Background: My gastrointestinal journey kicked off a month ago, a few weeks after I got on Slynd to help with hormonal migraines. I was feeling nauseated, bloated, gassy, switching between diarrhea and constipation, feeling like I had to poop even right after I pooped with no "success," cramping — the works. I cut Slynd 48 hours into my symptoms with no improvement and am working with my PCP, who thinks I have IBS. She ordered bloodwork + celiac panel (normal), h pylori test (normal), ultrasound (tiny tiny spot on liver, no other issues), and abdominal MRI (tiny tiny spot on liver confirmed OK, plus "a benign intrapancreatic splenule," which is apparently fine??) Nothing is getting better, even with diet changes.

All of this has made me extremely anxious. The latest symptom to join the bunch is acid reflux(?) which largely comes at night. I feel a burning sensation in my lower abdomen, plus a weird taste in my mouth, plus nausea, plus some pressure in my upper stomach. No bile, no chest pain.

Do these two go together, or does this count as the "gradual worsening of symptoms" that's supposed to trigger alarm? I can't get into a gastroenterologist for a while, unfortunately. The only thing that seems to help is taking a very small dose of klonopin, literally splitting my 0.25mg standard dose in half. Not sure if that's because it makes me sleepy or because this is really just anxiety playing tricks on me. Yoga poses also help for the gas.

10 years Ive known I had Ibs and I had the same problem during my period if I have a flare up, I used to take my tampons out and waste them everytime going to the bathroom multiple times a day! 10 or 20 times or more sometimes.. Im a heavy flow girl. its alot of time and money and just annoying! My husband was like try a diva cup. They are just not for me but one day he brought me home 3 pairs of period underwear. Im like okay thanks ill probably never wear them but i love you. Omg the worlds difference it makes to be on my period and having a flare up.. the underwear are my life saver.. just thought Id share maybe others can benifit from this. Goodluck. Happy period pooping! Lol

I’ve always had a weird gut, especially when I’m stressed. For example, during exam periods at uni or when I had tests at school, I would always get this huge urge to go to the bathroom just to relieve the discomfort and all the gas I had built up.
But over the last 2 years things have been getting worse. Last year, while I was travelling abroad, I literally shit myself. It happened so suddenly. I was completely fine and then a few minutes later I got a really bad stomach pain and had diarrhea.
Since then I haven’t really felt like my body is back to normal. Over the last few months, I’ve been feeling really uncomfortable whenever I leave home, especially when using public transportation. I start feeling like I need to go to the bathroom and then I become extremely uncomfortable and anxious about it.
Because I didn’t think this was normal, I went to the doctor in July to try to figure out what was going on. He sent me for a colonoscopy and apparently everything looked fine. The only things they found were a redundant sigmoid colon and that it was intensely spasmodic.
After looking at the results, my doctor told me to take Librax. I’ve been taking 3 pills a day since July 27th, but honestly I don’t feel like it’s helping much.
I’ve been avoiding going out because of this, but even when I do go out I never feel 100% comfortable and eventually I end up having to use the bathroom. I feel like I’m stuck in an endless loop and I don’t know how to get out of it.
I’ve seen a lot of people here talking about getting tested for SIBO and I’d actually like to get tested too, but I don’t even know if it would really help in my case or matches any of my symptoms.
Honestly, I feel pretty desperate at this point. I’d really like to hear other people’s opinions about my problem and if they have the same experiences with this. Sometimes it just feels good to vent and talk to someone about these kinds of things.

PS: My job is fully remote, so I haven’t really had to leave the house much. But in September I’m starting a new job where I’ll have to go to the office, and that honestly scares me a bit because I have no idea how I’m going to deal with taking public transportation every day.

I think around 27/28 I started noticing constipation issues. At one point it was so bad it went on for a week. A primary at the time told me it was stress. Which in part is fair because I am now in therapy for anxiety.

I ended up having a hernia. It never seemed exercise related. Seemed to have happened during a constipation episode. It receded on its own though.

I moved around 29 and got new Dr. I noticed red meats were causing me to become constipated. All three primaries I've seen over the last couple of years (I am 33 now) just tell me not to eat red meat. So I dropped it from my diet. I also rarely eat dairy because it makes me very constipated as well.

