HI I'm a newby to this site but been suffering for a while....
I think I have stress related IBS. I have suffered with D on and off for a while, then seems when the stress goes the C comes. Lately I have been having to "go" up to 6 times a morning (over 2 hours) but even so each time I go not a lot comes out and I am left feeling there is still more in there. It's an awful feeling. Stools are soft and skinny. I eat live yoghurt all the time and have a really good diet etc....but am thinking a dose of Pro-biotics would be good to get. I was also thinking of the Blackmore's 10 day detox as I thought maybe that would just clean me out once and for all, but I'm scared to make the D worse. I have had liver function tests and they were clear but am thinking of going back to a different GP and having different tests. I also get a really bad pain in my tailbone like I was reading someone else in the forum does, so bad I feel like I have to vomit, it's way up inside my rectum, so I don't know if it's piles (have had in the past) but after a while that goes away with a very vigorous rub to my back and some ibuprofen.
What to do about the conundrum of D/C and feeling like it's not out??
thanks, bb
Hi Babybee and welcome to HealingWell. I too have only recently joined this site. I was diagnosed with UC 13 years ago and IBS 2 months ago.Without this site i don't know what i would do.I was just wondering have you tried any mild laxatives. I know that i use Lactulose solution. I take 10 mls in the morning and and 10mls at night when i am C. This usually works for me(can take a day or 2) and i know other UC/IBS sufferers who do the same.I usually find that my pain is worse when i am badly C.Another more natural trick i use is to drink a pint of cooled boiled water first thing in the morning. Try and drink it as warm as you can tolerate. Maybe this isn't the right thing to do and others may advice you not to do this but it definitly works for me.Usually within a half hour of drinking the water i can completely empty my bowels.I would advice you to get an appointment straight away with your doc and demand that he carries out all possible tests as a matter of urgency.
I hope this is of some help to you.
Marty
Hi babybee,
Welcome to Healing Well :)
Are you getting plenty of fiber in your diet? Fiber will bulk up your stool (not constipating) and may help with the tenesmus feeling. I also get those rectal spasms (proctalgia fugax). I take an antispasmodic for it but you may also get relief from a warm bath which I just learned recently. I know the feeling though, they are very painful. Have you had a colonoscopy done or any type of lower GI test? Only a doctor can diagnose you with IBS. Please keep posting, we are a great bunch of people here :)
Welcome to Healing Well :)
Are you getting plenty of fiber in your diet? Fiber will bulk up your stool (not constipating) and may help with the tenesmus feeling. I also get those rectal spasms (proctalgia fugax). I take an antispasmodic for it but you may also get relief from a warm bath which I just learned recently. I know the feeling though, they are very painful. Have you had a colonoscopy done or any type of lower GI test? Only a doctor can diagnose you with IBS. Please keep posting, we are a great bunch of people here :)
Hugs, Des
Co-Moderator ~ IBS Forum
~My reality check bounced
Please help Healing Well continue to help others by donating http://www.healingwell.com/donate
You mentioned you are under stess. Have you read Spengler's last post about how some people under stress tense up their pelvic muscles and cause themselves to feel that pressure in their rectum? It certainly wouldn't hurt you to try and de-stress, be that with medication or with yoga, tai chi, deep breathing, etc. techniques. Some people here are on an anti-depressant not so much for their mental health as for the fact that one particular brand actually helps IBS-D symptoms.
Most all of us on here do not recommend any sort of colon cleansing product. If you have frequent bouts of diarrhea, you are getting plenty cleaned out. Stuff just doesn't stick to your intestines like gum sticks to the bottom of your shoe; if you move regularly or have diarrhea, everything is coming out. When you are constipated, yes, you may need a laxative to help you out, but there's not need to "flush" your system with anything. You're either feeling pressure because you're constipated--which a regular, much cheaper laxative will fix--or you feel pressure because you are tense and/or because your intestines just send out that feeling, even though there's nothing there (I think that's part of "functional bowel distorder"). And a colon cleanser will not make your tension go away.
If you really want to poop yourself silly for a day, then get some Go-Lyghtly at the pharmacy. You can get it without a prescription and it doesn't cost but $4-$7 bucks. It's what a lot of people take prior to a colonoscopy. Tastes like you-know-what, but it will make you poop water after a few hours. At least by taking that it will 1) be cheaper than most colon cleanser products and 2) you know it's something doctors prescribe, so it's not going to harm you. Those herbal things are not regulated by the FDA. Could have bat guano or tiger testicles in it for all you know.
