HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

scared, in great discomfort, confused.... is this IBS?

Support Forums
>
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
✚ New Topic locked
1 23
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 11/9/2005 6:34 AM (GMT 0)
Hey spengler,

I was just reading through the forum topic and i am also an IBS diagnosed individual. I have alternating C and D. Is the pressure still there? That sounds unbarable. I know the feeling, im a 19 year old student and its rough having to go to class and school and have this as a burden. With any luck hopefully the symptoms with subside for a bit for you. We are all here for you..... :-)

-IBSdiagnosed

 

Posted 11/9/2005 1:12 PM (GMT 0)
yeah, symptoms are still there, just as bad.

I WANT to see a GI person, not a frickin shrink. I know all about mental health, I've seen enough shrinks over the years. The person I got sent to told me "I don't know much about IBS except that it can be related to anxiety". GRRRRR.

I don't know how much longer it's going to be before I simply can't get out of bed, face the toilet and go to work.  At the very least I've usually been pretty regular, but I'm pushing out tiny amounts and I feel awful.  The anxiety probably turns up the volume on the already considerable discomfort by a good 200%.

Posted 11/9/2005 1:19 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry that you are feeling just as bad. I really had confidence that the med would work. You say you want to see a GI, why haven't you? Is it issues with your insurance? If you need a referral from you PCP and they won't give it to you then I would suggest contacting your insurance and letting them know that. Tell them about your symptoms and that you need answers. I'm sorry, please keep pushing though. You need to find some relief. Keep us updated.
Posted 11/9/2005 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
I'm very very scared now because I spoke to another male roughly my age in my area who has the exact same symptoms with a similar onset date, but a few months earlier. He echoed the sentiment that this is in the "somewhat manageable" catergory for most of the day, but then the late afternoon / night becomes almost unbearable.

I'm terrified that I've stepped into something that's not going to go away, somehow. I know it sounds dramatic, but I feel like my life as I knew it is gone and it's only a matter of time before I just give up.

I'm going to see my PCP again monday and demand a referral to a GI, preferably someone with IBS experience.

I know at this point that the anxiety is, if not creating the problem, probably making it much worse, but I don't know what to do about it, I'm already on Klonopin. All I want is the life I had 2 months ago back! And I didn't DO anything in between to cause this problem.

I'm going to start drinking an applejuice/kuzu mixture tonight at the advice of my aunt, but I've gotten really, really pessimistic about everything.

I'll admit that I have anxiety issues that have bothered me for a long time that I've never dealt with, but I don't really believe that could cause my digestive system to suddenly stop working completely.  I feel like I got infected with a parasite or something.

Posted 11/9/2005 6:31 PM (GMT 0)
I am so sorry that you are going through such a frustrating time... anxiety does not make it any better. I really hope you get the answers and relief that you need. Please keep posting and keep us updated with everything going on with your progress.
Posted 11/9/2005 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
my aunt sent me some kuzu starch and advised that i mix 1 tbsp with a cup of apple juice, heat to a thick consistantcy, let cool and drink, 2x a day. going to start that today. I feel very constipated now, which may be a result of taking 10mg of bentyl twice in the past 24 hours. I know someone who's going through almost exactly the same thing who reccomended a diet of kashi cereal, soups and Colace. I bought some colace, but I haven't taken any yet, does anyone have any experience? I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to dump that into my stomach on top of the bentyl. I'm going to drink some kuzu tonight. I have friday off from work, so if I can just get through tomorrow, IF the kuzu helps at all, hopefully by monday when I see my PCP again, I'll be feeling a little better.
Posted 11/9/2005 11:07 PM (GMT 0)
also, if i still feel so "gummed up" inside tomorrow, would it be a bad idea to drink some milk of magnesia to make whatever's in me drop through? Is this likely to make me feel worse?
Posted 11/10/2005 12:21 AM (GMT 0)
spengler i dont hav aol just msn. my emial is [email protected]

Posted 11/10/2005 12:55 AM (GMT 0)
I would call your doctor but I suspect that if your constipated he will tell you to hold off on the bentyl. I don't know about kuzu so I can't really tell you anything about that. I get part of my fiber from frosted mini wheats (maple & brown sugar YUM) and I have one bowl in the morning and one bowl at night. That is supposed to give me 40% of my RDV of fiber. If you are just starting fiber, you may want to take it slow as it can cause gas and bloating until your body adjusts to it. I'm not sure about the MOM, but a mild stool softener might help you.
Posted 11/10/2005 2:31 PM (GMT 0)
Let me warn you that applejuice makes just about everyone with IBS worse, namely because it produces painful gas cramps. It is known to make diarrhea worse--I don't know if it has a laxative effect or just compounds an existing problem--so it might help your constipation, but I would stop it if you notice worse cramping than before.

If it bothers you, try switching to plain, old-fashioned prune juice with nothing mixed in it. I don't know whether it will cause you gas cramps or not, but it's been a stand-by for people for ages. Aloe vera juice/pills are another alternative.

