# Terrible flare up of IBS - very sad news



## Guest (Dec 10, 2004)

Sorry - don't want to be all gloom and doom in this festive season but wondered if anybody had any observations.Have just discovered that one of our very closest friends (our best man and our son's godfather) has terminal, inoperable pancreatic cancer - at the grand old age of 43. Feel totally numb and angry at the same time.My IBS which I've been controlling really well for about 3 months has come back with a vengeance. Terrible bloating wind, agonising cramping etc etc.Am I stating the obvious - could this all be connected to this terrible news?Sorry - not usually a gloomy bird.Any thoughts welcome.Sue Manchester


----------



## california123 (Jun 8, 2003)

Sounds like stress-induced D to me. See if you can get some anti-anxiety meds short term to get you through the bad days. Good luck.


----------



## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

So sorry to hear that! How terrible for your friend and his family. I do think that IBS is interelated with stress and anxiety.


----------



## editor (Jun 20, 2004)

I think it is possible to have IBS triggered by a period of ill health, food intolerances *and* periods of great stress. Even when you are managing your diet properly, are bug free, and have normal levels of stress, you know that an IBS flare up can happen, well, "just because it can." There's no logic to it. :-|At least you know that you have had 3 good months - despite having to worry about test results (excellent news there, by the way!) and all the rest of it. News like you have just received *is* very upsetting, especially when it seems to come out of the blue. Hell, even when you are prepared, it can go straight to your gut. Also, feeling angry and numb are totally normal reactions to this situation. If you worry about cancer yourself, the following might not be good reading for you: on the other hand, knowledge can sometimes reassure you, and from that, it can help you a great deal to realise when and when not to be really worried. The link is to the Cancer Bacup (UK) site and the support and information is excellent. It is not only the "patient" who has to deal with this, but family members, friends, colleagues too. It's like a pebble being thrown into a pond - the ripple effect, y'know? http://www.cancerbacup.org.uk/Home I am very sorry to hear about your close friend. Am thinking about you. {hugs}


----------



## Guest (Dec 13, 2004)

Thanks everybody for your support and thanks editor. I think I'm rather "cancered out" at the moment. We are waiting for his biopsy results today but I think the outlook is very bleak - bloody intolerable for his wife and 2 tiny kids. Anyway these things are my problem but its nice to share my thoughts even if they are not very positive. Its wierd, during the day when I'm busy the IBS and my emotions are fairly well under control but suddenly now, I'm cooking the tea, bathing the tiny one and I'm bloating up like a balloon and feel all churned up when ever the phone rings. Its terribly hard to feel in any way positive about all this. I wasn't a huge christian soul before this but now feel totally incoherent with rage that this 43 year old has to die like this. I won't be the first to feel like this I'm sure.Thanks again for all your thoughts.Sue, Manchester


----------



## Guest (Dec 16, 2004)

Update - against almost all the odds - Charlie (Best Man) had a biopsy yesterday and they have found out that his tumour is benign and radiotherapy will commence at once. He's in for a rough few weeks (they can't seemigly operate yet because of where its sited) but there is real hope of a total cure. Funny, the IBS is much better now. Sorry to be such a misery but what a s**t couple of weeks for all concerned.All the best and many thanks to you for your support.Sue


----------



## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

Sue, so happy to hear that your friend's tumor is not malignant. Sounds like maybe he is going to be OK and you can relax a bit now. I think your reaction shows what a caring, compassionate person you are. Tiss


----------



## Guest (Dec 22, 2004)

Thanks Tiss - yes its lovely news - I think its going to be a long haul but with two tinies of 4 and 2 its all worth it isn't it.God bless and have a wonderful XmasSue


----------



## Anthem (Dec 27, 2004)

I have a vaguely similar story. I moved to Phoenix and joined a local church where I hit it off with a guy. We became pretty close. He was always "up" and great fun, always laughing and very self-confident. Then one day I went to his apartment and he was in the corner cringing and crying, wanting to kill himself. To make a long upsetting story short, he was diagnosed with being bi-polar. He became a different person, very weak and confused and miserable. His sister 2000 miles away agreed he better come home and she'd take power of attorney to take care of him until he was stable again. He left Monday 12-20. I was in great sadness for his state of being and my lose. The next day I came down with IBS-D after having NO IBS symptoms for over 2 months. Coincidence?


----------



## IBSsuffer (Jan 12, 1999)

Suev,Glad to hear the better news =) When I am doing well in managing my IBS and something stressful happens...I tend to take the focus off of me (meaning not eatting enough of the right foods, drinking water, and supplements etc. that was helping my IBS). I was wondering if this happened to you? I have noticed when my mind is clear (stress free), I can do all the right things for my IBS. Stress is known to bring on symptoms of IBS, When someone is stress do they tend to do less of what was helping them?Anthem very sorry to hear of your loss.--IBSsuffer


----------



## fedup (Oct 28, 2004)

Suev,I just wanted to say that that is really good news, what an immense relief it must have been to everyone to find that the tumour was benign. Here's hoping that everything goes well with your friend now.My dad died three months ago and although his health was'nt good (he'd had Multiple Sclerosis for about 40 years) we did'nt expect to lose him as he had been keepng fairly well. He went into hospital due to a urine infection, which he was very prone to and ended up with pneumonia which sadly he was unable to fight off. My ibs symptoms flared terribly at this time and i have been diagnosed with PND and started on medication for it which really caused problems with my ibs, thankfully after about 2 weeks it settled down. Stress seems to play such a huge part in my life which aggravates my ibs then i get stressed out by that, its a vicious circle.Tracey


----------



## Guest (Jan 5, 2005)

Tracey - thanks so much for your sympathy and I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. MS seems to be a very cruel disease - strangely enough 2 quite close friends were diagnosed with it within a month of each other. One is doing very well and managing to work full time, the other is deteriorating very rapidly and is understandably very depressed. Yes, I don't know what we can all do about stress, why is it always the nicest people that foul things happen to?All the very best to you for a better 2005.Sue


----------

