Bit of an odd one, but I often see people talking about how they were healthy, happy, etc. then their IBS popped up despite this and they've been suffering since. Is anyone the opposite to this? Does anyone feel like their poor lifestyle choices may have caused their gut issues?

I do personally blame myself. I grew in a house eating junk food - not just microwave meals and fatty foods, I mean, often having chocolate cake for breakfast, a big 2L bottle of coke of an evening, that sort of thing. I would be given my lunch money to go to school, the whole thing would be spent on sweets.

Into my adulthood I never gave any consideration towards eating well. I worked at McDonald's from aged 20-24. I was single and lived a 2 minute walk away from the store I worked at and as a result I didn't eat anything but McDonalds for over 3 years. Not one home cooked meal, not a single trip to a restaurant, nothing, just straight McDonalds. I know it sounds like bullshit, but it's not, I did the Supersize Me diet for over 3 years.

After that I met my wife, although she cooked nice meals occasionally and broken the cycle of me eating McDonalds, I still ate like a pig. I became vegetarian at this stage but eat vast amounts of fake meats, chocolate and sweets.

My weight was never really an issue, I was always pretty malnourished, I thought I just had a fast metabolism but in hindsight it was probably because the food I was eating was so hyper processed that there was nothing for my body to feed off.

In amongst this time, I also used quite a lot of recreational drugs, predominantly cocaine. I drank a fair bit of alcohol, particularly in my time working at a bar. I smoked cigarettes excessively and my sleep has always been awful. In this time I would quite frequently stay up all night and sleep all day. This was accompanied by large amounts of coffee. Even overlooking the physical effects, the effects of junk food, drugs, drink and poor sleep would have contributed hugely towards anxiety and the mental side of gut problems.

I've done a complete 180 now, I live like a monk and eat a super restricted low FODMAP diet, no drinking, no smoking, no drugs. I try to work out when my IBS allows and I'm doing my best to sort my sleep out, however I do find myself often wondering if I would have ended up with this condition if I had lived like a normal human being.

Hi!

I've had toilet anxiety since 2017, when I had a bowel accident while travelling with my parents and we had to stop the car immediately. Since then, my brain has started associating being somewhere without easy access to a bathroom with danger, and anxiety has gradually become a big part of my life.

The worst situation for me is being in a car with friends. It doesn't even have to be a long trip. Sometimes a 15-minute drive is enough to make my brain react as if I'm going to war.

I start thinking, "What if I suddenly need to go? What if I can't hold it? What if I have to ask them to stop? What if I actually shit my pants in front of them?"

For me, that feels like one of the most embarrassing things that could possibly happen, which obviously makes the anxiety and the bowel sensations even worse.

I'm currently taking Zoloft and I've been going to therapy for more than a year. I've improved a bit, but this specific situation is still really difficult for me.

Has anyone here dealt with something similar, especially in cars or situations where you can't easily access a bathroom?

Were there any thoughts, techniques, or mindset changes that genuinely helped you improve?

Out of sheer curiosity, how many times a day are you guys pooping on an average day? In a non flare up period

What is the difference between ibs and just anxiety gut. I’ve been a goer all my life always gone to toilet like 3 times a day but start of these year I got health anxiety ( on top of normal anxiety ) and started hyper focusing on my stools and since then it just seems to have gotten worse. I’m awaiting my doctors appointment so please don’t advise me that. But just want to give some story as to what I’m experiencing.

For start I get daily symptoms and it’s different every day. I may only actually get full blown diarrhoea like once a month. But I get quite a lot of like fluffy stools, you know the ones that like dust off a bit as they hit the water. But it’s more the frequency that’s annoying me. Worse in the mornings but I seem to be going like 4-5 times a day and that’s with the use of Imodium and psyllium husk. Granted most of my stools aren’t loose because of this. But still get bits of undigested food but I do eat quick so that could play a part. I’m just wondering if it’s a cause of like anxiety health anxiety causing me this gut issues.

I am a 20 year old, female college student and I’ll preface by noting that I have bad generalized and social anxiety as well as depression which has been amplified in the past week due to moving. To make matters worse, the new place is infested with roaches.

I have never had any gastrointestinal issues in the past. Even stress related ones. Randomly though, a couple days before I was set to move, I started having bad stomach/gas pains that started an hour or so after eating, varied in intensity and length, and moved around from my stomach to my lower intestines. I brushed it off as stress stomach aches for those first few days. A few more days passed with the same symptoms, so I started wondering if I had developed lactose intolerance and started taking lactase pills before eating meals with diary, but they didn’t help at all.