Whatever you try, try it in small amounts until you see how you are going to react to it. Better to drink a small bit of something and have a small amount of cramps than to have a large dose of something and a large amount of cramps. Personally, I react weirdly to stuff; acidophillus pills gave me gas and a lose-dose fiber pill tore me up. People with IBS just don't react the same to stuff as normal people, so if someone recommends something and it makes you worse, it's not that their advice was wrong, it's just that your guts can't handle it for reasons known only to God. So you just try something else and soldier on.
Posted 11/10/2005 3:26 PM (GMT 0)
couldn't get prune juice on the way in, so I'm drinking cranberry juice. I'll get some prune juice at lunch.

my pattern seems to be, feel slightly okay in the morning, progressive more gummed up all day, worst at night. what's odd about this is that I felt horrible when I went to sleep last night, and feel slightly better now despite having passed almost no stool.

Is this typical?
Posted 11/10/2005 5:19 PM (GMT 0)

Spengler, have you been keeping a food diary?  It seems like the foods you are eating at the moment are extremely low-fiber and this may be partly causing your constipation.  The prune juice is a good idea; but also lots of vegetables and high-fiber cereals like Dbab mentioned.  You have to keep a meticulous food/symptoms/medications diary if you want honest-to-goodness help from your doc.  Every single thing that goes into your mouth and comes out the other end needs to be recorded!

I can't really help with the constipation end of things; I go 5-20 times a day.  We all have our burdens to bear!  I can sympathize with the frustration you feel.  If you do see a GI, they'll probably want to scope you.  They are extremely scope-happy. 

Regarding the anxiety: you definitely seem overwhelmed by this and that is no way to live, as you've insinuated.  The mind-gut connection is intricate.  It's rare that anyone would have stomach problems completely independent of anything that's going on in the brain.  You've mentioned this excessive anxiety.  You might resent this comment, but have you thought about looking for another counselor?  Evidently you've been to see many of them; what about this person who is prescribing your anti-anxiety med?  Is someone following you for that?  How long have you been taking that med?  Have you noticed it making a difference in your anxiety, or contributing to your bowel issues at all?

There's lots of questions, and your doctor should be asking a lot of them.

Posted 11/10/2005 5:34 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on Klonopin 5 years, although I had been gradually scaling it back around the time this all startred. i suppose that's a possable link, though since this all started i've been back up to my full dose and i'm still in a living hell

obviouslly stressing about this is making it worse at this point (hell, i can't even get through a 9 hour shift at work without posting on here 3 times), but I don't know what to do about it. My aunt sent me some Kuzu starch to make a pudding type thing with, and i'm going to start doing a little meditate/stretch/execise routine every morning, but i'm really at a loss, this is, really, really, destroying my life.

sorry to be so dramatic, i know there are people out there with colon cancer, but if i don't enjoy any of the things i used to enjoy, what's there to live for?  confused

Posted 11/10/2005 6:22 PM (GMT 0)

Having a medical problem after going scot-free for years is always a hurdle to jump over.  But you can't let it ruin you.  Many, many people struggle every day to live it as "normally" as possible.  Most people on this board, even!  Give yourself a little time to adjust.  You're seeing your doc again on Monday and he may have some more answers for you, or send you to a GI.  Diagnosing a stomach/intestinal/rectal condition can take time and you need to allow that, as frustrating as it is.  While you're waiting, make sure you're doing something every day that makes you happy.  What makes you happy?  Little things.  Not Big Life Things, but little things.  For me, when I'm feeling crappy, I like to rent ridiculously funny movies, get some beer for my friends and invite them over to hang out.  Or read a good book.  Call up my long-lost college buddies.  I'd like to focus on Big Life Things, like studying for my medical school entrance exam, and on the days I feel good I'll do those things.  But I allow myself some down time when I'm not feeling up to par.

Patience, patience, patience.  That's what it takes for all of us.  You'll get through this, I promise!

Posted 11/10/2005 10:27 PM (GMT 0)
well, i may feel a little better psychologically

I was a real mess this morning, because I couldn't move anything at all when I first woke up (which is a time I can usually move SOMETHING). Fortunatly, I was able to make a small, skinny movement, and that was enough of a boost to get me to drag my butt to work.
For breakfast, I had an apple and a very small bowl of kashi cereal.
I drank a 16oz of cranberry juice when I got in, and then at 1:00 I went and got some soup and a thing of prune juice. I went to the bathroom at the grocery store, and had a movement that was somewhat normal - normal length and consistancy, but a bit skinny, and greenish. I drank about 8 oz of prune juice, and took the soup back to work with me. about halfway through the soup, I felt a huge urge to go. I had dierhhea for a while, but it was almost a good feeling, because there was (please excuse my explicitness, if anyone is grossed out by this I can tone it down) a good amount of solid material mixed in with a lot of liquid.

I still sort of feel like I have to go, but part of me thinks that I'm just being hypervigilant about how my sphincter feels (I've had problems with anxiety/hypervigilance in the past), since I'm quite confident I totally dumped the contents of my guts. I'm still a little alarmed that I haven't been able to form a normal-diameter stool in a good 2 weeks, but I don't know what I can do about it.

