I'm a student, and have nearly finished my first year in university, I travel to university by myself and for the last 2 months I have been suffering with severe discomfort in the car as I've been experiencing a sudden urge to empty my bowels when driving, which can be difficult when stuck in traffic as there is nowhere to stop, I get a nauseas sensation and severe abdominal cramping then the sudden urge to go, I have never suffered with this problem before, so I tried to keep track of what I was eating, I cut out carbonated drinks and fatty greasy foods, as I thought they may be a cause but I noticed no change, I went to the doctor and she told me it may be anxiety as it happened once and the fear of it becoming an ongoing problem may be all in my head, the second doctor I seen diagnosed me with bowel overflow and prescribed me fibre drinks, they didn't work and have recently seen a third doctor for her to give me tablets for IBS bowel spasms but they haven't made much of a difference as I had blood taken and they came back normal, I am at my wits end, I am terrified to drive anywhere, I don't go out and I even tried to stop eating which made me feel even worse, I am considering paying privately to see a specialist as I feel really depressed, its taking over my life, I used to be happy and outgoing and loved driving everywhere now I feel like I fear for the future. Can anyone help me??
Lauren,
I am 60 and I have been suffering from my guts for a lifetime. i have learned by myself on the hard way to manage it. Try the Fodmap diet. Fiber is not for us and we are sick not stresst out. Pay the best Dr. spcialist you can afford, the Drs. you have seen until now should be mowing grass.
And yes, not eating is even worse, brings a lot of empty acidic damaging your guts since there is no food to digest and increments the nausea.
Hello,
I am pretty sure we are about the same age as you said you are just finishing your first year of uni as I am. Anyways, I would like to say that IBS cannot be diagnosed by blood tests. I am actually getting a colonoscopy for that this June. If it makes you feel better my symptoms started around Sept and it took me until Jan to actually get my doctor to refer me to a specialist. What I did was just kept going back to my family doctor (each visit were a month apart). With this amount of time something should have at least change you know, but it didn't and I still had the same symptoms of IBS. What I am trying to say is you should pick one doctor and be persistent. Preferably not the one who said it was in your head. My symptoms suddenly developed one day and I just knew there had to be something wrong.
Thank you very much this helps a lot! I need to pay my doctor another visit I think! I start university after the holidays again in a couple of weeks and I'm terrified to drive there!
Thank you! This helps a lot!
This is the same thing that happened to me I was afraid to drive to work. I started to become a recluse and just wanted to stay in my house. I take anti-dirreahea pills before I leave the house just to ease my mind. I suffer from anxiety and this definitely sounds like an anxiety thing. The fear of the pain makes it worse or just thinking it is going to happen and worrying about it when you drive literally makes the episode of stomach problems start.
This is exactly how I feel and it is making my life a misery! I dont know what to do, its the first think I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night. Its ruining my confidence and I don't know how I'm going to get over it. Anti diarrhea pills don't work for me.
You might have IBS*, but you could also have one of a number of other problems. You definitely need to see a specialist and get tested properly.
Carbonated drinks are bad for you anyway, so stay off them.
*Your symptoms don't sound too much like IBS to me, but IBS is quite possibly not a single ailment anyway, so others may disagree.
Thank you very much, I'm considering paying privatley!