    |
How to tell if you have IBS symptoms...What is IBS?IBS symptoms are pretty variable - from time to time and from person to person. This simple explanation should help ... and guide you to natural treatments and warning signs of serious problems.You should be pretty clear about irritable bowel syndrome symptoms by the end of this page. If you know very little about how the gut functions, this article on the symptoms of bowel problems contains some diagrams that should help (there's a link back to here at the bottom of that page). What is IBS?Orthodox medical texts books explain ibs symptoms as an "illness of abnormal intestinal motility." I'll explain.To move food along the gut (intestine) normally relies on the smooth operation of muscles in the gut wall. A wave passes along the gut, pushing the food ball along. First muscles in the gut wall relax, causing it to open up. As a result, the diameter of the gut increases making space for the ball of food to move forward (down). Immediately behind the ball of food the muscles in the gut wall contract (squeeze together), pushing the ball of food along. It's a bit like squeezing a tube of toothpaste. Better image is moving a small ball along a hose pipe by pinching the pipe immediately behind the ball, gradually working the ball along. This is called peristalsis. IBS symptoms are caused when these muscle movements bcome unco-ordinated, or the muscles cramp up. Here is an x-ray movie of normal peristalsis: In the commentary, the word that sounds like "time" is "chyme" - the word for the part-digested contents of the gut. It is seen as the darker areas that are in fairly constant motion. At a certain point you notice the darker areas form into ball-shapes. The gut is "kneading" the chyme in various ways to ensure:
It's a marvelous illustration of the process in action - no need to worry about the details. What's the 'take-home' message? The process of moving the gut contents along requires a lot of co-ordination. The brain usually takes care of this without our knowing. How are the symptooms of irritable bowel syndrome caused? IBS symptoms: the mind-body connectionBut the careful co-ordination of this process can be interfered with.To understand what causes the symptoms of ibs, we need to understand a little about how the physical body responds to the mind and how strong feelings and emotions impact on the body. Where does this interference come from? From your own mind. We're all aware of getting stomach butterflies when we're anxious; trembling with anxiety; the blood draining from our face when we're frightened or shocked. Perhaps the most graphic illustration is a feeling of needing to pass a stool that accompanies a sudden fright. These are just a few of the ways our physical body reacts (causing us to show 'symptoms') as a direct response to changes in our emotions. Our feelings impact the way our body functions. In ibs, anxiety or other strong feelings (like bottled up emotions: anger, or unexpressed grief) create messages that are passed to the gut. These messages interfere with the co-ordination of the waves of contraction. This is the basis of all the irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. And - of course - once you experience irritable bowel syndrome symptoms ... life becomes more stressful. You have pain, unpredictable bowel activity to contend with. This is stressful in itself (but you may also start to worry about the symptoms, and your health in general) so a vicious circle has started. IBS symptoms can be thought of as an exaggeration of the normal response of the gut to the impact of thoughts and feelings. Irritable bowel syndrome symptomsWe've answered the question, "What is IBS?" by describing how normal gut action can be disrupted. This section lists the most common ibs symptoms.The muscles of the gut wall squeeze together for long periods, causing pain and discomfort. Prolonged squeezing of the tube prevents bowel contents moving along, causing constipation. Pain is one of the common ibs symptoms. Usually it is felt in the lower abdomen (felt below the tummy-button). Pain is colicky - it comes and goes in episodes. Pain may be more frequent - or more severe in the lower left abdomen, down towards your lower left groin. Pain may improve by passing a stool or gas. It can also be made worse by both these events, though this is less common. It is less common for there to be symptoms in the upper gut (the gullet and stomach) but these can occur. It can feel like stomach acid or heartburn. Pains may be above the tummy button, and be related to eating: better or worse (usually worse) for a meal. Indigestion may occur. Stomach acid may be pushed upwards into the gullet (causing burning pain behind the breast bone) and/or acid reflux (acid rising into the mouth). Rapid waves of contractions in the gut will cause diarrhea. There may be urgency to find a bathroom. Constipation and diarrhea may alternate. Or constipation and diarrhea may alternate with periods of normal bowel movements - these, too, are relatively common ibs symptoms. You may have the feeling that some stool (feces) remains behind, that you "don't feel finished." During phases of constipation the stool can have the appearance of rabbit pellets: small hard balls. They mat also be pressed flat, looking like ribbons. Mucus may be passed from the rectum, with stool - sometimes without. There may be distension (swelling) of the abdomen. There may be a sudden, severe pain in the back passage (anus and rectum) caused by muscles cramping in that area. I've experienced this - at times enough to make me yell out and want to hold the site of the pain - tricky in a public place! It's called proctalgia fugax. However, sufferers tend to call it a "Pain in the a**!" I have IBS symptoms: Should I worry?Please see a health practitioner to be sure these are the symptoms of ibs.In the affluent west (what is tested for routinely depends on where you are in the world) good practice in investigating ibs symptoms means ruling out Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, non-specific colitis, diverticular disease, bowel cancer and less common conditions. You should be tested for blood in the stool - there may be traces that you can't see. You should have a rectal exam and what's called a sigmoidoscopy - your specialist and/or colonoscopy - both are tubes that enable your doctor to examine the condition of the internal wall of th rectum and sigmoid colon. Your specialist will also use the instrument to nip off a small amount of your bowel lining to be tested, usually from more than one place. Again, this is to rule out more serious conditions. Once you're sure that these are the symptoms of ibs, then there is no need to worry unduly about serious illnesses (you may have been concerned about bowel cancer, for example). The question is: "How can you be sure?" And you do need to be sure you're dealing with the symptoms of ibs, and not something more serious. If you're in mid-life and you've had episodes of symptoms like this from time to time during your life, it is likely to be ibs. People with ibs are usually generally well, though you may be anxious or depressed - and you are likely to find that symptoms are worse when you are stressed. If your symptoms have come on suddenly, or early in life (teens to thirties) - especially if you have never experienced anything like this before - you should be concerned. Weight loss and blood in the stool need to be investigated as they could point to one of the more serious bowel conditions, as could overall general deterioration in health: feeling overall unwell, functioning less and less well, having less and less energy, for example. I hope this has helped you to clarify that question, "What is ibs?" and whether you are suffering from ibs symptoms. I am currently preparing pages on inflammatory bowel disease and natural treatments for ibs. Want to know when they arrive? Click on the RSS feed - the explanation is above the main navigation bar.
|