When I get home I plan to have some more kuzu/apple juice pudding, and some rice, and that's it.

I really hope I can stop focusing on how my butt feels long enough tonight to spend some actual quality time with my gf (as opposed to the frantic "holding her and crying" that I've been doing lately), but to some extent that's out of my hands.

I do, however, also feel a bit gassy. I don't want to drink mylanta, and I'm unsure if it really affects me well; does anyone have any other suggestions? I think tomorrow for breakfast I'll have a small bowl of Kashi, 4 oz of prune juice, and go from there.

Sarita: I've been in and out of therapy since I was 14; I've just started again this week, in fact (my PCP referred me to a shrink BEFORE he'd refer me to a GI, which annoyed me a bit, but I'll see him again on monday and demand a GI referral).
Posted 11/10/2005 10:45 PM (GMT 0)
hey,
i understand how you are feeling, my brain is having a hard time accepting ibs, i still see it as hopeless.
but i know it is not... i am just going through a rough bout of it right now, but i know it will get better and i will manage my days, and then get into a routine and be able to tackle the bad days... and you will too.
i think you do need to see a specialist, everyone has given you excellent advice...

exercise is a great idea, get all those endorphins going! i run and do yoga, helps me...

prunes are excellent, and so are funny movies. get that girlfriend of yours and do something fun...laughter is fantastic for digestion... (ok, i make stuff up...)
anyway, things will get better, we all care about you!!!
--bunny
Posted 11/11/2005 5:24 PM (GMT 0)
Try some Gas-X or Beano or something in that family to help with your gas. They won't taste bad like MoM.
Posted 11/11/2005 5:37 PM (GMT 0)
Gas-X gives me yummy peppermint burps. :-)
Beano isn't as "fun" but works just as well (as long as it is taken BEFORE a meal).
Posted 11/11/2005 6:06 PM (GMT 0)
at this point my only symptom is a dull pain/discomfort the feels like it's under my rectum/spine base

i'm not convinced this is IBS, but i am convicned that it's maddening
Posted 11/12/2005 7:49 PM (GMT 0)
well i saw my regular doc from years of old today

he's put me on miralax, to try to get me to have 1 regular movement a day, and says if that doesn't resolve the tenesmus, we can look at other options

he also wants me to have an MRI of my pevlic region because he thinks my nerve functioning in my feet is a little hyperactive and suspects a possable disc problem compounding evrything else

:(
Posted 11/12/2005 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
Spengler, I'm glad you got the mirilax. Hopefully that will help things and put you in a better situation with all this. Please let us know if it works.
Good luck with the MRI.... think positive!
Posted 11/12/2005 8:49 PM (GMT 0)
given my history with back pain, and that I'm 6'2" and 140lbs, i wouldn't be surprised if my lower discs are a little messed up. I'm built like a tall bird. Part of me has been wondering if a disc could be putting pressure on one of my sacral nerves and feeding into all this, but I won't know until I get the MRI, and who knows how long that will take. So I'm really, really hoping that within a week or so the miralax helps me feel like I don't have to go all the time, and that the celexa helps my anxiety as much as it did last time I was on it.

This has been really rough. Not just on me, but on my family and girlfriend. The next week is gonna be a test, of sorts; 3 days of regular work and then 2 days of travel. I hope I'm not super-fixated on all this the whole time :-/

amyone else ever use miralax?
Posted 11/12/2005 11:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hi spengler,
I used Miralax until just recently. It worked great for me since I couldn't tolerate Zelnorm. The Miralax combined with a high fiber diet helped me stay regular and have less pain. I did have a bit of gas when I first began taking it but that subsided. I think my body is going back to the big D again so my doctor had me go off of the Miralax but I still believe in that stuff and I would recommend it to anyone with IBS-C.
Posted 11/13/2005 12:47 AM (GMT 0)
I sort of switch from C to D, but I'm trying to get regular, because my doc thinks what I need is to have one regular movement a day, and get a pelvic MRI to look at my discs.

The diet I'm thinking of (this comes from my aunt who had ulcerative colitis and a host of other stomach problems for a long time) is
breakfast - kuzu, yogurt, maybe some white bread
Lunch - vegetable and / or chicken soup, maybe some corn chips
dinner - rice dishes, maybe some white bread, kuzu before dinner

does that sound reasonable and good? and where/when is it best to take miralax, at the beginning of the day or the end of the night?
Posted 11/13/2005 1:05 AM (GMT 0)
I would say that the diet sounds pretty good. The starches might stop you up a bit... you may want to try brown rice and whole wheat bread. Is the kuzu the starch you mentioned? I eat two bowls of fiber rich cereal a day also and I think it really helps. When I took it, I would take my Miralax in the morning. It doesn't have an effect like the stimulant laxatives as it won't make you go within a certain time frame so anytime I would think would be okay. I just took it in the mornings because that is what my doctor suggested. You can put it in anything. I would usually put it in a glass of gatorade, some actually put it in their coffee too but I never have.
✚ New Topic locked
123