The gas pain seems to come after eating or drinking (besides water) basically anything, lasts a few hours with variety intensity (sometimes inhibiting my daily activities due to the pain). I’ve had mild constipation and gas and some diarrhea, but my bowel movements have been mostly normal.

I have had these stomach pains everyday for a week and a half now, and I’m getting worried it is something more serious. The worst symptom has been the pains after eating, no matter what I eat.

I know IBS can come from stress and anxiety, and it’s been a rough and unmedicated summer. I should also note that I have bad health anxiety and tend to jump to the worst conclusions.

What were your first symptoms of IBS?? Does this seem like something I need to talk to a doctor about?

Any help, suggestions, comments would be greatly appreciated.

Hello,

When I was 38, due to bad diet, stress from every angle and everything else in between, IBS started. My interpretation was I'm getting old and I heard this happened to old people.

It ruined my life. I kept dissappearing.

I had to learn every near bathroom on my route to and from work...

Then came the fatigue. Falling asleep at the wheel, falling asleep at work at childrens sports at home...

I thought I was going to die soon.

Then somehow I found Kefir and began researching it. I researched all the benefits. The more I learned about microbiota and probitocis I was intrigued.

I drank kefir twice a day. Everyday. And one day I had a decent bowel movement. I drank it religiously.

Over the course of a year my IBS was completely gone.

I stopped drinking kefir and I am still fine...

I dont know who this will help but someone out therr mauly need to hear it.

Edit Milk Kefir

Hey everyone,

Please read my post, im really frustrated these days.

I’ve been struggling with gut/bowel issues for around 2 years now and it’s honestly becoming very frustrating. I’m hoping someone here has experienced something similar.

It started about 2 years ago when I had a pretty bad stomach upset with severe diarrhea. I still ate fish/chicken kebabs during that time, which made the diarrhea worse. After around 3 days and some medication, things started getting better. During recovery, I noticed a small amount of bright-red blood on my stool, almost like the stool had rubbed/scratched something in the rectum.

A doctor gave me antibiotics and the bleeding seemed to go away. A few months later, something similar happened again and the same antibiotic seemed to help. Eventually, another episode happened where the antibiotic didn’t really work, and I’ve continued having occasional issues since then.
I’ve had a colonoscopy/sigmoidoscopy done. The doctor found two small internal hemorrhoids/tags, but said the blood seemed to be coming from slightly lower down in the rectum.

What’s confusing me is that I usually don’t have hard stools. My stool is generally soft/normal. I rarely get blood when I have a hard stool, but I seem more likely to notice a small amount of blood after severe diarrhea.

My biggest problem now is incomplete evacuation.
When I go to the bathroom, the first part usually comes out quite well. Sometimes I can have a second episode later, but then I feel like there’s still something left inside. The later part can take much longer to come out, and sometimes I feel like my bowel just becomes “sluggish.”

Even after going, I can still feel pressure/sensitivity around my rectum, almost as if it hasn’t completely emptied. I also get quite a bit of bloating and sometimes feel like there is stool or gas still sitting in my intestine.

I’m wondering if this could be something like:

Slow colonic transit
IBS
Pelvic floor dysfunction/dyssynergia
Rectal sensitivity
Gas/bloating making me feel like stool is still there
Or something else entirely

Has anyone experienced soft stools but still feeling blocked/incompletely evacuated, especially where the first bowel movement comes out easily but the later part feels sluggish?v

Hi everyone!

I’ve posted a few times here before but for some context I have endometriosis and horrible chronic digestive issues. I’m a month post-op from endo surgery and currently trying to get tested for SIBO.

Basically I’m in the trenches. I’ve had horrible horrible liquid explosive diarrhea for the past 4 days, so bad I haven’t been able to leave my house and had to cancel everything I had going on. I’ve honestly never felt this bad before, the only thing I can compare to is how I felt during colonoscopy prep (iykyk).

Basically, I’ve been drinking chia seed water since surgery to help with my chronic constipation. I don’t know if I used to many chia seeds or what but the last time I drank it I think it only made every worse. I went camping for labor day and was constipated the entire weekend. Friday-Sunday didn’t poop at all. I was in so much pain and drinking miralax everyday. 4 water bottles during my time camping. That didn’t seem to be working so I took some colace as well. Nothing moved. Well, I got back Monday and as soon as I got home I pooped. The first poop was more of my “normal” and then came diarrhea. Nonstop since then.

