Hi, I'm wondering if there is perhaps something more than IBS going on here?
The symptoms are:
At seemingly random times, I will wake up with or suddenly experience a very severe pain in my abdomen, typically where I'd expect the intestines to be, sometimes it is up/down farther than others.
Within 15 minutes of this (sometimes with the pain nearly being so severe that I feel I am going to pass out) I will begin experiencing diarheaa (sorry for the spelling lol), often in conjunction with nausea (occasionally throwing up). I will be in the bathroom with this for 2-3 hours, at while this is occurring, sometimes my right leg will become numb, and I also end up with a rash over the knuckles of both hands (bright red, not itching) & on my chest. There is usually some blood in the stool also, though I wonder if this could be hemmoroidal (I don't have any pain that I'd expect to occur with that, but who knows!) or from ibuprofin.
Typically about a day before this happens the joints in my hips & knees hurt severely, and sometimes this can be helped with motrin/ibuprofin. The joints continue to hurt until about a day after the IBS episode.
I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, for pain in my muscles, which is much better now than in the past. I do still take flexeril for this occassionally, and I have been assuming that the joint pain was simply a part of whatever was causing the fibro. I do have joint pain, especially in my hips & knees, which will occur outside of the times I have the bowel issues, which will last for days (sometimes I am not able to bend one or both legs at the knees while walking - not because it's that painful, just because they won't bend correctly).
I know that this gets worse when I'm under stress, and I know that IBS itself can be caused entirely by stress. But there are also times when I am not aware of any particular stressors, and this occurs.
I was prescribed levsin for the IBS, which doesn't help. I have tried the maximum dose, without any effect. One thing which does help (which I use when I am at work & I know what's about to happen!) is Immodium + anti-gas medication. The pain is still there in my abdomen & joints, and so is the nausea & related intestinal discomfort, but I will not have the diarrhea.
This has been happening for a couple of months now & is frustrating!
Do you think I should seek a 2nd opinion (my family doc is the one who diagnosed it as IBS) or are these all common IBS symptoms?
I am 25 years old & not in the mood to have this going on!
Thank you :)