Is it really IBS or something else?

[NeelG]

Im a 21 year old male, Im a regular gym user and have a big interest in natural bodybuilding and my diet is typically high in protein, carbs and essential fats, I also normally eat six smaller meals. It started in late february where I fealt full earlier when eating my meals and it would take me longer to finsish them as a result, normally Id be able to finish them fairly quick and would only be partially full, however later I started to feel full early and bloated, also it lead to change in bowel habits, normally I would have 2 bowel movements, but all of a sudden it went to4+, it even meant waking up at 3am or later to deficiate. At times i would feel constipated and sometimes diahrea. My GP said its IBS and gave me mebeverine this lessened bowle movement frequency but lead to further constipation and did nothing for my appetite. Eventually the appetite issue casued vomitting after eating and even during. I was booked for a blood test, and thyroid, liver, crp protein full blood count etc came normal however my iron levels were low, which shocked me as everything i was eating was high in iron ie tuna fish, eggs, cereals, meats, fruits, vegetables, salads. However this did not occur to my GPs  that it could be a absorption issues and they prescribed me iron tabs and sent me home. This again did not help me and my appetite got worse and worse, as aresult I had to give up my diet and training, its been over 2 months and Ive lost over 10kg. I've tried lowering my calories rotating my diet but still no good, I've treid herbal remedies for ibs eg probiotics, peppermint oil, digestive enzymes, psyllium husk, but its not bringing my appetite back at all. I also have hemmorids(internal) that i was diagnosed with in sept, they come and go and I bleed when wiping after a bowel movement. Lately Ive also been passing mucus in stool and sometimes mucus only, also im passing mucus when breaking wind. Today I passed a small strain of blood, during a bowel movement, along with mucus, I have never passed blood with stool just after when wiping due to hemmorids, also the blood was dark. Which has scared me. I am tired of hearing IBS from my GP's. From the symptoms ive described what do you think is causing this. HPylori maybe, celiacs, lactose intolerance, ibd, cancer maybe, parasites, or maybe the hemmoroids have become too extreme. I would appreciate it if you help, becasue when I mention all these possible conditions to my gp's theyre just being stubborn and telling me im stressing myself out and making things worse. I've been referred by gp to a gastroenterologist, it took me two months to get through to them, Im jsut waiting for the letter. So what do u think it is from your knowledge and experience?

[tim9106]

Hi !I have similar issues.I have ibs and i am 23 old male.I used to do fitness.I lost my appetite almost 2 years ago.Its so difficult to force myself to eat.How is your appetite now.Thank you!

[tim9106]

Hi !I have similar issues.I have ibs and i am 23 old male.I used to do fitness.I lost my appetite almost 2 years ago.Its so difficult to force myself to eat.How is your appetite now.Thank you!

[FraggleK]

Celiac and h. Pylori are both easy to test for.  Celiac's first test is just a blood draw and I think h. Pylori is usually a stool sample.  You can always try to push your GI doc to do those immediately since they're not difficult.  If you do turn out to be Celiac, it's worth remembering that a lot of Celiac's are dairy/casein intolerant as well.  Celiac is controlled with a gluten free diet.  

I've been told that IBS is usually a diagnosis of exclusion-- they test for everything else that makes any sense and when they run out of ideas, they call it IBS.  My GP believes that things like IBS and fibromyalgia are probably a group of similar issues that aren't understood properly yet.

Are you in the British health system?  If so, be prepared to be extra pushy about your symptoms and progress.  I'm in the US and even in this country I'm finding that I have to be ready to be pushier than seems reasonable to me-- it's horrible and draining when I already feel so poorly so much of the time, but unless I insist that there's a problem and we're not getting ANY progress and I need a new thing to try NOW, my GI doctor seems inclined to spend a lot of time on Omeprazole and probiotics waiting.  My friend in Scotland has a different undiagnosed illness (not GI) and she's had a much more difficult time with the health system there.

[NeelG]

Yeah I was using supplements too, typically whey, casein and NO and creatine, I started training seriously  and my diet regime in sept 08, and i only started to get problems in march/feb 2010, so I am not buying the idea that my diet and supplements caused IBS, as it would have happened early ie in a few months like it did to you. Are you bodybuilding now at all, or have you put it on hold for good? I spoke to people on bodybuilding.com forums who have IBS and they never experienced loss of appetite or vomitting. People from yahoo answers saiad the same thing. My uncle who although is just a cardioligist, but obviously had to learn everything from medschool, said its unlikely to IBS, he siad he'd put his money on celiacs or h pylori. Ive also read on many websites the illnesses people have tend to get mistaken for ibs eg celiacs, h pylori, cancer etc. Ive also read IBS is more of a label instead of a condition, given when they cant find whats causing the symptoms or cant be bothered too in most cases.

I too went for a ultrasound in late may, everything clear, tbh I dont find ultrasound appropriate for looking at intestines and stomach etc, because it only looks at the gallbladder, liver, kidneys and pancreas, it cant see stomach and intestines because they have gas inside and the ultrasound cant pick that up, therefore its not accurate for looking at inflamation, IBS, celiacs etc. Did you see a gastroenterologist for further check ups at all?

Yeah guess, all i can do is wait despite that the fact im losing patience now, I got a call today and they gave me a appointment on 25th June which is not too bad, just going to tell him the symptoms, and listen to what he thinks and what test he thinks are relevant for me, Im going to say that 'please dont tell me its IBS, cos my retarded GP's said that for two months'.

[B_Shel20]

I had alot of the same issues you did(Sans the vomitting, never had that.) when I started doing bodybuilding. I was taking tons of supplements(Nothing illegal) and eating 6-8 meals a day.
After a few months, I began getting bloated all the time, and BM frequency jumped to about 3-4 a day. I began getting pains in my stomach and felt bad in general. I went to the doc and they ran my blood which came back 100%. An abdominal ultrasound came back normal as well.
The docs chalked it up to IBS due to all the food and supps I was taking. It took almost 4 months for me to go back to normal. I just kept to a fairly bland diet, eating only 3 meals a day,etc. I think diets for bodybuilders are for some, but not everyone. Perhaps this is your case as well.
The blood from hemmorhoids can be anywhere from on the stool to on toilet paper, depending on the serverity of the flareup. Since you are in process of getting an appointment with your GI doc, just continue with that, as they are the best ones to make an exact diagnosis. Just be sure to tell them everything youve done diet wise,and all the symptoms your experiencing.

[NeelG]

I also get sharp and sometimes mild pain after eating and out of the blue, in my middle and upper abdominals. Also in my stool i see a lot of undigested food.