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I believe I have IBS... Maybe???

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 8/11/2006 9:39 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all...

As the subject says, I believe I have IBS.

All of this started when I was in my early 20's (Im 34 now...). Unbearable pain in my abdomen causing me to go to the hospital. I have had my upper and lower GI looked at (colonoscopy and the other one-cant remember the name).

My doctor at Kaiser (years ago) said I had IBS. I was like "what the heck is that?" I ignored it of course.

I thought "I need to stop eating McDonalds". Then I said the same thing about KFC. And Popeyes. And Wendys. Then I started paying attention.

Whenever I eat something, 15-30 minutes later I have to go. And IT HURTS LIKE HELL until I go. Sometimes it doesnt hurt, I just have an URGENT need to go. It feels like Imma poop all in my pants if I dont go NOW. Well, not right now... :)

I recently took a trip to Seattle for IT training (Im an IT specialist with the Federal Government). While I was there, I started having bowel issues. I quickly popped 2 Imodiums. That stopped it. Actually, it stopped EVERYTHING. For DAYS! I had to take that red nasty stuff (cant remember the name, I just remember I had to take it before my colonoscopy years ago) to get things moving again. Constipation SUCKS (well.. STUCKS!!... Bad joke, I know...)!!!

Ok. Feeling my guts bubble and HEARING it bubble is not comfortable. Diarrhea almost every other day it not comfortable. Neither is looking down and seeing GREEN. Recently, I took an Imodium and I GOT CONSTIPATED AGAIN. I took EX-LAX this time. It was a lot more "gentle" then that red stuff. I will never take the red stuff again. Now Im semi-normal but of course, Im bubbling again. Its stressing me out, and I think the stressing is maiking it WORSE. After reading some of this forum, THANK GOD I DONT HAVE BLOOD IN MY STOOL!!!

Im almost afraid to eat now. I dont know what I can or cant eat. Im impatiently waiting for my doctors appointment. What do I do?

Please help!!!

Posted 8/11/2006 9:45 PM (GMT 0)
I forgot to mention... Im diabetic ALSO! Sucks...
Posted 8/11/2006 9:54 PM (GMT 0)

I feel your pain. Almost literally, those seem to be pretty close to my symptoms. Since I was a kid I used to eat and then have to go to the bathroom, luckily for me it was all normal back then.

I've always had a loud gut, I mean really loud. I remember I was taking the SAT and during a break the girl sitting behind me found me and asked if I was alright. Back then, it was just the noise more than anything else.

Stressing does make it worse. I'm in the newspaper business and stress is a killer on the guts.

I was good for about two years and then I started percolating again. I assumed it was my UC flaring and went for a colonoscopy that came back clear. My doctor thinks I have a touch of IBS. I meet with him on Monday for the first time after the colonoscopy to see what the heck is going on. They also set me up with a nutrionist who put me on a reintroduction diet.

It's my understanding that people unfortunate enough to have this God forsaken disease have a hard time digesting fatty foods. Also try to avoid anything with oils and fried food. Heating oil past a certain point does things to it's make up and it affects the body in strange ways.

Basically I was on a very limited diet of fish, rice, peas and chicken. Rice is very binding. The nutrionist told me the problem is you have to rest your guts, but you also have to eat, so you have to  eat foods that will help rest your gut.

Good luck, I feel your pain.

Posted 8/11/2006 10:00 PM (GMT 0)
Imodiums constipate me easily too. Try 1/2 of a pill the next time; if you still have diarrhea after 30 minutes, then take the other half. Otherwise 1/2 is all you need. The other thing you can try--and what I prefer to use instead of imodium--is Pepto Bismol pills. These have never constipated me. I take two and then take additional doses every 30 minutes until the diarrhea has stopped.

Green can be a sign of excess bile in your stool as bile appears either green or yellow (of course green foods, like peas, can also color your stools). Does it burn when you have a green stool? That's a good indicator that it's bile, not food, coloring your stools. If so, there are meds out there to treat excess bile. But you will first want to see a G.I. and make sure that it's not your gall bladder acting up. That can cause you a lot of pain--namely on the right side, along your diaphram and/or up into your right arm. But some people with IBS just have too much bile and still have a good gall bladder. I have too much bile also, but mine's because I've had my gall bladder taken out. I take prescription Welchol and that stops my diarrhea and the burning, yellow stools.

The other thing that a lot of us IBS-Ders have had success with is Caltrate 600 w/vitamin D--calcium supplements. This particular brand has a constipating effect on normal people--which is exactly what people with D are looking for! Start out with one a day and if you are still having loose stools, take two.
Posted 8/12/2006 9:02 AM (GMT 0)

Hey...

Thanks for the responses!

You asked if I have burning when I have green bowels? Not that I can remember. What I did experience was extreme weakness and fatigue after I had a green bowel. Is that normal for IBS? It wiped me out so much that I almost fell asleep on the toilet at work! Unfortunately, sleeping on the job will get you TERMINATED! I dont know how I would explain that one to the fiancee!

I will try 1/2 Imodium next time. Caltrate... Is that presciption only? Heck, Ive never seen Pepto Bismol pills.

Oh... Question... Is incomplete digestion a normal sign of IBS also?


Post Edited (jaydubb) : 8/14/2006 9:20:11 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/14/2006 2:21 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I think a number of people feel "drained" after having bowel movements, either from straining too hard or losing too much water and electrolytes. I used to get very tired after having a gall bladder attack; couldn't hardly keep my eyes open. Of course, most of my GB attacks happened in the wee hours of the morning.

If your poop doens't burn, then that's probably not bile acid. It could just be your food coloring your stools. Some people's colors more than others. Peas, among other things, will make some people's poops green (think babies).

