FAQs

Answer: Worsening pain may reflect a flare. If the pain is limited to when you press on it try not to touch the area. The pain is likely to be part and parcel of symptoms related to bowel sensitivity in the setting of IBS.

Answer: This is hugely individual. Both to the drugs and to individuals. Your drugs can exacerbate your bowel symptoms, but it doesn’t happen to everybody.

Answer: Yes, you are right, it can cause these symptoms.Oral nutritional supplements are usually prescribed by your dietitian or GP if they are concerned about the risk of malnutrition, for example if you are losing weight unintentionally, or are not eating enough to meet your nutritional requirements. They are not designed to be meal replacement drinks unless recommended by a dietitian. If the fibre version of Ensure is not well tolerated - try swapping to a non-fibre containing alternative.

Answer: It sounds as if the problem may be overloading of the colon with faeces and relatively slow transit.  In the first instance I would be inclined to use dietary and lifestyle measures to optimise bowel function.It would be worth reviewing your soluble fibre content of your diet (try using linseed or other soluble fibre), ensuring enough fluids.  Make sure you take at least 150mins of exercise per week, (some of which should make you short of breath) If this is insufficient to see some positive changes, then I would add an aperient such as docusate 200mg twice daily or movicol one sachet daily.An alternative approach would be to try using a suppository or an enema first thing in the morning (for the enemas perhaps on alternate days) to clear the bowels properly before going forward with the day.

Answer: The RADAR Disabled Toilet Key allows you to use locked disabled toilets. It fits the Wellington lock used by the National Key Scheme, granting access to over 9000 disabled toilets nationwide. Have a look on their website www.nks.co.uk  or the changing places map at www.changingplacesmap.org (this address is included in the information that we send out with the key). Although these sites do try and stay up to date, I would double check accessibility when going anywhere new.

Answer: It would be very unlikely that colesevelam is exacerbating your symptoms of loose stools. It may be you need to try a bigger dose. You might ask your GP if you should take up to 2.4g twice a day. If you also have rapid transit loperamide at 2mg four times a day it might help. This also occurs post right hemi-colectomy. As does small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. SIBO may be tested for with a breath test; it may need a gastroenterologist to arrange this or you can use a suitable private provider.

Answer: Try taking regular flax seed. Initially one teaspoon daily, increasing until you get a better result by one teaspoon every five days then stay on that dose.  Alternatively try fybogel, or ispahulgha husk. Also, porridge for breakfast is a good start, you could also try Greens such as spinach which are good too.

Answer: A variety of medicines not aimed at IBS can sometimes improve IBS symptoms, so this is not unusual. It doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have IBS as long as you have been properly investigated. Reflux is very commonly associated with IBS.

Answer: There are a number of exercises you can try which will help reduce stress from building. Have a look at the pages on the website under the STRESS tab in the SELF-CARE PROGRAMME. Read the page on reducing anxiety and preventing panic. Have a look at our Blogs where there's a dedicated Travel and IBS category with a range of articles you will find interesting and helpful.  Also, Edward West, part of our advisory team, a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist and an experienced commercial pilot, has hosted an extremely popular webinar with advice and tips. Take a look at his and all our webinars on our shop here Info & Resources (theibsnetwork.org) 

Answer: You have made the right decision to seek help. One episode of vomiting out of the blue does not necessarily mean there is anything serious going on. However, if it recurs, then you should definitely be investigated further, for instance by having a scan. Antibiotics frequently upset IBS and that can take several weeks to settle. However, if it doesn't settle or it is very watery or if it smells particularly offensive, you should have a stool culture. Probiotics will do no harm and may help your symptoms.

Answer: As you will know with IBS, what works for one person, isn't going to necessarily work for another.  I would advise against dismissing hypnotherapy and CBT approaches altogether, as of key importance is finding a therapist with whom you can feel comfortable.  To help your research have a look at our Counselling and Psychotherapy; Hypnotherapy and Stress, Trauma and IBS factsheets. Included in those factsheets are details of all the professional bodies and associations through which you will be able to find someone suitably qualified in your geographical area and in an approach which aligns with your thinking. I would also reacquaint yourself with the self care programme as you will find lots of useful advice.

Answer: No. IBS is diagnosed by a combination of long term bowel disturbance and abdominal discomfort for which there is no other cause. Doctors should rule out other diseases of the bowel by conducting screening tests for Cancer, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Coeliac Disease. 

Answer: It may tend to be due to fluctuations in your diet but is more often caused by changes in your life. Every change is a stress and may be perceived in the context of previous life events as a threat or loss which may stimulate the areas in the brain stem that control bowel function.Keep a wellness diary or fill in your symptom tracker. Try to identify the changes. If you know what they are, you can more easily avoid them or deal with them. 

Answer: No but it can be managed and it may disappear with a change in life.   

Answer: Yes they do. IBS does seem to mellow with age, but when people have been able to change their life and leave a stressful situation or work through what has happened, they symptoms can go.       

Answer: It can but that does not necessarily mean that there is a genetic link.  It could just be that members of the same family share the same colonic bacteria, eat the same diet, have the same stresses and identify with each other’s symptoms. 

Answer: Food allergy is generally thought to be rare in adults with IBS, though it is more common in children. Therefore allergy testing is generally not useful and may be misleading. Antibodies to common foods may suggest a normal response to a somewhat leaky gut. On the other hand, food intolerance is present in most people with IBS and may come and go according to fluctuations in the sensitivity of the gut. Foods that are implicated are fats, hot spices, coffee, alcohol, insoluble fibre and poorly absorbed fermentable sugars (FODMAPs) that either retain fluid in the gut and cause diarrhoea or are fermented by colonic bacteria releasing gas. 

