Extreme leg pain could it be related to IBS
I have had increasing leg pain for about 4 years and now it's 24/7, severe and I'm no closer to a diagnosis, taking paracetamol and using topical ibuprofen. I've had IBS-d for about 30 years, I was on FODMAP when it was only available through a dietitian. I've recently read that IBS can cause leg pain, I think it was a USA medic who wrote the paper. I've had an MRI of my pelvis and awaiting results. I'm trying to find out if anybody else has experienced anything at all like this and found any real information even that there is really no link? Thank you.
I don't know about leg pain from my own experience. I have had sciatica in my early 60s but that was well before my IBS D started, and my gut was no problem then.
And even that was fine when I lay down in bed so I could sleep. It wasn't 24/7. But I remember the pain would make me sweat and nearly pass out when I had to do something standing like wash dishes or brush my teeth.
I have a pelvic misalignment though (it's twisted and my left iliac crest sticks out a lot more than my right. The right side is very straight), and some problem with both sacro-iliac joints, and one leg more than an inch longer than the other.
The SI joints hurt like heck every morning, and ease up a lot after a #2.
I don't take any painkillers. Just scrunching into a squat down on the floor, or sitting on my knees "Japanese-style" helps and takes the pain away immediately. So does lying flat in bed or on blankets on the floor. It's getting up again, standing and moving that hurts and my lower back spasms, though I am OK really when moving around during the day and doing physical work.
I don't know how related it is or not to my IBS D.
I hope you find some answers. I would see the doctor and see what they say? Unless you've already done that countless times, and still got no answer...
I've found a couple of articles mentioning leg pain, including here: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/video/chronic-pain-worst-days, and here: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/chiropractic-care-helps. We also have an article about IBS and the spine here: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/spine-ibs. The two can certainly be related, we've even had community members whose digestive issues went away after fixing injuries to the spine.
I hope you get answers from the MRI. Please keep us updated about that!
Karina (team member)
