I have been having problems with what the Docs say is IBS forever it seems. Haven't posted on this board in a while but have been having a bad spell & found this board helpful in answering my questions & making me feel better before just by knowing I am not alone. Have tried many drugs over the past few years which some seemed to work for a while then they seemed to stop working & so I would stop taking them. I would start them back up if my stomach would start acting up again. They were mostly antispasmodics. Other then that I just hide out & deal with the pain. Well have had a bbaaddd week. Really messed with my life. Last Fri. AM had several explosive stools before going to & actually at the beginning of work. Tummy didn't really feel all that bad though. Got hungry at lunch so ate a small piece of Chicken & some veges. Half an hour or so the pain in my upper midgastric area started. Ended up incapacitated & goin home. Sat. made it through work just ate a few crackers sporadically throughout the day. I talked to a GI Dr making rounds & he said to go to his office & pick up samples of Zelnorm to try. I have been seen by his group in the past. I know it is for predominately constipating & at this time I do not know what the hell I am C or D. I took a Zelnorm before I ate supper on Mon. had to go potty approx 1 hr after which consisted of a couple small formed lumps & watery ####. Can't say my tummy really hurt that night just that constant yucky feeling like ya gotta go all the time. Compared to the pain I have had that is nothing. The next AM I wasn't feeling too hot. Had maybe a couple small loose stools but was having intense knife-like pains that would last for quite a while in different places of the abdomen,Oh & my left shoulder. lower right & midright abdomen, & left shoulder. (I have had the gallbladder tests) Well needless to say I was going on a bus trip on Wed & did not want to be feeling like that so I did not take another one. Well I got up to go on the bustrip & felt ok that morn. Had a couple french toast sticks on the bus on the way up...no problem yet. Went & had a very small turkey/roast beef sandwich (like 1/4 of a small 6" sub) then it all started again. Had to go to the bathroom. Medium size mushy stool with a lot of wind.You know, think you are going to lift off the toilet & your stool has that airpocket filled appearance. (This stuff is gross isn't it...sorry. I just need to talk to people who understand.) Anyway..have to make it to see the play! Well 1 block down the pain in the mid upper gastric region starts, followed by the cold sweats & you better get to another bathroom feeling. Once again explosion. Then the pain says Hey I am here to stay & if you want to see that play you are going to see it in pain. I took meds & thought you wanna bet!Well I listened to it, in pain, Lying in the hall on the carpeting at the Theater in the lobby. I tried to sit & watch the play. I thought maybe it would distract me, that I really wasn't hurting that bad, it would go away! I was sweating up a storm, trying to concentrate on breathing right to control the pain because the meds I took which was Ativan to try & relax me & Vicodin to take away the pain were not working this time. I had found that at times in the past the quickest way to relief was by taking these & getting into a hot bathtub & get relaxed as soon as possible. Well no bath tub for me that day Just a hard floor to lie on & writhe in pain. I even took another dose of each med when they didn't work. The bus trip was no fun trip back. I never got relief until sometime on Thursday & my whole body ached all over after. Still does today. Called the Gi Doc office, of course can not get in until the 17th. The nurse suggests I take the Zelnorm & take the 6 mg bid. It takes a while to really work. I really wondered about those of you that have taken it did you experience the sharp pains at first & then they went away?? I am a nurse & do not know what to do..that is really sad. This gets me so frustrated because I feel like I should know what to do & how to listen to my body & be able to control this. It gets me so down at times. I am usually a pretty happy go lucky person & I do not think I have any more stressors then the normal person. I am in my 40's & this has been going on since my teens.Scared to eat ,scared to go anywhere. I really do a pretty good job of dealing most of the time but now I am having a real hard time. I feel like I am letting everyone around me down. Can't take me anywhere without worrying.
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