Answer: The person with IBS is the best place to answer that. They may have been abroad and had an attack of gastroenteritis, the gut might have been upset by a course of antibiotics, they might have changed the diet, but the most common cause is a life change, which may have upset their system. This may be due to leaving home, going to university, the start or the break up of a relationship, a severe disappointment, the death of a close relative.  Life events tend to feel more devastating when we are young and trauma can often ‘go to the gut’.

Answer: IBS fluctuates according to the stresses and changes in life. Stress can excite the brain stem centres that control bowel function. Finding time and space to think damps down the activity and reduces symptoms.       

Answer: Bloating may be caused by an increase in gas production due to eating foods that contain FODMAPs, but most people with bloating do not have an increase in intestinal gas. What they do have is an increase in intestinal sensitivity (a sensitive gut) and a change in abdominal posture,descent of the diaphragm and relaxation of the muscles of the abdominal wall that causes the abdomen to protrude, both of which may be related to tiredness and an increase in emotional tension.    

Answer: Keep a symptom diary on which you can identify the flare ups of your IBS and any changes in diet or events that that occur before those. Once recognised, these may then be avoided or dealt with.Try to find time and space in your life to do something for you. This might be going to yoga classes, sunning, swimming, learning to draw or paint, cooking. Exercise and creative activity are all forms of mindfulness that can allow respite from IBS and what causes it and may allow you to consider life changes.           

Answer: In about 20-30% of people, symptoms switch between diarrhoea and constipation. The reason for this is not clear, but some people demonstrate fluctuations in eating behaviour and emotional expression/behaviour.      

Answer: Loperamide is the most common drug taken for diarrhoea but it can cause abdominal pain and constipation in some people. Bile acid sequestrants such as Questran can mop up irritant bile acids that are not well re-absorbed in people with IBS-D and can be very useful when Loperamide is not tolerated, but they have to be taken before meals and balance the dose with the size of the meal as well as the response of the symptoms.  A diet low in fructose (fruit sugar) or lactose (milk sugar) can be very effective in people who do not absorb these sugars well.       

Answer: Although is defined by typical bowel symptoms, people often have many other unexplained symptoms affecting other regions of the body. These include backache, headache, fatigue, muscle pains, bladder irregularity and many other symptoms.  All of these symptoms might be triggered by stress since stressful events can excite the centres in the brain stem that control body function. This would explain why symptoms come and go according to the changes in a person, and may seem to represent the memory and the meaning of previous traumatic episodes.      

Answer: About 10% of people who suffer an attack of food poisoning or gastroenteritis develop persistent symptoms of IBS. The reason for this is not clear and may be related to changes in colonic bacteria, the gut immune system and the leakiness of the gut wall as well as changes in the brain stem centres controlling the gut.  Post infectious IBS is more common in people who have suffered a more severe attack and who were also depressed, anxious and experience difficult life events at the time.           

Answer: Excluding foods that contain FODMAPs (some fruits, onions, pulses, broccoli, sprouts, artichoke, wheat, milk and dairy) has been shown to reduce symptoms in about 70% of people with IBS, but unless these are reintroduced piecemeal to find out which foods are particularly implicated, they might leave the bowel vulnerable and the person with a nutritionally depleted diet.  A more pragmatic solution for most people might be the restriction of FODMAP foods during times when your IBS flares up due to life changes or stresses.

Answer: FODMAPs are not the only foods that may stimulate a sensitive gut. A lot of people are sensitive to fats, so reducing the intake of dairy, fried foods and red meat can help. Similarly avoiding hot spices, insoluble fibre and coffee may help.  Stress can make the bowel sensitive to FODMAPs so another approach would be to identify any stresses in your life that are causing flare ups and either avoid or deal with them. Your symptom tracker should help you do this.  

Answer: Many people have found that going on a wheat free diet reduces symptoms of IBS, but this may not be so much due to exclusion of gluten as reduction in FODMAPs.

Answer: Some probiotics may help to reduce symptoms of IBS in some people some of the time, though the differences in bacterial strains, preparation and delivery (freeze dried or in a liquid medium) means there is no clear advantage of one product over any other. Intuitively those with multiple strains are delivered in a nutrient medium that survive passage through the stomach should work better, but the evidence is uncertain as to whether that is the case.    

Answer: Yes, they can. Complementary therapists are healers. They spend time finding out about you and what brings on your symptoms and then customise their treatments to suit your requirements. Complementary therapies are subjective treatments and as such cannot be assessed by blinded controlled trials, but the attention, active listing, time and understanding can be therapeutic. Chose a therapist you get on with.      

Answer: If you know that your IBS is brought on or associated with stressful episodes, a counsellor or therapist may help you bring them out of your gut and into your mind where they might be dealt with. Counsellors are also conversant with mindfulness techniques that may relax your system and help you think and focus.   

Answer: There is no evidence that IBS leads to cancer, but people developing IBS for the first time in later life (after the age of 50) should be investigated by colonoscopy.   

Answer: The symptoms of IBS can resemble those of Bowel Cancer, Coeliac Disease or Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s and Colitis) but these can be screened by specific tests. The recent NICE Quality Standards (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) for IBS recommends that everybody with ongoing symptoms of IBS should be screened for these diseases by blood or stool tests. 

Answer: IBS is defined as a combination of bowel disturbance (constipation or diarrhoea) and abdominal discomfort (bloating or pain), for which there is no obvious cause.  There is no diagnostic test for IBS, but there are tests for colitis, Crohn’s Disease, coeliac disease or bowel cancer, which might cause the same symptoms. So IBS is for most doctors a diagnosis of exclusion.  If all tests are negative and you have no worrying symptoms like blood in the stool or weight loss, there is little to be gained except worry by doing more investigations.