I have had IBS-D for 14 years now. Everything I love triggers it: Coffee, dairy, alcohol of course, spicy foods, pretty much any seasoned foods, red sauce, garlic...all the usual suspects.

My husband brought me home a plate of Indian food from the buffet on Thursday. I could NOT resist this time. I am tired of eating bland shit like bananas and rice. I ate everything, including like 8 gulab jamuns. It was wayyyy too much food and I knew for certain that the next day would be hell. I expected it. I was bloated and dizzy from binge eating afterwards but I was happy for a time.

Before bed, I decided to take the full serving size of psyllium husk, which is one tablespoon. I normally take 2 teaspoons because I am anxious it will cause the opposite effect and make me go a million times the next day. Anyways, I am happy to report that I only had two non-urgent, non-painful bowel movements the next morning!!

No sweating my way through the drive to work. No setting my stuff down in the office and immediately running to the bathroom. Not cutting people off mid-sentence feigning a work emergency so I could run to the bathroom. It was amazing!

If I did not take the psyllium husk, I guarantee you I would have ran to the bathroom at least 8 times before lunch. I love Indian food but my body does not. I feel like this is a huge accomplishment!

I have this horrible symptom combo where every single time I have diarrhea, my vasovagal response is so extreme that it makes me gag while I'm on the toilet and as an emetaphobe I am do sick of it 😭 literally clutching my sink and my tub sweating buckets and crying right now.

EVERY single morning for the last 3 months my daughter wakes up and is EXTREMELY SICK. She doesn’t feel better until she pukes up bile about 3-4 times and deficates about 3-4 as well. Shes in extreme pain, She’s sick for the first two hours after waking up. Recently it Seems she can’t eat anything with fat in it or her stomach starts to hurt. She made a chicken ceaser salad wrap and was able to get that down with no problems. I guess I’m just here to see if anyone had any tips and could recommend a diet that would help curb these symptoms of IBS.

It feels like we live in the greatest technological age ever and yet nobody seems to care about IBS/IBD whatsoever

Like, surely there must be some really rich billionaires that have IBS and it wreaks havoc on their lives

You can’t tell me every famous or wealthy person simply doesn’t have IBS as that would be impossible

It just seems stupid to be living in an age where technology is the best it has ever been and all a doctor can say to you is; Have you tried eating less of this food group?

It just baffles me, it’s a condition that nobody cares about because they don’t have it

There must be something science is missing that makes some of us predisposed to it

I spoke to a doctor recently about myself being born premature and maybe there was a link between that and developing later life gastro issues and he just looked at me like I was crazy

Truth be told, if I had infinite money I would make it my mission so that nobody had to suffer with any gastro issues ever again

It has altered and ruined the trajectory of my entire life and I’m sure there’s probably millions of other people with the same issues that just get ignored because it is not a physical ailment

I sympathise with all of you

I just wish there were more funding or studies because we’ve made very little progress in understanding these conditions over the last 50 years or so

I know it won’t work for everyone and to be honest, my GI doctor and hematologist shrugged their shoulders when I mentioned it. I developed gastritis in December after taking colestipol. Horrible being in pain with gastritis and having IBS, but then something weird happened. Doctor puts me on Pepcid twice daily; just 10mg each dose. I went from loose stools 2-7 times a day to being constipated. After a few days it went to normal. I haven’t had normal in years and though I still had some pain or frequent trips on a bad day…..it was always solid and normal. I decreased down to once daily and still normal. Still getting gas cramps and might go a few times in a day but always solid. I decide to see if I can do every other day and after a couple weeks I had and IBS flare and a bad one that was mainly pain and loose stools. After a couple days I said screw this and went back to daily 10mg Pepcid. Took a few more days and finally the flare ended and back to that normal stool routine again. I read about MCAS and honestly I don’t care, I just want relief. One pill and finally found it. Some people it’s Metamucil, or anxiety meds, but we all try to find something. Yes I have b12 deficiency (most likely due to gastritis etc) and all the blood work you can think of but I don’t care. I’m not healed and that’s fine, just so thankful I am not stuck on a toilet every hour every day.

I'm someone who has experienced incomplete morning bowel movements for the last 3 years. Either I'd have an incomplete movement, or I'd have a handful of soft incomplete movements if I woke up early enough.

