MS and IBS

Hey Dennis!!

Welcome to the board.  I am glad you posted.  I don't know of anyone here with MS and IBS.  Our other moderator has IBS but no MS diagnosis.  She is in limbo on some neurological stuff.  I just have MS but I have the bowel junk that goes with MS as you read in the other post. 

I look forward to hearing more about you.  Tell us as much (or as little ) as you would like.  How long have you had MS?  Are you on a progression therapy?  What are the symptoms you deal with? 

Again, welcome to the board and I hope you find support here.

hello to everyone agin....to D'awesome, I know what you mean about the flaring up, just went thru one., it just came out of nowhere the thing about MS and IBS is that the MS will cause anxiety and stress influencing the IBS, even when there is no real cause for the stress to occur...I become really, really constipated to the point of where it affects my thinking and then there is the pain invovled, not real bad but there for a whilke.....I have to take laxitives, and when they work quickly I feel so much better, but sometimes they take a while, and when they do it is a true adventure on the seat...but when its over, I feel close to normal,,or at as least normal as I can be..and..there are weeks that I am so normal its scary....no laxitives, just a thought, "oh, I have to go to the bathroom"....no strain at all, and then its back.......I have always thought if an angel of God appeared before me and said that God would heal only one of my diseases....I would say heal the IBS, I'll deal with the MS

Dennis,

I want you to think about something here.  We have had people here that were first diagnosed with IBS that were later diagnosed with MS.  Please remember that I am trying to be helpful here and I am not in any way trying to minimalize what you are experiencing.  First, IBS is not a disease, it is a syndrome or a series of symptoms that indicate a functional problem with the colon that either manifest as chronic diahrea or constipation or both.  It could be that MS is causing your IBS.  If you have a lesion on your spine or low on your brain stem, this could be effecting the nerves that are in charge of the smooth muscle contractions of your colon and large intestine.  If the stool takes too long to pass through the colon, then too much water is absorbed creating dry, hard to pass stool. 

I would really talk to your doctor, preferably your neuro, about your bowel problems.  There are a whole host of quite serious problems that can occur with untreated bowel problems.  This is typically called slow transit or colonic inertia.  It is one of those MS situations that needs to be constantly monitored to insure your over-all health.  Certainly, occasional laxatives will not hurt you and can prevent an impaction.  You should probably consider using a fiber supplement on a regular basis.  Fiber, like metamucil carries moisture down in the colon that is not re-absorbed so that the stool does not get so dry.  It can truly keep you regular so you are not getting so constipated.  Also, Mira-lax or polyethylene glycol can be used long term.  It is an over the counter med.  and for most is used short term but folks with MS can use it long term with good success.  You need to make sure you are drinking lots and lots of water.  Even slight dehydration can cause some horrible constipation.  Also, any excercise you can manage is always helpful.  Walking really stimulates colonic movement.  Try short walks once to three times a day. 

I am telling you all this so you can make sure you get this consistently managed. We have MS folks here that needed hospitilazation with serious impaction.  Occasionally removal of part of the colon surgically is a treatment as well.  It can be a very difficult to manage situation due to the fact the the colon is just not functioning as it should due to nerve problems from MS damage.

Sorry this was so long.  I hope you find this helpful.  Again, consider the fact that MS could be causing your IBS and that IBS is not a disease initself but a series of symptoms very possibley caused by your MS.  I wish you the best of luck in managing all this. 

Excellent post Gretchen, you just explained one of my most embarassing symptoms in the most dignified way! and yes, too, I was as you can dx'd before the MS, but then everyone was ignoring that part as nothing definitive had occured. Now I think it's just part of the MS.

yeah I have had some IB issues and I have recently read an article connecting MS and IBD. Basically to summarize it said that if you have IBS or IBD you are a little more likely to have MS. Weird..... The gut has a lot to do with the body as a whole. very interesting stuff. Weirder still is I never connected my Bowel issues to my MS and now I have a WHOLE NEW can of worms to open with my neuro next visit.

Hey Dennis!

I LOVE Gretchen's post! She so perfectly explained this whole issue. I have IBS and no ms but had some funky ms-ish symptoms...still in limbo but no ms!!! I can tell u the way this IBS was explained to me was that there is a brain/gut dysfunction. Somewhere along the way the nerves aren't getting the full message to the bowels. As Gretchen explained, this can be from ms or can be an issue on it's own...but remember that on it's own it is just a dysfunction. It is important to discuss this with u'r neuro and try to decide together whether this is ms or stand alone IBS so u may properly follow it. I take Fibercon each day and when i'm finished with my bottle of that i'm supposed to switch to Bene-Fiber. I'm not sure why, but apparantely that's what my doc feels is better. I don't drink a lot of water...er...none...and i DO have probs even with the fibercon. Gretchen is superb in caring for herself in even the most minute ways...she is giving u great advice! Try some of her suggestions and see how they work for u. I see that u'r already getting veggies and exercise...BRAVO U!!! Keep at it friend. Bring this up to u'r neuro if u haven't and see what path he/she may want to persue. Take care friend!