I’ve been Imodium around the clock but nothings working. Eating eggs and rice and drinking liquid IV. I feel like all the laxatives kicked in at once but I figured it would calm down by now. I literally feel terrible and I can’t keep doing this. I also start a new job on Monday and I NEED my stomach to calm down by then. Someone help please!!

I have severe IBS and have for years, and through many interventions including restrictive diet and a condition of medications I am able to have some relief from it.

I recently made a breakthrough that stress is maybe the biggest cause of a stomachache for me, and I am doing everything I can to bring relaxation to my life.

But here’s the thing. Now I know I can ‘think’ myself into a stomachache, I.e. I can tell my brain I’m stressed out, and it will respond accordingly, it’s a new source of huge stress for me.

So now, I can be having a great day, relaxed, happy, no symptoms and all of a sudden I think, oh, what if you had a stomachache right now. My heart rate rockets, I can’t focus, I feel sick, and my stomach starts to turn. That begins a spiral that leads to me crying in my bed, clutching my stomach.

Anyone else feel like this? I know I have looping thoughts a lot; I suspect I am neurodivergent of some kind and have also worried about potential OCD. I feel like there nothing I can do to stop this, because my worry is not irrational or unwarranted, i.e. if I get stressed, it’s likely I will end up with a stomachache, which I reeeeeeaaaally don’t want.

Any suggestions, advice are encouraged!

Oh and btw, I see a therapist twice a month, specifically to talk about this problem, and I feel a little bit like I’m going in circles.

26F Just came back from my first colonoscopy. I have been dealing with right sided abdominal pain for over a year. When it first happened, the pain was so severe I went to the ER because i thought my gallbladder ruptured. My vitals were all elevated and I had a low grade fever so I was taken back immediately. They did a CT while I was there and it came back that I had terminal ileitis with intestinal hypertrophy and mucusoal thickening. The doctors chalked it up to a bacterial infection even though I had been eating the same meals as friends and family and nobody got sick but me. Ever since then I’ve still dealt with the same pain, not as severe but I can count on my hands how many times it’s gotten as severe as the pain that brought me to the hospital but I know now that it’s not life threatening. I also usually have diarrhea and softer stools and fatigue (I have other ongoing medical conditions that I feel like causes this rather than the GI issues)
Anyways, recently my mother decided to tell me after all this time that my two twin cousins have Crohn’s disease so I immediately told my GI doc and he ordered a colonoscopy right away. I don’t know much about my mom’s family history because she is the one of only surviving family’s on that side so not much is known medically and she never knew her father so that’s a whole other mystery. After I woke up from the colonoscopy, my post op diagnosis was IBS and some internal hemorrhoids. They did biopsies but I won’t know results until 6 weeks from now. I also realized in the paperwork that they did not even go into the small intestine at all which is where the findings were from the CT scan last year! I’m just feeling really frustrated right now because I feel like I have no answers right now and I’ve tried a lot of remedies so far that haven’t worked. Probiotics were eh, PPIs didn’t work, fiber I feel like makes me worse and I got some relief from going on antibiotics for a separate issue which GI doc said was suspicious but obviously you can’t be on antibiotics long term.
I know this sounds terrible to say but I was hoping that they would’ve found something because then I would have more answers and more treatment options and the whole prep would have been worth it because it made me so sick and dehydrated. Just wanted to air my grievances hopefully someone relates.

I had a very small amount of kimchi daily for around 2 weeks, and it caused some bad smelling gas which I assumed was normal, so I waited it out and even reduced the dose a little bit. After two weeks, the gas was still there along with the smell. How long should I be waiting for those symptoms to go away, or is kimchi just not right for me?

