# Your IBS - Did It Get Worse?



## mypainfulself (Jun 16, 2007)

I'm only seventeen years old, turning eighteen rather soon. I've had IBS for a pretty long time; I was diagnosed when I was thirteen, but I've felt the symptoms since I was around eight. It sucks, I'm sure we all know that. I hate it controlling my life and ruining my plans with family, friends, and I hate worrying about it. The thing is, though, a lot of you people here have it way worse than I do...but I'm afraid. Does IBS get worse as you grow older? Has any of your symptoms gotten worse? What triggered it? I really don't want this getting worse...


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

There is no specific pattern. It isn't a disease that is typically considered to progress from bad to worst.It doesn't usually get worse (it can for a few) and for some people it gets better either on its own or because over time people figure out what works for them.


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## AllStrZ (May 6, 2006)

I was also diagnosed when I was 13, and I just turned 18 two weeks ago. For me, IBS did in fact get worse. Everybody is different, some people find ways to cope with it, but in our situation we haven't found anything to help yet. I believe the key thing is try and get out, find your comfort zone and expand it when you are ready. If you let it keep you home every single day, matters will only get worse, I know this from experience. Good Luck and feel free to message me.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2007)

mypainfulself said:


> I'm only seventeen years old, turning eighteen rather soon. I've had IBS for a pretty long time; I was diagnosed when I was thirteen, but I've felt the symptoms since I was around eight. It sucks, I'm sure we all know that. I hate it controlling my life and ruining my plans with family, friends, and I hate worrying about it. The thing is, though, a lot of you people here have it way worse than I do...but I'm afraid. Does IBS get worse as you grow older? Has any of your symptoms gotten worse? What triggered it? I really don't want this getting worse...


Hi, I'm eighteen years old and I've had IBS for as long as I can remember. I was only diagnosed with it when it started getting worse, which was around the time I was sixteen. I finally went to a doctor this year because my IBS got so bad that I had painful experiences every day. My doctor gave me muscle relaxers and the only thing I can say is that it is still getting worse. I know I'm only eighteen but I know enough to say that IBS definitely doesn't get any better. I honestly think the muscle relaxers have messed with my system somehow and made my worse but I can't say for sure. I usually don't have any problems with IBS in the summer because I'm free from the stress at school but this summer has been a disaster. I'm currently working on trying to find new treatments besides pills. Maybe I'll find something that works because I'm definitely not planning on living with this for the rest of my life either. I'll tell you if I find anything that works for me. Hopefully I'll eventually find some good news to tell you. I mean who knows someone could come out with a cure for IBS before long.


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## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

My GI dr said that the older you get, the better your IBS gets. Of course, once you're really elderly you may very well lose all control of your bowels again, but by then people will give us a break The lady who cuts my hair said she had IBS for quite a while, really badly for about 4 years, and then it just went away and now she's normal again. So I keep holding on to that hope that I'll be like her and grow out of this!


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## MyOwnSavior (Dec 21, 2006)

I've also heard anecdotal accounts of IBS getting better as time goes on. I hope the tales are true, but as for myself, I can say that it's definately not the case. My IBS started off as just a few symptoms here and there that - until they became so bad that I thought I had stomach cancer and subsequently got a colonscopy - I didn't even recognize as IBS. But I can remember symptoms as far back as about 7th grade; just bouts of pain once in a blue moon after eating certain things and then not being able to get to a bathroom. My first year of college, however, the pain became an everyday thing and has controlled my (social) life (or lack thereof) since. So in my case it has gotten worse, but maybe in like 10 years it'll get better. Who knows...


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## notmybestday (Jul 29, 2007)

I've always had stomach problems, but my IBS took a noticeable turn for the worse in my first year in college, where I suffered from massive anxiety, BAD FOOD, and stress. Got my "diagnosis" (pfff) summer after my freshman year. I exercised more circumspection my second year, and while my symptoms sure as hell didn't go away, I think I got them a bit more under control.


