The Search to Understand IBS Flare-Ups

By Mara Bosloy

2 min read

How did it all go wrong? When you're sitting on the toilet, clutching over in pain, heat rising in your body, you think about all the things you've eaten in the day and where it all went wrong. You think about if that egg salad you were craving when you woke up was really the right move... or if the apple you had eaten with was really the best choice? It couldn't have been the cereal you ate for breakfast, could it?

And what about those fish tacos that you had already bought all of the ingredients for and that you were going to make for dinner that night? You sigh and think, "Well, hopefully, tomorrow I'll feel better enough to make them... Hopefully, I didn't just waste a grocery trip..."

Thinking through my IBS triggers

Perhaps, it was the egg salad. But why? Eggs have been good for me lately. Hardboiled, soft-boiled, poached, scrambled, you name it. They've been good. The ingredients in egg salad too... fine. Mayo, Dijon, fine. I didn't eat anything I don't normally eat or anything I KNOW causes a bad flare-up (for me, that's mixing dairy and alcohol; for instance, no espresso martinis, that's for sure)

It's in these moments that my anxiety also peaks, which, as we all know, does not help IBS symptoms. Will I never be able to enjoy simple foods again? Is this actually a bad flare-up or something much worse? Will I need to go to the hospital? Will I ever get off of this toilet? If my safe foods aren't safe, what is? How am I supposed to do anything at all if I sometimes have to be on the toilet for multiple hours at a time? It sounds so utterly dramatic I know, but these are the sort of questions that crop up every single time I have a bad flare-up.

Most of the time I feel like I can have somewhat of a handle on IBS, but during these bad flare-ups, all I feel is despair and misery.

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On the toilet hours later

Yes, I'm still on the toilet hours later. I'm feeling sad and defeated that I can't leave until I feel 99 percent sure I can be away from the toilet. I'm feeling disappointed I can't make those fish tacos. The icepack, which I use to help deal with my increase in body temperature, is no longer cold. The strain of my body from being on the toilet that long is getting to me.

Despite all of that, I was once again thankful to be able to work from home because I would be in much more dire straits if I was in the public bathroom of an office building. Work from home has truly been such a blessing for those of us within the chronically ill community (and should've been standardized prior to the pandemic... but let's not get into all of that).

Unsure of what caused my IBS flare

I hate not knowing what exactly made me feel sick. I hate having to tiptoe around certain foods until they feel safe enough again.

Most of all, I feel exhausted.

