No pain, no IBS?

472 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by bonniei, May 28, 2005

Arnie W

Discussion Starter · May 27, 2005

According to the Rome criteria there must be pain in order to have a diagnosis of IBS. This does not mean abdominal discomfort as far as I understand, especially if of an erratic nature.I discussed this with my gastro, who is quite a purist when it comes to following this criteria, and he said that he would more likely diagnose me with a functional bowel disorder rather than IBS.I get the impression that many others on this board might be in the same boat. It is just that from a medical viewpoint it is often easier to give a catch-all label of IBS to any digestive irregularities.

Save

1 - 6 of 6 Posts

Kathleen M.

· #2 · May 28, 2005

Depends on how they define discomfort. I usually take that as urgency which is not always painful but can be heightened in IBSers.IBS is ONE of the Functional Bowel Disorders.If there is no pain or urgency I would think the purist would go more to functional diarrhea or functional constipation, but that is how I see it.Functional Bowel Disorder includes all of the above and Chronic Functional Abdominal Pain which is the pain without the stool issues of IBS.I don't see much difference between lumping them all under Functional Bowel Disorder vs lumping them all under IBS

Since they treat the symptom the same no matter which label I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes.K.

See less See more

Save

Arnie W

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 28, 2005

I agree with that, Kath. I do get abdominal discomfort, but it is the least of my worries and I never have to take analgesics for it. So it does become a matter of when discomfort becomes pain and that is a subjective thing.A couple of days ago a gastoenterologist told me about a study which was done to determine pain threshold in IBS-prone people. The IBSers had a far greater intolerance to IBS pain, as would be expected, but in a different test of pain (ie, not concerning areas of digestion) they often had a greater tolerance of pain than the non-IBSers did. I imagine that you, and others on the board, would be aware of such surveys.

Save

Kathleen M.

· #4 · May 28, 2005

That report sounds familiar.

Save

bonniei

· #5 · May 28, 2005

Arnie, it is not true that discomfort does not qualify for IBS. I had read a study that most people with IBS-C experienced discomfort rather than pain. I'kk try to see if I can find it. However it is important that the discomfort is 1. Relieved with defecation; and/or2. Onset associated with a change in frequency of stool; and/or3. Onset associated with a change in form (appearance) of stool.

Save

bonniei

· #6 · May 28, 2005

Here is the studyhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...2200&query_hl=3"Contrary to the generally accepted notion that pain is the most predominant symptom in IBS, twice as many patients self-classified their symptoms as abdominal discomfort rather than abdominal pain."

Save

1 - 6 of 6 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month