If you are intersted in a less chemical laxative, try either prunes or aloe vera (you can get aloe in pills so you don't have to drink it). People have been using prune juice to stay regular for years. One person on here has said eating prunes has helped her diarrhea, oddly enough. Perhaps the fiber from the actual prunes helps balance things out. My mother took aloe vera pills for hair loss, only to find out that they were making her a bit too regular, so she had to cut back to one pill every other day. Hopefully one of those things will not only help with your constipation, but moderate your diarrhea as well.
The problem with treating your diarrhea is that you can go back to being constipated so quickly. If you have diarrhea, you need to be extra careful with what you take so you don't swing back to constipation too roughly. Me, I can't take a whole Immodium unless there's something really bad wrong with me (like my episode back in the summer where I had diarrhea every day for two months); normally a whole Immodium pill leaves me very, very constipated the next day (before I had my gall bladder problems, I leaned towards being constipated). So if I have diarrhea I take half an Immodium or two Pepto Bismol caplets. The Pepto Bismol has never constipated me and that's what I used almost exclusively when I had diarrhea from my gall bladder. If I haven't gotten better after 30 minutes, I'll take another dose of Pepto. With Immodium, though, I wait an hour or more before I take the other half of a pill because I'm so afraid of making myself horribly constipated.
There are two other things I recommend for diarrhea, but if I were you, I probably wouldn't use them unless I was having a long-lasting period of diarrhea. One is calcium--particularly Caltrate 600 w/ vitamin D. That helps some to stop you up. Don't take more than one pill a day until you are absolutely certain that it's not going to constipate you. If you are still having diarrhea, then up it to two. The other thing is dehydrated banana chips. Those things will constipate anybody! (I'm still waiting, though, to see if Sarita has tried them; she's the hardest case out there). Never eat more than a handful a day and only when you have diarrhea. As far as I am aware, neither the banana chips or the calcium will offer immediate relief like Immodium or Pepto, but with regular use, they should eliminate the need for the pills all the time. Obviously don't use the two in combination.
Most all of us on here do not recommend any sort of colon cleansing product. If you have frequent bouts of diarrhea, you are getting plenty cleaned out. Stuff just doesn't stick to your intestines like gum sticks to the bottom of your shoe; if you move regularly or have diarrhea, everything is coming out. When you are constipated, yes, you may need a laxative to help you out, but there's not need to "flush" your system with anything. You're either feeling pressure because you're constipated--which a regular, much cheaper laxative will fix--or you feel pressure because you are tense and/or because your intestines just send out that feeling, even though there's nothing there (I think that's part of "functional bowel distorder"). And a colon cleanser will not make your tension go away.
If you really want to poop yourself silly for a day, then get some Go-Lyghtly at the pharmacy. You can get it without a prescription and it doesn't cost but $4-$7 bucks. It's what a lot of people take prior to a colonoscopy. Tastes like you-know-what, but it will make you poop water after a few hours. At least by taking that it will 1) be cheaper than most colon cleanser products and 2) you know it's something doctors prescribe, so it's not going to harm you. Those herbal things are not regulated by the FDA. Could have bat guano or tiger testicles in it for all you know.
If you are intersted in a less chemical laxative, try either prunes or aloe vera (you can get aloe in pills so you don't have to drink it). People have been using prune juice to stay regular for years. One person on here has said eating prunes has helped her diarrhea, oddly enough. Perhaps the fiber from the actual prunes helps balance things out. My mother took aloe vera pills for hair loss, only to find out that they were making her a bit too regular, so she had to cut back to one pill every other day. Hopefully one of those things will not only help with your constipation, but moderate your diarrhea as well.
The problem with treating your diarrhea is that you can go back to being constipated so quickly. If you have diarrhea, you need to be extra careful with what you take so you don't swing back to constipation too roughly. Me, I can't take a whole Immodium unless there's something really bad wrong with me (like my episode back in the summer where I had diarrhea every day for two months); normally a whole Immodium pill leaves me very, very constipated the next day (before I had my gall bladder problems, I leaned towards being constipated). So if I have diarrhea I take half an Immodium or two Pepto Bismol caplets. The Pepto Bismol has never constipated me and that's what I used almost exclusively when I had diarrhea from my gall bladder. If I haven't gotten better after 30 minutes, I'll take another dose of Pepto. With Immodium, though, I wait an hour or more before I take the other half of a pill because I'm so afraid of making myself horribly constipated.