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Kim Dolce Moderator & Contributor
Oh Mara, your description of sitting on the toilet, heat rising off your skin, doubled over from the pain and utterly exhausted, could have come from one of my blog entries! Ugh. I relate a lot to the bit about not being able to pinpoint the culprit, and how that made you feel. Right when we think we have it figured out and test it, we jump right back to square one when it fails, only now we feel defeated, helpless, and hopeless too. We are reasonable people. We should be able to get a grip on this thing. If we think we aren't (even though we've got a much better grip on it than ever before), then we really do a number on ourselves as failing to see clues of the bigger picture. But we can only use the tools we learn to recognise and employ, and that can take time. Patience is not my strong suit. Cheers, Kim, moderator
hateibs Member
 I'm so sorry you are going through this, and I hope your poor old tummy gets calmer. I am confounded by IBS! Yes, IBS flare ups are difficult to understand. Mine are... and aren't... food-related. The reason I say that is at times I can eat so-and-so food (such as celery, a few brussels sprouts, a dessertspoonful or two of chickpeas etc.) And at other times, even the smallest amount of these foods will result in a flare up. And then later, I can eat them again! I have certain "super-safe foods"...for instance proteins such as white fish simply steamed, and boiled eggs, white rice, white Italian ciabatta toast, and even butter. Steamed wild-gathered stinging nettle tops, and organic spinach. Those are the gentlest safest foods for me in bad times. As a general trend, I will feel okay if I eat those foods. Yet there have been times when my tummy even reacts badly to my safe foods. So it appears to me there's another factor which ISN'T food-related going on which comes and goes. I have been unable to find out what it is. I have considered stress. Yet my life has very very little stress. And there are times when for some practical reason stress might increase (which I don't much like!), and yet my gut has not been particularly bad. I have tried to link bad times/good times to sleep hours and whether or not I feel rested when I wake up. Again nothing makes sense. There have been times when I've had NO sleep at all all night and my gut has been perfect. There have been times when I have slept particularly well and yet felt awful all day. There was someone's birthday when I drank quite a lot of vodka with honey, and I ate foods just for the heck of it that I KNEW would upset my gut next morning. Guess what? Perfectly normal and fine the next morning! And for the following days. There has to be another factor, but goodness knows what it is. (Oh, and I'm not saying we are all like me. For many people with IBS there are clear food triggers/stress triggers of course.) 
1. hateibs Member
 <inline-mention username="Karina" user-id="2303467"/> Oh Karina, I'm sorry you also get weird weather-connected symptoms. I presume your IBS feels it too when there is low pressure weather? Mine does, which is no fun because not only is it gloomy outside, but it's gloomy and pretty miserable in my tummy too ! I usually fight it and go for a walk in the horrible weather anyway just to attempt to feel "normal" I have a HUGE umbrella which means that at least I don't get soaked! There does appear to be a relationship between migraine like symptoms and IBS. I did some reading up about the pesky thing, trying to learn and understand what might be going on. Migraine affects (among other things) the trigeminal nerve. Annoyance along any of three branches of that can also affect the brainstem. And the brainstem is where much of our basic body functions are happening, such as digestion, breathing, heart rate, etc etc. There is also a connection with the vagus nerve. It seems to be a case of "the hipbone's connected to the thigh bone".... (as the old song goes.) What to do about it? Well that's a conundrum all to itself. A little knowledge leads to a huge great rabbit-hole of links between this and that in the body and central and peripheral nervous systems. How things like weather ...plus the serotonin link probably, are connected....I get a bit lost there!
2. Karina Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="hateibs" user-id="4146293"/> That's so interesting, but it makes a lot of sense that there would be connections like that within the body. I wish we knew how to build up resilience to these kinds of external influences. Like you, I definitely feel certain weather conditions in my digestion as well, although it doesn't usually cause me actual bad flares. Going outside definitely helps. I need to get myself a huge umbrella, too! Wishing you a symptom-free day today, Karina (team member)
hateibs Member
<inline-mention username="Karina" user-id="2303467"/> Yes Karina, there are so many variables in life that are almost impossible, or completely impossible to track without going completely nuts in the process! 😁 I have also though of "histamine overload" which might affect someone with histamine sensitivity. In which case even the pollen count could make some difference? But as you say, there are too many things which could affect us. Thank you for asking about how I am. I am not too bad right now. Not 100% but doing okay really. I hope things are not so bad with you too?
1. Karina Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="hateibs" user-id="4146293"/> I'm glad to hear that you're doing okay! I've been feeling pretty good as well, the summer weather we've been having really helps me feel better for some reason. You're right, histamine sensitivity could definitely play a role! If I remember correctly, you had been exploring that as a possible cause for your IBS some time ago? Or am I mixing something up? Karina (team member)
hateibs Member
 <inline-mention username="Karina" user-id="2303467"/> I'm glad to hear the summer weather helps you to feel a bit better. I think the same thing is happening to me here. It's sunny and lovely, but at the same time there is a cool wind, so the heat of the sun isn't too much. Yes, your memory is very good. I was wondering about histamine overload, maybe a year or so ago? The reason was, I got flare ups after eating fairly high histamine foods. But, as typical with IBS, that patterm didn't repeat and IBS just did what it felt like doing regardless! So that theory appears to have flown out of the window. It would have been a fairly easy fix with DAO supplements if that was the cause of my IBS. 
1. Karina Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="hateibs" user-id="4146293"/> I'm happy to hear that you're also doing a bit better with the nice weather! Sorry the histamine theory didn't work out, it's so frustrating when you think you've finally discovered a pattern to your IBS and then it changes again. Wishing you a symptom-free day, Karina (team member)
Njf0618 Member
Thankfully I'm not a person to sit on the toilet for a long time but I do have to make some mad dashes there sometimes. I do get the heat and even my eyes turn red from the process of a bad attack. I haven't turned to an ice pack but have used a wet washcloth to soothe myself. I do tend to be careful about traveling and what I eat but I totally get it that like you I can rarely figure out what exactly went wrong. 
1. Karina Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="Njf0618" user-id="4832334"/> That's so true, and it's one of the most frustrating things about IBS for me, not never know what exactly can cause a flare... Karina (team member)