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Does your IBS wake you up at night?

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 10/6/2008 9:41 PM (GMT -8)
I have read in more than one place that IBS doesn't affect your sleep, if your GI complaints are waking you up at night, it can't be IBS.

My IBS definately wakes me up.  I'll get gas pains or cramps that wake me right up.  My GI said that IBS usually doesn't wake people up then gave me Levsin for when it does.

Has anyone else read this and does your IBS wake you up?

 

Posted 10/6/2008 10:04 PM (GMT -8)
My GI's told me that IBS should not wake you up from a sleep in the middle of the night...my crohn's has woken me up in the middle of the night on many occasions during severe flare ups, but my IBS has not (my CD is still flaring but to a moderate level and I've had CD for 17 yrs straight now with no full remission, I've only had IBS for about the last 5 yrs).

Have you had a colonoscopy and upper GI tests along with stool and blood tests to rule out crohn's or ulcerative colitis?

:)
Posted 10/7/2008 5:27 AM (GMT -8)
If you wake up to go #2, it should be a rarity...if it's happening frequently, there is almost always an "organic" cause.
Posted 10/7/2008 10:54 PM (GMT -8)
I wake up occasionally from the pain and cramping, it's not severe but enough to wake me up. I'm not waking up to use the bathroom. It may not happen for months then it could happen most nights for weeks.

I have been scoped from both ends and swallowed a pill cam. Scopes were normal, Pill cam showed some patchy inflamation in my small intestine. Blood work was equivocal for Crohn's. At one point the doc was calling it "non-specific ileitis" then after he got all the test results my diagnosis was IBS. I had my IC valve removed a few years ago due to a benign tumor. Before the surgery, I tended towards C, now I'm pretty "normal" most of the time, occasionally C or D.
Posted 10/8/2008 11:11 AM (GMT -8)
I do get woken up, but not that often. Usually when I'm super stressed out or I've eaten terribly that day.
I wouldn't worry about it too much unless it happens frequently.
Posted 10/8/2008 3:11 PM (GMT -8)
I'm curious because something wakes me up and IBS isn't supposed to. Not that I want Crohn's but if I have it, I would like to know. I'm getting another opinion but it won't be for a few months due to insurance reasons.

The doc couldn't give me a good explanation for the inflamation discovered with the pill cam. He kept changing the subject, finally said I probably have IBS, said he'd give me info about it, then left abruptly. He's supposed to be one of the best in the state, I only chose him because they had a cancellation and could see me immediately. My PCP thought I had internal bleeding because I suddenly developed severe anemia. I've never seen blood in my poo but they all thought that was it. Nothing showed up in the tests to explain the anemia which has since been resolved.

Yes, stress and lousy food do cause me pain but most of the time, there is no reason. It could happen 5 out of 7 nights for 2 or 3 weeks then not happen again for a few months. Is that frequent?
Posted 10/8/2008 4:03 PM (GMT -8)
Yes, 5 out of 7 nights is definitely frequent. You should speak to your doc about it. If you're not happy with that doc, clearly s/he doesn't give you the time of day, you should find another. I went through 3 GI's before I found 1 I liked.
Someone needs to take your "inflammation" seriously. Furthermore, you shouldn't be leaving your doctor's office with more questions than when you went in.
Posted 10/9/2008 5:27 AM (GMT -8)
It wakes me up too. Once in a blue moon...I have waken up "wallowing" in it. (lucky me) IBS DOES wake you up at night. With the way I go....This is another reason why I do not eat much. Less food....Less running.
Posted 10/9/2008 3:42 PM (GMT -8)
Gee, thanks for the post. You must have woke up my colon because at 3 am I had to visit the bathroom. I than was so bloated and uncomfortable i could not get back to sleep. Ony has ever happened a few times to me, but find lately I am going within 1/2 houer after waking up.

