ibs symptoms getting worse - need advice
Hello,
I am a 71 year old woman. My problem is that I have severe severe abdominal pains soon after I eat that only goes away once I've completely emptied my bowels, which usually means about one hour or more in the bathroom. Usually I need three or four bathroom trips to get fully empty. The stools start out solid but get progressively looser until they are watery and then I know the episode is almost over. I take Restoralax to speed up the process and it is helpful. I've had this problem for a number of years, but it has gotten progressively worse. Now I get pains almost every day.
I feel like I cannot go anywhere. If I eat something out, I need to have access to a public bathroom for an hour which is not always available. Every day when I go to work, I starve myself the whole day until I get home. I feel like I can't travel because I'm afraid of having an episode on a plane or on a train or in a place where I can't find a bathroom.
I've had a colonoscopy and nothing was found. My family doctor has assured me the problem is not life-threatening, as I maintain a stable weight and have no nausea, but I feel like I have no quality of life. I don't have blood in my stools. I take antibiotics prophylactically to prevent chronic bladder infections which I have dealt with for many years. I also had my gallbladder removed 11 years ago because of gallstones. I was once told by a GI specialist that my problem wasn't colitis or Crohn's because I still have an appetite and I feel fine after my bowel is empty. I am going to ask my doctor for an ultrasound.
My doctor thinks my problem is caused by certain foods. The only foods I can consistently tolerate are sweets and meat. Vegetables give me trouble.
I am new to this forum so I apologize if this post is redundant with others on this site. I am wondering if there are others out there with similar symptoms and what they have found that helps them cope.
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing and reaching out. What does your doctor say about the antibiotics you're taking? Has your doctor ever talked with you about probiotics? As your doctor suspects, foods can certainly play a role. It may be enlightening for you to try and keep a simple food symptom journal for a couple weeks and see if you see any correlation. It's a rough go to not eat all day. I'd encourage you to be persistent in speaking with your doctor about any new, changing or concerning symptoms. In addition to speaking with your doctor, this article may be helpful: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/juggling-mixed-symptoms. Wishing you some relief ahead. best, Kelly, Irritablebowelsyndrome.net Team Member same here I can't go anywhere either it's so depressing and anything I eat hurts my stomach specially leafy vegetables and broccoli and any of those family. I've been having bad lower stomach pain so bad it's making me ball up and cry and scream I don't know what's wrong with me my doctor won't see me until next week says eat a brat diet I tried but anything I eat it gives me pain I'm really scared right now do you have diverticulitis? That's what my doctor told me once I had along time ago but I didn't get pains this bad before when I was first diagnosed so I don't get why all of a sudden I'm getting these pains I've been trying to eat a whole plant based diet but I can't eat anything it seems like now so I don't know what to do about it. Have you ever taken the breath test for SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)?
If this starts to happen soon after eating it may be an issue which starts when food begins to enter the small intestine?That pain sounds horrible and the problem with the bathroom after eating. I am sorry you get that. I hope you can find something to ease that up.
It may be worth investigating SIBO just in case. It can often get overlooked with people with IBS. It can't be discovered on colonoscopy, or blood test, or the usual stool tests.
Vegetables are often hard to deal with. I have times when I can't eat much veg. And times when I can. But I still struggle with fruit, and have to only eat small amounts and not every day.
Unlike you, I find the lighter leafy greens (lettuce, kale, spinach, pak Choy) not too bad generally except for cabbage and chard, but I could not manage on a high plant-based diet. I can't handle the vegan proteins such as beans, lentils, tofu, nuts etc. They are too harsh on my gut. I had to stop being vegan, and include fish and eggs and butter.
