IBS Symptoms

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms run the gamut of unpleasant intestinal symptoms -- diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, gas, bloating. Yes, these are all symptoms that most people experience at one time or another. It is when they happen to a person on a continual basis that there becomes the possibility that a person has IBS.

IBS Symptoms

Doctors make a diagnosis of IBS based on a combination of abdominal pain and a marked change in your bowel habits. Thus, for the individual sufferer, IBS can consist of:

• abdominal pain or discomfort relieved by a bowel movement
• three or more bowel movements a day (diarrhea)
• three or fewer bowel movements a week (constipation)
• loose, watery stools (diarrhea)
• hard, dry stools (constipation)
• feeling of urgency (diarrhea)
• straining during a bowel movement (constipation)
• feeling of incomplete evacuation
• passage of mucus
• gas and bloating

Sub-types of IBS

• Constipation-predominant
• Diarrhea-predominant
• Alternating or Mixed (symptoms alternate between constipation and diarrhea)

Red-flag Digestive Symptoms

IBS symptoms can be so severe and disruptive that sufferers frequently worry about misdiagnosis and that their doctor has overlooked a more serious disorder. The following list describes symptoms that are NOT typical of IBS and would warrant further investigation:

• fever
• vomiting
• blood in the stool (may be only from hemorrhoids, but MUST be brought to the attention of a qualified physician)
• significant and unexplained weight loss
• anemia
• abdominal pain and cramping not relieved by a bowel movement
• abdominal pain and cramping which awakes the sufferer from sleep
• poor appetite (not caused by a fear of eating trigger foods)
• fatigue

How to Find an IBS Doctor

_Source:

_{Longstreth, G., Thompson, W., Chey, W., Houghton, L., Mearin, F. & Spiller, R. “ Functional Bowel Disorders. Gastroenterology 2006 130:1480-1491.}