IBS?

Digestive health
1

I am 55 and have had reflux for about ten years taking increasingingly larger doses of Omeprazole, now on 40mg at night. During this time I have also had intermittent attacks of stomach cramps sometimes maybe only once or twice a year again increasing as I have got older. Until this last year the attacks have been easy to handle with painkillers. The pain has however increased and the severity and length of attacks of pain has also increased. The pain can be just below the breast bone, around the whole abdomen, or sharp stitch like pains in one or two places around my tummy. I started an attack six weeks ago which has produced all three areas of pain and often all at the same time. I have had little or no releif since. I do not however have either diahrroea or constipation. I am in fact very regular and normal. I do belch a lot and I get a fair bit of trapped wind The gp says it is IBS. It seems to be that there is no one food that causes it but I avoid salad especially tomatoes (which I love!) raw veg, peppers and onions and spicy food. And it seems anything too tomatoey! I wake up in the morning and feel fine but as the day draws on and I eat the evening is pain all the way until I go to bed with a nightly dose of Paracetamol. I have had a whole load of blood tests which have showed up nothing! Help!! Is this IBS? How do I manage it? Can this last as long as this in any one bout?

Really would like some advice from anyone out there in the same boat!!

maryrussell

2

Hi Mary

Have been on omeprazole for nearly two years now due to the same problems, as you know we are not doctors but can always give you information for what medications we take and the symtoms we have, i myself belch terribly in the mornings mainly and after eating, this is the omeprazoles way of dispercing gas from your stomach, but have you found the more omeprazole you take the more belching occurs? i only take omeprazole now when reflux is at its most and only one it only takes up to 30 minutes to start sorting the relux ask your doctor before reducing though as mine has adviced that high doses for to long can weaken your intestines

Have you been tested for b12 and floric acid as low levels can start to show symtoms have a look at b12 defiency online and see the list of symtoms listed and speck to your gp to get the test done.

Have you had a colonascope/ endoscope done, when i had mine they found diverticulitus which could be the problem as you stated tomatoes this could b because of this as can cause pain pain in the area stated as pips and seeds will cause this.

when you have an attack is the pain in a regular place?

How long does the pain last?

Do you feel nausea?

My tips would be ask for appointment with gp/

Do not eat fruit etc with pips or seeds to see what happens.

Drink plenty of water stay away from coffee tea, i drink lemon and ginger or peppermint

Eat very slowly this way air cannot get into you systom

hot baths and hot water bottle placed on area when attacks happen heat is a good healer.

do not eat past 6;00 pm at night as this heals the body for night time whilst laying dwn.

have small meals instead of large, i found that 3 small meals plus rice cakes for munching during day works well.

Im dairy, wheat and nut intolarent as these foods make me vry ill in deed, i personally think its not ibs as you stated your motions are ok if its ibs you will have a change in this area some are d promanent or c promanant or like myself suffer both. but if this does change then this can be the problem.

Hope ive been some help, keep your chin up we are all in the same boat in some way or another but never let any problems get to bad get an appointment and request test for your gp,

Let me know how you get on

Kaz xxxx

3

Thanks Kaz,

Your reply is encouraging! I am convinced this is not IBS! The pain is never the same. Sometimes it just under by breastbone and other times it is low in my intestines, sometimes it is all round my abdomen almost like labour pains. I stopped the colofac yesterday under the drs advice to see if it was making a difference and in the evening I felt a little better but at 3am I woke up in agony with pain in the lower half of my abdomen. I ended up taking painkillers again. By the morning I just felt as if I pulled all the muscles in my tummy. I sometimes feel nausea but not always!

I saw another gp in the practice yesterday but she just said she would talk with my gp and see what the next move is so I am playing a waiting game again. I am eating very little fruit at the moment trying to avoid anything that might make things worse. I am eating vegetables but again avoiding things that might cause problems like leeks or onion.

Your advice about water is good I know I should drink more water but I do drink only decaf tea and coffee. Are these ok?

I have cut down the size of my meals some weeks ago now and eat a much smaller than average meal now hence the weight loss. In 6 weeks I have lost 15lbs. Which is good I am not obese but was at least 2 and half stone over weight. (This is a big positive in this situation)

I try not to eat later than 7 anyway but it does cause a few problems socially as most people tend to eat later in a social setting. Generally speaking I eat around 6pm anyway.

Thanks again it is good to find other people who know how hard it is to cope with pain constantly.

mary

4

Hi Mary

Stay totally away from any coffee, like you leeks and onions are a no go as these produce gas in the stomach go on line you will see a link to fodmap its a intolarance guild line for people like us that produce to much gas / acid try avoiding all those in red and try green if worse swop to red and avoid green it does help.

As for the weight loss could be the smaller meals but please get b12 checked as this is also a sign as well as omeprazole can cause b12 defiancy im still losing weight not bad as before in june last year weighed 14 12 which was overwieght but now 10 stone 8 and losing still ask your gp nxt time to weigh you and ask them to keep checks on it as losing weight to quickly may be a cause of something going wrong inside.

Also what painkillers are you using stay away from asprin and any painkillers like co codomol are not good for you. do you suffer back ache ????

keep in touch and stick with it.

kaz xxxxx

5

Hi Kaz

Thanks for info will get some b12 and see if it makes a difference. Is the foodmap on this website?

