IBS Makes Me Feel Uncomfortable In My Own Skin

One thing I experience often is an unusual and hard-to-describe sensation through my body. Well, I’m going to try my best to describe it here, because I 100 percent believe it’s related to my IBS. Almost every early morning while I’m still asleep (like 3 or 4 a.m.), a tingly sensation surfaces my whole body, which for some reason instantly wakes me up. I try my best to ignore this weird feeling, but it’s so noticeable and annoying that it easily knocks me out of my sleep. The tingly feeling is somewhat like prickly needles slightly poking my entire body in waves, and it makes me feel so uncomfortable in my own skin.

My IBS disrupts my sleep

As I lay, now awake, trying to understand this sensation, I start to feel a gradual indication that I have gas. I quickly remember that I have a condition, and therefore, I should be used to this. Eventually, the irritation starts to travel deeper into my digestive tract and turns into intense gas pain. And then that gas pain starts to translate into the urgency to use the toilet. I push the warm covers off me and unwillingly rush to the bathroom to handle my business. I literally end up staying on the toilet for almost an hour every time this happens. At this point, I’m so awake and aware that I find it hard to go back to bed. Welp, there goes another night of much-needed sleep out the window!

I'll never get used to how uncomfortable I feel

I know I said I should be used to this. However, to be quite frank, I can never get used to the feeling of gas causing so much turmoil inside of me. I get very frustrated every time this “morning ritual” happens because I just want to be able to sleep for more than three hours straight without any interruption. I’m assuming I deal with the irritating feeling mostly in the mornings because my IBS is usually at its worst during that time of day.

Yet there are other times of the day when I’m overwhelmed with the same feeling. It can happen randomly any time I need to use the bathroom. There have been times when I was out with friends and the feeling came over me, stopped me in my tracks, and made it obvious that something was happening to me. Unfortunately, embarrassing and annoying gas pain eventually followed, creating a loud cry from my belly. Well, in order to relieve a bit of this uncomfortable sensation, I had to release some gas or else the intense pain would follow soon after. Between the time my friends saw the expression on my face and began to ask “What’s wrong?,” I was already halfway to the nearest restroom.

My IBS "spidey sense" of discomfort

I don’t know how else to describe that weird feeling other than a pulsating, prickly sensation that I feel throughout my entire body. It is also interesting that it sets off a trend of symptoms that begin to attack me one after another, each one becoming more intense. From a weird tingly sensation that covers my whole body, to intense gas pain, and then, to an extreme urgency to use the bathroom. It’s as if my body is giving me a heads up that an IBS attack is about to happen. Now that I think about it, it almost sounds like I have “IBS spidey senses.”

Can any of you reading this relate to my experience? Do you know that prickly sensation I’m describing that eventually turns into gas, and then to an urgent need to have a bowel movement? Or am I just the IBS Spider-Man? If so, please feel free to comment below and let us know. Thanks for reading and keep fighting the great fight!