# What should I do next?



## sickandtiredofibs (May 3, 2009)

This is my first time on an IBS board. I decided to post something after what I've gone through today... just finished my 8th trip to the washroom in excruciating pain -- comparable to having a baby really. I just want to share my story and see if there's some advice for me. I'm so frustrated with this.I do not have constipation/diarrhea - which makes me wonder all the time if this is in fact IBS - I don't seem to have the altering bowel habits that most people have. I have extremely painful & urgent bowel movements - on average about 5 a day, usually all in the morning. The odd day I won't have a BM at all (and these days are like heaven), and other days I'll have as many as 10. The first one will be formed, large..normal. And each subsequent BM will be smaller in size, but more of them. Not loose, not watery, not hard. One thing i've noticed is lack of sleep (like if I have to get up at 3 am for something, or am kept up all night for some rare reason) I will have many very tiny stools more like diarrhea.At age 9 (puberty) it all started. I started having painful bowel movements in the morning. I would have a bowl of cereal, and within minutes be running to the washroom in pain, have a BM and feel better...momentarily..then 15 minutes later it would happen again.. I found myself pushing to get it all out so that I could get to school on time and because it was painful and I wanted it over faster. I had to stop eating breakfast in grade 5 because it was the only way I could get to school on time. I tried getting up earlier, but it didn't seem to help. In high school saw a specialist -- told I have IBS after a couple barium swallows to rule out chron's.University -- I would miss all my morning classes at least 3 times a week. Not sure how I ever graduated -- I guess I just took immodium if I had a test, but just got 0 for any pop quizzes I missed. So I saw another specialist. They basically mocked me and thought I must be exaggerating. Eating a cracker couldn't send someone running to the toilet within seconds of eating it. Drinking water couldn't stimulate my bowels and send me to the toilet. Told me to stop drinking coffee and alcohol -- I didn't drink those things anyway -- but because I was a university student I MUST DRINK and the doctor accused me of lying!! Went for more tests, nothing found.Gave up for many years, got through my day, call in sick to work often, not very productive at my job.. EVERY SINGLE DAY I have painful bowel movements all morning long. some are a bit painful, others absolutely excruciating -- fetal position on bathroom floor, laying there naked (because the pain made me sweat so bad I'd have to change my clothes, so I just took them off a lot of the time). I'd climb in the hot bath tub for some relief, and flood my bathroom running from the tub to toilet all the time.THEN I had a glimmer of hope!! I had 2 kids. During each pregnancy I went from having daily pain, to having maybe 2 episodes in the entire 9 months!After my 2nd baby I went to another specialist. I wanted to look into the hormonal causes since there must be something that could be done. The doctor wouldn't let me give anything more than a yes or no answer to his standard 10 question list. Immediately told me he does not prescribe drugs for ibs, sent me for a couple more tests. Then I went back to go over the test results, and all he said to me was "you have IBS - any questions" I said no, and he said "get out of my office and pretend this never happend"!!! All he cared about was making sure I didn't have chrons or cancer and wanted nothing more to do with me. Oh, and he told me to eat more fibre....a week after my nutritionist said to cut back on it to reduce bloating. And he also accused me of abusing laxatives (i've taken laxatives twice in my entire life that I can recall)I'm in my early 30's and am now considering a colostomy... Right now I'm too sick to work -haven't been able to work outside the house for 3 years now because my urgent painful bowel movements prevent me from even driving to a workplace. My kids start school soon and I have NO IDEA how I'm going to drive them to school for 9am each morning when I'm having bowel movements every 15 minutes and am in pain for the 15 minutes in between. We want to start going on family vacations, but I'm so sick I'd just be in the hotel washroom 60% of the day. I really feel a stoma would improve my quality of life. Some things would be different & difficult, but at least i'd be able to take my kids for a walk around the block or go to the park with them. kwim?When the kids are in school I want to go back to work, but there's no way I can with how sick I am now. I'm so frustrated!!Oh, and the doctors always tell me to reduce stress.... I don't even work anymore, how less stressful can life be? And such MINOR things set my bowels off too. I already mentioned how quickly eating sends me to the washroom (before I'm done a cracker even), but things like waiting for something (waiting for a cab, ups, etc), or even the phone ringing will send me to the toilet with cramps!


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

Hi,I had 10 years of IBS D of the not very painful variety before stopping it with a flavonoid supplement, Provex CV, which, while designed for cholesterol control, also seems to have benefits for the digestion and bowels. There was a member of the Board from back in 2003 who had pains like you have. ("Like childbirth" is how she, too, described it.) She gave the same supplement a try and found the pain retreated, disappeared, and has never returned. If you are up for an experiment, drop me a line and we can talk about that.Cheers.Mark


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

IBS is a change in frequency or consistency of the stools that comes with pain or discomfort (like urgency).Unless 5 a day was your normal before that counts. You do not need watery diarrhea or rabbit pellet constipation or alternate between those to have IBS. Just a change in frequency or consistency.IBS often gets worse with physical stress like lack of sleep.Eating triggering stools is common in IBS even if the doctor didn't believe you. It is well known that IBS makes the gastrocolic reflex go nuts.IBS commonly goes away during pregnancy.You probably need to find a doctor that actually treats IBS. You might try contacting the Functional GI clinic at UNC (they have a contact us link) to see if there is someone that can help you in your area rather than just tell you to get over it. http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/


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