Anyone have symptoms of vomiting, sweating, faintness, etc., with their IBS

Hello,

I'm new here and would like to know if anyone else has/had the same symptoms I have. Around 1992 I started using strong stimulant laxatives to go to the bathroom. I used senna, cascara, aloes, etc.  I have suffered from bad depression and anxiety most of my life and started on antidepressants in 1990. I had some trouble going before that, but not nearly the trouble after starting meds. I started the laxatives in 92 and stopped in 99. That was seven years of the strongest laxatives on a regular/three times a week basis. Then in 1994 I had my first attack of stomach pain, faintness, sweating, vomiting, etc. After that it would happen more often. Sometimes I would literally be laying in the bathtub vomiting and moving my bowels at the same time because I couldn't sit upright on the toilet without fainting. I know, it's disgusting.

Anyway, I had a sitz mark study last week that my doctor said I failed miserably. He said basically my large bowel is not working at all, and that the attacks I've described could be casued by a functional obstruction, i.e., stool acting as an obstruction.

The way it would start would be, low pains like I had to move my bowels, then I would strain to move my bowels, causing more pain, then the nausea and vomiting would start, followed by feeling faint and sweating profusely. After passing some solid stool, then it would come out like a hose. After that I would feel wiped out for a couple of days.

I got sick of my former GI doc just doing colonoscopies and sending me home in the same condition I went to him.  It has been 16 years of this, and while it doesn't happen as often as it did (my last attack was march 26th) even one attack is too much. It feels like I'm dying when it happens.

My next test will be for pelvic floor problems. I'm getting all I need done to get rid of this useless large bowel.

Anyway, I'm interested if anyone else has had a similar history.

Thanks and God bless.

Hi Shawn12, thanks for the reply . Yes, my doctor knows my whole history of laxative use and all other meds I've been on. I finished the sitz mark study last friday and the doc said I failed miserably. He said my large bowel isn't working much at all, that's why he's sending me for the pelvic floor studies. He said he wants to cover all bases before surgery.

As far as my depression and anxiety, I take Effexor 75mg 2x a day along with clonazepam 1mg 2x a day. I have tried cognitive behavioral therapy for the agoraphobia and panic, but I also suffer with OCD, and only medication seems to help with that.

My focus now is on getting my bowels working again without those terrible attacks, and it seems like surgery is the only option. The only other med I've been on since 1995 is Synthroid for hypothyroid. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2004 and had a total thyroidectomy. My Synthroid dose now is 0.175mcg a day. That dose is high enough to keep my TSH near zero, right where the doctor wants it to prevent recurrance of cancer.

Anyway, I'm glad I found this site with so many forums to consult about my various problems.

Thanks again and God bless.

When whatever is wrong with me started in earnest, I was pregnant with my 2nd child, and I had very similar issues. I would feel the need to go in a bad way, but couldn't go right away and would sit on the toilet and end up puking into the trashcan after which point, the bm would finally start. And a lot of times it was normal/hard followed by serious D. I had a few like this post pregnancy, and then now, I hardly ever have the vomiting part. But I did faint once when I was waiting in line in a public restroom b/c I couldn't get to the toilet in time. That's when I finally went to the doctor.

Hope you get it all straightened out.

Yes I have just about every symptom you have. I have had every test possible latest one was swallowing a camera that records as it passes through stomach and large bowel. I have had this problem for 30 years.

Hi Sodone, The Sitz Mark test is a simple test. You swallow a capsule filled with tiny rings that show up on X-rays. I took my capsule on a saturday and went for my first x-ray on monday, followed by another x-ray on wednesday and friday. The x-rays will show how fast these little markers are moving through your bowel, giving the doctor a good idea of how active or inactive the bowel is.

God bless.

I had a lot of them as well. Quite a few of them can be part of over active nervous systems and stressors both physical and mental. Some of this is like a domino effect. Some of these also have to do with parts of the body invovled in IBS. For example 7. Frequent urinating can be connected to mast cells that line the gut, they release histimine and that can mess with the bladder.

Hi idkwia, I had a colonoscopy last october and they said it looked ok. I'm going to be scheduled to have those rectal studies you've mentioned, and I'm not looking forward to it at all .

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it .

                           G20man