women suffering diarrhea - page five
The tale of...Treena
I was 20 years old when my first IBS attack began. Friends and I were hanging out at my house, I made chilli for dinner and had no soda so I drank OJ. I woke up with such a pain in my stomach I could not catch my breath. I had the sweats and then it happened, I jumped out of bed, ran to the bathroom and didn't know what end to put down first.
This happened all night long and I still got up and dressed for work. My girlfriend came to pick me up and said to me I looked like crap. Instead of work, I was in the hospital for 15 days! The last five days were liquid diet.
I have been dealing with this for 12 years now, maybe more. When I was little I remember barbeques when I ate I would be sick, every single time. To this day I don't eat barbequed food. I can't drink socially at parties, or I will be sick, and certain odours aggravate my stomach. I have tried the meds doctors have prescribed but to no avail, they do not work.
I hope it just gets better. My husband bears with me and treats me with kindness and understanding but he says he can't relate to the pain and hopes he never has to since he sees the pain I cannot tolerate. I hope they find something to help us. If they can find something for impotence I'm sure they can find something for IBS.
The tale of...Jade
I'm 21 years old. My IBS started about a year and a half ago, while I was at university. It just keeps getting worse and worse. I'm at the point now where everything is soooo severe. I have the hated gas, distended gut, diarrhea until I feel faint, nausea and vomiting, you name it, I have it. It's been getting so severe that I've had to stay at the hospital for hours having anti-nausea drugs pumped into me through needles and then through the IV.
I swear people do not understand how sick I feel at times, and I can't begin to explain it. All I know is that I'm very grateful to my mother who drives an hour to show up at my university at 3:00 in the morning because I'm too sick to hardly move. Or the 3:00 in the morning trips to emergency while on vacation because I can't stop hurling up everything I've eaten that day.
My condition is now really starting to affect my schooling. I've got a note from my doctor excusing me from any classes I need to miss because I'm sick, or too tired from being up all night. I'm just so sick of waking up nauseated. My doctor tried me on Amitriptyline, but that made me too dozy for class in the morning, so now I'm going to start on Nortriptyline.
It's just sooo hard to keep telling my professors that I've been sick from classes...it starts to sound phoney when you say it every other day or every couple days, but I don't want to try and explain that I have this chronic IBS.
Most people think it is a fake disease, a mind thing. My parents know it's real though!!! That's for sure. Especially when they're taking me back to the university after the weekend and I'm anxious and have an attack in the car, demanding we pull over, anywhere, I don't care, but it has to be NOW!
I find that my stress level does affect the severity of the disease. Symptoms occur all the time, even when I'm on vacation and not stressed out, but become violent when I feel anxious. Anyway...I hope it leaves me soon!
The tale of...Rachael
Well, where to start. I am 24 years old and I have suffered from what doctors have called an anxious stomach since I can remember. After many tests, I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 18. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, constant lower back and abdominal pain to name a few, all things that I feel on a weekly basis. I have had a great deal of difficulty determining all the factors that contribute to my constant discomfort. My body rejects almost everything I have to offer it.
Aside from the obvious foods, such as dairy, grains, and anything containing fat, I have also noticed that my birth control is a contributing factor. I am having a hard time figuring out what food my body will digest with the least amount of pain, and have tried many diets. I feel tired all the time, my pant size varies anywhere from a size four to a size 10.
I have never been much of a complainer so often I find myself hidden away in my room, choking back the tears from the constant discomfort. Oh woe is me, I say to myself before I even attempt to face the world. Then off I go with a smile on my face, hoping that the less I worry or complain the better I will feel.
I have missed more than an acceptable amount of days at work, and am very lucky to have such an understanding boss. My son, who is now four, is quite understanding for his age, which makes me feel even worse some days, because I can see the concern in his eyes and I wish that I had more energy for him at the end of the day. But by the end of the day after making him some supper and getting into the biggest pair of pants I own, I barely have enough left in me to help in and out of the bath.
I guess what I want most of all is to learn how to best manage the pain caused by IBS. Thank you for all your stories, they have been very helpful, and thank you for the chance to tell my story.
The tale of...Michelle
I've had IBS for 13 years now (seems like forever), and it all started when I started getting my period. When I had my children it got so much worse. There's so much I can't eat or do. I push myself to keep up and find that I spend days in bed recovering because I'm so tired.
My partner is now only just getting how awful I feel 80% of the time. I have good days and bad days and I consider myself lucky to say that while I have to keep an eye on toilets, I've never had a problem with soiling myself.
The pain for me is debilitating. I can't move at all. I've been in hospital lots with no answers and three operations. I'm very lucky that my boss is so understanding. He tells anyone who gives me a hard time about not coming into work as often to back off because I'm sick. In fact, he's hired someone else to help me and make my life easier!!! Can't ask for a better boss at all.
I hate the pain and I find myself waking up every morning, wondering what sort of day it's gonna be. It's never pain free, but it's a matter of dealing with the lesser pain. I'm on so much medication that I feel stoned half the time.
