Hi,
I'm posting on behalf of my partner who has been suffering from severe IBS for the past few years. During this time she has had daily visits to doctors, dietitians and clinics who have carried out multiple tests for things such as food allergies etc. The pain is now almost unbearable each day and the doctor has resorted to giving a weekly supply of Diarrhea tablets. Does anyone know of any private clinics/consultants in Northern Ireland?
Thanks
Has she been tested for Coeliac disease? GPs have been told by NICE that they must check for it before diagnosing IBS as many people are being missed and suffer years of ill-health before getting a correct diagnosis which can be years later when they reach a crisis point. Read up on the condition - symptoms - diagnosis and diet on Coeliac Org UK website. Ask for a referral to a Gastroenterologist from your GP - it may be the only way to be checked out properly! Act sooner rather than later! Contact Coeliac UK for advice via their Talk To Us link if you feel you need more help.
Thanks for your reply. About 3 years ago she had a Colonscopy and a ultrasound which came back fine.
tell her to go 'gluten free' for a few weeks and see if that helps. it worked for me.
Colonoscopy and ultrasound is not used to diagnose Coeliac disease.
Read Coeliac Org UK website so you have the correct information.
Do NOT go gluten free for a few weeks to see if it helps - because you can rarely do it totally without assistance from qualified people and The Food Directory (Coeliac UK) initially...again see Coeliac UK website.So many people do this and as a result never get correctly diagnosed and remain ill for years...slowly getting weaker as a result.
Once you eliminate gluten from your diet - if you are a Coeliac - the antibodies to gluten will not show up in your blood stream and so a future blood test will give you a False Negative result. As a result you will not be offered the small intestine biopsy (which is done via the mouth end!) which would confirm the diagnosis - a tiny piece of the gut is taken to see if it is smooth (all the nutrient absorbing hairs have withdrawn into it if reacting to gluten) and this is the only way to get it confirmed one way or the other.
Coeliac disease is an auto-immune condition and it is important to be checked out for it..
Colonoscopies are given to check for cancers or Crohns disease - the latter causes inflammation in the bowel which can be seen from that end. Coeliac disease cannot.
Thanks Caro13 that's good info. The interesting thing is after a food sensitivity test in a local clinic she was told to avoid gluten, msg and pork and has done for approx 6 months with no real improvement so what you mention about false positives makes sense.
Does she check ingredients on absolutely everything she eats? Including things like Gravy powders, Crisps, grated cheese, all sauces, any pre-prepared foods....etc.etc...Has she got a copy of the Coeliac Food Directory - it gives so much information on products and indicates where wheatflour, barley or rye may be hidden.....and just recently many ingredient lists have changed and any gluten containing ingredients have to be written in bold in the list - some no longer state they are gluten free as well....that is being phased in over this year....so can be confusing at present.
If she has been avoiding gluten she would need to eat it again - at least one portion every day for minimum of 6 weeks before having the Coeliac blood test - otherwise she would get a false negative. Gluten has to be in the system in order for the body to produce the antibodies against it which they look for to prove you have the condition. Perhaps you could discuss again with her GP and request a referral for her to a Gastroenterologist - he will look for anything which may be causing her problems, not only coeliac condition... but read up on the disease beforehand so you are as clued up as possible about it first. Food sensitivity tests are not very reliable - do read the Coeliac UK website! She should not be left to suffer like this and you should insist on a referral for her...GPs are not always as clued up on these things as they should be. My GPs have asked me about it in the past - whether I can buy normal Cornflakes for my breakfast for example....which I can't! I buy gluten free Porridge Oats these days from the Free From area in Tesco...
See also a low FODMAP diet. This is relatively new but has had great success. Most of the initial research was done in Australia so the lists of foods for the Northern Hemisphere is not complete. There is a very informative book - The Complete Low-Fodmap Diet: A Revolutionary Plan for Managing Ibs and Other Digestive Disorders by Sue Shepard which will help you make head and tail of things. Good luck.
Hi SPO3
You have requested assistance in Northern Ireland. We provide a service for symptoms as described, based on the blood results, colonoscopy, endoscopy and.biopsy tests completed as per GP/Consultant.
We are a team of specialist Dietitians based in Northern Ireland. Trained in the Low FODMAPs Elimination and have a 95% success rate for all patients seen for IBS.....
If this is of interest please visit our website to view our services and testimonials and email us if you wish to discuss this further.
Kind regards
Hi I also live in Northern Ireland. My symptoms literally started overnight 4 years ago(cramping lower left side like period pains, morning diahorrea, nausea, fatigue, lightheadedness. After my blood tests were clear, I was referred to a gastroenterologist who performed a barium enema, sigmoidoscopy and endoscopy. all came back clear so I was officially diagnosed with a functional bowel disorder with upper gi symptoms.
I suffer most days and luckily am a 42 year old stay-at-home mum so dont have to face going out in the mornings. I am considering going gluten free to see if this helps despite blood tests and endoscopy being negative.
My sympathies as people dont understand what a horrendous condition this is... I visited Jan De Vries clinic in Belfast and he diagnosed inflamed sigmoid which my GP dismissed as he said it would have showed up in sigmoidoscopy. Tried all his drops and potions but to no effect - just lightened the bank balance!!!! Will see my GP re Non Coeliac Gluten sensitivity and hopefully will be referred to dietitian locally.
Always worth requesting the blood test for Coeliac disease again - definitely! Some people get negative results a few times - make sure you eat plenty of bread and gluten containing products in the weeks beforehand though.
When I was diagnosed Coeliac (years ago) they actually asked me if I had any Irish ancestry - I said not that I was aware of although I knew there was some Scottish - and they told me that Coeliac disease is very common in Ireland - so I would expect anyone with IBS type symptoms would be tested for that first - and nowadays there is more than one blood test to check for it...see Coeliac Org UK website for lots of info. It could help you.
They are learning more about the disease and how to test accurately for it year by year. Good Luck!
Hi everyone,
I just read about feacal transplants and the implications there are for it curing some gut conditions. Not being technologically minded I'm not sure how to get it onto this page but it is at present on the BBC news website under the Health section it is there main story on that page so you can't miss it. I just thought it may be of some interest and possible help. As my symptoms have reoccurred after anti biotics and also the second course has seemed to have no effect at all I am back to square one so if this is a new possibility then it has to be worth a look.
Good luck