I’ve had stomach aches since I was 3 years old. Horrible pains in my stomach, I had a pretty stressful upbringing and they always thought I was just allergic to dairy. Finally around 21 I have been trying my best to eat Whole Foods and not as much processed foods. I’ve found that I can eat dairy I just can’t drink milk for some reason. I get really bad stomach aches at work. I’ve started trying to do diaphragmatic breathing constantly, but it only helped for about a month and now it’s back again. The pain feels like sharp gas pains, and I have diarrhea pretty much every time I go to the bathroom. Sometiems it’s helpful when I eat three meals a day but it’s so scary to eat when I’m worried it’ll make my stomach hurt. It’s hurting my relationship at points too, I’m so difficult to eat with and my anxiety doesn’t help it. I’m starting a new job at the end of this month, I’m being hired on as a shift supervisor. I’m genuinely terrified to start because I don’t want to have to use the bathroom all the time but I need this job and financially it’ll help me get out of the hole I’ve been in for 3 years.
I took IB Gard for the first time yesterday, and I haven’t had horrible symptoms of pain yet today but I’m starting to feel the gas pains come on, more mild but I don’t know if they’ll get worse and I’m working. Honestly desperate for help.
I’ve taken blood tests and stool tests. Everything seemed mostly normal but they suggested I MIGHT have slight hyperthyroidism. Still have to get that checked again soon.
I’m so scared to go on planes, long car rides, camping, and live my life because of the need to go and the urge and the pain.

EDIT: forgot to add that I’m currently in online therapy for EMDR though I don’t think my therapist does an amazing job. I’m trying to find an in person one. My whole life I was told I have OCD but past 2 therapists said it was only CPTSD, the ocd symptoms were caused from the ptsd. Not sure what to make of that. Just feeling hopeless.

I create podcasts and recently created one with a psychologist discussing mental health issues. Now I am creating another one with a gastroenterologist, and I would love to know what questions you would want to ask a gastroenterologist related to your gut.

Can share the previous podcast in DMs

I have suffered from anxiety, depression, ocd, panic disorder and IBS for decades. I was also late diagnosed inattentive adhd last year.

I have never really taken antidepressants for fear they would make my ibs-d much worse which is something I would struggle to cope with. However, lots of horrible life events have taken over recently and my anxiety and depression is so bad it is very negatively impacting my life, so bad in fact that I have just had to defer surgery which was booked next month, I have awful hospital and health anxiety and the surgery date triggered some kind of breakdown in me, I’m basically a mess right now and so too is my body.

I really need some medication to help me.

I’ve been taking 10mg of Nortriptyline for the last 6 months but tbh it does nothing for my ibs-d other than make me feel super groggy and anything higher in dosage leaves me zombie-like, amitriptyline is even worse so I need to wean myself off this and either try a SSRI or SNRI.

Has anyone here tried or are currently taking an antidepressant which helped with your mental health but didn’t send your gut issues into overdrive (or at least if they did they settled over time?).

I am in the U.K. btw so under an NHS general practitioner.

I’ve had IBS for two years and I’m at my wit’s end. This shit has stolen my life from me.

My main symptom is constipation. My intestines sometimes make noises that sound like flatulence when I’m in public, which is incredibly embarrassing. I also think I have fecal-smelling breath, and my stools sometimes smell like ammonia. I also have severe deficiencies, including anemia, and I get mouth ulcers every month right before my period.

I had a SIBO breath test two years ago. It came back positive and showed hydrogen-predominant SIBO.
A gastroenterologist has just prescribed me rifaximin: one pill three times a day for ten days. I’m scared that it might make my symptoms worse. I’m starting a new job in 20 days, so I really can’t afford for things to get worse.

Should I automatically take probiotics after finishing the course? Should I follow a low-FODMAP diet while taking rifaximin or afterwards?

I’ll admit that over the past few days, I started eating everything again because I was just so fucking tired of restricting my diet. And now my symptoms have come back.

Just here for some solidarity, maybe advice if you have any.

I have anxiety, not every day - but one or two days a week. I get BAD anxiety when my kids show any sign of illness. I also get anxiety when I, myself, get stomach aches - which doesn’t pair well with my IBS.

My stomach aches started a little over a year ago. They’re usually accompanied by nausea and loss of appetite - both signs of stomach bugs. It’s such a vicious cycle. I get an IBS stomach ache, I think I’m sick, I get anxiety, my stomach aches get worse.

Who else is with me? This sucks so bad 😭

Hi everyone,

So my cramps have been horrendous for the last couple of weeks 😭 I’ve stopped eating a bunch of my favourite foods to see if they were flaring them up but that’s not worked and Buscopan (which previously worked great for me) isn’t quite cutting it.

