From the article: How To Soothe IBS Pain
One of the most debilitating symptoms of IBS can be abdominal (stomach) pain and often it can be difficult to know what to do to relieve this pain. Often the best advice comes from others who have dealt with this pain themselves. Get some tips from their experience and share your own soothing strategies. Share Your Tips
Buscopan
- Try this, its available OTC in the UK, have tried so much, and this really helped, also activated charcoal pills but they can make constipation worse.
- —Guest Susie
IBS pain
- My main and most persistent symptom of IBS is abdominal pain. According to its varying severity, I use different techniques to soothe it. My first choice with morning pain is to take an antispasmodic (I regularly switch between trimebutine and mebeverine, because they tend to lose effect with continued use). When the first antispasmodic is not enough, I take a pill of drotaverine and it helps with cramping. I also use herbal teas (esp. a mix of mint, sage, chamomille and other carminative herbs), deep breathing and guided imagery relaxation. Sometimes, applying a light pressure on my hips or on my back helps to de-focus from the main pain and a light massage on the tummy works too (but it has to be very light, otherwise it will do more harm than good). When all else fails and the pain is unbearable, my last resort is codeine. It calms the bowel spasms and kills the pain. If it weren't that addictive, I'd use it more often, but I don't want to get physically addicted to opiates.
- —Guest Brianmay1975
IBS
- IBS stands for (INCREDIBLE BULL S........! Had all kinds of tests & when doctor can't find the problem; it's automatically IBS. Tests are unreliable. After much investigating of my own; I found I'm Lactose Intolerant. So it amounts to what your body is reacting to. Hope some of this helpful; seriously ask yourself what am I putting in me that my body is reacting too. Good Luck!
- —Guest sheila
help
- I hav had ibs - over 3years an in a small Caribbean country where most docs don't have a clue how to diagnose or treat ibs, i really need some help from anyone, how to overcome or at least control my symptoms.....
- —stresstrini
IBS beginner
- Hi all, I have just recently been diagnosed with IBS. My doctor believes I had it for years but it has just gotten worse over the last 12 months. I am up to day 5 of horrific stomach cramps... I don't recall ever being in so much pain. I am really interested in trying a few ideas from this forum but I am unsure if these are available in Australia i.e. the peppermint tummy drops. If anyone in Aus knows of some places to buy these products or online (Amazon won't post tummy drops to Australia) that would be much appreciated. I was also wondering if anyone had some pointers as to what foods to avoid? or how best to work out your trigger foods? So far, I've found my heat pack and Colese tablets work but being up to my 5th day of cramps, I'M OVER IT! Very glad I found this forum, nice to know I'm not the only one. I don't know anyone else with IBS so no one understands just how bad these pains are!
- —Guest Jade
Advice for teeth grinding?
- P.s I find that when the pain gets bad, I grit my teeth unconsciously, only noticing when my jaws start killing me, anyone have any tips. if they do something similar?
- —Guest Charlie
Thanks for the advice
- Thanks for the dealing with pain suggestions, I get no/very little help from prescriptions like buscupan and mebeverine, pain is constant about a 2-4 out of 10, somedays more like 7/8. I wish I had your doc chris, mine gave no indication of what to eat and what to avoid!
- —Guest Charlie
Things to eat and exercise to avoid
- I'm 16 and have had IBS for two years and literally all I have eaten is vegetable soup, toast, crackers and digestives (biscuits) I tried to eat pasta the other day and I ended up in A&E on the floor in pain. I highly recommend crackers and digestive biscuits when you've had diarrhea it helps settle the stomach and a hot water bottle for the cramps, buscopan also helps a lot. Deep breathing also helps (in through the nose and out through the mouth). Exercise to avoid-running long distances, I wanted to run the sport relief mile so went for a mile run once a day when I got back I was in pain, the up and down movement has a bad effect on the stomach.
- —Guest Natalie
IBS Cramps and Urgency
- I have a big problem with cramps and rushing to the bathroom when I go out to eat, or when I get stressed. My doctor gave me a medicine called Levsin that works pretty good. I put it under my tongue and it usually helps a bit. A friend at work with similar problems uses peppermint oil and got me hooked on it. Supposedly it acts to relax the muscles of the gut (and the uterus too-that's why some people take it for menstrual cramps). I find it works even better for me than Levsin. I do peppermint in many ways, between tea, buying drops at stores like GNC, and, my personal favorite, something called tummy drops that I found on Amazon that were supposedly designed by GI doctors.
- —Guest Rebecca
Living with IBS
- I have had IBS for 27 years, so have had it a long time. I don't get my pain from anything I eat, I get it every time I get stressed out. If I hear bad news - I am in the toilet within 15-20mins and I'm lucky if I can get out after the third attempt. I have pills that are muscle relaxants and they are brilliant for the bowel cramps. I also have a liquid gel which usually helps with the stomach ones. The pills are called Dicycloverine hydrochloride and due them not being coated, they dissolve almost immediately and work really well. Only trouble in the UK, is that they are now discontinued in favour of Buscopan, which is not nearly as good, in my opinion. If I'm really bad, I take one of my pills and sit with a hot water bottle on my stomach and try to chill out.
- —Guest cathinscotland
Shower
- Take a warm shower, just sit in the shower and focus on the consistent beat of the water hitting the tub and relax.
- —Guest IBS SUCKS
Some successes I've found
- I've found certain things have helped my IBS more than others. The probiotic Align seems to help (I notice I get less infections too), peppermint tea works well if I sip it throughout the day. The same for ginger. Both peppermint and ginger tummy drops work great, and they're much more convenient than tea. I always feel better when I exercise (especially yoga). I didn't notice much improvement with Xifaxin for SIBO, but have had friends who have.
- —Guest Mark
Labor breathing
- Nothing I can do during an attack because I'm on the toilet and throwing up in trash can. The breathing I learned from child labor helps sometimes, centralizes the pain instead of feeling like it's my entire stomach. I drink about three glasses of tea a day and modified my diet. I make the mistake of feeling good, eating something to trigger me and be down for days. Change of diet FoReVeR, not just for a day or two.
- —Guest Tanisha
Cannot poo, stomach stabbing pains
- Grit your teeth and prepare for some bad pain. While on the toilet rock back and forth while chanting rubbish or screaming in agony. The pain should come and go then come back worse then go, unfortunately this can happen for hours. It finally ends with a liquid poo, which at this stage is fantastic . My agony time 1 hour 11 mins. May God have mercy on your trousers.
- —Guest Shaun
IBS-C
- If I take a stool softener daily, it helps, and benefiber. Klonopin at night helps tremendously to untie the knots in my stomach for spasms. I have had to take viocodin for severe attacks and works amazing and when it wears off after 4 hours the pain goes from a 9 to a 3. Its such a pain! My most violent attacks are when I travel.
- —Guest Gina
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