IBS Flare Up

[snoops71]

Starting this past Friday morning, IBS has rudely awakened me every morning. The main symptom that I have is the pain in my stomach, that goes from dull to sharp, until I take some medicine for it. It always did slow down my bowel movements, too. I hate not completely eliminating! I take Belladonna, which is the generic of Donnatal. I was first diagnosed with IBS when I was 21, in early '93. Before that, I had been seeing a gyn doctor who thought it was endometriosis, and gave me an un-necessary laparascopy, which I hate having gone along with. :headbang: Anyway, after several years of two pills a night before bedtime, the IBS had subsided, until a few days ago. I hadn't been bothered with it in nearly 2 years. I wonder, since IBS is common in IC patients, does this confirm I have IC even more? I'm going for my x-ray next Monday (of my abdomen and pelvis) and see the doctor the next day. Hopefully, he'll be ready to start focusing on my bladder only (he said he wanted to rule anything else out first.) I'm a person who knows my body, and I know my bladder has been the problem all along.

I'll keep you all posted!

Thanks for listening,

Kelli

[poetgirl]

Hi Kelly,

Yes, IBS is common in IC patients. I have it too and this past week has been really awful at times. Most days I cannot eat lunch without running to the bathroom 15-30 minutes later.

I'm not sure if your recent IBS flareup means you have IC more than you had before. These are chronic illnesses that never truly go away, although you can have long periods of time (if you are lucky) where you will experience no symptoms or very mild symptoms. And one can aggravate the other.

I used to take Donnatal but eventually stopped taking that and any other IBS meds and just try to deal with it on its own. The only time I have IBS pain is when my intestines are cramping and once I have a bowel movement, the discomfort usually goes away within an hour. The anti-spasmodics never worked well enough for me to rely on them.

Hope you feel better soon!

[ICNJess]

Can I join your IBS flare club? Mine flared up, went away, then yesterday it began again, though I suspect mine was a cross between gallbladder and IBS. Kelli--I love what you said about knowing your body. When I talk to my doctors, that's what I tell them, and I'm always right. You've just got to know yourself and be your best advocate. :) I hope you feel better soon though. :(

Hugs,
Jess

[tcollins]

I have had trememdous abdominal pains during the morning. I started with a JuicePlus product my wife started distributed. I have eliminated the pains and so far so good with the other IBS symptoms. Has anyone else tried JuicePlus? It has really worked for me.

[Kelli]

They say that ICers are 100 times more likely to have IBS. I was dx'd with IBS first and 7 years after was diagnosed with IC. But, just because you have one, doesn't mean you have the other. Good luck with your Dr appt, be sure to keep us posted on how things go.

Kelli

PS: I have never met anyone before with the same spelling of their name as mine. Kinda cool!