Excruciating crippling think you’re going to pass out or die pain
Im new to the whole IBS thing and I’m curious how many other people deal with the kind of things I have been dealing with lately. Here’s my story; I’m 36/male. I don’t have the best diet but I’ve been trying my hardest to eat healthier. I take meds that back me up. And even though I do that for the most part I can have a bowel movement almost daily. But there are times I will go 2-3-4 days with nothing and I get intense pains until I can have a movement.
This morning I was asleep, I wake up at 7 to get kids off to school, but I was jolted awake out of a dead sleep to some of the most painful cramps I’ve ever experienced. These were low and deep in my mid abdomin. It felt like I was being stabbed with a burning knife and it was being twisted through my insides. If I moved a certain way it would get worse or if I went to fetal position it would help a little. My anxiety automatically kicked in and I was hyperventilating and felt like I was going to pass out. I rushed to the bathroom to sit and try....pray...for something to happen. I was roasting up and freezing cold. I was super shaky and lightheaded. I was sweating and clammy. I was freaking out big time. This isn’t the first time this has happened but this was the worst. And of course my anxiety told me this was it this was the time I have been fearing the past few years and my wife was going to find me keeled over on the toilet Elvis style. I had to open the window to let the sub zero wind blow in to wake me up and get me thinking in the moment. I put my headphones in and found a mindfulness meditation and got myself to calm down enough to not think I was dying. It took everything I had to sit on the toilet and finally I had a small movement. It wasn’t much but it was enough to relive some of the pain. Enough to where I could stand up and walk to the other side of the house. But it came right back and I ended up in the fetal position in the middle of the floor. I spent the next 2 hours in and out of the bathroom hoping and praying something would happen because I knew if I could get something out this pain would stop.
Sorry this was detailed and long. I’ve never sat and wrote it all out like this before. Just saying it to no one makes me feel better about it. But does anyone else deal with crippling debilitating can’t move think your going to pass out and die pains in the lower mid part of your stomach???
Hi,
I can totally relate to your experience. I’m a 26 year old female and I’ve suffered from since I was a child. It’s been something that I’ve struggled with my entire life. I too have suffered debilitating pains to the point where I don’t think I can survive them. As badly as you cramp and as badly as your stomach is hurting, just remember that you will make it through! I’ve found that positive self-talk has helped me TREMENDOUSLY. Hyperventilating and freaking out about it tends to make me feel worse and I’m sure you realized that once you started meditating you most likely felt better. My anxiety contributes to my IBS systems and I try and stay as calm as possible. I too shiver while overheating and feel like I need to strip my clothes off because I cannot handle the pain. We’re strong because we get through it and I’m hoping some day you can find something that will help and you will feel relief. Hang in there!
I can do relate to this. My pain is intense often and feels like I am wearing a tight tight belt that somebody is pulling tighter and tighter. My being scared and upset, of course, only makes my stomach and intestines and bowels tighten up more.
I always feel like my pain is gas pain also. The other night I ate some asparagus and never again.
This is interesting because I do eat pears with no issues but the other night after eating one half a pear I did get pain. Problem is… do not know if it was the pear or some asparagus I ate the night before and that shows yet another issue with ibs - I start to fear food that is even suspect! As for the other half of the pear, the next night I diced it up and added some cinammon and a tad of maple syrup and then baked that for about five minutes and stirred it all up and it was not only delish but very soothing. I do find baking or heating fruit helps.
This thread is really old but I’m currently on the toilet with a 3/10 IBS flare up. I have had this since I was in 5th grade I still remember the very first stomach ache. My family and I now call them “one of Kayte’s stomach aches” bc they’ve become infamous. Everyone I know knows about them. They’ve become progressively worse where they used to be about an hour long, where I would just sit on the toilet crying with my mom running my back. Now that I’m in my 30s they’re so bad they sometimes last up to 8 hours of mind numbing pain. I scream, I vomit constantly solely due to the pain, I hallucinate, I pass out, I am drenched in sweat. I will usually have a normal bowel movement, which will bring some relief in the beginning but without fail within 20 minutes or so that’s when the pain ramps up. Then I’ll have about 5-8 diarrhea episodes during the whole long episode until eventually the pain subsided to a 2 or 3 where I will literally fall off the toilet and on to the bathroom floor in pure exhaustion and rep on the floor for the next few hours. I am unable to function the rest of the day bc I am utterly wiped out from the level of pain I’d just endured. Whether it’s a 30 minute IBS flare up or an all night one. I always know days in advance one is coming bc I’m usually very bloated, I’ll have these twinges of gas pain in my stomach, it be bubbly, and I just know it’s coming and the worst part is I know there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I have tried everything. Fiber. The most expensive 40 bill pro biotics you can buy. Digestive enzymes. Pepto pills. Every tea. Low FODMAP. Nothing I mean nothing works. I have PTSD from them, I have chronic depression, and anxiety. I’m terrified of food. This has ran my life for 20 plus years. Sometimes I want to just end it all bc I don’t know if I will survive another attack. A few weeks ago I had the worst one I’d ever experienced in my life to date. It lasted about 6 hours, it was constant vomitting which from the wrenching of my muscles I pass out halfway through. There are no answers and no help. This is the first time I’ve ever read that anyone had anything close to the extent of the flare ups I have. I usually get anywhere from 3- 10 a year.
That sounds absolutely terrible, I'm so sorry that you're going through these horrible flares. I suppose you've had all the tests done to try and find the source of your extreme pain? Have you tried any pain medication during these flares to at least make them more bearable?
Karina (team member)
