Irritable bowel symptoms

by Sandra
(NSW)

I was wondering if I have IBS. I have experienced excess gas, mucous diarrhoea mixed with normal bowel motions. Cramping recently started having infrequent bouts of nausea. This started 13 months ago after a gastrointestinal upset just before travelling and during time spent interstate with diarrhoea, stomach cramps, excess gas. Have been to GP and prescribed Flagyl as I wondered if I might have a parasite. Stool test taken and came back normal. Still having the above symptoms but not all the time. What should I do next?

Help With Your Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptoms

Sorry to hear of your suffering. Your symptoms are certainly compatible with a diagnosis of post infectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This form of IBS often improves in time. It should be treated in the same way as other forms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, paying close attention to your diet in particular. If you look in the diet section you will find lots of information that can help you with this. You have to be strict with yourself when following the diet though. Some people also find going lactose free can help. Lactose is a complex carbohydrate in dairy products. By this I am talking about milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt. Obviously there are a lot of foods that contain these so it is a big change in diet. The milk needs to be replaced with Soya and butter with polyunsaturated margarine. There are also a lot of products on the market that you can buy which are dairy free too. I only recommend that you try this for a couple of weeks. If it is ineffective after this time I would go back to dairy. Another option is going gluten free. Gluten is in wheat, rye and barley so I’m talking about foods such as breads, cakes and biscuits. There are a lot of processed foods with this in so you need to be careful to check the label. Again, only do it for a couple of weeks and if you don’t notice a difference then go back to taking in these foods. Good luck!