# Does this sound like IBS?



## Schtopper (Jul 4, 2007)

Hi,About 5 weeks before christmas i had 2 days where i suffered instant diarrhea within 5 minutes of eating my lunch (the whole sparked off a stint of severe anxiety and panic but that's a different story). After a few weeks of having bloating, loose stools and generaly unhappy gut (amplified by the anxiety i think as most of that has dissapeared), i went to see a gastroenterologist. He ordered a series of tests, pretty much every blood test you can for that sort of thing and both an endoscopy and colonoscopy with biopsies taken at both ends. All tests came back clear. When i went back for my consultation the problem had pretty much disapeared and coupled this with the clear results he concluded that nothing was wrong but never really gave me an explanation for what happened. However over the last 2 weeks a similar thing has happened. On 2 occasions after eating a meal (within a few minutes of finishing the meal) i have had an urgent need to go to the bathroom followed with severe diarrhea. After the movement though the feeling subsides and i don't suffer with diarrhea again. Given the urgency following the meal and the fact it stops once i've been to the toilet for me seems to count out any form of infection or any form of food poisoning etc. Having read a couple of the posts on here it sounds like i could be suffering from IBS, does the previous clear results (only 3 months or so ago) and the instant diarrhea sound like IBS to you?EDIT: I should add that on both occasions the meal i ate was very greasy, first time being a take away Chow Mein, and 2nd a Fried Chicken and Fries combo. Both of which i've eaten in the past without issue.I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in January this year, and although i've been given the all clear since then I do now worry that pretty much anything that's wrong with me is some form of cancer. I am 29 years old. Cheers.


----------



## Schtopper (Jul 4, 2007)

40 views and no-one's opinion on whether this sound like IBS or not?


----------



## Patient (Jul 5, 2007)

Hey there Schtopper,I'm not sure if anyone else will respond, so I figured I would go ahead and pitch in my two cents. In any case, it sounds like it -could- be IBS, but I'm not sure that's for sure what it is. You've already taken tests and seen the gastrocologist (however you spell that!) and everything came back cleared, so it probably isn't anything serious. If anything, I would just say it was your stomach's reaction to the greasy foods, unless you're experiencing the immediate urges to use the bathroom right after you eat more frequently now. I wouldn't completely rule out food poisoning or your body's reaction to bacteria that may have been in the food, however. Diarrhea is one of the body's natural defenses against things that shouldn't be in our body, which is why you can get the sudden urges; your body would be trying to flush it out. I doubt it was food poisoning, but you can't rule it out entirely.Overall, my personal opinion would be that it's just a reaction to the couple times you've eaten those really greasy foods. I wouldn't rule out IBS as your problem though, and I would definately speak to your doctor about it. Bring it up and ask him about it, at the very least, he might be able to prescribe you some medicines to help whenever those attacks do come up. Keep track of what you eat and what triggers your symptoms, as well as your amounts of stress. You said you began to panic and your anxiety was bad, two things which my doctor has told me go hand in hand with IBS. Try to exercise, find some relaxation techniques, and most of all stay away from the greasy foods!


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

We have a lot of lurkers. It sounds pretty consistent with IBS.All tests were clear and it is common to have a reaction to fatty meals like you described.In every person the colon becomes active after meals. Fatty/greasy/large/heavy meals tend to make it more active than lighter meals. It does seem in IBSers that they can over-react to this normal process and instead of just moving stuff along a bit it moves things along a lot and you can get loose stool that hasn't had all the water that should be extracted from it taken out of it. Loose or watery stool creates a lot more urgency than normally formed stools.K.


----------



## Schtopper (Jul 4, 2007)

Well i've noticed this last 2 weeks that my 'bowels' get more noticeably active after i eat anything. Something as small as a sandwich or a packet of crisps is consistently resulting in a bit of bubbling and the passing of wind for 15, 20minutes after eating. But it has only been those 2 times with the greasy food that i have had immediate bubbling, gut ache, wind and running to the loo with diarrhea. After everything has settled all returns to normal, my stomach and bowels are definitly feeling sensitive at the minute i don't think either one has felt 100% normal this is last few weeks. I have an appointment again with the gastro consultant I saw before (but not for 4 weeks), and a specialist nurse is supposed to be ringing this afternoon to discuss symptoms and see if she can offer any advice in the meantime. Thanks for the replies.


----------



## Patient (Jul 5, 2007)

Lurkers.







As for it arising when you even eat small things, that's what happens to me usually. The greasy foods are -always- an immediate reaction, as with dairy products. Now that you mention you've been noticing it happening for the past two weeks, it sounds a lot more characteristic of IBS. Maybe I misread your first post. In fact, there's periods when I can go for up to a month without any symptoms, and the next month I'll be on my 'throne' every two seconds of every day. It's a disorder that attacks, so sometimes you don't constantly have symptoms every day like others will. Definately, it's tied with stress. Either way, as I said before, bring it up with your doctor for sure. He could at least give you some medicine and see if it helps, and as I'm sure you and I both know, in the case of things like that; you're probably ready to try anything to get the problem solved and move on. Keep us posted on how things turn out.


----------