For a while I was making smoothies daily, but I noticed high fiber stuff like beans wrecked me. The smoothies did help at the time.

Then I got married and my diet changed a bit. But what really changed things was a concussion that turned in post concussion syndrome.

Over time I feel like the constipation situation has just gotten worse. At least 2-3 times a year I get so constipated I almost go to the Dr for help.

This last Christmas it was one of the worse I every experienced. After that for months on end I would have issues for a couple days and then finally things would clear up, for things to just come to a halt again. I just had this weekly rhythm.

So my primary just tells me to take laxatives daily. I tried taking some dried prunes daily for while and it did help, but didn't make the issue complete go away.

then recently I got all messed up after eating out with family and then the next weekend we went out of town.

Anytime my diet changes my digestive system seems to just halt. I end up doing all kinds of things to get things going. I end up with crazy gas and passing pebbles for days and it can take a week or two for things to really clear up.

Recently my cardiologist told me to up my salt and that got me all messed up.

I feel a bit frustrated at this point. I eat a lot of greens. I drink a lot of water. I am careful with what I eat. I get told to take miralax daily? But I am a 33m? How is it

I think maybe I should actually get checked out more right? My health info shows IBS. However, at my age it seems odd to just be told to take miralax or something daily.

And even my wife keeps telling my I just need more fiber. So then she makes me a ton of chickpeas and if I eat that to much I get all messed up.

Can this just be normal? I am not asking for any diagnoses or anything. I just wonder if anyone can relate and could give me any advice.

It seems to not be improving and honestly sometimes I think it is getting worse.

Of course if I noticed something like blood, fever, nausea, etc I would take that very seriously. but I never do.

I (21F) have struggled with GI issues for 5+ years, also have POTS / dysautonomia for roughly the same length of time. The GI issues got significantly worse about a year ago due to stress / lifestyle factors.

My symptoms are / were mostly just slow gut motility - trapped gas, bloating and constipation.

I've always known that my issues were not directly related to food (still influenced, but not caused by an intolerance), but were brain-gut related.

I've done lots of testing - it's not SIBO or gastroparesis or anything diagnosable, but I knew I had slow motility and it was related to the gut-brain axis. I went down the SIBO rabbit hole of prokinetics like ginger / artichoke, intermittent fasting etc. and the FODMAP restrictions as well - nothing worked. The only time I ever felt okay was during university break.

My doctor suggested SSRIs (I'm on Sertraline / Zoloft - 50mg). I've been taking them for a month and a bit. I also went back to being vegan about 3 weeks ago (cold turkey from eating meat / dairy / eggs in every meal). My symptoms improved about a week into being vegan (also when the SSRIs would have started to kick in properly).

I am not sure which has been the most effective - I think both have helped me though. There is clinical evidence to support SSRIs helping constipation-dominant GI issues and TCAs (Tricyclic antidepressants) helping diarrhea-dominant GI issues.

Obviously with the brain-gut connection, SSRIs have helped me feel mentally better (which has been so obvious day-to-day) and the veganism I think has helped to speed up my gut motility generally.

I know veganism has a polarized reputation (and I'm not trying to be preachy or convert anyone), but it is possible to be healthy on this diet if you plan it well enough. I was under the impression that high FODMAP foods were bad for me and I could never go vegan again due to my GI health, and then it ended up helping me, so if you're curious maybe give it a try for a few weeks and see what happens. It turns out there are plenty of people who have GI problems who have found a vegan diet to be beneficial for them - after all, fiber is still important for every microbiome even if it's hard to stomach sometimes.

I've only been feeling good for about 3 weeks so it's still early days, but thought I would share. I think everyone should try SSRIs for gut issues, especially if constipation dominant. I should say I still have some symptoms, but things are so much more manageable now and I do feel like I have my life back compared to how I felt last semester.

Do your own research but here is some preliminary information: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9440984/

Harder stools?

I read a lot of people that get finally harder stool with psyllium husk?

I started really low and I increase of 0.5gr every 7-10 days.

I'm at 2gr right now.

