I'm a female, 16 and since a month ago, my stomach has been cramping and emitting loud, gurgling noises and I have been constipated. At first I thought it was because I was on my period and the amount of milk and diary products I was eating were causing me to cramp so I stopped eating them. This solved the problem for a while and when I started eating them again, everything was fine. Until the end of last month when I experienced a great deal of stress, it started up again but it was worse this time. Mum said it was stress and I believed her until I was no longer stressed and it didn't show any signs of letting up. Today is the only day where I haven't suffered due to the cramps. However, I did poo and I found that there were orange lumps and white mucus. Is this IBS or should I be worried? I haven't been to the gp as I'm too embarrassed and scared he will say something is wrong with me.
Seems like this is IBS related. Is the stool smelly or in a sticky form? I've heard that orange stools is still in the normal section if stool colors.
No, it didn't appear to be any more smelly. The mucus looked sticky but apart from that almost everything was the same. The only other difference was I didn't feel relief as I'm still constipated and I have no idea what to do. It's really getting me down.
It does sound like IBS, which can be caused by a lot of things, including stress or the wrong diet. Have you tried cutting down again on some of the dairy products and asking your mum to buy you a gluten free milk, i.e. A Long Life variety such as Almond milk, either sweetened or unsweetened. There are quite a few long life milks that are gluten free. Also I'd recommend more roughage if you are constantly constipated.
I think you should see your GP. They are very used to dealing with embarrassed patients, especially with young people. He or she may ask you for a stool sample to be done at home and then send it off to the nearest lab and for you to return to the surgery when the results are back. Then he can give you a proper diagnosis, along with some positive advice regarding diet and cause of the orange stools with mucus. There is no need to be scared. Plenty of his patients will have IBS problems and they can be sorted, either with meds or a change in diet.
Please let us know how you get on. Regards, Val. (A long time sufferer of IBS)