Am keeping a watch on the weight loss and doc knows too.I have lost 15 lbs in 6 weeks which is good but seems very fast! I can only use paracetamol, was told years ago to stay away from Ibroprufen because of reflux. I will stay away from coffee as you suggest too.

Thanks again will let you know what doc says next week.

Mary

6

I am in the middle of yet another severe flair up and like you feel not too bad in the morning but as the day wears on so does the pain. Usually takes several weeks despite the medication. I am always relieved when the pain settles in a certain bit of my tummy, although its still real sore I know it's coming to the end.

I find that exercise helps, it's easier when I walk about and gentle swimming soothes it.

7

Hi Elisha

Thank you for that I will try walking a bit more. And I hope you get some relief soon. I am back to the doctors agin tomorrow with lots of questions!!

Mary

8

Hi all,

Just to say I have been back to doctors and am now having a scan on Monday. Did mention the Omeprazole link to Vitamin B12 deficiency but she did not take that up! Which is surprising since the pharmacist asked me if this was for treatment or maintenance??!! Think Iwill bring this up next time I see the Dr. Back on the Colofac now and not so painful. I am more settled that this is IBS and don't expect the scan to show anything but it is still good that they are doing something if only to put my mind at rest.

Mary

9

Hi Mary

Glad you are feeling a bit better. Be careful if you are bothered with reflux as I find that colifac makes it much worse - My doc says that's not a side effect but thats what it does to me and I end up having to take

Omaprazole. When I feel like that I put a some pillows under the mattress so that the top of the bed is

raised and that helps. Hope the scan goes well

10

Hi there, I joined the forum to get and share information with people out there like myself looking for answers for problems the docs cant seem to find yet.

I read your post with interest, and I have a suggestion based on something my husband was recently diagnosed with, and although he was recently diagnosed that was only after 10 years of increasing agony and frustration...

So what I need to share is that unknown to him, he was storing iron from birth due to a genetic mutation of a gene responsible for iron storage. Normally this gene with two normal copies does it's job and gets rid of excess iron, we need only about 4 g in our body for optimal health. But in iron overload disease, the body stores in, and to protect the body from free radicals, it takes the iron and puts it into tissues, organs and joints.

Early symptoms have to do with joint pain, abdominal pain, chronic fatigue that does not go away or get better with more sleep, dizziness, nausea,. heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat. People can have symptoms of intestinal discomfort, heartburn, headaches...

What I encourage anyone with any unexplained symptoms who have mystified the docs and specialists and or who have been told everything shows up fine, to investigate the iron overload connection, and the role iron plays in the destruction of organs, joints and tissues, leading to neurological changes and disfunction, liver damage, heart problems, even congestive heart failure, diabetes, joint pain in hands, fingers, knees and hips, vision decrease...among many other things, research this. My husband has the genetic form of hemochromatosis, found predominantly in those of European background, Irish/Scot/Welsh.

Iron disorder by too much or too little is dangerous and the body needs to maintain a consistent level in order to function normally. So either we don't get enough, or we can get too much, and this disorder does not show up with routine blood tests.

Worth checking out, early detection can save your life or the life of someone else by knowledge.

11

I thought that iron levels were checked when you have full blood tests, and particularly if you are bleeding

with IBS. Is this a different test?

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Unless they have done a screening for iron overload, this will not be tested for...this is different than hemoglobin, hematocrit, RBC...some of those numbers can show that you are low and may indicate to the dr that you could be anemic, but you can be anemic and iron load at the same time.

So the tests you need to ask for are serum iron, transferrin saturation, ferritin, and TIBC. The dr. may tell you based on your CBC's that you are low in iron, but if these other tests aren't done they can be missing other vital information.

If you have copies of your tests, which you are allowed to get, you can look on them and see whether your tests included anything like the above I mentioned. If not, it is worth getting more iron testing done.

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Hi folks , thought I would post this on the ibs discussion forum that was the latest one , I found an excellent website called earthclinic .com , please check it out if you want to try and get better with a more holistic approach ,also have found very interesting discussion on coconut oil , treating everything from alzheimer to heamorrhiods , please dont scoff , i have been following the coconut oil suggestions for ibs , its working , holland and barrett currently sell one that is half price , , please check it out , and consider trying this remedy , knowledge is power ,. research the website s excellent information for gastritis remedies too , i did the bicarbonate of soda remedy that has also worked , there is some science on the website , its not all folk remedies etc , dont think its all quackery , read all the info on earthclinic website

Best wishes for your healing

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I certainly will check it out. I've heard about it but never tried it

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Hi Elisha , great hope you find it helps , let em know how you get on if you decide to try it

16

Hi - I may be a bit late on this one as have only just found it.  I also suffered very severe and extremely painful stomach cramps and also loss of balance.  The culprit was Lansaprazole and Omeprazole or anything that ends with .......prazole.  With me it also started intermittently and then gradually building up to be more frequent.  It was so bad I had to report it to the Yellow Card Authority who monitors these things.  As soon as I stopped these drugs the symptoms disappeared.  Drugs can frequently throw up allergies so sometimes it is a process of elimination to find out what is causing symptoms.  For me it was a slow realisation that the drug was responsible for these dreadful symptoms which had me doubled-up in pain.  Now I am very wary of what I take.  Do hope this is helpful.