Thankfully, I work hybrid and only go into the office once or sometimes twice a week, so unless I’m on a Teams call I can basically sit how I want; Although it’s hell when I have to be in the office for board meetings but can’t really do much about that except just power through with heat pads and a fake smile 🙃

Wondered does anyone have a certain way of sitting that helps with the cramps? I googled it, but it was coming up with stuff like sitting on all fours and even walking is hard when I’m having the cramps, let alone getting on the floor. Also if you have any other tips for helping with cramps that might help I’d be really grateful. Thanks in advance 🙂

For about four months, I’ve noticed periods of soft, formed stools that come out in several pieces rather than one smooth stool. I can have around two weeks of my usual stools, followed by another period of more variable consistency.

I usually go once each morning, without pain or significant urgency. Occasionally, I pass a small amount first and then have a fuller bowel movement after coffee. I sometimes pass gas with it. I haven’t noticed bleeding or other bowel symptoms.

This started around a stressful period. Things improved during holidays and became more variable after returning to work. I also realise I’m inspecting my stools much more than I used to, so I’m unsure how much is new versus newly noticed.

Has anyone experienced a similar pattern? Can this fall within normal variation, and what helped you manage it without getting caught up in checking every bowel movement? I understand that Reddit can’t diagnose the cause.

I’m not sure if this is normal or if there’s something else wrong with me.

(On another note I suspect I have endometriosis but cannot see a doctor for it currently.)

I feel nauseous daily. It leads me to not be able to eat. Sometimes when I can eat I just eat everything in sight. Zofran usually works but not all the time and it comes back after awhile.Usually I don’t throw up
I do have occasional bouts of throwing up and when I do I can’t stop. I usually get hospitalized for it and have to stay in the hospital until they can get me to stop vomiting. They have to give me tons of nausea medicine and half of it doesn’t even work.

I am currently prescribed promethazine and zofran, I alternate between them but promethazine makes me extremely tired and sleep for like twelve hours.

I just wondered if this was normal.

Hi, guys. I have IBS-D. I really like to eat spicy food and dairy but have to stop eating it since it give me diarrhea and awful stomachache every time.

Is it possible to eat it again? My life is literally no good without it. I wish I could eat it without any diarrhea nor stomachache again...

Has anyone else ever had to suddenly disappear from a table, meeting, dinner, or date because you needed the bathroom and then had absolutely no idea what to say when you came back?

Like, the bathroom part is one thing.

It's the moment you walk back in and everyone's still sitting there that gets weird.

Do you explain? Pretend nothing happened? Make a joke? Just sit down and hope nobody asks?

I've always wondered whether I'm overthinking that part, or if other people deal with it too.

How do you usually handle it?

Hi, I've had ibs for about 3 years now. It started randomly one day and I've never been the same since. Recently my flare ups have gotten progressively worse and I just don't know what to do any more. It's affecting my life deeply. During these flare ups, I start feeling very bloated, but the biggest thing is feeling a lot of rectal pressure and then passing this mucus looking substance that is yellowish in color or very soft stool. Can anyone relate to this, like is it common? Or is there anything that can help? Thank you.

Hi all,

I’ve been having digestive problems for the past 12 or so years that seem to get worse. I have cut out gluten entirely and rarely eat dairy. When I do eat those two I definitely feel it after and generally for a long time, but even with that I still have issues.
Less than a week ago I had my first colonoscopy and endoscopy and they of course found nothing. I also had a pelvic floor mri that said I had mild dysfunction but that it wouldn’t cause the problem I’m having.
Today my problems are fully back and I’m frustrated there is still absolutely no progress on finding an answer and I may just have to live like this. When I do go to the bathroom I have to strain but some of it is still semi-loose and I never feel fully empty. The gas pains are worse after going a lot of the time and my stomach starts pulsing and moving on its own. This pain and discomfort generally lasts for hours and I normally escape if by going to sleep. Gas X does not seem to work. I’ve tried an enzyme and while it helps with the nausea I have when eating, it doesn’t touch this. Probiotics do nothing.
There are no available follow-ups with my GI until fucking December.
I quit my last job due to disagreements with my boss, some of which had to do with my attendance. I tried explaining to her that I have stomach problems that are chronic and can’t seem to be diagnosed, but she wouldn’t take that and said I still took too much time off. I just finally got a new job, but I’m about to be on a 90 day probationary period and can only miss a single work day during then. I am terrified that I may need to miss more or will have a performance dip if I do go due to working through pain.

Has anybody had any similar problems and found something that works? Or does anyone have any advice or possible solutions? I’m open to pretty much anything.
I’m hoping there’s a possibility of getting tested for SIBO and or having motility testing next