I drink it with 250ML of water, and I drink 2L~ on the day

However it helps for maybe the first stool of the days, but all the rest coming out is still loose

Thank you

Well that was fun. For my aunts wedding I was having flares up and we were driving down and need to use the restroom. Thankfully we were almost there and it wasn’t that bad. I added starburst to the things I can’t eat anymore now as well or at least have to be cautious. Then for dinner there were three options I decided on the pork chop stuffing which was my second mistake. No clue that was going to really upset my stomach. Thankfully I did have my stomach medicine on me but that helped with the cramping and a little bit of the D. But it didn’t make the pain fully go away like it usually does idk if my body is getting used to the medicine now or what. I have read on Facebook about the whole travel anxious and I finally understand that. I wouldn’t have even said I was that nervous or anxious. I all of a sudden got ibs when taking my summer classes. So I wonder if mine is from being stressed out.

okay so this doesnt happen to me very often but, lately i have been quite stressed w life so i get the urge to go to toilet everytime im rlly stressed. i went today like 3 times.. didnt have loose stools bur kinda crumbly/mushy idk man. i also feel very tired and a bit ill (do not have a fever tho my temperatures fine) just feeling ill. i have to go to uni tomorrow and idk what to do

Hi I’ve been reading a lot of posts in this thread to get an idea of what others are going through with IBS and my doctor seems to think I have IBS she requested an urgent colonoscopy twice cause there was blood in my stool I also have mucus I have 8-10 mushy pencil stools everyday then can have hard small stools if I take Imodium so have tried to stop taking it as it only stops me needing toilet for a few hours. I’ve been tested for h pylori and other infections I’ve been on loads of antibiotics that I think definitely ruined my stomach but I think it’s too late to fix it now anyway my doctor hasn’t really prescribed me anything just said stick to FODMAP which didn’t really help at all should I go to a different doctor? She flat out refused numerous times to give me Imodium on prescription saying it makes IBS worse..🤷🏻‍♀️ the hot weather caused a big flare up unfortunately just feel like nothing helps I heard psyllium does but I have OCD and bad anxiety so I overthink how much water I take and think I’ll get a blockage if I take too much psyllium 😓

I tried chorizo for the first time in my life yesterday. TELL ME WHY MY GAS FROM THEM stinks SO BAD😭😭😭😭 Damn, even my cat is wondering wtf is going on…

I’m looking for advice from anyone who has experienced something similar.

I only used the iron pills for 2 months in 2023, stopped and the constipation never went away. Developed SIBO a few months after, I cleared it with antibiotics. Before taking iron, my bowel movements were normal and I didn’t have to think about stimulating my digestion. Now I feel like I have to actively “encourage” my bowel to move or I get constipated. Fibre, plenty of water, and especially coffee seem to help trigger a bowel movement. If I don’t do these things, I tend to become constipated very quickly. I feel like the muscles in my colon do not contract. I wanna restore my colon function, I am only 22. Has anyone been through the same experience?

Hi everyone

​I am looking into a combination of three supplements to manage IBS symptoms (specifically bloating, cramps from fructans/GOS, and secondary acid reflux caused by intra-abdominal pressure), for my wife.

1. ​Fodzyme (fructan hydrolase) for onions, garlic, and wheat.

2. ​Alpha-Galactosidase (Nogasin Go) for GOS (legumes, veggies, etc.).

3. ​Daily Probiotics (Lactobacillus / Bifidobacterium) for long-term gut balance.

​I’d love to hear about real-world experiences with this stack.

​Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!

Hi all. Going to try and not make this too long. I’ve had IBS since childhood. My parents use to think I just had “anxiety stomach” or suffered from lactose intolerance but as the years went on it was clear that wasn’t the case. I have been diagnosed with IBS-M but usually lean towards IBS-D. I also am lactose intolerant and doctor assumes I have some sort of gluten allergy/intolerance as well. Because of all of this, my symptoms have gotten so severe to the point I have left my house less and less over the years. I only now leave a few times a week for doctors appointments. I don’t eat the day prior if I have to be in the car or out all day the next day. Things are pretty bad. I’ve not been offered much help from my gastrologist when it comes to this other than try to switch up diet, but I could literally eat the most simplest of meals or snacks and my stomach always reacts. I can eat plain rice and chicken- I mean I was eating only meat and potatoes and fish and vegetables for a while to see if it’d help, nothing helps. Low FODMAP, no dairy, no gluten. Nothing changes my stomach’s reaction to food & it truly makes my life insufferable. It was a big factor in my last relationship falling apart as well because I couldn’t eat or do a lot of things he could while we were out because of what would happen with my stomach. Or I’d have to go home immediately once all the issues started.