There are two other things I recommend for diarrhea, but if I were you, I probably wouldn't use them unless I was having a long-lasting period of diarrhea. One is calcium--particularly Caltrate 600 w/ vitamin D. That helps some to stop you up. Don't take more than one pill a day until you are absolutely certain that it's not going to constipate you. If you are still having diarrhea, then up it to two. The other thing is dehydrated banana chips. Those things will constipate anybody! (I'm still waiting, though, to see if Sarita has tried them; she's the hardest case out there). Never eat more than a handful a day and only when you have diarrhea. As far as I am aware, neither the banana chips or the calcium will offer immediate relief like Immodium or Pepto, but with regular use, they should eliminate the need for the pills all the time. Obviously don't use the two in combination.
Hello New here also and I also am in a terrible state. Suffered with colitis and floating secum most of my life. For 2 years the doctors had me thru every test possible numerous times then finally was put in the hospital with blockage. I had a section and had 1 1/2 bowels removed. Since then I have had numerous problems but it is much to long to go into at this time. I can tell you this I decided I never wanted to go thru the tests again or have another operation. Now I think I am in a mess. Cannot eat for two weeks and am booked to see the doctor on the 6th of Dec. I am scared out of my wits now. Is there any help out there to advise me what I can do.
Hi iggypop,
I wanted to welcome you to the site.
I'm so sorry that you have been through such a tough time. Bad experiences will cause us to have a phobia to anything. I didn't have a bad experience with a barium enema but the process was very uncomfortable to say the least and I will not be so easily convinced to do it again. I have colonoscopies regularly and I don't mind those at all. What kinds of tests have you had done. I hope you post some more so we can find out more about you. We have a great bunch here and lots of support. Again welcome to the "family" :)
I wanted to welcome you to the site.
I'm so sorry that you have been through such a tough time. Bad experiences will cause us to have a phobia to anything. I didn't have a bad experience with a barium enema but the process was very uncomfortable to say the least and I will not be so easily convinced to do it again. I have colonoscopies regularly and I don't mind those at all. What kinds of tests have you had done. I hope you post some more so we can find out more about you. We have a great bunch here and lots of support. Again welcome to the "family" :)
Hugs, Des
Co-Moderator ~ IBS Forum
~My reality check bounced
Please help Healing Well continue to help others by donating http://www.healingwell.com/donate
Hi iggypop,
Welcome to HealingWell!
You have been through a lot and it is only natural to feel frustration and anger. I really hope the docs can help you on the 6th. Hang in there until then.
Did you know we have a UC (Ulcerative Colitis) forum on this website? You may want to check it out as I'm sure the people who post there can give you some advice about your colitis.
Take care...
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Welcome to HealingWell!
You have been through a lot and it is only natural to feel frustration and anger. I really hope the docs can help you on the 6th. Hang in there until then.
Did you know we have a UC (Ulcerative Colitis) forum on this website? You may want to check it out as I'm sure the people who post there can give you some advice about your colitis.
Take care...
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Please donate to help HealingWell continue to help us..... www.healingwell.com/donate
Thank you so much for your welcome. I had posted this reply earlier but don't think it managed to get on. It is so great that I have found this site and have felt the compassion immediately. On top of all the troubles I am having now, I lost my husband 3 years ago and he was my support. Just having someone there to hold your hand and see you thru things was major to me. Now I am wondering how I will face it on my own. I am 63 and have had 9 operations. The section was the worst and I just do not want any more. I am certainly going to mull what the doc says on the 6th and then maybe check into seeing a homeopath. Thanks again.
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Please know that we are all here for each other. I'm sorry you have been through so much, you sound like a very strong woman. Homeopathy may be a great avenue that honestly I haven't looked into much but have heard lots of great things about it. I am beginning to open my eyes into more holistic ways also for healing. Aromatherapy, acupuncture, etc. I'm getting really desperate for relief. We have all come a long way as I have too but I still have a long way to go.
Hugs, Des
Co-Moderator ~ IBS Forum
~My reality check bounced
Please help Healing Well continue to help others by donating http://www.healingwell.com/donate
Hey, iggypop!
I, too, am sorry to hear about the loss of your husband and all the horrible stuff you have had to endure! Stay strong!! You can do it.....if you need support, we're all here for you and you can email me if you need anything, just to vent or whatever you need.....merchantg@comcast.net.
Take care and sending prayers and big hugs your way!!
Michelle :)
I, too, am sorry to hear about the loss of your husband and all the horrible stuff you have had to endure! Stay strong!! You can do it.....if you need support, we're all here for you and you can email me if you need anything, just to vent or whatever you need.....merchantg@comcast.net.
Take care and sending prayers and big hugs your way!!
Michelle :)
(((Big Hugs)))
Iggy, please come back and give us an update after your doc apt on the 6th.
Wishing you the best...
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Iggy, please come back and give us an update after your doc apt on the 6th.
Wishing you the best...
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Please donate to help HealingWell continue to help us..... www.healingwell.com/donate