Welcome to My IBS Diary Week 4! One month into taking Symprove & I have had somewhat of an eventful week to share with you all! Make sure you subscribe to me (for free!) to be notified of more IBS & Gluten Free Videos every week!
So when I say this week has been somewhat eventful, I really only mean one rather strange event that occurred. I was debating whether to share this or not with everyone but I have been properly checked out and it is directly in relation to my IBS. Oh & 1 month into Symprove… 2 months to go. I have definitely seen improvements, but it is still too early to say if this will help ‘cure my IBS’. I HAVE FAITH IN SYMPROVE THOUGH! Anyway… on with my ‘Eventful Story’…
Eventful IBS Story..
One day last week, just after lunch I started getting some horrific stomach pains. My upper abdomen expanded beyond any level I had seen before & I essentially couldn’t move. I was very puzzled as to the cause of this because I hadn’t eaten anything different from my usual diet that day. I was having some sort of IBS attack worse than any other IBS attack ever!
I took a tablet I have been prescribed by my doctor for IBS, Spasmonal Forte. It is an anti-spasmodic medicine that relaxes your gut muscles. I only ever take it when things are really bad as the side effects aren’t ideal. It makes me incredibly tired & sometimes dizzy. You shouldn’t drive when they are in your system. It helped a tiny bit, so Mark & I tried to go for a short walk to see if that would help anymore. Sadly it didn’t and we came home quite soon after.
I next decided to take a couple of peppermint tablets, in hope that it might decrease my bloating. It definitely did a little. I wasn’t very hungry at dinner but I always try and eat when I feel like this, in hope that it might move something around and help get my digestion. So I had a small amount of homemade Gluten Free & Dairy Free Pizza. The pain got worse & I ended up getting so fed up (I also hadn’t had any bowel movement once more in at least 4 days) that I took 4 Senokot Tablets (a Senna based laxative). I never advise anyone to take Senokot if you have IBS it is a horrible thing, but I’m just telling you how it is!
That night I went to bed as normal however at about 4am I suddenly woke up in absolute agony. The pain was worse than the pain I had during the day. I went into the bathroom & basically…. I don’t remember anything else. I woke up a few minutes later slumped to the side, shaking violently & uncontrollably. I had stars in my eyes and felt sick. I rushed back to bed before I collapsed again & lay down.
An hour later it actually happened again, with less shaking fortunately. This time when I went to the toilet I actually had bowel movements. And NOT ‘IBS-C Bowel Movements’ (if you suffer from constipation through your IBS you will know what I mean!). I went back to bed after this feeling very dizzy. However, I awoke in the morning feeling fairly normal, a little drained and feeling like I’d been in a fight with my body… but ok!
& yeah… I’ve felt back to normal ever since! BUT to cut a long story a little shorter…. I went to the doctors a day later (so hard to get an appointment!!) & explained my situation. I wanted to check that I was ok. It felt very much like I was having a seizure. My doctor was really great and I thought I would just explain what happened. My stomach was examined, I did a urine sample & I told them of the medication I had taken. The doctor told me rather than any type of seizure it was most likely that my digestive system was so so full that it has become incredibly painful and the laxatives were trying to work but just didn’t have the space to. They created even worse pain and I fainted and shook due to the stomach pains I was having. Severe pain can do this to you.
I have been told never to take senna based laxatives again & stay off spasmonal too. I am instead trying some more stool softener type medicines to see if they help. I have tried some before but there is no harm in trying them again right! I also mentioned that I am taking Symprove at the doctors and my doctor actually said that she would recommend it too. For a doctor to actually say this was very encouraging!
In this IBS Diary Week 4 update thought I would just let you know that if you are not alone if you have a bad day. The other day for me was a really bad day and it scared me. I just thought you should know, that if you are having a bad IBS day, please remember you are not alone! Also remember before taking anything to soothe the pain of an IBS attack etc, question whether it is worth it. Never take senna based laxatives… they will only make the pain worse. I know that now!!
Please feel free to let me know how your IBS is treating you this week. If you have any questions or just want a good old chat you can leave a comment below, or on Facebook/Twitter.
Thanks for watching and reading,
Becky xxx
