Video
Dr Christian:
I’ve had lots of enquiries on the site from people worrying about IBS. What causes irritable bowel syndrome? Well, the honest truth is we’re not quite sure. Depression and stress certainly can aggravate it, certain things that you eat, for certain people, can change the way your bowels work and irritate them, and also lack of fibre in the diet can be responsible too.
Why is it so difficult to diagnose, a lot of you want to know, and also you want to know if you can get a second opinion. Well, of course you can always get a second opinion for anything that you might be worried about. But it’s difficult to diagnose because everybody’s different, everyone’s symptoms are slightly different. Some people will be irritated by certain foods, by certain mealtimes. And for other people it can be a completely different set of foods—that’s what makes it so hard to pinpoint and diagnose accurately.
I’ve got a lot of comments from you about what other conditions might cause similar symptoms, so if it’s not irritable bowel, what else could it be? Well, I suppose top of the list has to be inflammatory bowel conditions, things like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s. These can cause painful cramps and a bloody, mucusy diarrhoea, they tend to be a lot more severe symptoms than those of irritable bowel.
It seems a lot of you actually have IBS and you want to know how you can control the symptoms, how you can improve it by using your diet. Well, actually, because everybody’s individual, you need to look very carefully at what you eat and work out what makes it worse, what really upsets you and what can you eat without any problems at all. And the best way to do that is to keep a diary over the course of a week or two, write down everything that you’ve eaten, and when your IBS is bad and when it’s much better. And that way you can work out what things you can eat and what things you should try and avoid.
Also you want to know what other treatments, apart from diet, are available to help IBS. Well, avoiding stress if possible—it’s not always possible, I know, but if you can manage to avoid stress or learn relaxation techniques, that’s very helpful. The final thing is exercise. The more exercise you can do, the healthier, actually, your bowel will be, and therefore your bowel movements.
Doctor Responses: Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Dr Christian answers your most frequently asked questions about IBS such as: What causes it? Why is it difficult to diagnose? How can you treat it?
With thanks to the Baker Street Medical Centre
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Hello am 21 I've had IBS for many years am also gay so them both things don't go together greatly as am a bottom was wondering if there is any think to help with the IBS as it is causing problems In my sex life loads and social life. If you can offer any help me great, thanks
hi my partner suffers from ibs i saw your program on monday the 10th oct and there was a lady on the program with ibs the lady doctor said the name of a medication which helped but i did"nt catch what it was called could you please email the name and is it on prescription or can i get it from the chemist many thanks.
HI THE TABLETS WERE CALLED AMITRIPTALINE AND ITS ON PRESCRIPTION..GOOD LUCK.
HI THE TABLETS WERE CALLED AMITRIPTALINE AND ITS ON PRESCRIPTION..GOOD LUCK.
Im 21 and I have had ibs now for two years.i smoke AND DRINK alot, im always stressed and hardly eat. I heard smoking isnt good.i normally get it bad wen. On my period,i dnt Takes medication, I went for a 6 month check but I dnt no if I have to go back every so many months.me and my bf want kids but I dnt no if I wld pass it to them. Im scared to find out and scared case my.ibs has got worse
im glad im not alone in this, cause i did think i was the only one, id love to talk to more people with ibs, i have tried going out more and im getting better at going out, but things are still hard and i just wish i could be normal, thanks for the comments :) x
i didnt realise actually how many people did have it untill i started talking about it. i looked diets up on the internet after being diagosed and cut everything that the internet said out of my diat, it is hard as alot of it, i eat alot. but since doing it and sticking to it, i have lost 1 stone and my bowel is so much better, i can go out for a meal now and know what i can eat that isnt going to make me bloated or need the toilet in a public place asap. i feel so much better for this. i control my bowel now, not the other way round. i still have problems with it when i get nurvous about something and not figured out how to control that yet, but i am working on it. hope this helps you aswell as it did me. x
Hi I'm suffering from bloating and feeling full after eating very little. I'm sure it must be stuff in my diet as I've Been to the doctor and had medication but nothing seems to be working. Can I ask what things did you avoid and how quickly did you start to feel better?
I have had stomach trouble for 5or6 years now,first started off with really bad aching in my stomach every day,lost abit of weight,and just really bad sickness feeling but was never really sick, then over the past two years I've had this really bad cramping through the nights not every night might be once or twice a month where it wakes me up and only way to get rid of this cramping is by going to toilet, where I will have diahreoah,I also have aching up my back passage but I've had every test going including 4endoscopys,a colonoscopy,2 sigmoidoscopys,a ct scan and various other tests blood tests etc but has never found nothing,all the time I feel really unwell and with no energy,I've been under specialist after specialist but no1 can ever find anything,it's really changed my life where I can't work because of the nausea every day and generally feeling unwell,hope some1 can help me with this.
