Question Please Read.

I am unsure if I have IBS. I think I do but not 100% sure. I will be going to my doctors soon; I just would like an opinion on other peoples views.

 

Anyways I've been having this issue for about 6 months now and was looking on the Internet looking for a reason to my septum’s I have been getting and I came across IBS.

 

Here is what my septum's have been like for the last 6 months.

 

I can go to the washroom with out problems and go normally, 3 times a week, sometimes only 2 times and week. But every 21 to 27 days I get a soar tummy, lower region. I deal with this pain for maybe an hour or two. I go and sit on the toilet when the pains come and I extinguish a very small amount of stool, not very much. The pain then subsides but returns so I repeat I go back to the washroom and sit on the toilet for the pain to come in to play to extinguish some stool. During this time my stomach still feels weird, and the pains come and go. It's only about a hour to 2 hours that I extinguish a large amount of liquid stool, then my stomach feels better and the pains don’t come back. I only get this every 21 to 27 days. I am unsure if this is IBS but the septums do have some similarities. Please comment on what I'm experiencing and give insight if this could be IBS or something else.

 

 

Actually, a lot of women experience bowel problems around the time of their periods, but it doesn't count as IBS. I guess because IBS has no cause, but if you only get bad bowel movements before, during or after your period, then you know the hormones are the problem. Before I developed any bowel problems at all, I used to get constipated right before my period. If you know it's coming, you can sometimes change your diet or take something that will help head it off at the pass, as it were. And sometimes birth control can help; sometimes it makes it worse. It's always something to consider changing to see if the problem goes away or at least gets better.

I'm a male.

Private,
Will you be seeing a Gastroenterologist this Friday? Don't be surprised if you don't get the IBS diagnosis. Technically, IBS is diagnosed if you've had 3 consecutive months of abnormal bowel habits, usually associated with bloating and pain, and C or D (or both).
Good luck!

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Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum

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If bowel problems run in your family, then that's probably what's wrong with you; it seems to be quite herditary. Strange, though, that you get it in predictable cycles. Although doctors are now finally studying men's hormones and find that they too cycle like women's hormones, although they don't change or dip nearly as much; that's why their symptoms are generally overlooked or dismissed. You may want to look online for information on male PMS to see if bowel problems are associated with men's hormonal changes and see if anything's recommended to help it.

Also, I was just reading yesterday that certain essential oils can interfere with hormones, especially in men. Someone noticed that using soap, shampoo, and/or lotions and oils on men that contain certain essential oils for scent can cause them to produce more estrogen and/or block some of their male hormones and it causes breast growth. When they stopped using those products, their breasts returned to normal. This was even observed on a 17-month old baby girl. Lavendar and tea tree oil were two of the things that caused this problem. If you used scented soaps, shampoos or lotions, you might consider dropping them and see if you have less noticeable "cycles".

If you only normally go 2-3 times a week that is not enough, so there's definitely something going on, normal is considered 1-3 times a day, everyday. If you don't go often enough then bacteria is sitting in your system (colon) much longer then it should be and can cause problems...you should take probiotics if this is your case. Let us know what the GI says.

:)

Private, I don't think pb4 meant you have a "bug" in your system.... Just that bad bacteria could have taken over your guts.  Everyone has a balance of good and bad bacteria in their intestines -- this is called your gut flora.  If you have too much bad and not enough good, then things cease to work as properly as they should.  I think all of us with IBS have an unbalanced gut flora... This is why most of us take probiotics - to try and balance out our good bacteria with the bad.  I hope I'm making sense here....

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Zelnorm is for constipation predominant IBS. It sure might be something to discuss with your doc if you are having trouble going to the bathroom more than a couple times a week.

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When I was a kid and teen, normal for me was once every other day (so 3-4 times a week). Now I almost always go once a day, and usually twice. I think it doesn't matter how often you go, so long as your stools are formed and aren't hard to pass, and you don't constantly feel the urge "to go". If they're hard to pass, they're staying in there too long and losing too much water. If you feel the urge to go all the time, but nothing happens, then something's wrong--either you've got stool in there that's refusing to come out, or your intestines are going haywire and telling you you need to go when there's nothing there to release. If they're not formed, and especially if you have multiple bowel movements in a day, then something is also wrong.

I say, if you feel okay when you have a poop, and you don't cramp or hurt or have constant gas between poops, then you're normal and should probably not do anything to mess that up! Somedays I poop a little bit many times in one day. So long as it's not watery and I don't feel the constant, urgent need to go to the bathroom, I just accept multi mini poops as normal, even though that's not a typical day for me. Everyday is a different day with different food, so who know what may come out?

Private, I don't think it's moisturizing lotions which are the problem--Dove claims their moisturizing comes from milk products; it's the oils they put in stuff for scents. Tea tree oil, the article said, was most common in head lice shampoos, although I've seen it listed as an ingredient for people who make their own soaps and stuff. Lavender is another one that's pretty common in a lot of soaps and shampoos today. Herbal Essence markets itself on having a lot of herbs/essential oils in it, so that's probably something you want to discontinue using. Try finding an aloe-vera based shampoo, like Sauve; I haven't heard that aloe vera does anything to a man, and it's been used on people's skin for centuries. Don't forget to look at the hand soap you use at your sinks at home and work; it they smell strong of flowers or herbs, you might want to try using something else.

You also have to remember that age has a lot to do with it too: older people don't go as often on average as younger and middle-aged adults. Of course, that's why a lot of them have prune juice in the fridge and Correctols in the bathroom; their bodies are just slowing down.

One thing I dont understand is what Keriamon said If "they're hard to pass, they're staying in there too long and losing too much water" How come this isent happening to me, I mean I go 3 times or 2 times a week and not very much, like the sizes of my pooh isent a normal size it's smaller. That tells me my pooh is staying in me for a long time, but mine dont get hard it comes out liquidy when I have the big one every 20 days when my stomach hurts.

So I went to go see my Doctor. He said it sounds like I have IBS. He told me to start taking Metamucil. He made me an appointment to go see a Gastroenterologist. He said it would take months before I could see one, he also said if I improve from taking Metamucil, I wont need to get any testing done. He said because of my age, if the Metamucil works for me he doesn't see any reason why they would need to do tests, he said the only way they would want to do test on me is if nothing improves. Thanks guys for all your support and help on answering my questions.