women suffering from constipation - page six
The tale of...Samantha
First off I just want to thank everyone for sharing their stories. I was first diagnosed with IBS about a year ago. I was prescribed Zelnorm without any testing or bloodwork. It ended up making me feel worse.
I had gallbladder surgery when I was only 20 years old and was very sick with stones caught in the ducts to my liver. About a year ago I had another surgery on my ovaries which turned out to be nothing. During the surgery the doctor found some endometriosis stage one. I have never thought about IBS being connected to these things until I started reading other stories.
I also never thought about it being related to my depression and battles with my self-esteem. After high school I was very ambitious and now I could care less about what I do, except for my three year-old son. I'm hoping someone can give me some over the counter remedies that are fairly inexpensive. I have no insurance and just want to get back to a normal life. Thanks!
E-mail Samantha: midwestcane[at]yahoo.com
The tale of...Claire
Firstly, thank you all for sharing your stories. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one out there. I've been suffering now for over a year. It took three visits over a space of two months to get my doctor to refer me to the local hospital. I was given Colpermin and Colofac to help ease the spasms, but other than that I was told to just "eat healthy". My appointment came through in June this year after a six month wait.
The consultant has referred for a barium x-ray to confirm the diagnosis, but again he thinks that it is IBS. Good news so far? Well, the waiting list for x-ray is nearly 10 months, followed by waiting another six months for a consultant to se me again. Don't you just love the NHS!
In the meantime I am going nuts. It's generally constant, I struggle to go properly and am constantly bloated and huge. I've managed to put on weight rather than lose any, and I feel like I am going mad. I'm tired all the time, I feel exhausted, and it's as if there is a ball of concrete in my stomach. Ooh, I almost forget, the wind, the gas, the farting...pleasant (not?!).
The more I stress about it the worse it gets, and I feel like I am in a vicious circle with this illness. Trying to remain positive, it should be this time next year that I officially get diagnosed (which really means nothing from all your stories, but hey at least I'll finally be able to get some life insurance as they currently won't allow me as I'm under investigation at the hospital...). My heart goes out to anyone who feels the same.
The tale of...Angie
I have suffered with IBS for many years. I have had a barium enema etc in the past, numerous blood tests, even went into hospital at one stage, but nothing was found so it was put down to IBS. I have never established what triggers it off. Usually I can go a while without it and then have a bout that goes on for ages.
Am having a bad time at present as I did a lot of decorating, plus using the keyboard at work and ended up with carpal tunnel symptoms. This progressed to morning stiffness in arms, shoulders and neck, etc. I took Ibuprofen to relieve this but it made me feel sick and gave me irritable bowel - went to the doctor who prescribed a drug called Arthrotec - took that for about eight days and realised that was making me feel odd too so stopped it.
I returned to the doc and he put me on a five-day course of steroids. This had a horrendous effect and I have ended up with not only irritable bowel but gastritis! Am now on anti-acid medication to counteract that!
What is troubling me is the fact that when I get what I call and assume is IBS mine is worse at night, and the cramps, sweats and nausea and awful dry mouth wake me up, and even broke through the sleeping tablet the doc had given me! Every article I read states that IBS doesn't happen at night but mine always has.
My sleep pattern is totally disordered now and I wake up all times of the night. Another thing I get when I get attacks is terrible sweats and nausea. My symptoms seem to be different to what I have read and I would like to be reassured that someone has the same!
Another thing I would like to add is that I am convinced my morning stiffness etc is linked to irritable bowel syndrome and wondered if anyone agrees?
E-mail Angie: mrsangiepangie[at]aol.com
The tale of...Natasha
I'm 22 years old and have had severe IBS since I was 17. Everyday is unpredictable since it won't get under control. I am homebound since my symptoms are 24/7 and there are so many. I can't hold a job since it's so bad.
I'm trying everything I can but I still suffer. The only time I have relief is when I am sleeping! It's extremely hard to live with severe IBS when there is no cure out there that will take the misery away for good. I pray to GOD every day for a cure.
My IBS makes my severe menstrual cycle 10 times worse and my severe periods make my severe IBS 10 times worse. When my menstrual cycle is coming up I get so scared and stressed because I know the symptoms are going to be unbearable. So unbearable that I can hardly move.
I wish people would be more understanding about IBS. So many people brush it off like it's no big deal which is so sad.
E-mail Natasha: natp[at]mts.net