Hugs, Linda
Posted 10/10/2008 5:47 AM (GMT -8)
Two days in a row I wake up early because my stomach keeps rumling.. too much movement, my protylol wears off and this starts ... >.>
Posted 10/16/2008 6:07 AM (GMT -8)
The way I figure....If you wake up to urinate.....then you can wake up to go pooh.
Posted 1/25/2010 6:55 PM (GMT -8)
I have been told I have IBS and now lately Ive been waking at night.  I am under loads of stress and anxiety.  Can that cause flare ups with IBS?
Posted 1/27/2010 9:01 AM (GMT -8)
Dagger, I agree with some other comments that someone needs to take your inflammation seriously. I think it is very suspect that the pill cam was positive AND so was your blood test. Also sounds like you have anemia. Are you male of female? If you are a woman, you could be anemic from periods, if you are a man, again, that is suspicious of crohn's if you ask me. Which of your blood tests was positive? My asca was positive 129 (I think) and I have inflammation in my lower sigmoid and descending colon. They are not calling it crohn's but from what I read if the Prometheus lab tests are positive, it is highly likely you have crohn's. There are some other auto immune diseases that give positive results with the prometheus tests but something is clearly going on with you. Yea, docs can be very strange. Did they put you on any meds for inflammation? I think they should have! I'd find a new doc. Keep us posted, ok?
Posted 1/27/2010 11:36 AM (GMT -8)
i agree that you definately need to either get a 2nd opinion or tell your dr to explain the inflammation!  Did they mention anything about ulcers and granulomas, or id they just say "inflammation"?!  also, if the inflammation is in your small intestine, you wouldn't necessarily see the blood in your faeces.  that is what happened to me, i had no idea that i was losing blood until i was found to be very anaemic!  (i have crohn's, and possibly IBS - nobody seems really sure about the IBS, some say i have both and others say just crohn's)

I was also told that IBS shouldn't wake you up, but as they say everyone is different.  You definately need to find out if you have crohn's or not.  For most, it is manageable, but you need the diagnosis so that you can have the meds :)

When you wake up and you go to the toilet, are there urgency issues?!  i know that the times my crohn's has woken me up in the night, i've literally had seconds between waking and finding the toilet!  Also, what are the days like after you have been woken in the night?!  do you tend to be alot worse on the days after you've been woken up - do you have alot of diarrhoea?!  sorry for all of the questions!

Posted 1/28/2010 4:36 PM (GMT -8)
I know I need a second opinion but I've been avoiding it. I had the latest round of testing because I suddenly developed anemia. I am female but it wasn't due to my period.

I can't remember the name of the blood test but I remember if you scored 20 or less, you didn't have IBD, if you scored 25 or higher, you did, and if you scored in between, you were inconclusive. My score was something like 24.8.

My inflammation was in my small intestine but he was not interested in giving me details. He said I had multiple small patches of inflammation. He wouldn't give me an explanation. I had an ileocectomy a few years before due to a tumor by my ileocecal valve. The biopsy said it was a granular cell tumor.

For the past few years, I get episodes of D with (more) ab pain, loss of appetite, and urgency that last between one and three weeks. I'm hypoglycemic so I eat even when it's the last thing I want to do so I usually only lose about 5 pounds. I have about 5 or 6 of these episodes a year.

Since I have endometriosis and adhesions, the GI docs tend to blame everything on that. I had a lap about 6 months ago and the surgeon said my intestines are clean on the outside - no endo and no adhesions.

I really, really, really did not like this GI doc. I only met him a few minutes before my colonoscopy. I can tell he didn't like me either. He was very annoyed that I refused to allow the colonoscopy before I met him and he answered all of my questions. During our meeting to discuss the pill cam results, he was fine until I started asking questions. I am respectful, I listen, I take notes, and I ask reasonable questions. A co-worker had the same problem with him, he was fine until she asked him questions.

I know I need to see someone about this but I don't want any more tests. Liquid diets, even for half a day, are very hard on me. My blood sugar has dropped into the low 40's after a day of clear liquids. At least I have my new doc picked out, I just need to call and get in.
Posted 2/5/2010 3:29 AM (GMT -8)
Good luck Dagger. I see you haven't posted in a while. How are you feeling? The lab tests that I know about are from Prometheus and they are blood tests. They have a website prometheus.com. While they can't diagnose you from the blood tests, it is interesting to know if any are positive. Some of us have IBD and IBS, so you could have both. Good luck with your new doctor.
Posted 3/17/2015 2:23 AM (GMT -8)
Please help. Does IBS wake u up at night or not?
Posted 3/17/2015 4:33 AM (GMT -8)
Dagger if you're still around please tell me - was IBS the cause for you waking up?
Posted 5/3/2015 3:43 PM (GMT -8)
This winter I had very active ibs/c and have gotten up with gas pains. Really horrible gas pains and hard to deal with. Don't know where it is coming from. They gave me a cat scan, etc.

