# Nothing seems to work



## GameFreac (Sep 30, 2013)

I guess I have IBS-A or IBS-M: Alternating, or mixed, between constipation and diarrhea.

I usually feel like when I go, I usually never finish and just stop because it's been awhile or I don't have time (and even if I do, I feel like I'm not emptying completely). After, I feel a burning sensation in my urinary tract and have to urinate frequently afterwards and it won't stop burning for at least an hour or longer.

Then some days I have diarrhea but not often. It's mostly just soft. Then the next day I'll be constipated and go 3-4 times in a day and still feel like I'm not emptying. Then the next day I'll be fine. It's so random.

I've been taking probiotics for a year (Align and other comparable ones), eat fiber one bars (35%), have tried gummies, capsules, powders, and recently started taking magnesium but that doesn't seem to help either.

Getting sick of this. Any advice?


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## piyykcir (Aug 3, 2013)

I know this might sound very offensive but it's very important.

Are you diagnosed with IBS or is this something u just feel like you have? (Sorry but alot of people always go directly to IBS and have not actually been diganosed with it. There are a ton of other things that could cause those symptoms)

What are your symptoms other than just constipation and diarrhea? How's your diet? What is your probiotic blend/brand? And what other natural medicine are you taking other than probiotic? any prescribed mediciation as well?


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## GameFreac (Sep 30, 2013)

Yes I was diagnosed a year ago

My symptoms are mainly what I posted above (not feeling like I'm going all the way and the burning feeling in my penis/urinary tract).

My diet is bad but when I was eating healthy for 3-4 months, the problem never really got better.

Align and the generic Align.

No other medicines and no other prescriptions.


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## piyykcir (Aug 3, 2013)

You might want to change Align to something else, It does contain milk which is one of the few things you should try to avoid, also with things like gluten as well.

You could increase the probitoic count to around 5-10 billion. 1 billion is actually pretty low. You can look at this for more help on the right strains of probiotics that might help you. http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/features/best-probiotics-use. I had H-pylori so I took high count of 6 billion for bifidobactirum long and infint.

I have no idea what kinda testings you've one, AND i'm NOT A DOCTOR, I have no medical background above a first responder but I've been spending the last 5 years of my life constantly fighting and learning different things.

i'm positive u must have had a colonoscapy before, if not you should think of getting one.

Along with the burning, since ur saying it burns after going so much, it's pretty normal (over use), But the fact your urninating so much you should really go get an extensive blood work. Checking all your "lites" so Mg, na, Ph, K, ferritin .etc .etc cause your body is obviously urinating a lot to release a lot of toxins from your body. It could even be something with the functionality of your kidney's as well.

I understand if your in the states and can't afford most of this or if you have to pay for your health care, but if you don't try everything, there's no way to find out how to help.

Consult with your medical doctor about these things (other than the probiotic cause odds are they won't agree with it) and see if he thinks it's a necessary step to help you.


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## GameFreac (Sep 30, 2013)

Wow I had no clue different probiotics had different counts. Align only has 5 billion and the one I bought today has 30 billion (Ultimate Flora). We'll see if it makes a difference. Thanks.

I've had a sigmoidoscopy and everything came back normal.

Yeah exactly...too expensive to just do everything but I will go to the doctor again - probably for IBS and urologist.


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## rmiller1985 (Sep 13, 2011)

Hi GameFreac,

Different probiotics definitely have different CFU counts, there are some with less than a billion and some with hundreds of billions.

It's also important to know which strains are contained, as well as what the inactive ingredients are. It's believed by some that bifidus strains tend to overgrow in people with gut dysfunction. Florastor is a brand of a probiotic yeast (saccharomyces boulardii) which many find beneficial when fighting diarrhea, but it also contains lactose, which can trigger diarrhea in some.

So there's definitely a lot to learn as you research probiotics!

Cheers,

Rich


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## Shade711 (Oct 4, 2013)

The urinary symptom is not related to IBS, so I would start with investigating that first. It may have nothing(or a lot) to do with your IBS symptoms, and until you know for sure it's going to be hard to come up with a game plan.


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