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Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Community
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ibs pain!
by stephenm2682, Nov 28, 2008 04:58PM
hi everyone, my symptoms started in april, i was suffering with abdominal pain on left side, it lasted on & off for 6 weeks, i saw doctor in this time she said viral or ibs, i had blood test done for inflamatory bowel, celian, blood count etc, all negative, the pain went for a month, in june i went to toilet had loose stools yet again, an hour later went again & passed blood but no stool and had no more in 5 month but have sensitive or numb feeling in my rectum area?. went doctors again last week because pain & heartburn feeling above belly button, he repeated bloods & gave me anti spasm drugs which don't work, what could this be? bowel movements either loose, thin, flat or normal. thank you.
Do some research online to find information on the basic elimination diet. There is a list of the most common allergens and is a good way to start to find foods that are bothering you. Very likely you are lactose and gluten intolerant, as these are more common with IBS than many people realize.
Find a naturopath to work with. But, don't stop going to your conventional doctor. If you can find a way to get the two doctors to integrate their schools of thought, that would be best. My conventional doctor is willing to integrate with my naturopath and vice versa. This is ideal, because then everyone is working on the same page.
Instead of using psyllium fiber, use flaxseed meal, which can be added to a variety of foods that you choose to eat. Fiber is important, regardless of which way your IBS tends to go. I suggest flaxseed meal, because psyllium fiber is irritating to the gut.
I've been fortunate not to have an inflamed colon from the IBS. This seems amazing to me, considering the amount of pain that I've had my share of. I'm grateful that I haven't had Inflammatory Bowel Disease. IBS is plenty painful enough without adding more misery, of which I have read about on this forum.
I do know about iron deficiency, though. Both my conventional doctors and my naturopath have me using high doses of chelated iron. Since it's definitely NOT a good idea to do this without guidance from your doctor, I cannot recommend that you go out and start taking high doses of iron, even if you find out that you're anemic. It is dangerous to do this without proper guidance. I can say, though, that for the RDA of using iron, though, that there is a type of natural iron that is only 25 mg, the RDA that can be bought at your supplement store called Gentle Iron. I am using a natural form of iron called chelated iron. I won't say how much I am taking, though, for reasons I already stated. The reason I am mentioning these forms of iron is because I wasn't able to use the prescription forms of iron, no matter if I took them with food, as is recommended. There is a natural alternative, and it's not outrageously expensive.
A safe way of getting more iron is through your diet. I think most people know about eating liver. If you're not allergic to eggs, they have iron in them. Some vegan options for getting iron that my naturopath mentioned are: dark leafy greens, beets (the red ones have the most iron), black strap molasses, amaranth, and lentils. I would recommend your getting your iron this way first and foremost. Wait 'til your doctor recommends that you take higher doses of iron before you take more than the RDA of iron.
You should certainly get to the ROOT of the problem and find out WHY you are losing blood in the first place, even if this means going through all those tests that I'm sure you've had in times past before your doctors told you that you have IBS. Whether you've had these tests done or not in times past, you probably need to go through these tests again, regardless of how unpleasant these tests are. And, I agree with anyone who says that these tests are unpleasant and can be more than invasive. I prefer the colonoscopy test for the colon, because you get put to sleep and don't have to feel the discomfort and pain that one feels with those other tests when we're only partially sedated and still feel everything. Those other tests are simply too painful for me. As far as I know, the colonoscopy is more accurate for the bowels anyway. I didn't care for the Half-Litely mix that I had to drink the last time I had this test. Oh, well, that's minor in comparison to the misery of the IBS.
Another thing to keep in mind is that iron supplements (and calcium supplements) tend to be constipating. Fun :( I don't think this should be what you use to stop diarhea, though, because you still need to find out why you're losing blood in the first place.