Is this just IBS?

[lakemister]

I am very worried and getting more worried by the day so I hope somebody here can help...

I am a 27 year old male with no previous serious health problems. I am average weight, get exercise and eat pretty healthy.

For the past few months I have had bloating every now and then and slight constipation along with stomach pains. Before that I went to the toilet about once a day but when constipated it could be 2-3 days without having a BM (although felt like I needed to go each day).

In the last month I had a fairly regular pain which had been constant in my left hand side just under the bottom rib of my rib cage. If felt like stitch so I went to see my Doctor.

I told him about my bowel issues and the pain in my side so he felt my stomach, asked if the pain was worse when I moved or coughed etc and it wasn't and so told me he thought it was muscular.

However, I then made the mistake of reading about cancer and started to panic when I read that one of the symptoms is bowel changes!

Whether it is coincidence or not I cannot be sure but over the next few days I started to get frequent urges to go to the toilet and the BM was far looser than usual, thin and feathery and often contained what looked like undigested food (please forgive the emphasis on detail here!).

I went to see the Doctor again (same practice, different Doctor) and told him about my differing symptons and he too felt my stomach and then prescribed me Fybogel (fibre suppliment?) to try and bulk up the stools.

This imrpoved matters slightly, although I was still seeing a large amount of undigested food in my stools plus I was needing to go to the toilet upto 8 times a day! I was also starting to get anxiety attacks (something I started getting irregulaly in July this year) so decided to visit the Doctors again.

Because I was suffering bad with the anxiety at that point and the BM had become mostly constant diahorrea the Doctor (a different one again!) also physically checked my stomach and agreed with the other doctors that it was IBS and suggested I could try betablockers to try and calm me down.

Well, I didn't take the beta-blockers and decided to try and 'get a grip' by myself and tried to chill out and went running every couple of days and did some physical work with a friend to try and take my mind off things.

However, although a few days ago my BM seemed to be getting a little more solid, in the past 3 days I have suffered diahorrea from the moment I woke up. After about 3-4 trips to the toilet (in the space of an hour) I am then usually OK for the rest of the day with no compulsive desire to visit the toilet, although my stomach has some (bearable) pain nearly all of the time.

I know that after 3 trips to the Doctors I should be convinced it is IBS but I am not. All these pains and feeling seem so strange to me, I can't help wondering if it could be something more serious which warrants more serious attention.

Syptoms: -

Often need to have a BM the moment I wake up (certainly within 30mins) and this is preceeded by very 'burbly' stomach noises
Varying pain - feeling of stitch in left bottom rib, general stomach ache, feeling like there is something under my rib, sometimes similar pain on the right hand side (these pains tend to alternate)
Often need to burp a lot after eating, although this can be worse after certain foods - especially if they are greasy
Sometimes feel a little sick at the thought of eating or after eating (usually have very good appetite)
When stools are not diahhorea they look like they have undigested food in them - there does not appear to blood in any of the stools I have had
I have had diahhorrea failry constantly for the past 2 weeks
I have not been sick
I have lost about 3 pounds of weight in the past 2 weeks

Sorry for the super long post - didn't want to leave anything to chance! I hope you can offer me some advice/support and tell me whether these are all just syptoms of IBS?

If I can be fairly certain it is IBS I will be a lot happier - my concern at the moment is that it could be something more serious such as cancer and I/my doctor is not heeding the signs...

Thanks in advance - Ben

[tinkers]

Hi,
I have IBS. The symptoms you give do sound like IBS. I know, it is scary. I 1st had looooose stools, then very thin stools (I also read about cancer, colon). Now its total constipation. The abdominal pain is horrible and the gas!!! I take fiber, but not much helps! It's frustrating I know. It's been over one year!!!! I can't offer help too much, but your'e not alone!!!!
Tink

[lakemister]

tinkers - cheers for that - safety in numbers at least I suppose!

I think that as well as continuing with the Metamucil/Fybogel, that you need to take some Acidophilus caps to re-balance your gut flora. This is Lactobacillus and is the good bacteria that lives in your gut. If you have gas and a 'gurgly' belly, this is an indication that you need to re-balance. Take them twice daily on an empty stomach and keep them in the fridge. You should start to notice a difference in a few days. You can get these from any healthfood store or pharmacy and you should buy them from the fridge section.

When your doc examined your belly, did he feel your upper right belly and if so, did you have any pain? It is just that sometimes having problems eating fatty foods can indicate a gallbladder problem and belly ache in one part can be referred and felt in any other part of your belly.

Just a thought, but from what you have described, it does sound like IBS, especially with your anxiety problems too.

Also, take a look at your diet and try and cut out fatty and spicy food, caffeine, soda and dairy perhaps. Drink plenty of water and try the Metamucil and Acidophilis caps and see if this helps. Also, peppermint and chamomile tea are very good for settling upset and sore stomachs.

[Tamsin]

If you are excessively worried about cancer (or anything else) your symptoms will only deteriorate. I would ask the doctor to refer me to a GI and have a colonoscopy done. In any case, I can't see why your condition does not warrant a specialist.

Good luck! Oh, and try to exercise, it helps with the anxiety (advice from a fellow sufferer)!