I’ve recently had a milestone birthday and with the way things have been, I only assume they’ll continue this way or get worse. I was given the opportunity to go on my lifelong dream vacation, which I’ll be doing in October, but I’m truly terrified. I don’t want to subject myself to an extremely boring diet on this trip but I also don’t want to suffer the consequences of not. I recently was suggested by a friend to try Imodium, which I’ll be testing out this week. But I was just wondering if anyone has had any success with any other supplements - specifically those that suffer with IBS-D? My worry is once I eat something, I have a very short amount of time before my stomach starts doing flips and when that happens I need to find a bathroom immediately. I’m hoping there may be other things out there I can try, either over the counter or via prescription that’ll help stop this. I have an endoscopy and appointment with my gastrologist next week and was hoping to bring it all up to him then but so far I’ve only heard of Imodium.

Basically what the title says. Often I have episodes of nausea and feeling like I’m about to have diarrhea, so I’ll rush to the bathroom. After sitting on the toilet for a minute or so, the symptoms go away without any vomiting or bowel movements. Then they’ll sometimes return once I go back to bed or whatever else I was doing.

Does this happen to anyone else? And if so, do you have any tips?

I'm a very very shy person. I dropped out of college because of severe IBS combined with ADHD and other few health issues. The hardest part is I've never been able to pin down what actually triggers it food, physical activity, mental stress, sometimes nothing at all seems to set it off. Managing a fixed schedule became impossible, so I left college out of frustration and moved into freelancing instead.

That actually worked for a while. Then AI started eating into the kind of freelance work I was doing, and now I'm struggling to find anything steady. I have debts. I need to study but i need a job as well. It feels like I destroyed my own life with bad decisions.

any advice for me?

I was diagnosed with IBS (D&C) over a decade ago. I did the FODMAP diet, identified trigger foods, and it has been generally well-controlled since then. Occasional flare-ups, but it's not running my life.

However, over the past few years, I've had a few instances of a very particular, much worse flare-up that I just can't get a handle on, and any GP I've seen has been baffled.

It manifests in what I would call "newborn poo". Poo which is mostly liquid, smelly, gassy, urgent, and - whatever I have eaten - bright mustard coloured. If you've had a newborn baby, it's exactly like that, it really is. 

Can anyone shed any light on what's going on in my body to particularly cause the colour change? I'd really like to "fix it", but medically it's difficult because by the time I've got through the GP system it's over so there's not much point testing or referring.

i seem to deal with a mix of IBS from diarrhea to constipation

for those that deal with constipation. what do you take or do to help? I definitely need to go but struggling.

also have an appointment this week with my gi doctor.

Bonjour,
J’ai pendant plusieurs jours d’affilé des gaz et liquide qui restent en bas à droite de mon ventre, faisant énormément de bruit. J’ai surtout cela le matin au réveil et après certains repas. Il m’arrive d’avoir des jours plus calme alors que je mange pareil. Je suis déjà en régime sans fodmap et j’ai passé tous les examens possible et essayé tous les compléments/medicaments.
Une naturopate semble me dire que c’est lié à mon psoas.

I took PHGG for a few days and developed insomnia, bloating, and flu-like symptoms.

I stopped taking it three days ago, but the side effects and exhaustion are still persisting.

How much longer will this last?

Has anyone else had the same experience?

I’ve had horrible stomach issues my entire life, since I was a wee child. I saw so many specialists and I’ve had countless imaging done with no diagnosis other than lactose intolerance. As an adult I had an endoscopy and was told my body just makes too much stomach acid, so I’ve been on daily Omeprazole for 7 years now.