Hi Dennis and all,
I have MS and IBS. What I have been told with IBS is that it is aggravated by alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, and dairy. Further, stress aggravates it while exercise helps. For me, I have the worst days when I had too much of those four. I treat it as if I have a maximum allowance a day of those four, and if I stay within my allowance I'm pretty much ok. It's when I go outside that allowance that I pay-- such as the day after eating pizza and another meal w/ dairy or.... a day after drinking with friends.

I'm in my 20s so those are basically all I'd like to eat if I could :) But seriously, I stopped taking any laxatives or anti-diarrhea medicine. My doctor explained it like this-- those medicines actually make things worse by swinging your system to one extreme or the other. I don't think I've taken one of those in nearly 2 years. The main thing I do is I always have water with me; I only drink coffee in the morning which seems to actually make things pretty regular in the morning w/ the bowels; and I take 3 fiber supplement pills 0.52mg/pill (x 3 pills) of psyllium fiber-- I can't remember if it's Fibercon or what. I tried a bunch of others but this works and it's the most cost effective method. I try to always take it at lunch or I do seem to notice if I take it too late.

Now that you are talking, I think it's likely the MS is related to the IBS though I honestly have no clue anymore. Anytime I have any issue, I think it's the MS lately. I don't read MS books by the way if I can help it so that I don't exacerbate the thinking everything is related.

Anyway- let me know if anybody finds a decent article linking the two together or gets good information from their doctor. Thanks everybody! I know I'm not alone.

I have IBS and MS.  I was diagnosed with the IBS (constipation part) 5 years ago and was just diagnosed with MS this week.  The last time I went to my GI Doctor and told him they were checking me for MS, they backed off the "you need a colonoscopy again" statement.  I had been refusing for a year to have one.  I take 250mg of magnesium and that resolves my problem.  I found this out on my own by trying magnesium for my fibromyalgia.  It keeps things moving. 

Cindy

Hi! may I join the club? I have both. I was dx with IBS about 12 years ago and just had my third coloscopy recently, and I was dx with ms on Mrch 29, 2007. I will try the mangesium. It is just sitting in my cupboard.

Somebody mentioned they had read an article linking IBS-D to MS.....you are born with the syndrome, but the MS can developed much later...as for which one comes first, is it the chicken or the egg? does the anxiety caused by your MS trigger your IBS symptoms or does the stress caused by the IBS syndrome trigger an excaberation of the MS?

Hi Dennis,

    I was dxd with MS in 1998. I was 26. I had the worst exacerbation I ever had in 07' which landed me in the hospital for a month. At that time I was dxd with RLS & IBS. Much like my MS,... the RLS & IBS seem to have flares as well. Mainly STRESS for me. That has been my experience. Our brain is the control center,.. & because of the lesions, I have ALOT of problems. I was on Rebif in 07' & appear to have not done well on that I know. I'll NEVER forget the doctor from the Rebif Manufacturer asking me if I had RLS & suicidal thoughts (both of which I had). That's when I knew the effects that have been reported while on these powerful drugs that they do not know alot about. Interestingly, a friend with MS recently sent me a study they did,.. stating there are 2 types of MS. One that responds well to interferons & one that does not. That explained to me why I do so well on Copaxone & he does so well on Rebif (I also had a VERY bad reaction to Beteseron in 09' & have also been on Tysabri). Notice how the doctors are quick to take everyone off of their injections when they seem to not be doing so well?  I get mad & tell my boyfriend: I see the BEST MS neurologist in NY. What a joke. How can someone be a "SPECIALIST" in a field like MS that has no cure & they do not know what is causing it. I am just 38 years old & have suffered this dreaded disease for over 12 years. I'm not gonna color it rosy like everyone else does,.. because IT IS NOT. I am suffering MS from an adverse reaction I had to the hepatitis B vaccination in 1998 when I worked at a State University Hospital. To prove my point, I won my case with the Federal Vaccination Compensation Act. My medical records proved that fact. Sorry if I sound bitter. Perhaps I am.

I've been told I most likely have IBS and I have MS as well. However, since I am pregnant at the moment my GI is unable to rule out any IBD. I've had MS for many years previous to experiencing IBS issues. However, I don't have constipation at all. I actually seem to have the opposite to the point were I keep fiber intake at a minimal. I eat less then a cup of fruit/veggies a day unless I want to spend my life in the bathroom or worse end up with abdominal cramps. Legumes, lactose, nuts and whole grain wheat products are also something I avoid. When, I asked my neuro if my digestive issues were MS related he said he seriously doubted it, and my GI also agreed.

Now whether this is truly the case I have no idea. However assuming everything is MS is a dangerous path to take. Sometimes you can have other things wrong, and should take the time to figure it out. It's super easy to just say oh it's MS, but sometimes it's more complicated. I Ignored my digestive issues for months before I was pregnant because I assumed it was MS. If I'd just went to the doctor I would by this point know exactly what's wrong (whether it's IBS or something else), but now I'm pregnant and have to wait. Obviously, my situation isn't common, but its still important to get to the bottom of things.