My youngest child has gone to live with his dad as I can't look after him properly any more. Stress makes it all worse and I have a bland diet, although I had Mexican last night with no ill effects and I'm so pleased (I adore Mexican food).
I have a belief that everything will get better. On the worst days, I still cling to that hope because what have I got if I don't? A lifetime of pain? Doctors don't really give you much to go on here, but I'll keep changing my lifestyle until I find one that works.
I'm just grateful for the support that I have from my partner, my oldest child (who has promised he won't jump on me anymore!!!) and my boss who made a difficult and stressful situation so much easier.
The tale of...Sheralee
I am currently living the same nightmare as many of you and am fed up waiting for the next time that I am going to be doubled over in pain. I was admitted the beginning of this year with the worst pain I have ever felt, it was so sharp, I could hardly breathe. I was vomiting and was terrified. First of all I thought I was having a heart attack. After a few blood tests and a shot of Pethidine I was back home with a prescription for gastroenteritis.
Three weeks later in America I spent three days in the same pain and being sick again. Again it was put down by doctors by some kind of food poisoning. This has now happened about 15 times this year so far and that's just counting the times when the pain is so bad I have ended up in hospital.
Since this started I have been diagnosed with gallstones, liver stones, kidney stones, etc, etc, etc, all of which tests have come back negative. I have been prescribed Imodium to help diarrhea, I literally have a bag full of tablets to take daily, most of which seem to do nothing.
My last bad episode was five weeks ago. I was rushed to my local doctors (a 24 hour pharmacy that I am told to go to when I am in pain in order to save the time and staff at the A&E department) at 3am (my pain has the annoying habit of turning up at ridiculous hours, is that something anyone else notices?). I use it that often my partner has it on speed dial, no lie).
Once again, like usual, he gave me a Pethidine injection and sent me home. I was still being sick and had not kept anything down when the next morning I was taken to the emergency services again. And again I was sent home with a Pethidine injection.
Four hours later I was rushed to the emergency services again due to the pain not easing. By this time I had not kept a single mouthful of food or liquid down in two days. Not only was I feeling weak but I was still in terrible pain.
This time I was given morphine and sent home again. Obviously this knocked me out for several hours. The next day I was still unable to keep anything down and in the evening I collapsed and was rushed to A&E by ambulance.
I had the normal procedures done, blood taken, urine sample, etc. My bloods came back abnormal and further tests showed my liver had stopped working, causing a huge infection in my organs. And to top it off my organs were on the verge of packing up due to the fact that my body was completely dehydrated due to not eating or drinking anything in over three days by this time.
I was admitted into hospital for four days. That would have been fine and well if I had any explanation to go home with but the advice I have received is that they are unsure of my condition and to keep going back to A&E when I get pain.
This is now coming up for my sixth week off work due to my body's immune system being so low, I keep picking up small infections and having a hard time fighting them off. Not to mention the constant diarrhea/constipation, sickness, etc.
The other week I went shopping with a friend, we were out for three hours, and almost two hours of this, I spent on the toilet. I have opened my bowels without realising, most of the time in bed but sometimes in very embarrassing situations.
I am so annoyed that doctors haven't looked into helping me and others that suffer with this. Instead I was sent home with pain relief and that resulted in it leading to a bigger problem which could have proved fatal. I am so annoyed because I have basically had to do my own research on my symptoms and that can be quite scary when you're not a doctor: over the past several weeks I have convinced myself of having every condition possible from food intolerance to bowel cancer.
After reading numerous information on IBS I now feel that I have self-diagnosed myself. I get abdominal pain, sometimes severe enough for morphine, other times bearable - I can take my mind off it, usually by rolling in a ball and going to sleep. I suffer sickness, constant diarrhea, constipation, wind, bloating, headaches, a clammy feeling, feeling like I am going to pass out, tiredness, problems sleeping (or should I say I don't sleep) etc.
Nearly every symptom mentioned I have on a monthly basis. Another IBS symptom is colic which is another thing that has been picked up on x-rays every time I have been hospitalised.
I just wish doctors could be more helpful. They don't seem to care, I don't know about you but my advice has been to keep attending A&E for pain relief when it gets bad and that's basically it. I have also been given a substitute for Pethidine to take at home but I now feel like I rely on them, I get the slightest twinge and a half hour later I am high as a kite just to avoid feeling the pain and discomfort again.
I am sorry if I am going on but it feels good to talk about it. People who don't suffer from IBS look at me as if I am the biggest wimp alive when I tell them about it. Their normal reaction is "oh, I thought it was serious". Well, to me, it may not be life-threatening but it's ruining my life. I wake every morning wondering, am I going to be OK today or not?
It's affected my career because of continuous emergency visits to hospitals, etc. I have started a diary of daily food intakes, to try to monitor when the discomfort starts. Other than that I feel I am at a dead end. I am only 20 and feel like an old lady.
My partner and I were trying for a baby after I miscarried last year but those plans have had to be put on hold. If anybody can give me any advice I would appreciate it so much. E-mail me with any useful information. Thanks for reading and good luck to anyone else suffering.
E-mail Sheralee: sheralee.bickerdike[at]ntlworld.com