hi there...i really could use some help!!

i have this same problem once every few months for about the course of about 2 years now. it happened again today, but hasn't happened since maybe 3-4 months ago.

i woke up from a nap (i've been pretty run down lately) and had severe pains in my stomach, they started getting worse and worse, so i decided to try to have a bowel movement. the pains are not like diarhea(spelling?) pains, they are located around my belly button and very very painful. when i try to have a BM when i feel like this, i usually can't for a very long time, but when i finally do it's usually diarhea. the pains get SOOOO intense during this process and this is what frightens me the most. i have to keep steady heavy breathing to keep myself from passing out, literally. a couple times my hands and legs have gone numb and frozen up and i couldn't move them at all. i get very dizzy and start seeing black spots. i get very warm and start sweating quite a lot. i also usually start throwing up, i don't know if this is because of the pain, or my upset stomach. it can take almost an hour just for me to have a BM, and usually i have to go back to the bathroom for another BM 2-3 times after the first time. i usually have a fever for quite a while afterwards too.

this whole thing doesn't happen often (like once every 3-4 months) and thank god for that because it is hell, there's no other way to describe it. i really could use some help or anyone who has gone thru this. i've had stomach problems since i was younger and gone thru various tests in my days, but none since this has been happening. i would appreciate anyone who can respond, thank you so much.

I've experienced a lot of what you've gone through, and i'm only a teenager. I actually have a bit of pain everyday right where you said, and it feels like i'm gonna throw-up or pass out, so I force myself to start breathing heavily. I usually get diarhea when this happens, it keeps me up at night, and I feel horrible. I've gone to the emergency room from this but I haven't done any tests yet. I don't have very much advice to give, I just wanted to let you know that your symptoms are pretty common. A big cause of the pain is from fatty or greasy foods for some people, so think of what you ate before the pain and you may realize that's the problem. One thing that has worked for me is Maalox, either the pill or the liquid, but just make sure it says anti-gas on it.

Best of luck

I don't know what kind of diet you eat but to make sure your intestines function properly all the time you need to make sure that you intake 25 to 35 grams of fiber daily. Most people only get about 13 grams of fiber daily. Try keeping track of what you eat for several weeks to determine how much you are getting daily??? It may surprise you??

There are 2 types of fiber ---- the type that absorbs fluid and the type that does not absorb but very little fluid or none at all. It needs to be balanced for regular BMs w/o straining.

There is no fiber in all meat, seafood or dairy products. Fiber is in fruits, veggies and grains.
I don't we get enough of the water soluble fiber in our diet so I take a water soluble fiber supplement that contains psyllium -- like Metamucil. It is safe to take daily and will make you regular W/O straining. It bulks up your stool and sorta acts to clean our your intestines. It is a bulking agent and works as well for diarrhea as it does for constipation.

The main thing is it makes you regular and I think it is a very healthy thing to do. I take Equate from Wal Mart twice daily. It seems a little courser than Metamucil and a dose contains more psyllium ---it also cost less. I have found that I need about 7 grams of psyllium daily for it to work for me. But, everyone is different because we eat differently.

God Bless---Harry

Harry, I get this too but w/out the throwing up...I used to vomit after eating vitamins. Do you take any kind of one a day vitamin? Anyway, I always figured the pains in the belly area were due to IBS since that's where the colon area is, but if mine is really bad, when I finally do go and it's diarea I get this gurgling loud sound in my intestines...

It sounds like the attacks I have had for 13 years now. Pain is my number one symptom. It really reaches the intensity I had during induced labor(that is how bad it is) I throw up from the pain and run a temperature. I had all the tests and nothing shows up so they assume IBS. I went on a low carb diet and it got better. I finally figured out gluten, fiber & chocolate seemed to bring on the attacks the most. When I am gluten free I very rarely get an attack.(usually when I go off the diet around ovulation time for some reason). Are there any foods you can pin point that bring on an attack? The hard thing is the foods don't bring on an attack each time you eat them.

Hmm...You are right about the foods not bieing consistant w/ the attacks--strange, that when I go on low carb diets my IBS usually gets worse, not better. People say that lettuce helps but not with me...although I think my colon isn't made out of the same stuff as others sometimes! It's that bad! Anyway, what foods are you all who responded to this thread finding flare you up or ease the symptoms?

I think the worse food for me is raw veggies and fruit that is not ripe. It just causes me alot of cramping and pain.

Sounds like IBS. I've had it since I was a teenager, and I'm still learning new foods that I react to. I just found out as I was laying on the table for my umpteenth colonoscopy :eek: that iceberg lettuce is also a common offender. I've avoided certain foods all my life, but I recently started the South Beach Diet which relies heavily on salads, so I've been eating a lot more iceberg lettuce than usual and that kicked it up in me. You pretty much have to figure out on your own what your trigger foods are, though besides the standard ones: caffeine, soda pop, milk, chocolate, and ...iceberg lettuce.