Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Please read..long and I'm sorry

Hi. I'm not exactly new here, I just haven't posted anything until today.

Here's a little information about me. I'm a 22 year old, healthy female. For about 7 or 8 years I've dealt with MILD constipation. Under my left rib I noticed it was always swollen and thinking it could've been my spleen (which wouldn't have been good) I went to the doctor and they said it was fine, but I PROBABLY have IBS-C. They didn't say anything after that and sent me home. Being 15 I didn't think anything of it. I gotta be honest and tell you that I don't really remember having too many problems at that time. When I turned 17 that's when my constipation became somewhat of a problem. It was life-changing, just annoying I guess. I wouldn't go to the bathroom for several days. I tried laxatives and alka-seltzer but nothing seemed to work. I just let nature take its course and finally when I would go I'd have a "virus" for 3 days tops. As weird as this may sound, I always had that "virus" starting on a friday and would end on a sunday. I know, crazy. But, as I said, it wasn't enough to change my life. I lived like that until I turned 20. I read somewhere that IBS can get worse when you turn 21, or something like that. But, it happened when I turned 20 instead. Now, I better state this NOW so there's no confusion later. I NEVER had a gas problem. I could eat anything I wanted to and it wouldn't affect me. I could eat the spiciest and gassiest foods and it wouldn't bother me. Not even ONCE. I know, that's weird too but I didn't complain. Anyway, I got pregnant at 19 with my first daughter who is now 2 years old. I had Hyperemesis Gravidarium, which means you constantly vomit for the first trimester and you lose a tremendously amount of weight and can become hospitalized. Well, I was 117 when I got pregnant and went down to 98LBS. in less than 3 weeks. I was very, very sick. Luckily, my baby girl turned out fine. Hyperemesis is weird because you can throw up for like a week straight or more, and then all of a sudden, you can eat and be alright. Then it hits you again. Well, this kept happening and when I was able to eat I would eat everything in sight from being soooo hungry. I was always constipated too. I had to take different kinds of medicine to stop the vomiting which didn't help until they put me on Reglan, which made me nervous and jumpy all the time. It was a nightmare. I also had to take suppositories which made me literally run to the bathroom. I don't know how I did it being so sick and weak all the time and where I was living my bathroom was actually downstairs so I had to go all the way downstairs to use the bathroom. It was horrible. When I started getting better I noticed I had such a hard time moving my bowels. I'd sit on the toilet for hours crying in pain. Probably made my IBS-C worse, huh? Probably. Anyway, trying to make a long story somewhat short, I had my baby girl in 2006 and I was fine. A month and a half later I started having excessive gas. I couldn't figure out why this was happening. I went for my 6 week check up and my gyn told me I had a 4th degree tear from the episitiomy that I had when I was in labor with my daughter. I remember being put to sleep right after she came out because they cut me way too deep. The hospital never told me I would have problems so I went home not knowing anything. Well, my gyn told me because of the degree of the tear that I might have problems holding in my bowels and gas. I didn't tell him about the gas because I honestly didn't even think of it. As time went on I noticed a lot more problems with the gas. Now, I can hold it in, I just have it all the time. I can hold it in, meaning the muscle is there and still strong, but I have gas all the time. And I don't have time holding in my bowels. How could I when I have constipation all the time?? Well, I went for x rays for my stomach and they showed fecal impaction but the doctor didn't want to do anything about it. Well, I suffered. I got pregnant again with my second (AND LAST lol) daughter and throughout the pregnancy I still had this problem and on top of that I had Hyperemesis with her too. I gave birth to her 7 months ago. I just started seeing a gastro doctor and I had a colonoscopy done which showed no parasites, no back-up, nothing serious. So he says I have IBS-C. He told me that the excessive gas is because I'm so constipated and if I can at least go 2-3x a day I shouldn't have any more gas but if I do then it's obviously a seperate problem and he'll have to treat me for both things. He put me on Lactulose. HORRIBLE. The side effects are excessive flatulence, bloating, stomach rumbling, and cramps. Like I truly need more of that, right?? So I told him and I stopped. I took gas pills and it hasn't stopped. Of course it won't because it's a constipation problem, not a gas problem. I tried uni-cenna which I've tried in the past and it gave me nasty cramps and bad diarehha so I stopped it right away. I'm currently taking Miralax and the side effects are gas and bloating in the first few days but I'm fine with that actually and I'm more than grateful for that. But, I'm noticing that I'm going to the bathroom little by little but too frequently. The gas is gone too because I'm actually going to the bathroom but what I'm really looking for is something that's going to make me go at least 2 or 3x a day NORMALLY and not so frequent. I read that if this happens (the frequency) then cut the dose in half so tomorrow I'm going to start that. I just want to be able to go normally. I know they say IBS has no cure but I don't believe that. I really don't. My g.i. doctor talked about putting me on anti-depressants because of my depression from all of this and because some anti-depressants calm down the stomach since IBS is linked to the brain. Well, I don't want to go on those pills. I just want to live a normal and happy life. I used to be so happy. This has truly changed my life. I just got married to the father of my beautiful baby girls about 3 months ago. We've been together 7 years. He's very understanding about all of this but I'm not comfortable living like this so I'm always pushing him away from me. I can't live like this.

I'm sorry this was soooo long. To whoever read it I truly appreciate your time. If anyone knows what I'm going through and are actually taking something that helps them, please let me know!!!!!!

Thank you soo much!!

Christine

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