[Bertie B]

Hello ! New here. Bit of background on me, started feeling ill around June 7th and have been having stomach cramps and diahoerra on and off since then. No blood in feaces and no throwing up although sick feeling. Been to the docs, they have taken blood twice but it has come back with no further action to be taken, they have taken stool sample but lost one and I have given another one which should be back Monday. Possibility I have IBS.Anyway, the longer this has gone on the more weird I feel I am becoming. I seem to get odd symptoms like I feel like I am out of my body or that my skin is really sensitive. I feel like I have a hangover and feel very on edge which makes me panic. I often have the feeling that my breathing is really shallow and I cannnot get enough air even though I must be. I used to be out doing 4-5 6k runs every week and going to the gym but now get in and all I want to do is sit on the sofa and hope my symptoms don't happen tonight after I have eaten.I cannot concentrate at times and just feel lethargic with no energy, I know when I am going to get a bout of diahoerra as my skin sort of freezes, my head goes fuzzy, I get a sense of a panic attack then its straight off to the loo for sometimes 3-4 evacuations within 15-20 minutes of each other. Is this something associated with IBS, or have any of you experienced this kind of stuff ? Can a virus live this long in the body ?I suspect my next step will be coloscopy or that sigmoscopy, does the colonoscopy hurt ?? I am frightened to death of needles so having an anasthetic doesn't appeal unless it can be done without a needle....having my blood taken was an ordeal in itself anyway I have rambled on too much, any help gratley appreciated RegardsB, UK

 

[Kathleen M.]

Usually IBS isn't from a virus that will not go away, but from damage the body suffered trying to make it go away. The immune system does some damage to the body as it fights things off.However the fatigue and mind fog type symptoms are not that typical of IBS. But some with IBS also have chronic fatigue syndrome issues or fibromyalgia that can cause a lot more body symptoms and mental issues.Not sure about how they do the anesthetic but typically they have you out enough you don't feel the colonoscopy. You wouldn't need a sigmoidoscopy if they do the colonoscopy, but they might do an endoscopy from the other end if you have symptoms that indicate that. There really isn't any point looking from the rectum to the sigmoid part of the colon if you are already going to do the full colonoscopy that looks at that part of the colon and then goes on to look at the rest.