# Hello and thanks for reading!



## webman (Aug 6, 2017)

I'm a 46 year old Canadin male. I'm 10lbs overweight and been diagnosed with IBS-C. I quit smoking 4 years ago but I do vape electronic cigarettes at the lowest possible nicotine level (3mg). I've been battling this going on 3 years now. My doctor has tested me for celiac and chron's disease and I don't have either. I do HAVE GERD and acid reflux. I do have constipation. I have a BM every day but it never feels like I fully empty. My stool is yellow often and I feel that my IBS tries to make my digestive system work faster and harder than it's supposed to.

I get pressure and bloating in the upper abdomen mostly at night. it has happened a few times during the day. It has radiated behind my left shoulder sometimes. I take Gaviscon, Diovol and Gas-X when I get these "attacks". I have to walk around for about an hour massaging my abdomen and forcing myself to belch in order to get some relief. I have had this last as long as 2 hours before. This is by far the worst feeling to have. my most recent attack was last night after smoking a small amount of medical marijuana.

For my GERD I find it best to take a chewable Pepcid if I am getting GERD after a meal rather than taking a Zantac or Pepcid 30mins before my meal. I have had my esophagus damaged (burned) by drinking hot tea with lemon, or drinking cold water too quickly. Both times resulted in passing out and calling paramedics. I have also woken up in the morning and almost passing out because of a sharp pain at my LES (Sphincter that closes the flap between your stomach and esophagus) because acid has come back up on me during the night. this caused nausea and I had to lie down for the entire day.

So here's what I have tried and what I was prescribed:

- Restoralax worked for a week then started causing pain, pressure and bloating in my lower abdomen. It did make me regular though. I stopped it because of the pain and bloating.

- Metamucil at times it will give me upper abdominal pressure and bloating. I lowered the frequency and dosage with no change. I have stopped taking it

- Dicetel does nothing but make my symptoms worse.

- Restoran Gave me violent diarrhea

- Dexilant PPI for my GERD. After 2 days I had violent diarrhea and stomach cramps.

- Medical marijuana. It actually triggers my IBS bringing on upper abdominal bloating, pain and discomfort

- Buscopan. Haven't tried it yet and scared to.

- Famotidine (Pepcid), Zantac

- Milk of Magnesia. This often triggers my IBS

I have changed my diet to a completely gluten-free diet and still had the pain, pressure and bloating. In fact it made me more constipated because of the lack of fiber because of the rice flour. I have since gone back to eating natural whole wheat bread at limited quantities. I also add natural bran to my yoghurt to get some extra insoluble fiber.

I have had a CT scan of my colon and everything was normal. Had blood tests to check liver and gallbladder function and that was normal too. I am scheduled for an ultrasound next month.

My main issue is Gas! I get pressure on the left side which sometimes radiates to my left side. Pressure in my stomach and going across my upper abdomen. I am literally at my wits end. I don't know what to do. I'm constantly afraid that I will get these attacks at night and there's nothing I can take or do to help it or prevent it. I am lucky where I have never been woken up at night by this pain, pressure and bloating but I have been woken up because of acid burning my esophagus. I don't think my symptoms are gallbladder as I don't have pain on my right side, yellow eyes or skin but I'm not an expert.


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## DustDevil (Aug 8, 2017)

Thank you for sharing your story. While my symptoms aren't similar to yours I also suffer from IBS-C. You are not alone.


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## Nat_London (Apr 26, 2017)

Have you tried the low FODMAP diet? It was the only thing that has really helped get rid of constant pain/bloating. (I have GERD also.) Knowing which veggies and other fiber sources are safe (for ex, beans and most nuts are not) improved things quite a bit. The diet is very restrictive but after awhile it's easier to tell which foods are your real trigger, and which ones you can tolerate small amounts of. For example, I now know that I can east a meal out every week or so and not worry about garlic, but I don't cook at home with it anymore or eat it multiple times in a row.

Also, having been on a gluten-free diet for years (before being diagnosed with IBS) I would also recommend being careful about gf substitutes. There are some good ones out there that use a mix of whole grain flours, and others that are all starch with very few nutrients.

Good luck!


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## Barney71 (Aug 1, 2017)

I agree, you should start thinking of sorting your diet out. Good diet is a real game changer in case of IBS. It has definitely helped for me and for many other people I know. What you have to remember is that though you have to apply every diet and different products for yourself. There is no one diet that works for everyone and is one and only remedy. You have to start eating healthy and choose products that you feel better or worse on. That's what I did. I would advise you to start making a journal, where you note all those things that you do - how you feel a certain day, what did you eat and what did you do - you should do so for a month or two before you will be able to draw any conclusions. On top of that I definitely recommend drinking plenty of water and loads of physical activity - seriously, for me working out at gym helped both physically and mentally as I started to feel so much better about myself.


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