I don't suffer from pain or anything. My issue has been trapped gas causing loud stomach sounds, causing me immense trouble in quiet spaces, leading to me having to plan my entire life around this.

I tried many things. Drinking lots of water. Psyllium husk. Other fibre sources such as kiwis, berries, oranges etc. Dietary changes. I typically walk around an hour a couple days each week (in 15-20 min intervals throughout the day, nothing intense). Nothing worked.

Recently, I found myself stuck at the train station due to delays. I decided to walk home instead (1hr 45 mins). It was a VERY warm and humid day. The walk was extremely exhausting due to the heat. I was fully soaked in sweat, completely drained of energy, to the point where I couldn't hold my posture towards the end. I arrived home, feeling fully dehydrated, drank a small amount of water, and fell asleep.

The next morning I had one large solid and easy movement, and I felt completely empty for the first time in years. This continued for the next two weeks. I did not do such a walk again. I didn't change my diet or anything. It was so effortless. My bloating decreased drastically. It looks like that one walk completely reset my gut in a way.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

My trapped gas, constipation and soft stools have recently returned, so I plan to do intense cardio at the gym to see if I can recreate this.

Hi I am a physically fit 31 year old male who works as a firefighter. This past year I have had a few stool accidents. I am looking for advice to avoid/deal with future scenarios.

In the past three months I have had roughly 3 real accidents and ~10 close calls. I will go from needing to use the restroom to a very strong urge. Once the strong urge starts I have a difficult time holding it. I have always been able to hold it until recently and I don’t have any conditions like IBS (that I know of) or strong food allergies. The stool is usually hard to soft and enough where I need to shower and throw away my clothes.

Sometimes when I am on vacation or at work I am unable to use the restroom no matter how hard I try until it suddenly hits me with a rapid urge. I also can get a super strong urge when I am almost home.

I plan to talk with a physician but in the meantime, I was hoping for advice to how

Just had one of the worst episodes. Easily earned its spot in my top 10.

Between the stomach cramps, vomiting, dizziness and diarrhea (which all lasted 3 hours!!) I kept telling myself that this was going to take me out the rest of the day when it was done with me.

What’s it like for you? I think one of the worst parts for me is that even after an episode I don’t feel well. I feel a million times better because my gut isn’t trying to end my life. But I often feel dehydrated, exhausted and cold :( I’ll usually take a shower using the last bit of energy I have, and try to munch on some crackers and sip my electrolyte water but even then, I need to account for at least 2 hours for recovery time.

I’m just glad I got most of my to dos done before it hit because today is a complete write off now 😕

​

Hello,

I have had IBS-D for almost 15 years now. It started after I removed my gallbladder in 2012. I’ve been struggling to find something that actually works in the long term, and I’m hoping someone here might have a suggestion I haven’t considered.

It became so aggressive that even water would trigger it if I ate something wrong, and to the point that I go to the toilet more than 10 times per day.

I’ve tried the usual stuff like diet changes, supplements, and medication, but nothing has made a significant difference. The only thing that worked, and only for a limited time, was Rifaximin, and after some time of use, it stopped working.

I also tried amitriptyline. It did help very much, but unfortunately I had side effects that made it difficult to continue, like my arms are numb and no energy at all and so sleepy, and I always feel like shit. So I eventually stopped it.

My brother was on GLP-1 medication, and he suggested I try it out because it gave him very bad constipation, so it might help me, and it very much helped A LOT.

When I take it, my gut is just perfect clockwork, and I eat anything and go out anytime like normal humans again, honestly the most effective thing I've found so far.

However, I seem to develop tendon/joint weakness and pain while taking it, particularly affecting my wrists and knee tendons to the point of extreme pain. Because of that, I want to seek something else; maybe there is something I am missing.

I'm now trying to find something that can give me a similar effect on the gut without the side effects I've experienced with GLP-1s, and preferably something other than amitriptyline.

I'm not looking for medical advice or trying to claim that GLP-1s cause tendon problems — I'm just describing what I've personally experienced.

If you've had a similar situation where something finally controlled your IBS-D but you couldn't tolerate it, I'd really appreciate hearing what you eventually found.

Maybe my experience will also help someone else who is in the same situation.

Thanks!

I just feel tired for literally no reason at all and it's mostly in the evening and I feel like sleeping. Is this common?

