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
Yes
NoComments and Questions
You can share your experiences and thoughts with other Embarrassing Bodies site-users below. Comments & Questions are reviewed by moderators, but if you see anything on the site that worries you, please report it and one of our moderators will look at it as soon as possible.
Please note: Unfortunately Channel 4 cannot respond to individual inquiries. If you have any concerns, you can check out NHS Choices, but ultimately it is always best to check with a health professional.
hi i am always feeling tired and have no energy and feeling sick+bloated all the time i have had problems with going to toilet am thinking its constipation buts its 4 to 5 days before i go and also have lots of pain in my abdormen and so uncomfortable.
hi i am kelly i have nf 1 and i am 21 year old .i have IBS AND my bowel function doesnt work properly and i have to pull out own poo and i have no feeling in spine,bowel,bladder,leg,feet and i have a suprapubic catheter for bladder stoped working after i had operation on appendix last year in may and i have to go see a rectal spelist about bowel doesnt work properly, i ave tryed picklax, movercole,lacolas,senna,postrys, enemas fiba jell and all dont work at all . i have to pull out own poo and i have no feeling in spine,owel,bladder,legs,feet . there have tryed clamping catheter suprapubic catheter and i still couldnt wee and when i had cather inside bladder tryed take out and still couldnt wee so there put catheter bck in and now i have a suprapubic cather, my bowel function doesnt work properly frm kelly
hi i am kelly i have nf 1 and i am 21 year old .i have IBS AND my bowel function doesnt work properly and i have to pull out own poo and i have no feeling in spine,bowel,bladder,leg,feet and i have a suprapubic catheter for bladder stoped working after i had operation on appendix last year in may and i have to go see a rectal spelist about bowel doesnt work properly frm kelly
hi i am kelly i have nf 1 and i am 21 year old .i have IBS AND my bowel function doesnt work properly and i have to pull out own poo and i have no feeling in spine,bowel,bladder,leg,feet and i have a suprapubic catheter for bladder stoped working after i had operation on appendix last year in may and i have to go see a rectal spelist about bowel doesnt work properly, i ave tryed picklax, movercole,lacolas,senna,postrys, enemas fiba jell and all dont work at all . i have to pull out own poo and i have no feeling in spine,owel,bladder,legs,feet . i have bee for mri scann today and what can i do ? frm kelly
hi im angela im 38 and have been told ivw got ibs which took a very long time 4 the doctor to diagnosse me with.i get up set becouse i loose controll of my bowles n the pains i suffer with r that bad i end up in hospital.i watch what i eat and drink the usual things to stress etc but it flaress up out the blue i cant win either im constapated or lossen controll.im on other meds 4 other thing and im not allowed certain meds cuz of wat i take its embarrasing more cuz i cant run due to ankle infussion and arthritis pple laugh at me and puplic transport will not let me on if ive soild my self .i just want to curl up and die .cld u plz tell me how to get the toilet pass that a woman from 1 of ur shows that has got ibs got hers as my doc seen the show to but couldnt help wjth how to get the pass
For about a week now i have not be able to empty my bowel fully.I'm very bloated,have very bad wind, stomach cramps sometimes and now have started to get shooting pains in my bottom.The doctor has given me fiber drinks which i have been taking but they dont seem to be working.
I have suffered with an itchy anus for the last 10 years. I have seen many different doctors and after a few hospital appointments I have been told it is a fungal infection the same as we can get on our feet. I have tried every cream, every diet, old wives tales, non perfumed soap, extra washing, cotton pants and nothing helps. Untill you have experienced this nothing can prepare you for how horrible it is. You scratch until you bleed and then scratch some more. Sleep is impossible and you get to the point where you are crying in pain. can anyone please help?
i have the exact same problem ive tried everything some stuff soothes it for abit but will never help it for long. the best one i found was witch hazel stings like mad when first applied but keeps itching away for a while. I just wish there was something to cure it.
I found that I tended to feel worse and get more IBS-like symptoms around school and in the morning. -Stressing all night about whether I'll beable to go or end up needing to go at school or such. Exams are a murder. Thankfully I can take them separately now as I had a chat with them about it. I may try the more exersize part, as I noticed it was worse when I was sat down all day. Eg. School. I tend to get these weird, what sounds like hunger noises and uncomfortableness around the lower stomach, by the womb. I have abselutely no idea what they are. :S
I've been suffering from what I think could be IBS for a few years now, although my GP seams unwilling to diagnose me with the condition, saying that I had a recent blood test that came back that I was anemic and had a low hemoglobin count, so i'm now unsure if I've got Cloitus or IBD instead or (Haemolytic uraemic syndrome)after checking on the NHS direct website. I've had inflamed joints in the past (almost like i had Gout) I work in a restaurant so you can imagine this is a health risk for both me and my customers.
i dont open my bowels very often, maybe once a week, but when i do after about half an hour my stomach swells up(i look 5 months pregnant)and the pain is unbearable,, is this ibs or could it be something else?
Im not sure if I have IBS, It started last year in the summer I came home needing to go to the toilet since then Ive wanted to go to the toilet nearlly everyday quite a few times I keep getting belly ache and pass wind alot and when I do go toilet majority of the time it comes out runny. But I dont get this problem in the week when Im at school and rarely get it after school its mostly at the weekend and hollidays.
