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Originally Posted by Illie  Hi, lately I've been wondering if I have IBS. I almost never have regular BMs. Usually I have loose bowels and sometimes I have constipation. Sometimes after about 30 minutes or an hour after I've eaten, I have to rush to the washroom. I usually don't have a lot of stomach pain, only sometimes when I'm in the washroom or after I've eaten something. Also, I don't have to go to the washroom everyday. It's really irregular. Like once I had loose bowels 3 times in one day and then didn't have to go for a couple of days. But
Mostly I go every other day, maybe twice a day. Unless I'm constipated then I may go once or twice every 3 days. This has been going on for quite awhile, maybe a year or less. Before I thought it was normal to have constant irregular bowels but I realized that it's not. I don't drink a lot of water, but in the summer I used to and I did have more BM. Could I just need to drink water? I don't really eat that health either.
I know I should go to the doctors but it's really embarrassing, especially since I'm 17 and go with my mom to the doctors.
Thanks in advance! |
I have had IBS since 1996 and had chronic constipation problems all my life before than IBS diagnosis and I am almost 51 years old.
This is what I have learned the hard way about IBS and constipation problems:
1. Eating a high fiber diet 25-35 grams a day.
2. Drinking at 8 8oz.glasses of water a day.
3. Take a fiber supplement like Metamucil or Citrucell at least twice a day.
4. Having a set time schedule every day to sit on the toilet for at least 30 minutes to have a bowel movement. This must be a priority in your schedule every day.
5. Do not strain,force,or push hard on your abdominal muscles to make yourself have a bowel movement. This can lead to hemorrhoids,anal fissures,and prolapsed rectum. These all make having bowel movements even more painful.
6. Use slow deep breathing exercises to help aid in having a bowel movements being painless. It does take longer to have a bowel movement this way if you haven't had a bowel movement in more than 48 hours from the last one you had because your stool will be hard and dried out and will be harder to pass. If you move your bowels on a daily basis using the slow deep breathing exercises then it shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes to move your bowels.
7. Don't allow yourself to go more than 48 hours without moving your bowels because the longer you go without moving them the harder and more painful it will be to have a bowel movement. I use a glycerin suppository to soften the stool to make it easier to go if I haven't moved them within 36 hours of the last bowel movement I had. I can tell you from personal experience that the suppository does help a lot in making it a lot less painful to have a bowel movement when you get beyond the 36 hour time frame.
8. If you follow the first four routines on a daily basis then you shouldn't have any more problems with IBS symptoms or chronic constipation problems. These daily routines have solved 98% of my IBS and constipation problems. It's when I don't follow these routines that I start having problems right away.
I hope that you will try this and see if it improves your IBS and constipation problems. Don't be embarassed about talking to your doctor about this because it's a fairly common problem and it can run in families. Maybe you need to ask your mom not to go in with you to the doctor's office when you need to talk to the doctor about such personal problems that are going on with your body. You may want to know if there is any family history with IBS or any other bowel movement problems. Your menstrual period can also raise havoc with our bowels moving regularly during that time of the month.
Do I have IBS? 