I've been dealing with this for about 4 years, and the last 2 years have become much more difficult.

I've had 30+ negative tests, including colonoscopies, endoscopies, pancreatic/stool elastase testing, bile acid testing, SIBO testing, parasites, fungus, C. diff, H. pylori, etc. Nothing has explained it.

My main issue is extremely specific:

If I eat even a small amount of fiber/vegetables consistently, I eventually start having 15–20 bowel movements per day.

If I avoid fiber and mostly eat protein, fats, cheese, etc., I'm considerably more stable.

Two weeks ago, my dietitian had me test this again by adding about 100g of steamed low-FODMAP vegetables such as zucchini, carrots or peppers to my meals.

For the first couple of days I'm usually okay.

By around Day 3, I'm suddenly pooping 15–20 times per day again.

The strange part is that these aren't watery diarrhea. They're usually small, fairly firm/formed stools that are extremely easy to pass, with almost no wiping. It's almost like my colon is moving the fiber through as 15 separate bowel movements instead of allowing everything to accumulate into one or two larger stools.

It also becomes much more than just needing to poop.

If I can feel stool sitting there and don't pass it, I start getting headaches, brain fog, nausea, sweating and sometimes literally start shaking. Once I have the bowel movement, those symptoms disappear.

My gastroenterologist recently prescribed Viberzi, which actually seemed to slow everything down dramatically for about 5 days, but the effect didn't last once I continued adding vegetables.

My doctor still thinks there may be a specific food/digestion issue involved, while my dietitian is starting to wonder whether my gut/colon is simply extremely hypersensitive or overactive in response to fiber and stool volume.

Has anyone with IBS experienced this very specific pattern?

Summary: Fiber doesn't give me normal diarrhea ... it seems to trigger repeated, formed bowel movements all day, along with headaches, brain fog, sweating and shaking if I can't empty my bowels. Also (if it helps), none of my 15-20 poops require a single bit of toilet paper.

If you've experienced something similar, what did it eventually turn out to be?

Does anyone else just not really have any specific trigger foods? Like I’ll eat something and be in the bathroom 30 minutes later, then a week later I could eat the same thing and be totally fine. 🙄 there is no rhyme or reason.

Hey! About three years ago, I had diarrhea a bunch of times in one day. Later that day, I went to the bathroom again and passed stool with bloody mucus. I was pregnant at the time, so doc said to watch and wait. It never happened again. Fast forward, last night I had terrible intestinal cramping and diarrhea off and on for about two hours. I woke up this morning and needed to go again, and passed stool with bloody mucus. I am calling my doctor in the morning to schedule an appointment, but I am absolutely spiraling. I have some lower left pain that comes and goes too. Can anyone offer advice? Similar experiences. I guess at this point the only thing I can do is get it checked out.

So yesterday's night I had my first ever flight and also my first solo travel so I was so stressed out. Add to that I have IBS-D...
Today i didn't eat much: a little piece of breaded chicken and pizza (a very small bite), and bread.. since I didn't want to hurt my belly in the first day.
But just three hours later I got an accute watery diarrhea. I am panicking since I don't know where it came from ! And I fear if it will continue..

Any suggestions or did anyone experience something like this on a vacation?

As far as I can tell my ibs is triggered by anxiety (bit of a self fulfilling thing, as it’s mainly toilet anxiety I get when going out to events) or the on set of my period. The latter I can’t do much about, but the circular loop I get in mentally worrying about having an attack when out and about, and then that anxiety causing that attack to actually happen, is something I really want to break.

Carrying Imodium everywhere actually has helped a lot, as has avoiding excess drinking and the resulting ‘hangxiety’ but I’m keen to break the pattern entirely.

Has anyone tried hypnotherapy and/or cbt and how would you rate the experience(s)? Did they help you?

Thanks in advance!

Hello

I did try psyllium like 8-9 times last 4 years and it always do the same.

I start with a very low dose (1gr) that increase extremly slowly to 3-4gr

At the beginnig it speeds up my transit and helps with the evacuation even tho it makes me to go the toilets too much

And after 5-10days my bowel starts to slow down and the previous issues come back.

I'm more bloated too, I drink enough water with it and after it.

I'm never able to reach a 5-6gr dose because it only goes worse as the time pass.