this sounds very similar to how mine was, test after test, eventually they decided it was ibs. i looked diets up on the internet for ibs and what you souldnt eat, i cut it all out of my diet, and believe me i feel soooooo much better. i now control my bowel and bloating and not the other way round. hope this helps. the diet is hard but it works. i now have such a better life style. x
So did u have all the symptoms that what I have then coz I thought ibs some weeks your ok and some your ill but I'm ill every single week I might have a day or so where I feel average but most of the time honestly I'm that ill I feel like I'm dying
I AM 48 YRS AND 2 YEARS AGO I UNDERWENT A BOWEL ENENIMA BUT NOTHING SHOWED UNTOWARD THE RESULT WAS I PROBABLY SUFFER ibs .I SEEM TO WANT TO EMPTY MY BOWEL WITHIN 30-60MINS OF EATING .ALSO AS THE DAY GOES ON MY STOMACH BLOATS AND BECOMES VERY HARD AND EXTENTENDED AS IF I WAS 9 MONTHS PREGANT .I DO NOT SUFFER WITH REGULAR PAIN BUT LONG TERM DISCOMFORT AND VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AND EMBARASSED ABOUT MY APPEARENCE AND NEVER FEEL NO MATTER WHAT I WEAR THAT I DO NOT SEEM APEALING TO MY PARTNER ANYMORE AND MY CONFIDENCE WITH MY BODY AS DETERIATED OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.I WAS PERSCRIBED MEDICATION MEBEVERINE 135MG TABLETS TO TAKE 20MINS BEFORE FOOD BUT FELT THESE DID NOT HELP I WAS TOLD TO CONTINUE WITH THIS MEDICATION AS IT WOULD TAKE ATLEAST 6 MONTHS TO SEE ANY RESULTS THAT WAS IN MAY 2010 AND THEY STILL DO NOT SEEM TO BE HELPING ..WHICH IS CAUSING ME TO FEEL EMBARASSED AND FED UP OF PEOPLE ASKING ME IF I AM PREGNANT MY SELF ESTEEM IS VERY LOW .I WAS TOLD TO TRY DIFFERENT DIETS BEFORE I WENT FOR THE TESTS TO SEE IF I HAD ANY TOLERANCIES BUT NOTHING CHANGED.I WONDER IF I COULD HAVE AN UNDERLINING PROBLEM .
I'm the same and been like it for around 8 years now. Started with pain then acid then really bad bloating . I find that when I'm really bad which is usually once a week I wake up not breathing cos I think I'm that bloated that it pushes my diathram up to my lungs which when very relaxed Ie asleep it kind of stops me breathing and wake up gasping for air. Apparently it's stress . Only thing I'm stressed about is my bloating lol
i have suppected ibs find out in a week or so. just had colonoscopy with gastroscopy (painful)but was able watch procedure.they issused me with 3 picolax medication one for each day until procedure. i found that i felt better after having a total clear out with this picolax so i looked into seeing if it was available to by over the counter to find they never heard of it.how can i purchase more of this treatment (picolax sachet) as i feel its done me good.
i got told i had ibs nearly 2 years ago im only 18. ibs has runined my life i cant go out because im needing the toilet upto 15 times aday sometimes more, i sometimes get stomache cramps and have to go to the toilet every 5 mins not even joking, its horrible i cant sleep when that happens. but normally day to day i go 15 times or more for a number 2 cant go out much an if i do cant go far :( does anyone else suffer like that, or is it only me and could it be something other then ibs?
i did suffer in the same way.i would stay in for days i would worry id get caught short,i use to plan days out knowing a toilet would be near by.although i do still suffer now and again its nearly as bad as it was 2 years ago.i started to go out just on my own for walks or a drive out somewhere to try and get my confidence back and i started to do excerise aswell and cut out most dairy products wich really seemed to work for me,i know how your feeling and i think many more people do aswell i hope you start getting better and going out more its more about confidence and self pride i think the stress of it all use to set me off too,good luck in the future and i know it may not help much but your not the only person to feel like this and it will get easier in time
Thank goodness I've found somebody else with similar symptons! I find it so embarrassing & feel so alone. I find dairy & rich foods make me worse so I do try & void them. I would give anything to go to the loo properly!
Hey there,I'm in high school,,I think me n you are going thru the same exact thing . In the mornings I wake up getting ready for school and I just have to go # 2 outta no where..I have to ride the bus to school which takes one hour to get to so I fear getting in front of all those people.I sit up late worrying what will happen the next day.I am way to scared to talk about it to my parents or a doctor.This has happened 2 years.I eat less hoping it won't happen and I sometimes sneak and get meds for diaherra from the cabinet. I'm so glad I'm not alone though. Best wishes that you'll get better!! xxx
i have recently been diagnose with IBS and i was wondering if there is anything i can do to control the pain?
the doctors have said it is most likely i have IBS as sometimes at night at about 12/1 ish it starts off with very painful cramps and then i get diorrea and contipation and bloating. after that i will be sick a couple of times and lose about half a stone in that one night. THe day after i am normally fine just tired from lack of sleep. Recently ive been starting off with loads more gas than normal and im burping something which smells like egg and normally later i would be up all night with the symptoms above and it will take up to a week for me to be able to eat properly again. Is this something else or just another symptom of IBS?? as it seems to be getting worse again and im becoming ill more frequently
I have IBS and on every information site it warns that if you're woken in the night with severe pain or physically vomit these are red flag symptoms and not IBS. I would look into it further, because it might be IBS but it doesn't sound like it. X x
I was told by my doctor but I asked for more information x
HAVE YOU BEEN TESTED FOR GIARDIA OR HELICOBACTER? MAYBE WORTH LOOKING INTO?
