IBS? Could do with some IBS'ers opinions please...

[bhandley]

Symptoms are:

Diarrhea and constipation not all the time but enough, can sometimes even have both in the same day
Fluttery feeling in middle of abdomen near stomach (the organ I mean)
Slight loss of appetite
Occasional bout of nausea
Feeling like I need to go to the bathroom but not being able to or the feeling of not fully finishing bowel movement
Feeling like there is gas bubbling at the bottom of my abdomen in the sort of pelvic region
Loud bowel noises sometimes
The odd bit of mucous in bowel movement
Increased frequency of toilet trips

I didnt have any pains at first, but now I have what I can only describe as a period pain.
Its like a cloud of very mild pain which doesnt leave, it feels dull, not spasmodic and its right over where the cervix is, lower than ovaries. I'm obviously worried about colon cancer, ovarian cancer, possibly cervical cancer, and pretty much any other cancer you can ever think of. Ever.

But since my doctor is going with um, probably IBS but lets check for coeliac too, I thought I would ask about IBS pain. Does what I describe sound IBS related? Especially the pain aspect? I never have bad period pains but this feels just like what I personally experience with periods.
Oh I should point out that I dont get periods too, so its not that.

[LindaRK]

I went through what you're experiencing.  The pain you're talking about - it feels like cramping to me.  Sometimes it can last for days to weeks, depending on my stress level.

The other symptoms you've mentioned - sound classic IBS to me.  I've had it for quite a while, probably over 10 years.  Comes and goes.  And yes, you can be both constipated and have diarrhea off and on.  The look of your BM's can change daily ......

It's all about stress and getting your stress under control. IBS can only be diagnosed by exclusion. Meaning, they exclude anything and everything else it could be and tag it as IBS.

Try not to get caught up in the cancer business - I did that for awhile, then got myself back on track.

[oregoncoastlady]

I've had stomach issues for as long as i can remember. Back to when i was ten years old and would freak out whenever there was a tornado warning in our area. I have had all of your symptoms, and then some. Interestingly, when life isn't so stressful and i am calm, my IBS symptoms go away. When life is crazy, they come back.

[bhandley]

Ah thanks guys I do feel a little bit more knowledgeable now.
It just feels so period like related, but not like cramps yknow, its just there, it just sits at the bottom of my pelvic region, it really does make me worry that it might be reproductive related.
I should be consoled by the fact that this has only been going on for a week now. I think I just worry that it could be ovarian, endometrial or cervical too, because once these show signs you are advanced stage.
It hits close to home because my brothers gf died at my age, 24, of cervical. Although I know both cervical and ovarian cancers arent actually all that common especially in people my age.

[LindaRK]

Being on the anxiety "train" causes you to immediately go to "worst case" scenario. 

I haven't had the "crampy" feeling in quite some time now (stress under control for the most part), but when I'm going through a period where I experience the IBS symptoms, I try and stay away from gassy foods or foods that can cause bloating and also carbonated beverages.  It really helps alot.  I take a probiotic daily as well.

[floridaguy65]

Do not discount how 'yucky' an IBS flare up can make one feel. I've had it for 25 years, or so, and it can be a bugger. Moving towards a viable healing path for our mental health challenges hold tremendous potential for helping us with the overall symptoms of IBS. Exercise is vital, as well. As is a good healthy, moderate diet trying to learn what foods might exascerbate one's IBS.

Again, as with sooooooo many symptoms, we can truly help ourselves reduce the dominance of physical manifestations when we are getting on some more solid foundations of a healing path. Do they ALL go away - ALL the time? Not likely. But, through our learning how to not embrace counterproductive actions and habits (fear driven measures), we should be able to notice, EVENTUALLY, an overall reduction in 'feeling off' all the time, as we hear HA peeps complain about so often, when struggling.

Peace and Feel Well:)

[mollyfin]

That sounds like IBS.  I wouldn't worry.  Though IBS is kind of like fibromyalgia...a really unsatisfying diagnosis because it can be so hard to pinpoint a trigger, there's no one cure-all, etc.  But not dangerous, anyway.

[bhandley]

Thanks for all the opinions.
I was woken up by my stomach last night, in my upper right quadrant basically it felt like a washing machine on the spin cycle, really violent spasms I think, for what I could tell being sleepy, and I put my hand over the area and could feel it twitching underneath. Also i've been having that occur on a minor scale elsewhere in the stomach. This is making me think its IBS.

I spoke to my doctor today and he reminded me that only 4 months ago I had an abdominal ultrasound which came back fine, he reckons if I had ovarian cancer it would have been detected at that time, also I have my blood test results back and they are fine, except im still waiting for the results on coeliac.
He's given me a syrup thing to help with the constipation and I mentioned a little bit of old blood coming from the cervix and whether it was anything to do with implanon so he suggested I have another smear just in case, I had one two years ago which came back fine, but im worried that it missed something. Although main symptom of cervical cancer is proper bleeding not what I have, which would go unnoticed if I hadnt gone looking. Im just hoping its IBS and not a gynecological cancer.

Does anyone else experience this washing machine stomach thing?

[Hohum]

One of the biggest triggers for IBS is stress and anxiety. This has obviously been on your mind for a long time, and your body is in a state of heightened alert at all times.

I think that you need to start trying to get your mind off this and thinking positively about other things. You have IBS, same as so many of us. Constantly focussing on a cramp here or a grumble there will just make it go on and on, get worse and worse, and in a month or so you'll be back here terrified that something more sinister is going on.

You are fine! Good luck!