Menstrual cramps & IBS
#287205 - 10/20/06 08:44 AM
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hms05
Reged: 09/14/06
Posts: 33
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For all the ladies out there...I'm figuring most of us find that our symptoms worsen before or during our periods? What is your experience and what do you do to feel better?
My tummy is *not* happy today. Cramps plus D, lovely. I've been applying a heating pad the last few days and trying to ward them off but no luck!
It has to be the hormones but I also start wondering if the D is from something else?? How the heck do you know?
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Yep, my tummy always goes into a tizzy just before my period. If you can handle Advil or Motrin products they will help but some people and I'm on of them, the nsaid drugs makes my tummy more upset. If the D is real bad, take an Imodium otherwise stick to just soluble foods, lots of rice and pasta. Try to avoid salt as the water retention can make things worse. I've recently added migraines to my list of pms symptoms as well!  My advice, take a hot soak in the tub and curl up in bed with the heating pad and read a trashy book! 
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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I have endometriosis and periods are hellish for me. Every four hours I take 1000mg Tylenol and 400mg ibuprofen and that takes the edge off it. I also make sure to eat constantly (and safely) -- the cramps are way worse on an empty stomach. The heating pad is my savior but if I have to be out and about I use the Thermacare menstrual relief heat things that you stick on the inside of your panties -- they really help. As for D, I just treat it like any other D attack -- I use anti-spasmodics, Imodium if I have to, and eat ultra-safe.
You probably won't know if the D is from the hormones or from something you ate -- unless you know you ate something bad, in which case I'd blame it on the thing you ate, because then it'll be easier in the future to resist the temptation to eat it.
I'm on continuous birth control so I don't get any periods -- I'd highly recommend it if your IBS gets worse during your menstrual cycle. Actually, I'd recommend it anyway -- life without periods is so much nicer.
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jen
"It's one of the most serious things that can possibly happen to one in a battle -- to get one's head cut off." -- LC
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Chamomile tea and a heating pad soothes both my tummy and my cramps.
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-Carol
IBS-A
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The only thing I've found that helps me for this is BC. I take Levora now and it nearly eliminates all menstrual symptoms. A couple days of mild symptoms, but nothing that keeps me from normal stuff.
Also, our bodies produce hormones that can cause D and headaches when we're menstrual.
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If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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I hear you all! I thought i was the only one every time my period comes around i'm sicker than a dog! I'm so glad when it goes away! Hang in there! Just rember its only once a month! thank god! ~ Hugs~~ xx Sheila
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Not sure if this helps but I find that Arthritis Tylenol helps with my cramps - I cannot take anti-inflammatory meds like Advil or else I would just take that. Also the heating pad works wonders. Debbie IBS-A
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Sorry if I am going off the point slightly - but often Endometriosis (or however you spell it!!) is misdiagnosed as IBS and I just wondered if anyone knows anything about that - and how do you know you have it as sometimes there are no symptons??? Anyone know???
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I am personally one of the lucky people who got misdiagnosed with IBS instead of endometriosis. This has come up quite a bit and I know I've posted a lot about it, so if you do a search for "endometriosis" with no time limits, some of my posts should have quite a bit of info.
The most common signs of endometriosis are painful periods and pelvic pain, but GI symptoms can occur as well. Usually women w/ endo have diarrhea, though, not constipation. Birth control pills are usually used as the first line of defense for endo, so if you're on BC it can often mask or reduce some symptoms.
Currently the only 100% way to diagnose endometriosis is to have surgery -- typically a laparoscopy. It's not major surgery, but it's not trifling, either. If you don't want to do surgery or can't afford it, other things you can try is to get a CA-125 blood test -- levels are often elevated in women with endometriosis, but since CA-125 is also often elevated in women with ovarian cancer, this might cause you unnecessarily sleepless nights. Ultrasounds don't usually show anything. An ultrasound with a saline injection can see if your tubes are blocked, which can indicate endo. If you have cysts on your ovaries caused by endometriosis (endometrioma), that can also be an indication, but, again, not totally reliable either (tumors and other masses can also be mistaken for endometrioma).
Endometriosis is just another disease that ought to be ruled out before being diagnosed with IBS. Heather has a list of these and I really wish I'd printed that section out and taken it to my doctor when I first started having problems -- I might have spared myself a lot of misery.
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jen
"It's one of the most serious things that can possibly happen to one in a battle -- to get one's head cut off." -- LC
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