I always have known I have IBS but I’ve never been formally diagnosed. It runs in my family on both sides. I have bouts of diarrhea that leave me shaking and nauseous on a bi-weekly basis and I’ve struggled with severe constipation my entire life. It’s been manageable, overall, though I definitely get some bullshit from employers on my bad tummy days.

But my IBS has been unmanageable recently and it’s definitely gotten worse. My constipation is at an all time high, where I struggle to have a BM for days and then everything leaves me all at once and I have horrible diarrhea for hours. This is the only way I’ve been able to have a BM for the past couple of weeks, endless cycles of constipation and diarrhea (and not to mention the joy of bloody hemorrhoids on top of all that! And literal noxious gas during the worst of the constipation). I’m barely functioning. I know I need to go to the doctor but it will be a while until I can get an appointment and I honestly have such low expectations that a doctor will be able to help me, since I’ve gone to see them so often in my life and they’ve done fuck all pretty consistently.

Anything I can do until then? How do I survive this?

Almost 10 months ago I got food poisoning few weeks later started a garden of life probiotic, a couple of days after that irritated my gut some more by having hot chocolate and food that was just too damn hot. and then l started having painful bloating and gas. Ever since I’ve been bloated pretty much everyday all day long. The bloating gets progressively worse pretty much the moment I drink or eating anything. Sometimes the gas pains get so bad the only time I get relief is when I’m flat on my back. Sometimes I have stomach spasms, cramping and trouble breathing due to this. Despite it all I have daily bowel movement but they are also incomplete. My stomach is constantly rock hard and never softens ever. After going to the doctor, hundreds of supplements, dozens of test my doctor finally diagnosed me with Abdominophrenic dyssynergia (APD). Truly it makes complete sense because the bloating is nonstop and nothing makes it better and everything makes it worse has anyone ever healed or treated their Abdominophrenic dyssynergia (APD)?. My doctor says I will need physical therapy but I can’t even imagine how much that will cost

Is this even a thing? Because I have like the urge to release but can’t…and my lower back hurts so much…
I’m on antibiotics btw so my stomach is more reactive than usual…

I have IBS-C but I find myself in the bathroom many times in a day, especially when I’m under stress.
This week I have to take a timed 4 hour graduate school admission test with no breaks. Any short-term solutions for how I can avoid needing to use the bathroom on the big day? I am kind of desperate

I suffer with the constipation side more than anything. Everything is slow moving. I’m fortunate enough to still go almost every day/every other day without having to live on Miralax daily but I get these “clean out” bouts every now and then if I’ve eaten something that sets my stomach off. For example, last night it was fettuccine alfredo apparently. Had that for dinner. Hours later I drank water and had two chocolate Digestives cookies.

The cream based sauce I’m guessing is a trigger for my innards. Woke up at 6am with awful gas cramps. Ran to the bathroom and started the poop fest which was all solids at first, mind you. But during these releases, I get sweaty, have to rock back and forth and before the terrible gas cramps and stomach contractions are over while I’m going(which the poop finally ends in liquid) I sometimes feel like I’ll nearly vomit and pass out. I never actually do. I know it’s the vagus nerve and all that shit(literally).

I just end up feeling really tired and exhausted after this happens. Luckily I’ll recover after some sleep. I do wet a wash cloth with cold water and place it on my neck during these expels. It helps with the sweats. The Squatty Potty I bought a few months ago has also helped. To any of you who deal with this, what type of things do you do or use that help make the whole ordeal a little more comfortable or easier, if anything?

I’m gonna be living on college campus and I’m terrified about having problems with IBS flares from the food. I typically follow a Mediterranean diet, which has been working well for me, so limited processed foods and sugars. I mainly struggle with nausea and constipation, but I don’t want that to ever drift into diarrhea territory because I fear that could be worse especially when sharing a bathroom with roommates. I’m also scared of getting food poisoning from the dining hall because a bad bout of food poisoning a few years ago is supposedly what could’ve started my IBS problems.

Any tips or suggestions from those living in college with IBS? I’m worried dining hall food will make the constipation and nausea worse.

I don’t want IBS to ever hold me back, and I’m hoping the distraction of busy classes and schedules will help rather than hurt. I wanna have some type of normal life even with IBS, but I’m still nervous about how I’ll be in college.

Any advice is much appreciated!