I am sorry to hear that you are having such intense abdominal pain attacks. IBS, strictly speaking, is a syndrome – that is to say it is a collection of symptoms, not an exact condition. The definition of IBS is a group of symptoms, including altered bowel habits (diarrhea, constipation, both, etc.) and abdominal pain that is relieved upon defecation. So your pain doesn’t fall into the IBS definition. However, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have the pain because of an underlying cause that can also cause IBS in other people. Abdominal pain like yours could be caused by immune system challenges, such as infection or allergy. It can be very hard to diagnose and most doctors will not offer the kinds of testing that can detect the infections or allergies that might be involved. I suggest you read some of the research on the Innate Health Foundation’s website.

The link is http://innatehealthfoundation.org/5_c.htm which is where you can find articles like this one:
Kokkonen J, Tikkanen S, Karttunen TJ, Savilahti E. (2002). A similar high level of immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin G class milk antibodies and increment of local lymphoid tissue on the duodenal mucosa in subjects with cow’s milk allergy and recurrent abdominal pains. Pediatric Allergy Immunology Apr;13(2):129-36.

Best of health to you.

A pain in my lower abdomen that comes out of nowhere, without any warning at all. It feels like heavy menstrual pain at first. This keeps building until the pain starts to move up my intestines, sharp stabbing pains, almost like a sharp stick is forcing it’s way through my intestines. This pain comes in waves, and I am on all fours having to breathe sharply in and out just to get through it. I have never given birth but it feels like that is what is happening to me.

The pressure in my abdomen builds up until I feel like I am going to explode. It feels like I need to expel gas or go to the toilet but I can’t, because at the same time that end has seized up too, by this stage I am in so much pain that I am actually crying. Eventually the pain moves back down to where it started and sits mainly in the lower left part of my pelvis but I can’t touch any part of my abdomen because it is so extremely sensitive. For the next day or two I have difficulty walking or sitting because I feel completely raw on the inside.

This only happens once every 4 – 5 months (thank God) and always so far, at night. But the last attack was so bad I had to go to the emergency room, although no one mentioned IBS and said I should see a gyaecologist who has since confirmed that it is nothing to do with that.

Other than that I don’t really know if I have IBS as it is listed – yes I do have more flatulence particularly in the morning, but I have regular bowel movements each day. I have noticed that the composition of my stool can change between one bowel movement and the next, and that occassionally when I eat salad or vegetables it goes straight through me. Otherwise on a daily level, I’m not sure I can say I have IBS.

Can anyone help?

There will never be a sure fire cure for IBS. That would be like having a sure fire cure for all infectious disease. There are simply too many causes. The way to cure IBS is to get tested for the causes of IBS and treat those causes that are affecting you. You may have a food allergy. And yes, different fish would affect you differently – if you aren’t allergic to tuna, but are allergic to cod, then you can eat tuna without causing symptoms, but cod will cause them sometimes. The digestive system is incredibly complicated and so just trying drugs or medications and randomly changing your diet is unlikely to be a real solution. Getting the right testing gets you the information you need to make intelligent choices. You wouldn’t just randomly change parts on your car and add random things to the gas and oil, would you? You would get the computer read-out and test some parts to see which need replacing. There is a ton of information about the causes of IBS. The book by Dr. Stephen Wangen “The Irritable Bowel Syndrome Solution” has lots of great information if you want to end your IBS.

I have been suffering with this for some time now. Seems like if I eat anything, anything at all, I bloat. The bloating and the constipation is the most inconvenient. For me, I have found if I stay on a high protein diet with chicken and fish, especially tuna, and also spinach, it all works better. I frequently mess up though because I love mexican foods and casseroles. I feel the best when I stay like I said above with high protein – fish, chicken, tuna ( I know tuna is a fish but different fish affect me differently, tuna is always ok straight out of the can), spinach, turnip greens. I too have tried all the drugs. Will find one that will work for a week or so and then we get right back to where we were. If anyone finds a sure fire cure, please post it.

The keys to IBS are:

1) Low fat diet. High fat content causes the Gastrointestinal system (GI) to contract and causes that “oh i ate half an hour ago and am in walmart, rushing for the can” problem.

2) Lots of soluble fibre .. rice and noodles (not egg noodles) are great for that. It may not fly with the ‘low carb’ diet, but you just need to exercise. I take benefibre pills from the grocery store. They taste pretty good (like an orange tums) and don’t cause you to choke on them like insoluble fibre (metamucil, etc)

3) Eat more often in smaller portions, and chew your food completely, allowing it time to get completely mushed in the mouth, rather than wolfing it down.

4) Avoid coffee and alcohol like the plague. Seriously.

5) Avoid dairy products, with the exception of occasional yogurt, which is a probiotic (enhances the helpful bacteria in the gut).

6) Try to avoid processed junk that is all fat and garbage and be more tactical about your meals. One thing I noticed in myself is that I ate constantly.. always had to have something going in my tummy, whether it was tea or candy or fruit or whatever.. if I give my stomach downtime, it works better. Feeling hungry isn’t a bad thing that needs immediate quenching. Remember that our ancestors only got to eat every couple of days sometimes. Hunger is just to motivate you to hunt for food.

7) If you’re having a superdiarrhea kind of day, just remember that rice is your best friend. And drink lots of room temperature or cool water, but not ice cold because that can induce the IBS cramps.

Avoid drinking too much pop.. the gas causes bloating which causes discomfort, which starts you on the chain to an attack. I drink the occasional glass of diet caffeine free pepsi. Up until a few days ago, I’d drink those horrible energy drinks in the morning (because I cannot have coffee without getting sick) but they were making the problem worse!

I’m going to plug the website of the woman who put me on the path to recovery:

http://www.helpforibs.com

Try her cookbook, and her fibre if you dont want pills.