# Full story IBS-C, FBO, depression and more



## ibssurfer (Feb 13, 2017)

Hello ya'll

So i just wrote about half of my post. I hit a weird button and everything dissapeared. STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN NOW.

Lets go.

About a week ago i posted my quick introduction. Today im gonna try and share a huge part of my story. Keep in mind its long, complicated and might be tough to follow so bear with me haha!! Ill try to be as clear as possible.

*My family*

So i guess ill start with the fact that bowel issues run in the family. My mom has IBS-C with main symptoms being gas, severe cramping/pain and hemorrhoids. I belive Crohn also runs in the family aswell as bowel cancer. So i guess i was bound to have very sensitive bowels aswell..

*Highschool*

Highschool was a tough period, especially the last 2/3 years of it. Thats when IBS symptoms such as constipation and gas begun to worsen. I'd experience Leaky Gas and Body odor.

During highschool days id wake up at 8 and go to school at 9 am. I was never able to have a bowel movement during this hour of preparation before school. My bowels would start working around 2/3 hours after i wake up. Thats when my urge to go to the toilet and do a nr. 2 would come up. I would ignore this feeling as i didnt want to go to the toilet at school (they'r disgusting!!). This withholding of my stools + the gas caused cramping during the day, logically. After school, when i got home, first thing id do is take a ###### and strain and push. Id experience this as normal. Never thought there was anything wrong with doing so..

This was a daily habit. Also, i rarely pee'd in school. I guess it was just easier to not pee and take a ######, than do one or the other.

All in all terrible habits to have. Im pretty sure my FBO had not begun during this period yet.

*New years eve -> last 2/3 years of highschool*

Now we'r about 2/3 years into highschool. New Years eve is there. I'v gotta go take a ######. But guess what? Im not home. I hold it all in. Severe pain in my rectal/anal area is what followed (i would describe it as a trauma). I believe that after this experience my FBO started to develop. In my third year i started noticing ppl/friends say stuff like 'who farted!?' or 'whats that smell'? The thought that this was me never occured to me. Things like this happened more and more. At some point i started to realise that it might be me thats smelling funky.

*Excessive masturbation affecting my IBS*

In this period (from the age of 12), i discovered masturbation. Most would call this a healthy habit. Iv read that there is no such thing as 'over-masturbation'. In my experience there is. I believe you can weaked the Pelvic Floor Muscles due to excessively masturbating. I believe that my habit of masturbation alot in combination with my habit to hold in stools/gas and strain/push afterwards, caused my pelvic floor to significantly weaken. Id masturbate 1-3 times a day. Some days id do so up to 5 times. Now for normal healthy individuals, who do not have sensitive bowels, who do not have to hold in gas for hours, and who do not have to strain to empty their bowels, masturbating 5 times a day might be a completely healthy thing to do. In my case, i think it simply isnt.

When masturbating id' always kegel to experience most pleasure. While kegeling you usually clench your anus. Imagine how constipated you can get if your anus never ever relaxes due to holding stools, holding in gas and on top of that, kegeling while masturbating. I believe this combination caused my pelvic floor to weaken.

I also started to dribble after peeing. I assumed this was somewhat normal too. Very quickly i realised this causes an odor too. I currently keep this under control by 'milking' my penis aswell as a few kegels after peeing. Havent had a serious dribble in my pants in a while. So thats one aspect less to worry about. Howevere, i havent tackled the actual cause yet, which i believe to be my weak pelvic muscles.

Now i'v researched alot. I have not started kegeling yet cause my pelvic floor muscles might not only be weak, but also very tense/tight. Again, this can happen due to constipation in combination with lots of masturbation. Therefore im currently following a daily routine of yoga exercises to release pelvic floor tension. I also try to not masturbate more than once every 2/3 weeks. Thats the goal atleast.

Im dealing with the constipation by drinking coffee. I know for IBS-sufferers coffee is a huge no-no. But for me its the best way to empty my bowels. Currently i manage to have a bowel movement about 2-4 times a day. My stools are very oily/greasy, they smell strong and are very soft. Atleast im not constipated, which means my pelvic floor muscles should be able to relax a bit more.

*College*

Currently in college, 3 years in. Im a very anti-social person. I never go to college due to my FBO. I only go when the lectures are a condition to pass a test or whatever. All of my study, i do at home basically.

During the first year, lectures were obliged to be followed. Not being present meant not having enough points to pass the class. So ofcourse, i went. This year is when i got really depressed with myself (and stil am). The first year i got addicted to a PS4 game, this was all i did throughout the day. I escaped reality. I had all types of bowel issues at this point. Whenever i had a class at 9am id get up at 5am to drink coffe and walk inside my house. I HAD TO GET MY BOWELS STARTED AND EMPTY THEM. I did this whenever i had an early class. it was very $$$$$$ing tough. Even though i woke up so early, id never feel like i emptied my bowels completely. So there i was sitting in class, feeling constipated still, having to hold in upcoming bowel movements and gass... smelling like poop (i guess).

I remember so clearly at some point the person next to me almost fainted i think. He used his scarf to cover his nose throuhout the whole lecture. I felt like killing myself honestly.

When i got home, first thing i did was trying to take a ###### and start up my PS. Fun fact, i became good at the game and felt like i accomplished something. Pathetic right? For a 20 year old guy..

