# Seeking help managing IBS symptoms



## LiamMP (Mar 15, 2011)

Hi I'm Liam, I'm 21 and have been suffering from what I think is post infectious IBS for around 3 years.It started after I contracted Gastroenteritis. I spent 2 years in and out of the doctors seeking a diagnosis or some sort of help and recieved none. I then got swine flu last year which made me lose 3 st and a hefty chunk of my hair. This led to my IBS symptoms to worsen.I finally managed to get some attention from doctors, I was given an endoscopy which revealed ulcers due to h.pylori and undigested food despite fasting for hours. I was diagnosed with IBS when no other explaination seemed to fit, but was never spoken to about it. I have lost faith in my GP and his use of webMD to diagnose me.Since then I have started on taking 10mg Amitriptyline nightly and Omeprazole for the ulcers. The Amitriptyline has seemed to reduce the amount of truely "bad" days that I have but I still have daily severe abdominal pain, cramps, bloating, lack of appetite and constipation\diarreah. It is usually worse when waking and towards the end of the evening. I also get extremely anxious at random occasions and depressed on others. At 21 I don't really want to resign myself to a life of medication before exploring other routes and I really dont feel comfortable taking amitriptyline and am experiencing less than desirable mental side effects.My question is general, but I'm completely lost on what to do and have no understanding of the condition. Is there a better way to manage symptoms? Should I be looking for alternate medication? What options do I have that involve no medication?Thanks so much for any help with this.


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

Hi Liam,I'm only a few years older than you but like you I developed severe IBS after gastroenteritis 18 months ago. After almost a week of diarrhoea and vomiting I started to suffer from very bad constipation, only niggling at first until now its absolutely debilitating with nothing working (sorry feeling a bit sorry for myself) Anyway, if you still have undigested food in your stomach it could be delayed stomach emptying or gastroparesis, its common amongst diabetics but not uncommon to happen after suffering from a virus or bout of a stomach bug. To get it diagnosed you need a gastric emptying scan, where you eat a meal injected with radioactive markers (don't worry they're not harmful) and then they trace how long it takes for your stomach to digest the meal. In this condition people often lose a considerable amount of weight, nausea, feeling full very quickly after a meal and sometimes vomiting. The treatment is a low residue diet, but there are also medications available including metoclopramide and domperidone which will help your stomach empty quicker after a meal.It might not be this at all but you could always ask your doctor about it. Hope you find some relief soon! I know you are concerned about being on antidepressants, but 10 mg is really a very small dose and if it controls your symptoms and pain. However if you are concerned about the effect on your mood maybe go back to your GP and see if they can prescribe an alternative (often with antidepressants its a case of trial and error)


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## LiamMP (Mar 15, 2011)

Thanks for the reply.Damned gastroenteritis its evil. Have you managed to get yours at all under control?I think I had a similar test done when I had a CT scan, had to drink some radioactive goop and a radioactive injection.It's not so much the moods i'm put in by amitrip but the fact that if I drink I turn into a nasty tired thing. Even though I shouldn't be drinking anyway so I guess that's negligible. However, as all drugs, i'm starting to find myself having to take an extra 1-2 pills a day to keep up with the pain relief. I think the pain is the main part, I can deal with the other symptoms by laughing em off, but having to drag yourself out of bed in immense pain every morning gets tedious. Could it be worth asking for a higher than 10mg dose or look into an alternative?


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

10 mg is very low, I've heard of lots of people on IBS being on 25 mg so no harm in asking. No my gut problems aren't under control and have actually worsened over time. I had a test to determine how slow my bowel is moving and basically it isn't! I've never had to touch laxatives before this and now I'm in a pickle if I don't take them. I'm finding I need more and more over time but won't increase the dosage because it only makes you worse in the long run. Its hard this IBS melarkey!


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