Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Symptoms

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Signs and Symptoms

You might be surprised to find that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (or IBS) is a condition which is thought to affect up to 10 – 20% of the population. Even though many people suffer with this condition, there is no stated cure, although many have controlled it once properly diagnosed with natural remedies for IBS. There are many different symptoms to this condition and no two people exhibit the same symptoms.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS is basically a bowel disorder that causes the sufferer severe pain and discomfort. If you have this problem, you might find that you feel abdominal pain and experience gas pain and bloating, and constipation or diarrhea.

So, while you may suffer from pain, gas and bloating due to your IBS, others might notice pain and constipation, but no bloating or gas. Some find this condition to be debilitating when they are suffering with a flare up, while others learn how to ease their pain and continue through their day.

Some of the possible symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome that you might experience include severe abdominal pain.

Sometimes this pain is excruciating and makes daily functioning difficult. Other times, you may relieve yourself and experience relief.

Other symptoms, as previously stated, include gas, pain and bloating, as well as constipation or diarrhea. Sometimes, if you have constipation, you might not feel as if you have finished, but maybe you have.

You might also find that you see mucus in the stools and a swollen or bloated abdomen.

IBS and Diarrhea

This is one of the more common forms of IBS. When you have this problem, you might find that on top of any pain you might be dealing with, you also have an extreme need to “do your duty” so to speak. This is because you have diarrhea.

Abnormal frequency of going to the bathroom.

In other words, a person who has this type of IBS will usually have to use the bathroom more than three times daily. The concern in this is the chance of becoming dehydrated. So, if this is happening to you, it’s important to keep drinking water to avoid potential dehydration.

IBS and Constipation

When you suffer with IBS and constipation, you will also know how uncomfortable this can be. You will find that you are straining to have a bowel movement. This can cause you to suffer from pain and in some cases, straining too much can cause you to suffer from hemorrhoids. You’ll also find that you develop hard stools, which can hurt to pass. This is usually caused from your body not getting enough water when you’re digesting your foods.

For you, going to the bathroom is less frequent than normal. So, instead of going three times a day, you’re going to the bathroom maybe three times a week. This can be common for some people, but when it happens with hard stools, it becomes a painful problem. Therefore you aren’t getting rid of your body’s waste as easily or efficiently as it should.

Alternating Between The Two

Now, if you don’t have one type of IBS or other, you might have alternating IBS, which means that you switch between constipation and diarrhea. This can have you constantly changing your diet to try and offset your symptoms.

In addition to these symptoms, the wrong foods or stress can cause you to suffer from mild to extreme bowel pain and or gas and bloating. In most cases, once a person is able to relieve themselves, the pain goes away, but it’s a good idea to try to prevent the symptoms before they begin if you can.

Your health care professional will likely review your symptoms with you and may do some tests as well. This is most likely to ensure that you don’t have some other disease which displays similar symptoms to IBS.

If you are suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, you might want to start with an IBS diet to help control your discomfort. Foods such as broccoli and beans are known to cause gas and you may find that they cause your symptoms to become worse. You might also want to consider switching from high fat dairy products to low or no fat dairy products.

You might also find that it’s helpful to keep a food journal to cover your IBS diet plan to help you keep track of the foods which cause you to suffer with more symptoms so you can change your diet accordingly and avoid triggers, such as caffeine, carbonated beverages and high fat foods which might be hard for your body to digest.

If you have irritable bowel syndrome, you should know that you can work with your condition and control it, but you need to take the time it will take to identify your triggers and therefore ease your symptoms for good.

Helpful Information

So, if you’re not at all familiar with this condition, but have discovered that you suffer from the symptoms, then it will certainly help you if you understand a few points.

• The first thing you need to know is that it is not life threatening. You need to know that although you’re feeling like you might die, you will not. It may be incurable, but it is very treatable.

• The second thing that you might not know is that IBS is actually more common than you realize. It is thought that about 10-20% of adults suffer from this condition. Many people don’t want to say anything because there is a stigma attached to having any sort of ‘irritable bowels.’

• What Causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome? – It’s not known what causes this condition. It is thought that there are many triggers for the symptoms of this condition. Stress, foods and drinks can have a lot to do with this problem. It is also thought that it is hereditary.

• IBS Symptoms – There are lots of different symptoms that conflict. For instance, some people have diarrhea, while others have constipation. You need to realize that your symptoms can be completely different from those of another person. Don’t assume that you don’t have this condition if you don’t have the same symptoms of someone else, you could still be suffering from IBS.

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diet – What you eat and drink can play a major role in how much you suffer, but it’s not clear what part of the diet will affect you until you keep a food journal. Some of the majors, however include foods which are high in fat, drinking alcohol, carbonated beverages, coffee and dairy products.

• Fiber doesn’t always help with your Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms. Some might be actually causing your symptoms to be worse. Eating different high fiber foods, for example can actually cause your symptoms to flare up due to the fact that they contain insoluble fiber, which is hard for the body to digest.

The more you know about your condition, the more able you will able to live with your Irritable Bowel Syndrome and not suffer from the symptoms. So before you do anything else, start doing your research so you can learn to live with your IBS and have most days be ‘symptom free days.’