New IBS-C diagnosis. What’s with the cramps?

I have experienced mild menstrual-like cramps, like a dull ache low in my belly, during flare ups. I have IBS-D mainly, but sometimes it can switch to constipation which is usually short lived, only a day or two.
I had my left ovary and fallopian tube removed owing to a solid non-cancerous huge cyst when I was 44 in 1997. I was otherwise fit and well and had no bowel problems then, or any follow up digestive problems or pain.


I also get a dull ache on the lower left nowadays, but I know it's nothing to do with the ovary because there isn't one! I also don't THINK it's anything to do with my womb, but I do have a badly retroverted womb and have often wondered if it might put pressure on my bowels in some way. Yet I imagine that might cause constipation mainly, and my issue isn't really that,. but loose stools frequently.
I am 69 and well past menopause now.
Have you had a gynaecological specialist do any scans ...ultrasound etc? Just in case your discomfort is related to the ovary or womb?
As for whether passing a bm after constipation would fix the cramping, I don't know. Maybe not if the gut was over sensitive and pain reflexes had been triggered. I think with IBS one big problem is we have a really over sensitive gut.

Thank you for your reply. You have helped ease my concerns. I have been to my gyno about my ovary. They performed an internal ultrasound and told me everything was clear and normal. I continue to have health anxiety and worry perhaps they’ve missed something - I am working on letting that go!
The pain I experience in my lower left quadrant comes and goes though sometimes it lasts for days. This feeling and cramping just started about 3 or 4 months ago. I have also had a colonoscopy which revealed a normal colon and led to my IBS diagnosis.
All my research seems to point to IBS showing up different for everybody which makes it all the more frustrating.
Thank you again for your reply!

I see, you have had the Gynae scans etc. I am sure if anything was amiss, it would have been found.
But it's easy to feel a slight nagging worry especially if there's a tendency to anxiety. Sometimes we're happy to accept findings...until we get another bad day or flare up, then it feels so bad we can't help thinking "what's going on? Maybe they missed something!"

I get more of what would be described as "discomfort" on the lower left as a general thing. The period-like cramps seem to happen more in flares.
That discomfort feels like a heaviness, or dullness down there, and goes along with some bloating in lower abdo. It feels rather like there is wind wanting to come out, but nothing or very little happens.



Mine also comes on for a few days then disappears for a while.
I kept a symptom and food journal etc. And I have been weeks/months without that feeling. Then it would come back for a few days, go away, sometimes return, and then disappear for another while.
And there is literally nothing I can trace which causes it!
For instance, I had it most of the week before last when I was a bit 'loose' every morning (5 on Bristol scale). But last week it disappeared, and guts were pretty normal too (bm's) even though I was eating broccoli, seed-grain bread, brown rice, sugar snap peas, cucumber and had some chocolate!

i appreciate you sharing with me so much! I feel like you know exactly where I’m coming from. When I tell people who don’t have IBS a symptom I feel they say “oh that’s weird” or “gosh I don’t know what that could be”, which is scary and frustrating to someone like me who likes certainty.
You have given me a great idea to start a food/symptom journal - that’s great!