[Matt2010]

Hey guys, one main thing about my IBS that really scares me is the high amount of mucus that is in my poop sometimes no poop at all just mucus or mixed (disgusting I know) does any one know of away to control this so I dont get as much or any? like certant foods I can eat and so forth that will stop this, coz every time I see it I have to stop my self from having a panic attack which is quite hard at the moment coz seeing so much is what is making me thing I have something bad wrong other then IBS.Any suggestions please? I gotta go do food shopping in a few hours actually so would like to know if theres any foods I can put on my list that will help get rid of it.Thanks.

 

[Kathleen M.]

I don't know any food that makes it stop.I think a few people sometimes find antihistamines help so you might try some over the counter antihistamine. Just need to find one that doesn't make you drowsy.Some foods can have a histamine effect so maybe avoid those.http://www.urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/p...lowedrestricted has an allowed and restricted list for people that need to limit histamine in the diet.

 

[Matt2010]

with how much does come out etc would there be any other cause other then IBS that I should insist to my doctor that I get checked or something or is it normal for people with any form of IBS to get so much.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Mucus is non-specific. Some IBSers have a lot of mucus.Have you had routine blood tests? (complete blood count) or any other tests? They tend to rule out anything else it could be even with just a couple of tests.Were you screened for celiac disease? I don't think it specifically leads to lots of mucus, but it is good to have that checked if you haven't.

 

[Matt2010]

Yes my doctor did a full blood test to check for any diseases that could be causing it and they all came up fine except for my obvious low counts on everything like platelets/white cells etc coz of my other chronic illnesses how would I get screened for celiac disease would he have checked for that in the blood test? I can't really remember if it was one of the things he said he could rule out from the blood test.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Generally the first step is a blood test, but they have to order it separately as it wouldn't be part of the test you mention (sounds like they did the complete blood count).If your sedimentation rate was normal--and it sounds like it was--that pretty much rules out inflammatory disease.

 

[CatUK]

You can buy a cealiac blood test online. I bought one. You just prick your finger and put it into the fluid filled test tubes, it's tells you within minutes if they've found that you could have it. You then take your results to the Dr for further investigations if it shows you could have it. Mine was negative thankfully. Just make sure you are eating wheat and gluten when having the blood test as it can cause a false negative.The test cost me £11.99 I think for 2 (Mum used the other one as she has IBS too and wanted to see if it was anything else), you can buy them on ebay as well. Ours were both negative thankfully. I get a lot of mucus too with my IBS which is gross and takes a lot of wiping at times from just mucus and nothing else. Mines usually clear but now and again has a very slight green tinge, don't know if that means anything.I've had full blood tests and they were all normal apart from my ESR levels which we still don't know why.

 

[Matt2010]

I'm going to my doctors today actually to get the results of a poo sample i gave him on saturday (hoping the results are in today and are all clear!) would there be anything else you can suggest I have them test to at least give me peace of mind that its DEF just IBSedit - id probably rather just get my doc to do the test him self coz if i was at home and it showed negative id probably have a major panic attack

 

[Kathleen M.]

If you are in the USA they might be willing to do this test for you.http://www.ibsbloodtest.com/It is pretty new so not all that widely used, but it does tend to segregate those who "just" have IBS from people with other GI illnesses.

 

[Diana63]

I can pass a lot of mucous,on its own or sometimes in my BM,but i have been told by doctor its just my ibs,so not to worry.This has been happening to me for years so i am sure my doctor is right.

 

[Matt2010]

I live in Australia (5am here now been a restless night for me!) so probably no go on that test.I'm not sure how long I've been passing mucus for, I'd say quite a while but knowing me I've probably only just recently noticed it and stuff and now I notice it it gets worse or something how ever that works.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Especially for those that tend to be anxious that noticing thing does seem to make it worse. Anxiety is a stress on the body and the mind and so it tends to make everything worse. It also tends to make us hyper-aware of something once you start paying attention to it. So that can be a vicious cycle. You notice something that makes you anxious. You start paying a lot of attention to it because you are anxious about it. The body responds to the stress of the anxiety and the symptom gets worse. That makes you pay even more attention to it and get more anxious about it....and so on.With this particular symptoms the stress can effect it fairly directly. The mast cells in the gut are hooked into the nervous system, and when they release their signals one of things they can increase is the amount of mucus produced. Doesn't matter much if it is from the nervous system, or if an allergen gets in your nose and makes it run or stuff up from mucus. Same sort of thing. That is why it may be worth trying an antihistamine to see if it helps. Try one for 3-4 days and see if it is any better. Also why I suggested that food list. Histaminic foods tend to set off the mast cells.

 

[Matt2010]

Do they contain any blood thinning elements? Because I'm not allowed to take anything with such a thing like aspirin/blood thinners etc

 

[Kathleen M.]

I don't know of any problems with blood thinning with Benedryl or Claratin or things like that, but I'll check.Don't buy cold medicine that sometimes has other things added (usually acetaminophen) just the straight antihistamines. Be back soon.Checked around I can find nothing that suggests antihistamines are implicated in thinning the blood. Even on the list of drugs that interact with coumadin (a blood thinner and most of the drugs aren't on the list because they also thin the blood but because they alter the dose in your blood) they aren't listed and that drug interacts with a lot of medications. The ones that are in combination with NSAID's/Asprin are listed but because of the asprin and NSAID, not when by themselves.You could always check with the doctor or pharmacists, but usually other than some of them make some people drowsy there isn't much risky about them.

 

[emepe22]

Hi,for me, mucus and gaz happens each time that I eat a fruit alone (apple is the worst). It is very important to eat a lot of fruit so I continue to eat them. But, I found that if I eat something at the same time (cookie, granola bar, bread, yaourt) it is a lot better. Moreover, I choose a proper time to eat them, usually around 4pm so I'm not at work when the problems begins around 6pm.

 

[no limits]

you need more alkaline in your diet and less acid google high alkaline foods and eat them.

 

[ziggy7]

wow i had forgotten about this i used to have Mucus too and alot of itbut not anymore thanks to my diethttp://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=112669also i can't remember during the start of the diet if i still had Mucus for awhile or not i know i don't have it anymore thoughand before my diet when i had it i always blocked it out of my mind that must be why i forgot about it