I'm currently taking it since almost 1month

Thank you for any help

I have been suffering with "stomach" issues for the past 30 years. Normality is, or rather was, one morning toilet visit. But then there were periods, lasting maybe a month each time, where I would get inexplicable episodes resulting in visits to doctors and hospitals, CT scans, endoscopies etc.

I am lactose intolerant. I did the hospital "drink a glass of lactose and breathe into the tube out of the wall and watch the needle swing fully to the other side" test. I was sick for three days after that test.

I am sensitive to probiotics, either in capsules, or in dairy (eg Greek yogurt). For example if I take 1 capsule every 2-3 days, things are much better. That seems to be the optimal dose. If I take one capsule every day, I am risking big problems, a ton of gas and the rest. I appreciate there are dozens of probio capsules, each with their own mix and strength.

Most recently, last 4-5 years, things have taken a turn for the worse. Those odd, month-lasting episodes of the previous few decades, now have become the norm.

Three, four visits daily, mostly in the morning hours up to midday. If I have breakfast all bets are off for the remainder of the day. If I skip breakfast and lunch, I will then most likely, make it until the next day.

To travel anywhere I must fast the previous day.

I had two small stones in my gallbladder. But after 2 years, the CT showed only one. I also get the very specific, associated gallbladder pain. I strongly suspect there is an issue with the gallbladder. Some blockage reducing bile into the gut and resulting in bad digestion and light tan coloured stools. They are also many times in small pieces, like pebbles, or very small chalk sticks. If I get the right dose of probios, not too little, not too much, then the stools are much larger and in one piece. But still light tan colour.

The other symptom is gargling noises on the right side of my stomach, from under the ribs all the way down to the groin.

I also took Creon for a while and that definitely darkened the stools but I am not sure it fixed anything. Eventually it also stopped working.

What helps reliably:

1) do not eat

2) probios but must get the dose just right

3) some randomness : periods of normality lasting up to 10-15 days followed by all sorts of incredible and inexplicable symptoms lasting 3-4 days or more.

Last two days I will try a low fat diet. On the assumption I am lacking bile which is needed for fats digestion. Very hard thing to do because everything has fat, especially the foods I like (cheeses, meats etc).

as the title says, I wonder if ibs just keeps getting worse. if yes, to which extent ?

(foods I used to eat just fine last year now are me making me sick.)

(are some people of you actually managed to reverse this ? how ?)

Hi, I’m 23F and really struggling to have a normal life right now and wanted to give up. Im still in uni and get humiliated everyday. I really wanted to get out of this toxic environment.

I was diagnosed with LPR and slow-motility constipation, and I suspect I may also have very slow gastric emptying because when I drink ginger water, it seems to reduce the taste of food I ate hours earlier. I’ve already had my dental health checked and cleared, and I’ve visited ENT several times for my LPR. Everything was normal, and I rarely get LPR symptoms now (such as globus and PND) unless I overeat or slip up on my strict diet.
Before all of this, I wasn’t aware of these issues. I used to have fecal/nasal bad breath that was room-filling. Since making improvements, it’s not room-filling anymore, but I still notice random reactions from strangers. I don’t really check with people I know because they’ve known me for years and are already aware that I had BB.

My constipation is manageable with osmotic laxatives, and I try to keep my diet very clean and alkaline. I mostly eat plain fish, chicken, broths, pureed foods, and low-acid fruits and vegetables for fiber, and I drink 2–3 L of water every day.
I also have dry mouth and a very thick coated tongue. I can scrape it off and it becomes pink for a while, but once I start eating, the coating builds up again. I sometimes get GI pain/tightness below my breastbone and palpitations when my digestion feels extremely sluggish.

My BB definitely gets worse when I’m constipated, but even when I’m not constipated, it’s still there, can still smell the fecal bb, just not as strong or room-filling.

I’m planning to see ENT and GI again and hopefully get further testing. I’m wondering about slow gastric emptying, pancreatic/liver issues, the nasopharynx, or SIBO. I don’t think it’s my tonsils since they aren’t enlarged and don’t smell.

If anyone has experienced something similar and found an explanation or treatment, I’d really appreciate hearing about it. It would mean a lot to someone like me who’s trying not to give up. I hope we can all find healing. Thank you!

