do i have IBS?
Hi, just found and joined this site, for last 3 months or so I've been having bad stomach issues, I've had diarrhea, constipation, light coloured stools, almost green stools, some days spend hours on the toilet, weight loss, folate serum deficient, low iron and haemaglobin quality of life diminshing, I have bowel cancer running very strongly in my family, I get colonoscopy/gastroscopy every 2 years, i am 57, I had not been checked for over 4 years beacuse of covid backlog, very scary for me as looked like i may well have bowel cancer, I got colonoscopy and gastroscopy last week, surprisinlgy for me it was normal! I was so relieved.....now i want to know what is wrong with me, why am I having these toilet issues when they find nothing on exam?, do I have IBS? I had soft toilet like paste for weeks and last 1 week got the opposite and had really bad constipation which has led to very sore haemarroids, I really need to get help with this, my only doctors are Dr youtube and Dr Google, even getting an appointment with my GP is difficult and at the hospital last week it was a nurse who performed the endoscopies, I am trying to self diagnose and have come up with IBS???
oh, I should have added, I need to pee a lot as well, sometimes many times during the night and sometimes just bursting and rushing to the toilet and i feel there is a connection?sorry for writing again, just a bit desperate for some sort of help, after reading on here I can see a lot about pain, I have cramping before diarrhea but that's all the pain I get, not too much, can I have IBS with not, so far much pain?
I'm so sorry that you're experiencing all these symptoms. While doing the colonoscopy, did they also rule out IBD? I would defnitely try to find a doctor who can run more tests - after all, it could just be a bacterial infection or something like that which could easily be treated (I've had that happen to me and was convinced my IBS had gotten worse, but no)!
While we can't diagnose you, there are some things that might help while waiting for an appointment:
- the Low FODMAP diet (https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/ibs-diet)
- keeping a food diary (https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/the-food-diary)
- probiotics (I would talk to a pharmacist about which ones might help you)
I really hope that you'll be able to see a doctor soon! Please keep us updated.
Wishing you all the best,
Karina (team member)
Hi, thank you so much for replying, yes thankfully in my colonoscopy/gastroscopy they told me everything was normal, as I've lost my younger brother and mother to bowel cancer and myself have had bleeding polyps removed in the past then last week was a huge relief and also a surprise as I had so many symptoms, I feared very bad news, having said that i still need a diagnosis and some sort of end to these severe"toliet" problems, yesterday i went back to the doctor's, saw the nurse practititioner, she said for me to be referred to a gastroentiologist they have to have much more evidence, I have to record what I eat and I handed in a sample where they said the can check for inflammation in a calprotectin test but said no need to check for parasites etc as I'd have explosive Diarrhea if that was the cause, I asked can I have IBS with out much pain? she told me yes....after 2 months of going many times every day I'm now constipated and haven't been for 3 days but feel the need but thankfully without stomach cramps and may take senokot tonight to sort me out........thanks again Karina for your reply and advice.
I'm so sorry for your loss! Waiting for your tests results must have been so scary. With the symptoms you're describing, I can't believe they won't refer you to a gastroenterologist! Didn't they give you any kind of diagnosis, or are you still waiting for the results of the calprotectin test?
You can definitely have IBS without pain, I mostly do.
As you seem to be dealing with both diarrhea and constipation, I'm going to link a couple of articles about IBS-M for you. I really hope that this helps a bit.
https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/unpredictable-mixed-symptoms
https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/constipation
https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/ibs-m-treatment
Please keep us updated if you like!
Wishing you all the best, Karina (team member)
thanks for the links and reply Karina, I will read tonight, I just done the calprotectin test yesterday and they told me 3 weeks before results, may sound daft but I'm not sure if this test showing positive would be a better result for me? get things moving quicker and find out what's wrong with me, I think if it's negative I'm not going to get to see a gastroenterologist, NHS covid backlog etc, up here where I live in SW Scotland not easy seeing a doctor, my endoscopes were done by nurses and my dr's appointment yesterday was with a nurse, I've only seen a GP once who referred me for an urgent colonoscopy because of my symptoms and blood test results.
I can't believe it's so complicated to see a doctor in Scotland, I'm so sorry. I totally understand the feeling of almost hoping that a test will come back positive. Not knowing what's wrong and what to do is so, so hard. I've been there, too.
If it is negative, I would really focus on your diet first, since this can be so helpful to get symptoms under control. I've already sent you the link to the Low FODMAP diet and an article about food diaries - these are the two things that helped me feel somewhat in control again when I was first diagnosed.
Wishing you the best of luck, Karina (team member)
