IBS Tales Home > Read The Tales > Sad Tales: Women with IBS-D Page Twenty
sad tales: women with ibs-d page twenty
The tale of...Meghan (August 2007)
I am so happy to find a bowel buddy and someone who can talk poop without being grossed out. The stories on this site hit home. I feel a connection with each and every story-teller. I have had IBS since I was 16. I am now 27. I try not to let it get the best of me and 'ruin' my life. But I avoid certain events, outings, or food. The panic of trying to find a restroom in time makes the battle all the more difficult.
I was diagnosed at 16 after having horrid, piercing, knife-stabbing gut pain. I would double over thinking Lord, please what did I do to deserve this! At 16 years old, I had never been to a doctor, had any type of rectal exam, etc. This was very uncomfortable and embarrassing.
I had the works done on me. A rectal exam, a colonoscopy, and an endoscopy. Nothing. It was a sigh of relief but I still was not at ease because something was wrong with me. I have been on every medication from painkillers to anti-depressants. These drugs work miracles for a few months and then I become immune to them. But recently my mother read online about acidophilus, good bacteria that promotes a healthy digestive tract. I take these pills two times daily. They haven't performed miracles but they do help.
I am an IBS sufferer with diarrhea. I rarely, if ever, have formed solid stools. When I do, they are painful and I feel like I am giving birth. The diarrhea is daily, usually after I eat. I get a gurgle in my stomach and then it's time to run. I can handle the pain but not the diarrhea. I have panic attacks that I am going to have an accident. I am on Paxil for the attacks.
I, knock on wood, have only had one accident. When I was in college. There was a terrible snowstorm...I had stomach aches all day. I came out to my car to find about a foot of snow and terrible driving conditions. I panicked and then felt the rumbling. I couldn't hoof it in the snow fast enough to get back to campus and then to my dismay...I let it all go. In the freezing cold.
I was wet, chilled to the bone, and soiled. They say to not eat yellow snow...don't eat the brown either! I had to drive home in 'poop' filled warm mushy pants. My mother is the most kind-hearted, caring woman. I came home squishing and sloshing in my poop. I started sobbing. Like a baby, my mom helped clean me up and take care of me. Thank heaven for mothers.
I bless you Sophie and thank you for having the heart to put up this site. Good luck to you and remember there are people out there just like you.
E-mail Meghan: Meghan.Seely@REMOVETHISPLEASEoomc.com
The tale of...Susan (August 2007)
I'm pretty sure that I have been suffering from IBS-D all of my life. I clearly remember my mother coaching me on the toilet 'get it all out, you'll feel better'. Now I am 40 and have been hurting badly for the last year with a terrible bout of diarrhea that happens to me every single morning no matter what I eat or don't eat. If I do not eat...where is this coming from?
I have enough nausea and throw up enough to not have anything pass...but still it comes. Mucus-laden stools that 'float' and I'm lucky to make it to the bathroom. Doctors are no good, OTC medicine doesn't help...there is nothing I can do but sleep to avoid the pain.
My body feels like there is a alien inside of me. Something is 'scrunching' up my guts and twisting them around. Luckily, I am going for a colonoscopy soon, so the doctors may find what is wrong and help to fix it. After reading so many testimonies, I have a grim outlook on this getting remedied. Thankfully, my boyfriend, my family, and even work is sympathetic and understanding. I must get better.
E-mail Susan: susanhaug@REMOVETHISPLEASEcomcast.net
The tale of...Kandice (3 August 2007)
I am a 19 year-old girl from Utah. I have been suffering from IBS for several years now. It was really comforting to find this website and to know I wasn't the only one suffering. I have been from doctor to doctor and all I get is 'Yep, you have IBS'. I know I have IBS! But what's causing it? I will never stop until I find a cure!
All I know is that if everyone else who has IBS goes through as much pain as I do they will be fighting for a cure also. My IBS is keeping me from working a normal job and from starting school! I want to be like any other 19 year-old girl out there. People don't understand what IBS sufferers go though day-to-day and I wish they could, then maybe all the 'It's all in your head' people would shut their mouths! Anyways this site is very comforting and I wanted to share my story.
E-mail Kandice: kandiceb18@REMOVETHISPLEASEyahoo.com
The tale of...Stephie (August 2007)
I have had IBS since I was a pre-teen and now I am 43. Everyone thought I was bulimic or anorexic. I was a manicurist for years, but I had to stop. I would start sweating and trembling and then I would have to run to the restroom. It was bad because I was working at the La Costa resort and then the Four Seasons resort, doing manicures and pedicures for movie stars and very wealthy clients!
I was treated for IBS but it is always the same thing, they want to give me something with an anti-depressant in it also! The doc says that it helps some IBS sufferers, but it didn't help me! Imodium is number one right now!
Thanks to Kirt, who I've been with for six years, I don't have to work, but I would like to get my life back. He is losing his cool with this also. I can't eat for two days if we see his parents, and then I am still worried I will have to run to the loo! And he says don't use too much toilet paper, or I wake him up all night going, going. One more thing is that it is worse around my time of the month, mine is getting really bad! Can anyone help?
E-mail Stephie: kirtwatty@REMOVETHISPLEASEsbcglobal.net
The tale of...Jessica (5 September 2007)
Hello fellow IBS sufferers! I am here to present my sad tale, thank you in advance for reading it. I am 25 years old and about five years ago I was in an abusive relationship. That ended two years ago (thank God). Appearing right around the middle of my abusive relationship was diarrhea and horrible abdominal pain. Since then I have had predominantly diarrhea, with occasional constipation.
My symptoms are: diarrhea, sweating, nausea, vomiting (sometimes), cramping, severe stomach pain (like someone is ringing out my intestines), nocturnal awakenings (pain that wakes me up from a sound sleep), back pain and the newest one: heartburn.
First turning to my gynecologist because the pain in my stomach was so low on the left side of my belly, I thought it was an ovary problem as I do have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and they wondered if I had endometriosis, so I had an exploratory laparoscopy. That turned up nothing of course, but I missed almost two weeks of work and had more horrible pain.
Then after a few months my PCP referred me to a gastroenterologist. He wanted to rule out colitis and Crohn's disease, so I had a colonoscopy, but nothing was found. Tomorrow I am scheduled to have an endoscopy. In the middle of all these tests I have also been diagnosed with PTSD from my abusive relationship.
I have now lost 25 pounds in the last four months, and the doctors are concerned. I am down to 160 from 185 just four months ago, and I am five feet nine inches tall, do I am looking pretty skinny right now. I always feel run down and tired, my stomach always hurts, it is just the degrees of pain that vary.
My GI doctor prescribed hyoscyamine, which is a smooth muscle relaxant; it would work great if I only knew when I was going to have an attack. Depending on when I have the pain, if I take it as soon as I have the first twinge of pain it works pretty good, and it definitely helps with the spasms. It's like I get this pain in my stomach and I can just feel the entire contents of my intestines liquefy. Also like the other stories I have read, after I have an attack it feels like I have been punched in the stomach, like I have a bruise.
Anyways, I enjoy reading these stories and I am glad that I am not the only one. If there is anyone else out there who wakes up with severe pain in the middle of the night followed by horrible diarrhea, I would love to hear from you because my doctor deems that the reason that it might not be IBS even though that is what my diagnosis is...thanks again, and please email.
E-mail Jessica: silentmeow12@REMOVETHISPLEASEgmail.com