ibs and pregnancy tales - page two
The pregnancy tale of...KP
I have had IBS since I was around 16, but it was not diagnosed until I was around 24. During high school and college I would get diarrhea and nausea if I waited too long to eat, and the only thing to do was just eat, usually soup broth.
My symptoms have always included severe hunger pains, which make me nauseous, and diarrhea. Many people would wonder why I didn't just eat if I was hungry but it was not that easy. I was in pain, I felt I would get sick to my stomach at any minute, and no food had any interest to me.
When I was 24 years old the IBS got so bad I was not able to work. I was in constant pain, I had trouble eating, I had diarrhea and got really depressed that I would never feel normal again. I had an ongoing struggle with the doctors who thought I should try to give up dairy and try to give up foods that brought on the pains, but in reality I couldn't really eat ANYTHING at this point as I was in so much stomach pain.
I felt even more depressed because I was feeling so sick, but the doctors were not realizing the extent of my IBS attacks. I finally ended up getting help from a psychiatrist and therapist. It helped to talk to someone, and while IBS is not a 'mental disease', taking anti-depressants helped give me strength to work on and maintain a better diet.
I didn't feel hungry constantly. I could eat a normal breakfast and not have to deal with stomach pains until the next time I forced something down. I have had the IBS under control with Hyoscyamine and Lexapro (the anti-depressant) for over three years now. In combination, they have both worked wonders to control my IBS symptoms.
I only take a 10mg dose of Lexapro but it has really helped! I stopped taking the Hyoscyamine about two months before I got pregnant as it is a drug which has not been tested during pregnancy. I also stopped the Lexapro but was prescribed Zoloft.
I am currently only in my seventh week of pregnancy but my IBS has flared up again. I wake every morning which intense hunger pain, shaking, diarrhea and the need to cry. I feel guilty taking a prescription drugs while pregnant but worry that without the Zoloft I will spend the days curled up in a ball of pain on my bathroom floor.
I eat almost every 30 minutes now from about 6:30 in the morning until the IBS settles a little in the afternoon. I know morning sickness is contributing to this scenario but IBS is causing the majority of symptoms. The doctors have not been much help at this point and it is very hard some days to make it to work, but I do not have any other choice.
Why can't IBS be taken a little more seriously especially during pregnancy? It affects the mom and baby just like any other chronic disease. It has felt good to read about other people's experiences so I do not feel alone in this, and it has helped to get some of my story expressed. The IBS is controlling my life. I am constantly worried about when the next attack will hit and how bad it will be.
The pregnancy tale of...DH
I am seven and a half weeks pregnant and was told I had IBS about five years ago. Caffeine is a major trigger and peppermint tea usually helps - however, from about three days ago, I have been having what I at first thought was morning sickness - but now I'm sure that it is IBS symptoms. My midriff is sore and tender and I feel like I need to go to the toilet constantly except I can't. Either that or I then get diarrhea.
The stomach cramps are the worst - you worry that it is your baby, but these are familiar feelings and I know that it is a bout of IBS. It is 10 times worse in my pregnancy and nothing seems to ease it. Eating starchy foods such as potato products and plain biscuits helps a bit but I am in constant discomfort with it and don't know what to do.
I am off work at present cos I don't feel able to get on with my day as normal and even though it is painful to sit here, I am on this website in desperation at wondering whether IBS is worse in pregnancy. It seems it can be for many women and it has so put my mind at rest that this is what I am experiencing. It has given me the confidence to contact my doctor for further advice. Thank God for this website!
The pregnancy tale of...Alecia
I'm 27 and the mother of a two-and-a-half year old boy, and also expecting again, I'm almost 15 weeks along.
I've had IBS forever...my Mom says I was pretty much born with it. I was tried on a lot of different formulas as a baby, and different foods and diets as I grew up. The most annoying thing is that some foods cause a problem for me for a while, then they are fine (tomatoes and tomato sauces are a big one here) and then another food starts to cause problems.
I usually manage my IBS fairly well with diet, but I can remember a lot of times going to school and being so constipated and bloated that I could hardly sit down. Then I also remember the times when it was so much the other way that I missed exams because I would get to school but couldn't get out of the bathroom.
I ended up very ill about five years ago and it was to the point that all I could eat without getting very sick was chicken stock. Eventually (after a few months) I was able to add back baby foods and then some regular foods. I met a great specialist who recommended Amitriptyline in low doses (10 or 20 mg) and it worked wonders for me.
