# various



## 20986 (Feb 10, 2006)

I have a few questions about IBS that may be unanswerable. I am not an IBS sufferer, but I am trying to understand it better as I am a classroom teacher...Here goes:1. Do all IBS sufferers have stomach cramps? If so, do they eventually go away over the course of life (the patient "grows out" of them, while other symptoms remain?2. Is the need for a bathroom immediate, or is it a growing need?3. This next question is a little odd...Is the time spent in the bathroom inordinantly long in comparison to what could be considered 'normal'? In other words, would five to ten minutes seem like enough or too little?4. Does IBS get worse or better with age? 5. I hear that IBS is a catch-all phrase used by doctors who don't know what else to say. Thank you for any help you can give.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

1) Pain is a part of IBS, generally if the symptoms go away they all do, not either pain, or stool consistancy issues.2) IBSers need to use the bathroom may be much more urgent than in a normal person. Often "holding it" is extremely uncomfortable.3) It can be. Often people have to go several times separated by a few minutes. Why leave the bathroom if you are just going to have to run back in there 3 minutes from now.4) Varies, there is no set pattern.5) It can be, but some doctors follow the diagnositic criteria for IBS and other GI functional diseases. The pathophysiology is getting a lot of research so it is not as much of a "gee dunno" thing as it used to be. Assuming your doctor has kept up with the times. If you follow the diagnositic criteria very few IBSers really have something else the matter with them.K.


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## 20986 (Feb 10, 2006)

If I have a student who after claiming a need to use the restroom, taking the time to sign out, leaving the room in a slow and deliberate manner and returning in about 5 minutes, twice a day, generally around the same time, would that be IBS?


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## 17176 (Mar 31, 2005)

hello and welcome 356


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I wouldn't assume that is IBS.Some people have to have a BM up to 3 times a day and are normal.Usually IBSers when they have to go are not "slow and deliberate" It is more like run to the bathroom, but it does vary.Self-diagnosis is a dangerous thing, trying to label others is even more problematic.If you are concerned about this I would check with the parents to see if there is something you need to be made aware of.K.


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## 20986 (Feb 10, 2006)

Am not assuming anything. Have been advised, but meeting in works to confirm. Thanks for your help.


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## Guest (May 11, 2006)

Hello b56,I am a lifelong sufferer of IBS and my 15-yr-old son has just been diagnosed with it. He is missing a lot of school. I wanted to add my answers to your questions as well mostly based upon my own experience and as a nurse.1. Cramps or some type of pain is pretty common. It may feel like someone takes the intestines and twists them like a rope. It can also be just a severe, constant pain that is debilitating.2. The bathroom need is usually very immediate. I've had to stop the car and race into a business establishment to find a bathroom. I can tell you where every bathroom is in every mall I shop in. Same goes for grocery stores. Please do not make students wait, as it may result in a very embarrassing situation.3. Yes, bathroom time is often extended. Not only for immediate relief but subsequent as well. This syndrome is famous for not emptying the bowel at one time. I often get up and start down the hall only to need to return in a hurry.4. In my family (3 of us with it), IBS worsens with age. I have had to exclude more foods from my diet every year since I turned 35.5. IBS is a clinical diagnosis of exclusion. That means that there aren't specific tests for it, it's based on signs and symptoms of the patient. The diagnosis is made once other things are excluded.Good luck and I'm glad to see a teacher wanting to learn more. My son has missed a total of 5 weeks of school this semester alone and we are overwhelmed with the work.Good luck and I hope this helps.


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