Down and looking for answers.
Hi all, I’ve been having a read around the forums and taking in what info I can, so allow me to introduce myself.
I’m a 43 year old male, don’t drink or smoke but my diet I will confess is not the best and is something I am now trying to improve.
At the start of July I started having uncomfortable pains in my lower left abdomen. It felt like gnawing, persistent gas like pain. It wasn’t double over type pain, more a make-you-irriatable as you went about your day type of pain.
After 2 weeks of this occurring on and off, I also noticed that my stool was looser with bouts of diarrhea or was mushy (I am so sorry about the detail, apologies if it’s too much).
I have had rare occasions where my stool will begin harder and then in the same movement become loose. I would say, having thought about it, that it’s been a couple of months since what I would deem a “normal” shape/consistency movement.
I spoke to my Doctor who arranged bloods including CRP test, along with a QFit test and thankfully, after a week of waiting, both have come back clear. Liver, kidney, thyroid all fine.
The frequent, gnawing pain in my lower left abdomen has thankfully now cleared up, albeit with occasional shooting or stabbing pains that last a second or so. These can happen several times a day or I can have a day or two with none at all.
My doctor said to introduce more fibre to my diet so I am eating brown bread instead of white, eating more fruit, and having All Bran for breakfast - but this has also made my stools very soft and with no real shape or form, it’s just fibre mush.
While I’m relieved the pain has subsided I am worried about the bowel movements and the lack of a follow up suggestion by my doctor. Can you suddenly develop IBS at the age of 43?
My Doctor said that since the pain has all but eased up he wouldn’t suggest follow up tests, but with the clear fit test and bloods I am hopeful that bowel cancer is less of a threat.
The other night I also noticed that after a rich meal, I urgently and suddenly had to go to the toilet and I had diarrhea.
As IBS patients yourselves does any of this ring true? I am going to ring my Doctor and push for more tests to see exactly what’s going on, or have my years of bad diet done damage that I will need to spend time and introduce good habits to fix?
Thanks for listening.
Oh yes you can develop IBS at any age as far as I know. I was in my 60s when I first got it. Before that, my gut had been pretty splendid all of my life and I always took it for granted I think. I got some "shots over the bows" in 2017 (rare for me, but I blamed it on drinking some red wine or eating some greasy tofu), then a week of symptoms in 2018, then it came back in 2020. Between times I was normal.
Had you been under stress in a long term kind of way just before this? Or even emotional pain or grieving? That sort of thing can upset the gut and the gut-brain thingy. Messes with serotonin apart from other reasons.It's good your blood tests and the FIT test are all clear. I advise you to ask for Calprotectin and Lactoferrin stool analysis tests. Those two show if there is any gut inflammation going on, and you can pretty much rule out a whole list of possible problems if your test results are negative. The doctor should do those for you. It's non invasive, just a tad messy!
You could also ask about the possibility of a lingering low level gut infection or any possible parasites too. That should be picked up in a stool analysis, but they would have to test specifically for those things. In the FIT test they wouldn't have, I don't think.
My doctor also didn't order any further testing such as ultrasound or colonoscopy after all my results were clear. There is nothing clinical to warrant invasive investigations. So I think that's fairly common practice, not just your doctor being a cheapskate.
I will never understand the advice to "eat more fibre" when someone has loose or mushy stools. It certainly didn't work for me, and things got even looser, plus horrible feelings lower left in my belly! Like mice creeping around!
The only thing that did help for me was anything slightly binding, and many foods on the low FODMAP diet (though not all.) The binding foods actually calmed my gut. I am talking about white basmati rice, hard boiled eggs, plain steamed fish (or chicken plain cooked if you like it), peeled white potatoes, white ciabatta toast, white pasta and cous cous, and for treats plain cookies and simple sponge cake. The vegetables I could eat which didn't upset me were green beans (French beans) a bit of lettuce, Pak Choy, small amounts of broccoli, parsley, and oddly sugar snap peas which are high FODMAP but which never gave me any problems! I think those are called snow peas in the USA? The only fruit I could manage was peeled stewed apple.(homemade applesauce)I also took a B vitamin complex and a multivitamin and mineral daily as my diet was so restricted. Be wary of vitamin C, as it can make stool looser and bowel tolerance is much lower. Many also contain sorbitol because of our sugar phobia nowadays. Sorbitol acts as a laxative. But you might be able to manage a small amount -say 200mg? That will keep you ticking over okay. Or maybe even more if you take liposomal. Liposomal is easier on the gut, with nothing but lecithin added.
Anyway, a really restricted diet on binding foods calmed my gut. When I'd done the 8 weeks low FODMAP elimination, I could slowly bit by bit introduce other vegetables and fruits. But that's another story.
If your doctor thinks you have IBS, get him to refer you to a dietician. You will need that help with the Fodmap diet. Get him to check you for lactose intolerance and gluten intolerance too. Fructose intolerance is another thing.Keep your diet very bland, simple and plain. No rich food, sauces, fried food, cheeses, and a hundred other things sadly. Just plain food. See if that helps for now.
