1 year of no symptoms and then a week of hell
Hi everyone, I wonder if any of you have any ideas. I have IBS and have mainly struggled with loose bowel movements in the morning and have had to wake up super early to accommodate my many trips to the bathroom before work.
A year ago I hit breaking point when my morning IBS routine started to run into my working day and I decided to try low FODMAP. I did it for 6 months, struggled with the reintroduction, but it didn’t seem to matter. I was symptom free and I had worked out a short list of foods to avoid.
I’ve enjoyed 9 months of no IBS symptoms, no carrying immodium in my bag, waking up at a normal time to go to work… it was too good to be true.
I’ve just had two weeks of what feels like a flashback, and some. Just like before, pain and then needed the loo, many times in the morning. But on top of this, I have bloating which I never had before. Feeling sick and fed up, not just in the morning but most of the day.
Going to run it past my GP to double check there isn’t something else going on, but feeling really fed up about this. Has anyone else experienced similar? Should I give low FODMAP another go? 🙁 is it possible to have relapses in IBS or flare ups similar similar to Crohns?
Thanks for sharing and reaching out. Great idea to speak with your doctor! I hope others in our community share their personal experiences with you. I know many here can relate to having a relapse of symptoms, sometimes seemingly out of nowhere. In addition to speaking with your doctor, this article from one of our contributors on relapse, may be helpful: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/ibs-relapse. Wishing you some answers and relief very soon. Best, Kelly, Irritablebowelsyndrome.net Team Member I'm currently having a very similar situation happen with my symptoms. IBS had completely taken over my life and I was at the end of my rope when my doctor suggested that I try the low FODMAP diet. It was like night and day, I felt like a person again. Although when I started to reintroduce foods, almost all of them made me sick. So I stuck it out with a very strick adhesion to the diet for the last two years and felt better than I have since I was a teen. But in the last few months my symptoms have started to change and worsen and I find myself being nervous again to be without a bathroom nearby. I'm trying to hang in there until I see my doctor in a few weeks, but it's so heartbreaking to finally feel better and start to relapse. Best of luck to you and I hope your symptoms improve soon.
I'm so sorry that your symptoms have come back! I also keep going back and forth between almost (but not quite) IBS-free weeks and months and then feeling sick again. It's mostly related to stress for me, but also happens at random. Except one time when my symptoms suddenly got so much worse, which ended up being completely unrelated to IBS and got immediately better after treatment. You really never know. I hope you'll get answers from your doctor! Wishing you all the best, Karina (team member)
EVERY TIME I've tried some new thing - apple cider vinegar, raw honey, aloe socotrina and assorted $$$ homeopathic remedies - I experienced a dramatic improvement for a week or so then back to black, as Amy Winehouse famously put it. I tried removing acidic foods - citrus, tomatoes, raw food - better but not always. My mission became the hunt for something constant but somehow overlooked. For me the mystery thing was asthma puffers. Do a deep search of side fx for any prescription drugs you take. Include vitamins - everything. Dig deep. I amfeeling SO MUCH BETTER since I stopped asthma puffing. I have a list of alternatives to try but right now I'd rather wing it.
