# Can pregnancy CAUSE IBS?



## gabbicat (Apr 13, 2004)

Hi, I'm new here and don't even know yet if I belong or not.







I am 13 weeks pregnant and began having heartburn like pain about week 7. Over the counter antacids did nothing for me except make me a little bit sick to my stomach (very different from the morning sickness). I was on Rx Zantac and immediately after taking it I had a lot of abdominal pain, bloating and very acidic feeling. The symptoms mostly went away when I stopped taking it (almost a week later). Now I will have mild versions of this pain every afternoon going into the evening. Some days I have mild constipation, some days I have mild diarrhea.I am fine in the mornings and you can barely tell that I am pregnant. But by the evenings I am so bloated I look like I jumped ahead a month or two! Has anyone else ever experienced this as a result of pregnancy? This is my first baby. I know the extra hormones in the body can affect digestion, also allowing for the opening between the stomach and esophaugus to relax which allows the acid to back up into the throat.I have been avoiding as much acidic food as I can which helps some, but no matter what I eat, I have some pain and bloating.Since heartburn meds don't work for me and gallbladder problems have been ruled out, could this be IBS?All I know for sure is when I see that commerical for Zelnorm with the women with things written on their stomachs, I'm like, "That's me!"


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## KLG (Jul 8, 2002)

It's a tough call. I know that they say that even women who don't have IBS sometimes get IBS -like symptoms around the time of their period so hormones can be playing a large role.As for the heartburn (I am currently pregnant right now also....21 weeks) it seems to be a normal part of pregnancy from what I have read in "What to Expect When you are Expecting" The bloating could be the start of IBS, or could be your hormones messing with your digestion.


> quote:Since heartburn meds don't work for me and gallbladder problems have been ruled out, could this be IBS?


It could be since mine was initially diagnosed as heartburn or gallbladder until they ruled that out...but pregnancy does strange things to ones body too. I notice I get weird IBS pains that I didn't experience before...they are different...I can't really even explain how it is different...almost a numbing pain...which is definitely my IBS...but not something I had before pregnancy. Also my doctor said that some women have a tough time finding a Prenatal Vitamin that agrees with them...so perhaps the vitamins are messing with your stomach also. Just something else to consider.Best of luck with the pregnancy


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## selenae25 (Apr 4, 2004)

Hello, My ibs d started when i was pregnant four years ago with my first baby. Instead of morning sickness I had d and I have had it ever since. I finally went to the doctor about it a few monthes after my daughter was born and was told I had ibs. For me it gets worse when I'm pregnant. I would also check into different prenatal vitamins, because I know some agreed with me better than others. Congrats on your new baby to be.


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