A very mumsnet question- apologies

monquixote

ThorpyFX said:

SO, 18 hour days and broken sleep are bad for me? 

Absolutely 

When I was doing my university finals I was in so much gut pain I thought I must be about to drop dead, but it turned out to be the consequence of stress + no sleep for several months. I wouldn't believe the docs when they said it was stress related.

thumpingrug

Yes,  had it since I was a teenager, so well over 30 years.  I put it down to a whole series of stressors that never really got resolved and suspect that its now become ingrained.  Seen various Docs over the years who have tried various things.  Drugs (loperamide and codeine) seem to be the only thing that provides some temporary safeguards.  I can manage some of the symptoms by significantly reducing my food intake and eating low residue food, but man cannot live by egg and cheese alone (well not this one, i like bread too much) so its again a temporary fix.

thumpingrug

And no YANBU.

octatonic

thumpingrug said:

And no YANBU.

Yes, I wouldn't go to Saudi Arabia given the current political climate.

ESBlonde

Got diagnosed during high school years. Had 15 or 20 years quite bad but discovered eating habits was the key. Sometimes keeping my stomach full helped. Other times reducing certain types of food helped. Stress can still bring it on, strangly as the cause of stress dissappear's is quite common for me. For general health I eat better nowadays but the quality of life as I've matured makes it less of a problem most of the time. It's been years since I lay curled in a ball in agony fortunately.
Sympathy for those that suffer. Like @hootsmon I too have AS and all the associated symptoms.

Moe_Zambeek

IBS basically means 'we don't know what's wrong with you, but we know it's not any of the known bowel / digestive tract diseases' - it's diagnosed by eliminating everything else. As such it's entirely possible everyone will have different experiences with it. For me, what woks is Mebeverine before eating, if it's something likely to cause issues or it's an unusual or stressful situation. Stops or eases the cramping. 

In my case certain foods don't agree with me - pepper sauces, creamy sauces in general especially Italian, Nando's spicy sauce etc. and some ingredients in processed foods I haven't nailed down yet. Then there is the psychological part, once you've had a few close calls while out and about it adds stress to the situation and stress has a similar effect on your bowels...makes things worse. It can be self-fulfilling. 

Teetonetal

Given that you have your own business, it could well be related to over work and stress combo. I had a flatmate who always got it around exams, she got really nervous, stressed and overworked each time and on came IBS, it was that way for her all through A levels then through Uni.

Otherwise, try to eat and sleep well.

Nitefly

I used to work for a company called IBS. Imagine the fun customers had.  LOL.

(Mind you, they were Swedish, so probably didn't know any better.)

bbill335

I've had Ulcerative Colitis for years. Not IBS but IBD, but I had good results from cutting out gluten, alcohol and lactose for a year. After that year, I got worse and they took out my colon so read into all this what you will!

TheMarlin

Consider a high fat low carb diet.  Works wonders for IBS sufferes

Philly_Q

TheMarlin said:

Consider a high fat low carb diet.  Works wonders for IBS sufferes

I was going to say something similar.  I had IBS symptoms for years but when I changed to a low carb diet after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the IBS pretty much vanished.

I still feel bloated sometimes and have a feeling of "urgency" for the toilet (hmm, thanks for sharing that Phil), but I put that down to all the veg I eat.  I don't get the churny feeling or weird noises in my guts - which were often quite embarrasingly loud, especially somewhere quiet like a cinema - any more.

strtdv

@ThorpyFX is this a relatively new thing?
If you're in your 50's and you get a new change in bowel habit lasting more than 6 weeks, go see your GP.

IBS isn't a diagnosis of exclusion, it has very clear criteria, but there are a couple of things that should be checked first (including to make sure you're not coeliac).

olafgarten

My mum has IBS, compounded with a long list of allergies to things like gluten and dairy,  it's makes it difficult to find things to eat. She usually doesn't eat after 6 and that helps,  cutting carbs also improved the situation. It is still an issue but less than it was before. 

Sambostar

Not sure. Beer, acid, Mushrooms, I like to cut instantly to the part where we are spirits but it never works ultimately for me as I can still shit through a straw in the morning,  Think it's the white mans's curse, like the malaria beating sickle cell is for the black man.  Nobody's perfect.

Blaendulais

Get the inside of your colon looked at before even contemplating you have IBS and adopting advice regarding treatments.  

Do not let your GP fob you off as not needing a colonoscopy. 

Over the years too many young people have had serious conditions missed.  I don't mean to scare you as the odds are its IBS but make sure.

PM me if you have medical questions @ThorpyFX ;

Best wishes

ThorpyFX

strtdv said:

@ThorpyFX is this a relatively new thing?
If you're in your 50's and you get a new change in bowel habit lasting more than 6 weeks, go see your GP.

IBS isn't a diagnosis of exclusion, it has very clear criteria, but there are a couple of things that should be checked first (including to make sure you're not coeliac).

I'm 35, This has been going on for three weeks now, but I had also developed a negative reaction spicy food in the last 12 months where previously i was good. 

oaf

Blaendulais said:

Over the years too many young people have had serious conditions missed.  I don't mean to scare you as the odds are its IBS but make sure.

Definitely this.

My non-smoker, non-(alcohol-)drinking wife was diagnosed with a bowel tumour at 40 and had to have it removed in an emergency operation as the GP(s) had been absolutely useless and tried to fob her off despite many visits to them, her being unable to work, eat properly, etc. She was determined to deal with it/the GPs herself but it was only when I hassled the GP and demanded that he send her to the local hospital there and then that within 24 hours it was diagnosed and dealt with. It was a very, very stressful time but she is now fine. You can imagine his face a couple of weeks later when I pointed out what they'd missed - even on the day she went to hospital it was obvious that he thought it was nothing (yet the first thing the hospital did was dose her up on morphine because of her pain score...)

The point being you're highly unlikely to have e.g. a tumour but if you do have something serious you REALLY want it sorting out ASAP.

strtdv

The above advice is wrong. Colonoscopy is unnecessary in the majority of cases in your age group. It's not your GP "fobbing you off", it's them not sending you for an unnecessary procedure which has a 1 in 800 chance of perforating your colon.

A 35 year old male needs a decent history taken, a physical examination and a couple of blood tests unless there are particular alarm symptoms. As I've said, IBS isn't a diagnosis of exclusion, it has clear diagnostic criteria.

If your symptoms or the blood tests suggest something other than IBS then it's reasonable to have a look at your colon but to go straight in with a scope would be unwise and unnecessary.

Chalky

Colonoscopy first. If all good, then you are into food experiments. Family and friends get it as well as me and we all have different evidence of what brings it on, controls it, reduces it.

Its far too easy to say that stress causes it, and plenty of contradictory evidence, e.g. someone I know left a job he loathed and got a higher paid, working from home job that he loves. His IBS kicks in. So immediately the amateur psychology starts - he must be stressed by the new job, he must be stressed by working from home, he must be stressed by the bigger salary, etc.  Another one found their IBS kicked in on a lovely weekend away in the Lake District doing lots of walking that they love.  Is that stress? My point is that saying the cause is stress is just unhelpful.

Experiment with different foods to see what works for you. My son has cut out dairy stuff. I find dairy makes no difference to me.  Friends cut out potatoes and like rice. I have no problem with potato but rice seems to make mine worse.  You need to find what works for your particular gut bacteria and genetic makeup

Gassage

Adrian, are you sure it's IBS?

I thought I had it for years- it was heliobatactor pilori though- and that's easy to rid yourself of.