# New here - diagnosed IBS-C recently.



## KiwiCam (Mar 24, 2013)

Hi all,

Newly diagnosed (kind-of!) recently, here's my story.

Am a 28 year old male, relatively healthy, hardly ever been
sick. Can eat anything, no allergies whatsoever. Family health history is fine
apart from heart concerns on fathers side.

Started a new job a year ago, and it was very stressful. On
the worst days, I would suddenly come down with severe upper-stomach pains when
at home in the evening. This would follow with a brief but awful bout of
diarrhea. A weird sensation would persist in my stomach making me not feel
quite right.

It got to the point that on stressful days, I could guarantee
I would get pain at a certain time in the evening, and that I wouldn't be at
work the next day.

I changed position at work to lessen the stress, and things
improved - slightly. However since it all began, I have noticed an erratic
pattern of bowel-movements coupled with up to 4 days of constipation.
Typically, I feel ill once a fortnight and don't pass any solids for half a
week.

This makes me miserable, and also conflicted because I don't
feel well enough to be at work, but I don't feel sick enough to be at home!

I went to the doctor, and he gave me some laxatives that I
didn't really want to take. 2 more visits to the GP and he handed me a slip of
paper saying "This gentleman has IBS". He attempted to refer me to the
hospital, but I got rejected from the long waiting list because my case wasn't
important enough.

So after nearly a year of being miserable, I found out that
there was an IBS specialist in my city (one of the only ones in the Oceania
region!). She interviewed me for two hours, and I learned so much and felt so
happier that I am on track to getting some treatment. We did find out that my
IBS-C is likely inflamed by my poor ability in handling stressful situations,
so I believe some kind of counselling is on the cards for me.

I believe my symptoms are increasing in regularity, and am
also getting the 'not complete' bowel movements. Going back for a second trip
yields nothing.

I won't get any assistance through the public health system,
but the private system is likely to cost thousands that I can't afford.
Luckily, I am starting a new job soon and apparently the health insurance they
offer always accepts pre-existing conditions (very rare for health insurers). That
should lessen the financial stress for me and my partner.


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## rogerlig (Apr 3, 2013)

I've found that Linzess (something new) is quite effective, and works very quickly. But it's expensive, maybe $8 or so per day. Medical insurance will pay for a lot of it, if you can get it (the insurance, that is).

The drug made a huge difference for me. Give it a try, you can get a thrity day sample from your doc for free.

Others have reported mixed success, but in my case, it make a huge impact on my problem, after a lot of other options had failed.

Worth a try.


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## thickthighs1 (Apr 12, 2013)

try eatnig an apple or fruit everyday,that should help you poo...also if you can,on the weekends eat green leafy veggies..might try an enema to get rid if the "not quite finished" feeling


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