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Does this sound like IBS?

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 4/23/2008 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone :)

I've been browsing this site for a while now and from what I can see it's a friendly site where good advice is given :)

I'm 23 and have been having stomach and abdomen problems for about three years now. The symptoms are not constant and weeks or months can go by with no problems. Over time though my symptoms do seem to have changed and I'm beginning to wonder if I should have it investigated rather than tolerating it.

In 2005 I began having nausea, which occurred randomly, so that I could wake in the early morning feeling nauseous, and any time in the day. This happened until 2007 and then I began to get the nausea and pains in the abdomen too. The pains occurred mainly in the lower left quadrant but also in the lower right quadrant, stabbing pains which were annoying but not too painful.

This has now begun to occur without the nausea too, and I can't see any trigger for it. The pains are nearly always in the lower left quadrant, just above the hip bone. Last night it hurt more, it was what I thought of as feeling like a clamp had been put on, which lasted for maybe a half a minute at most and then went away, and it lasted hours. When I woke up this morning it had gone. But it did scare me and I don't know what caused it. It hurt so much I had to keep reminding myself to breathe when the pains came.

I have looked at some books on IBS but I don't really think I match the symptoms apart from the abdominal pains. My BMs are still the same as usual. I am actually worried that this may even be Crohn's since my mother had that (she's passed away) but the symptoms don't fit Crohn's either, so I'm trying this forum first :)
Posted 4/23/2008 6:41 PM (GMT 0)
I get the nausea but my pain is on the right side and also at the top of tummy where my ribs meet. I dont know if alot of other people get the nausea or not. I had a colonoscopy which confirmed mine, i really think you should do the same.
Posted 4/29/2008 1:46 AM (GMT 0)
I'm assuming you are female :) Could it be something with your ovaries? ...cysts? I get sharp pains when I'm ovulating, takes my breath away sometimes, but if your pain happens more often, that's obviously not the problem. Could be the ovaries, endometriosis?...dunno........

Posted 4/29/2008 4:57 AM (GMT 0)
I have crohns (as well as IBS) and don't ever be fooled by what's "typical of crohns" it's a very individualistic disease and researchers have discovered that if one parent has IBD (either crohns or ulcerative colitis) their offspring has a 10- to 15- fold increased risk of also developing IBD compared with those who do not have a parent with IBD.

Get a colonoscopy and a small bowel follow through...especially since your mom had crohns.

For the record, my crohns started in the anus with perianal crohn's skin tags, I had normal bowel movements and behaviour for a long time (through my whole life) until my early 20's when CD attacked me internally after the skin tags got severely out of control.

Get checked, they say CD commonly starts in the small bowel and can move up or down the GI tract as it can affect the entire GI tract from mouth to anus, mine started in the anus and move upwards all the way to my small bowel.

:)
Posted 4/30/2008 6:21 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone, thanks for your replies.

Really I know I should go to the doctor and have tests but to be honest I am scared of what they might say. Especially if they run all the tests and find nothing is wrong! And the symptoms are so transient, when they're not here it's hard to remember them and so easy to just let them go by, that's why all my odd twinges have been happening for a few years now. When I wrote my first post I was scared because it was hurting so much, but since then I've been fine and so it is hard convincing myself I should do anything about it.

Would the doctor think it necessary to do tests if I describe my symptoms?

And Kim123... yes I am female. I have also considered that it might be a female problem, but isn't the pain too far over since it happens above the hip bone? I don't know. I have sometimes wondered if it could just be gas. Or maybe diverticulosis. I have quite a list of things it could be, lolol. It is true that the only way I can find out is to tell my doctor, but it's harder to get up the courage sad
Posted 4/30/2008 7:30 PM (GMT 0)
I think you should keep a diary of when the pain was there, what you ate,drank,etc for a week or two and see if you can pinpoint it. You would know if it was gas, I think, because the gas would come out when you go to bathroom. Because of the location I think I would go to a gynocologist and make sure that everything checks out there. I dont know if you go on a regular yearly basis for Pap smears,etc. They can check out ovaries,etc. There are so many intestinal diseases and syndromes that it is very hard to define without further testing. IBS is usually diagnosed when not physical reason is found for the problem as it is a functional problem. You should be happy if they run the tests and find nothing wrong, there are worse things than IBS. It also sounds to me like you might have diverticulosis since it comes and goes and therefore need to watch what you eat which is where the diary comes in.
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