Thought I was over the darn thing but now it has come back. Doctors don't like to answer questions but they know how to collect their payments fast enough.

I am VERY TIRED of dealing with them. No answers, just take this test so they can make more money.
Posted 5/16/2015 7:09 PM (GMT -8)
I used to wake up when my Candida was really bad and my liver was jacked up, but my liver is clean now (thanks to coffee enemas) so I don't wake up at night anymore.
Posted 5/24/2015 4:45 PM (GMT -8)
My IBS doesn't wake me up during the night, but I wake up every morning with a cramping in my pelvic area. Kind of dead center, lower abs. I notice I'm up pee-ing all night lately too.

Not sure what to think of this but I'm sure tired of all the pain.
Posted 4/24/2016 1:35 PM (GMT -8)
I've had IBS since I was a child. (I was born with spina bifida, and the doctors say it is quite common.) At 14, a gastro stated that he did not find anything, BUT my colon was very spastic. My pain 9 out of 10 times happens in the middle of the night. It starts off with painful bloating. Then I break out into a sweat. The pain will become very intense; I am unable to sit on the toilet, although I'm having a b.m. It's like it gets "stuck," even though it's diarrhea. This has been so bad before that a (simple) scope showed an ischemic ulcer, basically where it was getting stuck! Without IBS meds, this can go on for hours. Levsin and similar, however, have me out of pain in about 30 minutes.
The person on here that is 0.5 away from Crohn's, I want to yell at her doctor. Come on! You aren't that close away and still not have it. Inconclusive, my foot! Take the blood result and add it to everything else.
But as for IBS NOT happening at night, that is absurd. What they are referring to most likely is the fact that when you go to sleep, all those systems "shut off" into a type of paralysis. The fact that we can wake up having to urinate, though, shows that this does NOT always happen.
I know this is from 2013, and we're now in 2016, but this is an important subject. I literally just joined so I could comment!
Posted 4/25/2016 1:25 AM (GMT -8)
It's very individual, it's very rare that I get woken up at night by pain but it does happen when I eat the wrong thing. My symptoms generally improve a lot when I'm asleep but my ibs I think is very linked to my emotional state, rather than being cramps and spasms which never really trouble me. For other people though I think it can wake you up in the night but you should always get tested for organic illness before being diagnosed with ibs as it's a bit of a catch all bs diagnosis
Posted 5/14/2016 6:12 PM (GMT -8)
andy i hope you get my message. ive been reading your posts and how you help people i appreciate that and i am almost in the same place as you only able to eat potatoes the difference is that i can't use ppis, they would kill me from the side effects i tried 4 times and i plan to use them in a life /death situation next time. anyways if ur still on potatoes diet, u can try "brown rice cereal - the baby ones" or make a powder from the chex rice cereal or any other brown rice cereal combine that with fresh non dairy milk...dont use the same milk the next time u open the can because it goes bad for us with super sensitive stomachs, it will give u enough vitamins and nutrition and not be so hard on your stomach until you fully heal your gastritis with ur diet.

also about IBS you should really join persky farms forums, IBS doesn't really exist and by that i mean everyone has a different cause but the doctors just label it as IBS because they dont know . I thought i had the same thing and so many thought the same and it turns out the cause was different and usually was down to food intolerance or microscopic inflammation or even an infection which can be corrected by avoiding all triggers and reducing inflammation ( in any part of your gi tract theyre all connected). i hope this give u some insight and yes emotional states and stress aggraviates it but it doesnt cause it. imo. i really hope you get better !

Post Edited (photon) : 5/14/2016 8:21:09 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/4/2016 8:25 PM (GMT -8)
IBS Treatment - http://ibs.digestivescience.com/ct/99781
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