How to deal with the body pain when suffering with IBS-D?

I am new to the forum, but have been an IBS sufferer for years. It seems to be getting worse, and I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. Like all of you, I run to the bathroom, even when there is nothing else to come out....the feelings of spasms, pushing when there is nothing to push, crying for God to please make it stop, if only for a little while. I am on all of the normal meds......the powder, the donnatol, the bentyl, the clidinium, among many others...iron pills, etc. To many to list.


Here is my question for all of the other sufferers....after a day of havoc on my body with the straining, the spasms, the pushing, the crying and pleading..my body hurts, and it hurts all over. It feels like I can't even walk most of the time, the horrendous pain in my lower back, through my buttocks area and down my upper legs. I feel like I am 80 years old and should be using a walker...and I'm only 35. I suffered a serious bout of going to the bathroom yesterday 11 times, I rarely eat so there wasn't much to come out, I actually only got anything out the first 2 times and after that it was just the urgency to go, the spasms..the praying and pleading and crying to make it stop. The other 9 trips to the bathroom resulted in nothing really coming out although my body wouldn't realize I had nothing else in me which causes my body some serious side effects.

Can anyone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (i'm begging here...literally begging...I would be on my knee's but I don't think i would have the strength to get back up) give me some advice on how to deal with the general weakness and pain after having diarrhea episodes.

Does anyone else suffer from the entire body aches and pains associated with diarrhea episodes and how do you cope with it? I seriously feel like I just ran a marathon yesterday...and all I did was sit in my bathroom.

Today I can hardly walk, my legs ache and throb and are weak, my buttocks area feels like someone shoved a knife in my intestines all day long and just twisted the knife around, my lower back is aching and throbbing, my body is stiff beyond compare.

After a severe bout of D, I don't feel well. I compare it to how I used to feel after an intestinal virus hit me, before all of this IBS started (before my rectal cancer, colon resection, etc.). You are depleted! Utterly without nutrients that left your body - explosively at times! No wonder you are in this much discomfort. I tend to ache all over and I'm raw down below too (inside and out). Sometimes I do a sitz bath, just to feel clean again but I will say when I do these and I'm already not feeling well, I get chills when I first sit down into this warm and soothing water, so I make sure I am dressed warmly (even if it's summer).

I personally just do the things that make me feel better:

Comfy sweats with stretchy waistband (skip pants with zippers, too confining and also something you don't need to hassle with when you are running to the bathroom so much!), long sleeved T and possibly a cotton sweater. Wool sweater in winter.

Warm sox and my down slippers.

Sitz or tub bath.

Sip hot tea.

Club Crackers (I can't recommend these enough, sometimes just sucking on them to absorb all the salt tastes so good and I know I'm low on salt anyway......). They're better than regular saltines!

Heating pad.

Ibuprophen or your favorite pain reliever

Your favorite TV program (reruns come to mind), movie (something you've watched numerous times, one of my favorite silly movies is Planes, Trains & Automobiles or Airplane!). A book might work.

Pet - in my case, my Golden Retriever. She climbs on top of me when I'm ill, in our water bed. Oh forgot one....

Your favorite bed/couch/chair - in my case, our waterbed (yeah, I know, it's my husband's old post-college, 80s purchase but we LOVE it! So warm, so soothing, you sink into it.

These are the things I find comforting. I make sure I have them on hand (the tea, crackers, the dog, well she's always at my feet anyway...LOL).

I sincerely hope you feel better. And the other thing I do is once it's over, I begin to eat well again. Replacing what I've lost.

Mary/Marsky

i take a pain pill as soon as i have to hit the bathroom and the cramping starts and i also cry out to God to relieve this pain and call my husband on my cell phone even though he's in the next room and have him start praying. i also put on loose clothing and lay down on my featherbed between trips to the potty but the pain pill eventually will take the edge off even though it doesn't take the pain away completely. i don't get the leg or back pain but i do get the rest and couldn't live without my percocet on those days. i make sure i am in the bathroom fartherest away from my children so they won't hear my crying. If you don't have a rx for pain pills i think i would have to take a stiff drink to knock the edge off the pain because at that point i am at atleast a 9 or 9.5 out of 10 on the pain scale! it would be great if i could get drink tea or take a tylenol but i learned a long time ago that only works with the minor pains. Good luck!

Started reading this topic and thought I'd reply but then I noticed I did reply in 2008! All of what I suggested still applies. Got a little sad reading my reply though, our sweet Golden Retriever passed away in 2010. We have a new dog who is very sweet, my couch buddy.

Feel better anyone dealing with aches and pains after a bout of D. I find that drinking water while going thru D helps me in the long run, I am not as dehydrated that way.

I also swear by Sudafed D 12 hour, I take one each morning and it does help reduce bowel contractions, it's the medication doctors used to prescribe before they invented Immodium. I wasn't aware of this fact back in 2008 when I first replied on this topic.

because they stopped posting and so their total count is still in the "new member" category.

psyillum does nothing for me except aggravate me that it doesn't work for me.

On the good side every1's biochemistry is different so it may as well work for you. just drink lot's of water and uncarbonated fluids. Water is your friend!...