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1287446 tn?1313947638

IBS To This!!

Hi everyone.. It seems I've had "stomach problems" my entire life.  Today, I'm a healthy 32 year old male, but my stomach is often in knots it seems.  When I was in high school, I developed IBS very badly, in which I'd get an upset stomach every school morning (due to anxiety), and this went on for years with it being triggered in various situations. Doctors always suggested a fiber supplement, which never worked.  I was even on medication (antispasmodic) to try and help it, but it didn't really work.. As you can tell, anxiety was a big culprit of my problems.  

Today, I'm the exact opposite.  I suffer from severe constipation.  I actually don't mind it compared to how things used to be.  I no longer have to "worry" about having problems with my stomach, but I know the opposite end of the spectrum isn't normal either.  I simply don't have any bowel movements during the week.  Often I can "feel them" (it's hard to describe) coming on as early as Wednesday, but generally Friday night (sometimes), Saturday morning, and Sunday morning are the only days I will ever have a bowl movement.  

As you can imagine, this makes things quite chaotic when I do have one - There's strain on occasion, some bleeding, and multiple times flushing the toilet.  It's quite a "process".  If I have a social obligation on a weekend morning, I just won't go and I'll be that much more constipated the following weekend.  It's really strange... and I went to see a specialist who basically told me during the week I was on edge, which caused the constipation and on the weekends I was more relaxed, and that was why this happens.  He stated he didn't feel a colonoscopy was necessary at this point but suggested I could possibly have the test where they put the small tube down my throat, but I declined.  (I am scared to death of anesthesia, which is another issue, and why I'm slightly worried about this).

I've done plenty of reading on this over the years, and it just seems like some people have different cycles than others.. I actually don't mind how things are now, as I said it's actually an improvement, but I know it's not normal.  I'm just getting slightly concerned with the frequent bleeding after bowel movements, but it would appear the cause is obvious.  
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5121236 tn?1363896182
I've had IBS all my life and my biggest problem was what you are describing, which was constipation. In the last 7 years I've had severe constipation which I have under control with stool softeners and senna supplements. The bleeding is from veins in the rectum that get nicked from the stools. For me, eventually it caused me quite a bit of agonizing pain, so that's why I do the gentle laxatives. Now I'm having excruciating abdomen pain from my IBS because of spastic bowels. So your IBS will change over time and you'll need to know what's going on and how to deal with it. Severe constipation can cause bleeding, bloating, gas, locked bowels, spastic bowel, heartburn, and pain. I wouldn't worry that the bleeding is anything more than the straining and hard stools. You may get piles or hemorrhoids and those can be very painful!  Hope this was somewhat helpful to you.
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1287446 tn?1313947638
I should mention it has been about 3 years since I seen that specialist... forgot to mention that.
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