time during an episode, which I find the most difficult to deal with. There is usually a slight nausea that follows me during the whole episode as well.The more I read this board the more I see that although many of the symptoms are present that are listed in any text about IBS ... other perhaps less common symptoms can also occur, such as nausea.Also I'm finding that I'm not alone in the fact that IBS can suddenly appear later in life (30+), male or female ... and that episodes, those just as debilitating, can occur less frequently than many.Being in the middle of an attack right now, I know how discouraging it can be.

 

[Kathleen M.]

The only thing you can really say with IBS is YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.Symptoms can be hourly, daily, weekly, monthy, or less frequent.There will be stool consistancy changes and frequency changes of any an all description (over the whole of everyone with IBS...although each person has their own subset of it).Pretty much every pattern you can imagine, and a few you can't

are found in some subset of IBS patients.Some patterns are more typical than others...but nothing is really out of the ordinary.Now it is considered normal to have some GI symptoms occasionally, although usually just for a day or two. You may have enough symptoms for long enough to be out of the normal range. But it is normal to occasionally get constipated. How badly being constipated effects overall wellbeing will vary from person whether thay are normal or have IBS. Who posts on bb's is typically going to be those who find a disease interferes with daily life. So the can't keep a job because I poop 20X a day person is WAY more likely to post than someone who gets constipated a couple of times a year. That is just the nature of support groups.Have you been to the doctor and been tested during one of these spells to determine if it is IBS or something else?K.

 

[trbell]

IBS is a syndrome, not a disease. this confuses a lot of people, but yes, there are many types.tom