No, Caltrate 600 w/vitamin D is just a plain, over-the-counter calcium supplement. It's got to be that exact kind (or it's generic) in order to work. Inape on here did a lot of research into it and concluded that was the brand of choice if you need some drying up. All has to do with the amount of magnesium that they put into the supplement; you have to have some in order to absorb the calcium, but magnesium itself is a stool softener, so if there's too much of it in a calcium supplement, it won't do you any good (does a lot, though, for normal people who don't want to be constipated).

Pepto bismol pills will be right by the liquid in the bowel products section of any pharmacy. You can usually even get generic.

And yes, people with D frequently see bits and pieces of undigested food in their stools, espeically insoluable fiber like apple peels or bell peppers. Best I can figure, in a normal stool these pieces are still there, only hidden in the stool itself; people who have D don't have enough stool to hide these pieces. Of course it could be that if you have too rapid a transit time through your bowels, things aren't getting broken down as much as they ought to either.
Posted 8/14/2006 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Keriamon!

I will look for the the Caltrate 600. I hope that it helps me. I went to Red Lobster with my fiancee last night and now I am paying for it BIG TIME! Fried shrimp and shrimp scampee (sp?). Mmm mmm good! I knew better. At least I had a salad!

Should I try the 1/2 Imodium still? I know I said that I would earlier but I am scared that it will have the same effect as a whole one.

Posted 8/14/2006 5:21 PM (GMT 0)
Boy, when you go to mess yourself up on food, you do it right! While IBSers' diets vary, fried food is almost always bad. Fatty food (including buttery shrimp scampi) is almost always bad. And usually salads are pretty rough on IBSers as well. Red Lobster, in fact, is a pretty rough place to go, stomach wise, unless you can content yourself with baked fish or cocktail shrimp and a potato or rice. I'm a big fan of their clam chowder and cheesy biscuits, though. Oh, crab legs are doable, as is lobster. Both of those are steamed/boiled and very low in fat. You just have to be easy on the butter.

If you're having bad D, I would go ahead and try 1/2 of the Immodium. Even if you are very sensitive and it constipates you at even that dosage, it shouldn't constipate you nearly as bad. And do you have the regular strength? I think Imodium Advanced is stronger, so you'll want to avoid that if it's been being too strong for you. If 1/2 of an Imodium still constipates you, try the Pepto pills.
Posted 8/14/2006 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
Ummm, yeah... Burning? Yes, I have experienced burning. I forgot about it but I was just reminded sad .

Man this sucks! mad

Diabetes

Psoriasis

IBS

Recovering cigarette smoker

What next!!!

Posted 8/14/2006 5:35 PM (GMT 0)
You should see a G.I. and tell him that you are having green, burning stools and want a stool culture done. They can test a stool sample and see if you are excreteing too much bile. If your gall bladder is good, then it's probably just a part of having IBS--but there's medicine you can take that will help absorb it and keep you from having diarrhea.
Posted 8/14/2006 7:00 PM (GMT 0)
Depending on how bad the D is for me, I can take up to 3-4 Immodium Advanced to stop a flare up... though on not so bad days, 1/2 - 1 is usually enough. If it's a bad day, I often get the burning pain too... often when I wipe, with or without D, I see a few little red streaks of blood... but my GI said it was nothing to worry about. *sigh*

Hope you feel better! At least you can still eat salad... I miss it a lot. It never agrees with me anymore. :(

~ Jade
Posted 8/14/2006 7:32 PM (GMT 0)
Keriamon...
Yes, in fact I DO know how to mess myself up, LOL! I thought about it before I ate and said to myself "Am I gonna pay for this later". Ummm, yeah...

I will try to take it easy in the future though. Im JUST starting to feel better (3:30pm EST here) and this has been going on since 7AM!

I will ask my doctor to give me a referral to see a GI.

Jade25...
3-4 Immodiums will turn me into a concrete poop statue... LOL! I dont even know if I can handle salads. I ate one last night though. I pray my doctor can get this under control...
Posted 8/14/2006 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
Unfortuantely there is no cure. My GI suggested Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in hopes of dealing with the diagnosis/symptoms, since I told her I don't want to be on trial and error with every medication that "may" help me. It's not worth it to go through a lot of unneccessary side effects and so on just to control it a little better... but that's just me. I hope all IBS sufferers out there find the closest thing to a cure for their problems... Immodium Advanced works good enough for me, some days it fails me completely, but that's life. Just so you know, though, when I do take more than 2 then I am usually guaranteed up to 5 days of C... C tends to not scare me into using laxatives, since I know that once I finally do go again that it'll be no time before the D visits.

~ Jade
Posted 5/3/2007 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
I have read recently that 48% of who were diagnosed with IBS-D instead have an overgrowth of bacteria in their intestines. I am seeing my doctor tomorrow. I have IBS-D, I have had it for 17 years. This entire week has been green burning stools - also hard to pass. They are still soft but its weird, I really have to work to get it out.
Posted 5/3/2007 4:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Nadey,
Welcome to HealingWell! :-)
Usually when you have a frequency of green burning D it means you are passing bile. Usually that indicates a problem with your gallbladder. You can, however, get the same green burning D when your transit time is too fast. Your intestines don't have enough time to absorb everything. If this is the case, then it means you don't always have the green burning D. If you do always have it then it probably is an issue with your gallbladder.
Yes, you are right about the bacterial overgrowth. Have you tried taking probiotics?
Posted 5/3/2007 4:52 PM (GMT 0)
Before I was dx in Feb.My BM's were mostly yellow,never green but all colors in between,lol..........
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