When I was pregnant the first time my IBS was fairly manageable. I had constipation for most of the pregnancy. At just past half way through the pregnancy I was iron deficient and was told to take iron pills (I couldn't even take pre-natal vitamins). The pills gave me the symptoms of intestinal blockage which would resolve, after 12 hours, with severe diarrhea.
All the cramping caused me to start to dilate and efface early. I did end up holding on and having my son the day after my due date, but since I had already progressed so far labour was short, painful and somewhat bewildering. In the 10 weeks between when my IBS was irritated by the iron pills and the day my son was born we made almost weekly trips to the hospital because of what usually turned out to be IBS irritating my uterus.
To resolve the iron issue I ended up with weekly injections. After my son was born my bowel habits returned to "normal" (my normal anyway) for a couple months. Then they got worse again (I qualify worse as diarrhea to the point where I start to lose weight) and I had to go back on the Amitriptyline.
When I got pregnant this time I stopped the Amitriptyline (it's apparently contraindicated in pregnancy) and boy has this been a shock. I can identify with the stories I see on this website of everyone thinking you have to be constipated while pregnant, but this time I just can't get out of the bathroom.
I wake up in the middle of the night, in the morning, when I'm out shopping, at playgroup with my son...and the pains hit. Usually the worst pains are the late evening/early morning ones between 11pm and 4am. My husband is the greatest and will get up and get me a hot pack, water, or just sit with me (he's seen me pass out from the cramps).
I've had it where I can barely make it the 20 steps to the bathroom and then I have cramps so bad I can't go at all. I'm getting concerned since the cramps are daily now, though I do know they are IBS because they are somewhat relieved by going to the bathroom. I've had diarrhea since the start of this pregnancy, and it's getting worse. Where I'd typically go every few days now I'm down to at least twice a day with major cramping and explosive diarrhea that leaves me totally wiped out after. I'm not gaining weight (but am holding steady with eating a LOT more food than usual) and am not showing at all yet.
I figure I'll need iron injections again this time (I tried a liquid one called Floradix but even at an eighth of the normal dose I had miserable symptoms) and I usually give myself B12 vitamin shots every few weeks since I don't absorb it now either. I figure I'll probably get into other deficiencies if this keeps up.
I've had lots of testing and they keep saying we'll investigate again soon (usually every four years with blood tests and colonoscopies) to check again for Crohn's or anything else. I'd dearly love to have my IBS just disappear...it limits what I can eat, and what I can safely eat changes often. My biggest hope is that my kids NEVER end up with it!
E-mail Alecia: sammymommy@sympatico.ca
The pregnancy tale of...K
I was told I probably had IBS when I was 19 after much pain and diarrhea. Lettuce, carrots and apples seemed to be the triggers. Over the years I have slowly eliminated more and more foods from my diet including most fruits and fruit juices - the natural preservative and I don't get along - calciferous vegetables, yolks, wine, sulphur dioxide used for drying fruits, lactose, various sugars including glucose and many artificial sweeteners, oats, dense starch, ie: large quantities of potato, rice, and until very recently pasta (now a pregnancy craving???) plus only small amounts of wheat products.
Some days I can eat foods containing these things and other days definitely not! Some of these foods were on the advice of a naturopath and also with approval from a dietician my doctor sent me to, the others I have discovered on my own.
I have tried gluten-free diets, food combining, and low carb diets, with only limited success for all. Low carbs was probably the best, but not easily sustainable at times. The interesting thing is that in a foray into body building diets a couple of years ago (similar to the low carb option) I was relatively symptom free, but as my diet was already restricted I found it extremely BORING!
I am now 34, ten weeks pregnant with twins, and instead of an occasional bout maybe one every month or two, it seems to be every couple of days. It first happened in my sixth week and I ended up having to go for an emergency scan as there was some vaginal bleeding. I had a miscarriage at the same time last year so it has possibly made me a little paranoid.
All ended up being well - and the shock of the twins was discovered instead. But as with some of the other stories, I am now fearful about what is going to happen when the bowel cramps are really bad. I have to make an effort to 'hold on' in case I start having uterine cramps as well.
I guess I will just keep on experimenting with my food options - although the morning sickness makes it all a little odd. Normal options in my usual diet hold little appeal, although I am still trying to maintain it as best I can.
In the meantime I'll try not to worry myself too much (another trigger), and just be aware. Good luck to the others.