At some point i started having emotional outbursts. I began listening to emotional music more often, which i usually never ever listened to. I used to be all about uplifting dance music. Hell, i even liked some rap music. But emotional/aggressive rock music is all i listened to. I guess my personality changed alot in these years. From begin a confident good looking person, caring about his appearance, to a anti-social person who got addicted to a videogame, who didnt give a ###### about how he looked anymore.. I cried alot, by myself. I even harmed myself at some point cause i was so angry and frustrated with myself. I never ever thought i'd be the person that would go through things like these. I expected so much of myself. Im intelligent and very ambitious. If i didnt suffer from this IBS thing and its consequences, i feel like i can handle anything.

*Fast forward to now*

Im started working out. Gained lots of muscle and some fat. I also got very strong. I went from a skinny 130lbs to 185lbs in a few years time. Working was the way to let go of everything and try and improve myself. I developed alot. Not only physically but mentally aswell. Currently sitting at 175lbs. Still going to the gym about 3 times a week.

I managed to gain so much weight despite my IBS. However my ibs symptoms were 100 times worse than they ever had been during this bulk. Having to consume so much calories and protein $$$$$$ed up my bowels even more. But all i cared about during this time as gaining a healthy weight. Getting stronger, and in general feeling better about myself. I managed to do that. I do feel better than a few years ago.

But my bowel issues still persist. And its time to fully tackle this problem. The way i live is no way of living.

I guess that is why i signed up to this forum. Im ready to fix this and not run away from it anymore.

Im seeing a iridologist and naturopathic doc in 3 weeks. I will see my gastroenterologist (this word is hard to spell LOL) again in a few weeks too.

In the meantime i did alot of research of potential causes and such.

- Im suspecting myself to have a Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. To fix this, im trying yoga exercises to release pelvic floor tension/tightness. Ill do this for the upcoming weeks. Ill also abstain from watching porn and over-masturbation. Ill try to masturbate once in 3 weeks. Hopefully tension in the muscles will somewhat dissapear (i used to have a lot of pain in my tailbone and right about my crotch). Abstaining from masturbation + trying not to get constipated should relieve pelvic floor tension.

- Im following a low FODMAP diet. I already excluded all dairy. This helped alot. When i bulked, and consumed about 3k calories a day, i could gass up my entire room and still smell it after i wake up. NO DAIRY is what works for me. To stay around 175lbs i eat lots of plantbased, low fodmap protein sources.

- I go for daily walks of 20 minutes. This does help somewhat

- I do stomach vacuums, which helps release trapped gas and push my stools further down.

Anyway i wrote enough for now, Ill keep you all updated on my situation. Im sure we can all help eachother out.

Peaceeeeeeee

Btw. I believe my sister cant smell anything on me. She never mentioned anything anyway, I dont think my parents can smell anything bad on me either. But im pretty sure other family members can.


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2017)

Yeah, same here, the smell and gas inconinence and other digestive problems started when i was 12 or 13 years old, now i´m 35.

If someday you are trying rectopexy for solving the smell problem let me tell you that i tried it and about a year and a half later of ups and downs the smell is just like before surgery. I´ve contacted a lot of persons that also tried rectopexy for the smell problem and all failed. And im learning English, sorry for the writing errors but i think that my message is clear enough, regards.


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## ibssurfer (Feb 13, 2017)

Thanks for replying Mariano,

I hope your doing ok. Are there any things that you have done to try and get rid of your problem? Nutrition wise or physically, like pelvic floor exercises, lifting weights (squats) or yoga (stretches)?


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## ibssurfer (Feb 13, 2017)

Also, an update on my current situation.

This week, I'v seen my gastro and told him Im going to figure out whats the cause of my IBS. I had a blood, urine and feces test done today. Im sure something is gonna show up. Most like some sort of mineral deficiency. I'v also had non-hospital feces test done. My Zonulin levels were extremely high, and I also had an overgrowth of the bacteria 'Enteroccocus spp.'. The first indicates Leaky Gut and the second indicates SIBO. Its not a diagnosis, but Im starting to believe Leaky Gut and SIBO are what is at the cause of my digestive issues (the gas, bloating, loose stools/constipation). Im going to try and get a diagnosis for this at some point (tests for these diseases are hard to find in my country).

However I believe my issue has two sides. One of which is the aforementioned, and the other being an abnormality in my rectal-anal region. Im suspecting internal hemorrhoids, internal prolapse or just muscular problems.

I think that if I can resolve my digestive issue, the 'smell problem', must become alot less noticeable.

Currently going to also scrap gluten of my diets list. My FODMAP diet will be like this:

- no snacks/sugars or salty things like chips

- minimalising processed food intake

- Low FODMAP foods (rice, potatoes, quinoa, chicken, meat and eggwhites)

- no dairy

- no gluten

- eating 200-300 grams of vegetables a day (low FODMAP)

Going to follow this diet for the next 8 weeks, see where it takes me.


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2017)

Sorry for the late reply, i don´t know how i could miss it. I tried EVERYTHING, diets, surgerys, etc.

Only squats and kettlebell swings are helping me.

Please check this, it might help you

http://www.ibsgroup....le-story/page-1


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