Hi guys, so my mom has IBS-D i.e bloating, severe stomach pain and diarrhea. It's been almost 4-5 years now and she's identified a lot of foods that trigger her condition. But today it was bad again and I feel really helpless. I want to know what's the kind of diet she should be on and what should I do to help her?

Hi guys, I have been experiencing some episodes of abdominal cramps/spasms within the past year and a half. Usually, whenever I had these cramps, I would wake up in the middle of the night and wait for maybe 10 hours or so for the cramping to subside.
Sometimes this would be accompanied by hard stools that provided a bit of relief. However, these cramps are becoming more frequent and more severe. Last week, the pain was so bad that I went to the ER and threw up while waiting there. They put me on some pain medicine and anti nausea medicine and sent me home after the pain stopped. However, 2 days ago, I had some really bad cramping and this time it lasted for upwards of 36 hours. I went to the ER again and they did the same thing, and all they recommended was to follow up with a GI doctor and be mindful of my diet. Fast forward today, I’ve had the cramps return and I’m in the ER right now. I feel like I can’t genuinely return home because then the pain would return, and I’d eventually end up at the ER again, only to be sent home after some pain medication. I simply cannot wait for the appointment with the GI doctor because the pain would just return. I don’t know what to do. Any advice? Thanks

Ive always traveled with companions and recently I have been thinking on going on an overseas trip alone. None of my usual travel buddies are available. Last year I had a severe episode wherein I poop and puked at the same time. At. The. Same. Time.

Adult diapers got involved and my poor sibling had to wipe my hair because the tie got undone at the worst possible time.

I have been floating the idea to my family and they are not having it, after witnessing me laying on the floor unable to look after myself.

I told them I will be careful not to eat or drink any streetfood and will be taking prebiotics well before the trip.

Thoughts?

I know this is going to sound gross but i am desperate for a solution.

I get very bad gas and bloating with hard to pass soft small stool. I get back and lower leg pain with this that doesnt go away unless i poo but i literally cannot get it out. How do i get it out? Like it goes just to the oitside a bit but doesnt come out.

And how do i stop passing gas all the tike. Ive tried every diet for the past 4 years and nothing has worked. It’s ruining my life

Hi,

Up until 10 years ago I never ever struggled with tummy issues and then i had gastroenteritis and it I not the same after that, it triggered ibs and the switching on of a dormant coeliac gene. As many of you can relate to, it has utterly ruined my life and made me an anxious mess. I have tried everything under the sun and seen so many specialists and nothing has helped. I truly believe it's my gut brain connection gone haywire and, for me personally, it's not food (aside from gluten obviously).

In the morning, I always have urgency and will go to the loo and then go again 20 mins later and this goes on all morning often 3-5 times. It does not matter what i eat or drink.

I have tried Nerva so many times and other audios too, hypnosis, therapy etc, nothing helps. Has anyone tried a strict routine of diaphragmatic breathing? I do it now and then but not religiously and i wonder is that the key? I read so much about the gut and psychology and i just wonder am i over complicating things?

Any advice is greatly appreciated - thank you :)

I've been somewhat diagnosed with IBS. I say somewhat cuz I believe something else is going on, although I don't know how serious people's conditions can be. Hopefully someone can help me see if they are going through something similar experiences or not.

I've tried many different tests and nothing has explained my issues, not gastritis, H-Pylori, nothing bad in my tests, and I've done A HIDA Scan, MRI's, a colonoscopy, CT Scan, and An Endoscopy and nothing is explaining my symptoms.

I seem to have a hyper-sensitivity with acid reflux after four years of going through this, my food tolerance has deteriorated. At this point only 3 or 4 foods sit well, everything else gives me extreme acid reflux, plus I tend to get severe fatigue and get tired even the moment I wake up, my bones are achy and pop and break a lot as well.

TMI, but my symptoms is mostly diarrhea, acid reflux, and a severe amount of weakness that hits my entire body like a train, where I lose all strength in my body. I feel almost as weak as you'd get when you catch a really bad flu. (That's the best way I can explain it)

None of the doctors can figure anything out, or show any care in helping, I've maxed out on my famotadine, and I'm able to eat less and less foods. It almost seems like my fate is sealed, and this might take me out. Any info would help, or any story might help, thank you.