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Not sure if I have IBS

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 9/2/2015 7:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hi fellow members. Good day.

I just joined the Forum today and glad to know I'm not alone in this situation. I started having the diarrhea about a month ago. I would go 3-5 times a day, sometimes I'm fine for a day or so and then it would be back again. I have great phobia of not finding toilet in case of need, especially when flying or on the road. I would take Imodium sometimes but am afraid of getting constipated after. I'm not sure if I'm having IBS but from what I've been reading in the forum and other websites, I think it may be. I'm going to my doctor tomorrow and hopefully he can tell me what's wrong with me. I'm so fearful of travel due to this and hope to be able to stabilized my condition before my next flight in about 3 weeks.

Note also that I am experiencing pain under my diaphragm and hollow/hungry feeling after food. I have GERD and I guess that's the cause of the hollow/hunger feeling. Anyone has this problem together with IBS ? Are they somewhat linked ?? Any advice/thoughts are most appreciated. Thank you.
Posted 9/4/2015 10:00 AM (GMT 0)
Hi! I have GERD and IBS-C, so the two can absolutely occur together. It's actually fairly common to have these two conditions occur together. Is your only intestinal symptom diarrhea? Do you have abdominal pain, bloody stools, bloating, or gas? Do you ever experience constipation? Also, do you have any extraintestinal symptoms, such as fatigue, poor sleep, back pain, headaches, etc.? If you're only experiencing diarrhea and pain under your diaphragm, it may be IBS-D and GERD. GERD definitely causes that type of pain in my abdomen, as well as chest pain. Are you taking anything for the GERD, such as Nexium or Prilosec? If not, I would suggest talking to your doctor about starting one. If you're on a Proton-Pump Inhibitor (Nexium, Prilosec) and it's not helping, you may need a higher dosage or potentially an upper endoscopy. Regarding your diarrhea, make sure you're drinking plenty of water and replenishing your electrolytes with the right foods or Gatorade/powerade. I don't suffer from diarrhea, but I know people who have IBS-D and it can be uncomfortable.
Posted 9/4/2015 12:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Savvylee17. Thank you for the response. I am taking prescription Prilosec and my doctor just raised the dosage from 20mg to 40mg in hope it will ease the pain. Had to submit a stool sample for lab work today and hopefully we will know how to go about treating my issues. I do not have bloody stool but bloating/gas for sure and this horrible hollow/hunger pain most of the time, sometimes it will wake me up in the night. I have this phobia now of not being able to get to a toilet in time, like when the plane is taking off, long line for toilet etc... it is so not fun and starting to get depressing. I'm not enjoying outings and travelling. Will keep you posted of result from the doctor in due course. Thanks again and have a nice weekend.
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