poor quality of life

ok maybe my post was too long? sorry.....I still hope a can get an answer to my 2 questions as I am desperately trying to find out what is wrong with me so i can maybe relieve my symptoms, I've had a few tests and tried ACV, a few probiotics, food diary, bran, gluten free and various other things suggested online, the only diagnosis I've had is IBS.........................................can you have IBS every day? no let up, no normal days, I've had this horrible affliction daily for 15 months and can you have IBS with no stomach cramps, despite bad constipation every day I never have a sore belly, no cramping?....maybe someone has same symptoms?, it's just that i read online about that stomach pain is common and I don't have that and has me confused and wondering?

I don't really get a lot of pain either. I sometimes get a heavy feeling low down which I describe as "discomfort", and can sometimes get trapped wind or the occasional gripes, but pain is not one of my main symptoms really, and I've been told by the doctor I have IBS. Over more than 3 years it's been the same in that respect generally.


Yes, there are many people with IBS who get symptoms every single day, and many who have horrible symptoms daily.

You have had so many tests. It seems everything one can imagine, so you must feel incredibly lost and frustrated that nothing has been found.

You say your sleep is very disturbed and you have to pee 6 times per night. That in itself must be unbearable. It may be that the colon just isn't holding onto any water, and even though you don't drink after 6pm, water that should be in the colon is going out via the kidneys. A certain percentage of stool is made up of water.

There are some foods that can help to pull water into the colon. I know, because I have IBS-D and those foods can be tricky for me! But with IBS-C they may help you?

Apparently foods containing pectin can help to pull water into the colon. I know apples are listed as "high FODMAP" if you are following the Low Fodmap Diet (?) But apples contain pectin. I don't think this is lost when the apples are cooked which would make them more easy to digest.
Pectin works in harmony with the gut bacteria and can slightly speed up gut transit.
Oranges and grapefruit also do that. I have also heard kiwi fruit works well for constipation.

Chia seeds hold onto water to form a gel in the gut which can loosen stools.

Figs are classic for helping constipation, and so are flax seeds, and content in both can hold onto water, speeding up gut transit and keeping bowel movements softer.

Two foods which I love but had to be careful of with the "D" ! are carrots and beetroot. My reason for that is that those two lovely veggies always used to act in a gentle laxative way for me. That was fine in the old days but a bit too dramatic at times now.

Pears are good too for constipation. The reason is they contain a natural sugar (fructose) that pulls water into the colon.
Again, those are not recommended on the low Fodmap diet, but some people can happily eat some High Fodmap foods

Then there are prunes and prune juice. Actually the canned ones are so tasty and sweet. They used to be a favourite treat of mine! (sadly no more.)

I wonder if including some foods like that in your diet might help somewhat? It might at least be worth a try, so long as they suit you and don't cause any upset.

I'm so sorry that you're dealing with this. It's possible to have IBS symptoms every day, but unless you eat a trigger food every day (this happened to me with gluten), it seems unlikely that your symptoms would be caused by specific foods... Have you tried keeping a food diary and see if there is any correlation at all? If you have something every day (for example, the same breakfast every day, or dairy/wheat/fruit/coffee/a supplement you're taking..., I would try cutting that out for a week to see what happens. Eating whole foods instead of processed foods could also be helpful, as some people are sensitive to certain additives. We just recently had a forum about citric acid: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/forums/synthetic-citric-acid-black-mold.
For me, daily symptoms were and are almost always related to anxiety (even when I don't feel anxious, it often just manifests in physical symptoms for me). But I could also imagine it being some sort of infection that maybe wasn't tested? Have you ever tried seeing a naturopath? As far as I've seen, they can sometimes do additional tests, but I don't have any personal experience with that.
I personally also like taking ani-inflammatory herbs whenever I start having daily symptoms.
As for your second question, I also don't have pain as my main symptom.
I really hope that you'll get some answers soon. Wishing you all the best, Karina (team member)