# Does IBS hurts Growth??



## beis (Jul 9, 2002)

I'm 17.5, and I probably have IBS, for about 14 months, and my growth stopped about 14 months ago also, my gastroanthrologist said it's a coincidence, is it?!?!?!?did you stop growing also?


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## jennieb54143 (Jun 30, 2002)

dont know im also 17.5 and due to medicine i was on when i was litte (from when i was 8-15)im short. Im only 4 feet 11.5 lol short people rule!


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

beis , there really is no reason that IBS would stunt your growth that I am aware of other then not eating because you have it for instance.


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## *Luna* (Nov 19, 2001)

Beis, I'm not sure if you are male or female, but most women stop growing by your age. My feet stopped growing when I was 14, but I was 15 or 16 when I stopped growing altogether. My growth plates were x-rayed periodically because I had some jaw problems that could not be fixed properly until I was done growing...so I can tell you for a fact I was no longer growing at the age of 16.So if you're female, it's probably just coicidence you stopped growing. Many of us have IBS symptoms start as teenagers. I was 13 when mine started.


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## beis (Jul 9, 2002)

no - I'm a male, but if IBS causes diarrheas, doesn't the body lose nutritional elements in the diarrheas, and therefore it can stunt the growth?


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

The foods are absorbed higher up in the digestion process, before the IBS causes a problem for them not to be.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

IBS diarrhea doesn't effect the small intestine, just the colon.You do not absorb nutrients from the colon, just water.IBS should not stunt your growth.


> quote: Height Nearly one quarter of final adult height results from the teenage height spurt. This spurt occurs between the ages of 10 and 13 years for most girls, and between 12 and 15 years for most boys. Since the height spurt occurs sooner in girls than in boys, some girls feel too tall, whereas boys are concerned by the delay in growth. Growth stops at around 16 years of age for girls and 18 years for boys.


from http://www.lambtonhealth.on.ca/youth/teamweight.asp So you are at an age where your growth should be slowing down anyway, especially if you have had a growth spurt.A lot depends on when puberty hit you. The earlier it hits the younger you tend to stop growing.Some men will stop growing at 17 or 18 and then put on another couple of inches later on, sometimes as late as 22-24 years old.Most of the men in my family have a very late growth spurt after a period of no growth. I had one (but I'm female) because I had to be put on steroids for inflamation at about 20 and that triggered a growth spurt of almost an inch after being the same height for many years.Growth patterns are not normally completely consistant (so it isn't 2 inches a year, every year...some years it is more, some less, and sometimes you don't grow for awhile then start growing again).K.


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