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## misty`eyes (Aug 19, 2007)

Hey there, I just wanted to say that I have been DX with IBS-C for two years and it is just getting worse. I think it is because I have been more stressed the last two years than I ever have before. Stress really has a bad effect on my symptoms. It is a vicious cycle. I know that at one point, I was feeling better because I thought that I found something that worked for me, but it was short-lived. I don't know if age has anything to do with it, but stress, diet and situations make it better or worse. Just figure out what works for you, and hopefully you won't have to worry about it getting worse. Peace and Love, Misty


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## tashy2002 (Sep 10, 2007)

i have always suffered from stomach pain since i was a child but i think as i got older it did get worse and more often


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## crepe (Sep 2, 2007)

Mine got worse for the first few years until I felt I could no longer stand it, but then it got gradually better over a few years time after that. It has never been completely cured, but it did improve as I knew what situations to avoid, what medications can help, and what types of warning signals my body would give me. I became less anxious and less feeling out of control.


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## MyOwnSavior (Dec 21, 2006)

crepe said:


> Mine got worse for the first few years until I felt I could no longer stand it, but then it got gradually better over a few years time after that. It has never been completely cured, but it did improve as I knew what situations to avoid, *what medications can help*, and what types of warning signals my body would give me. I became less anxious and less feeling out of control.


Would you mind listing a few of the ones that you found to be beneficial? At this point, I'm looking for anything besides the usual #### my GI dr. keeps prescribing me (which, as you can probably tell by my language, doesn't exactly help me too much).


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## crepe (Sep 2, 2007)

MOS, it's nothing fancy, so you may have already tried... I take zoloft daily for anxiety, but it really helped reduce the frequency of ibs-d flareups. And I take bentyl when I feel an attack coming on.. which is only a few times a month now, as opposed to a few times a day. Just having the bentyl with me helped a lot, sometimes just knowing it's there... i don't even have to take it.with the ssri/antidepressants... it takes several weeks to notice a difference, and its's gradual. i hope you find something that helps.


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## MyOwnSavior (Dec 21, 2006)

Thanks for the quick reply. I've tried Bentyl but it made my GERD worse, or at least I think it did. So I had to give that up. But I do think antianxiety meds do help reduce the frequency of flareups... I'm primarily IBS-A, and so for me I judge it based on whether or not it gets rid of pain flareups... I've tried Effexor in the past, with mixed results. Though given how ineffective other meds have been, it's looking pretty good right now.Anyway thanks again for the info.


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## crepe (Sep 2, 2007)

Yes, I can see how that would happen... if it makes your lower GI relax, it also makes your upper GI relax; then you could get more reflux, ugh. Hang in there with the effexor, give it some time (as long as you don't have bad side effects).


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## MyOwnSavior (Dec 21, 2006)

Actually my doctor stuck me on Cymbalta. I guess it's also good for pain, or so my doctor insists...I was on Effexor for about 7-8 months. Effexor XR for about 6 of those... with slightly beneficial results, but nothing that made me feel a lot better (i.e. still had pain flareups, and so on). I quit it because I didn't like the amount of weight I gained (20 lbs) for how much better I felt (not much).


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## dreday (May 4, 2007)

Oh gosh, that's my biggest hope. Some people just say it disappeqars. My neuro docotor told me he had IBS, but 'peace of Mind" made it go away. I was like....hwhat the hell d o you mean, and how do you get it? Of course, no elaborations. I've had a sensitive stomach my whole life, but as I got older, it was unbearable. This summer I rarely ever left the house. Stress and anxiety which I have an abundance of, is a definitie contributor. So hopefully, my prozac will start to kick in and I can get a more normal life. Here's hopin.


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## Louly (Oct 4, 2007)

Like many of you Iv had IBS since i was around 10 yrs (start of High School), i was finally diagnosed (sort of) at bout the age of 13. After countless trips to the doctor, specialists, a psychologists my IBS got better for a time. I cut out most foods, pretty much all of them. After 6 months or so where it was still bad, but not AS bad i stopped my diet. That was just under 2 years ago, its gotten worse since then! im at univerisity in my first year, sharing with two other people, its been worse every single morning, every evening, which causes probs going to uni or going out! Personally i hope it gets better, for everyone. It has to...but i suppose if it starts in childhood (teenage years) it is harder to deal with. I hope for the author of this thread that for them this doesnt happen to them. that they are able to lead a normal life, because i would not wish this on anyone.Good Luck, and i hope you dont have the same experiences as some of us in here


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