Are your gut issues actually IBS?
In case you didn’t already know, I have experienced chronic irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) since I was probably in primary school. I have had all the tests (colonoscopy, stool tests, etc.) and am a classic IBS case (either Mixed or Unspecified, to be specific, haha).
This is definitely not the most glamorous topic I am sharing on my blog, but IBS is something that I have come to learn is SUPER common, as are general digestive complaints and irregular/uncomfortable bowel habits that are enough to affect your mental health and/or quality of life. And that is just not the vibe. So my intention here is to help shed some light on whether you may need to look further into your own gut habits, and potentially seek out professional medical help to confirm whether anything may be going on.
Ideally, anything that is going on within your own gut is able to be treated, healed, reversed, corrected, eliminated. Life is too short to be spending hours and days and weeks (and longer) worried or concerned about what your gut is doing.
*A quick overview of IBS:
According to the Rome IV criteria (the official diagnostic tool for determining whether you have IBS) as listed by the Rome Foundation, IBS is considered a functional gastroingestinal disorder (FGID) characterised by “recurrent abdominal pain on average at least 1 day/week in the last 3 months, associated with two or more of the following criteria:
Related to defecation
Associated with a change in frequency of stool
Associated with a change in form (appearance) of stool”
There are four different types of IBS:
IBS - Constipation (You experience ‘constipation’ symptoms over 25% of the time, and ‘diarrhoea’ symptoms less than 25% of the time)
IBS - Diarrhoea (You experience ‘diarrhoea’ symptoms over 25% of the time, and ‘constipation’ symptoms less than 25% of the time)
IBS - Mixed (You experience both ‘constipation’ and ‘diarrhoea’ symptoms over 25% of the time each)
IBS - Unclassified (you meet the criteria for IBS but your symptoms can’t be classified into any of the above types)
(Rome Foundation (2021). Rome IV Criteria: Appendix A: Rome IV Diagnostic Criteria for FGIDs. https://theromefoundation.org/rome-iv/rome-iv-criteria/)
A functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) essentially means that you experience these symptoms without there being any specific structural change to the GI tract causing these symptoms.
This means that there doesn’t appear to be anything specific that is causing these symptoms, so a colonoscopy will come back clear. HOWEVER, that does NOT mean you are going crazy or that your symptoms do not deserve to be addressed.
A key thing to note from the above information is that PAIN needs to be involved, for the diagnosis to be considered. Changes in bowel movements without pain may be caused by something else, but regardless of whether you experience pain or not - I CANNOT RECOMMEND ENOUGH that you seek professional medical advice and testing if you experience the following:
Recurring changes in your bowel habits
Recurrent abdominal pain
Ongoing uncomfortable bloating
Blood in your urine or stools
So if nothing structural is going on within your gut, what else may be causing these IBS-specific symotoms?
It could be a variety of issues, and potentially a number of issues existing concurrently. This could include:
Allergies (low-level allergies that you may not be aware of, or even pollutants in the air such as grasses or dust that you can’t really avoid);
Food intolerances (Allergies tend to last long-term, however food intolsrances tend to come and go. They can develop in higher periods of stress, especially if you tend to digest ‘stress’ in the gut);
Stress (ANY form of stress - Too much exercise, too little sleep and recovery, emotional/physical/psychological stress, a hectic work time, social anxiety, a romantic breakup, etc.)
Poor gut integrity (the integrity of your gut lining will say a lot about how well you digest food, absorb nutrients, experience ease of bowel motions, how stable your mood is, how much energy you have, etc. Essentially if your gut lining is not doing so well, you are probably not going to be feeling so well, and you are more likely to experience ‘aggravated gut’ symptoms - aka IBS-like symptoms. This can be caused by too much sugar, alcohol, stress, high FODMAPS foods (if you are intolerant to them, etc.).
What else could my gut-specific symptoms be?
If you are unsure what is driving your symptoms, and/or what your symptoms are a sign of, I HIGHLY recommend seeking professional medical advice such as from your GP, a naturopath and/or a clinical nutritionist.
Non-IBS-related symptoms may be a sign of the following, among other things:
A parasite
Something more sinister, such as crohn’s disease or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Diverticulosis
A hernia
Another FGID such as functional dyspepsia, GORD/GERD, or functional heartburn
An imbalance of bacteria (e.g. less of the commensal bacteria such as probiotics, more of the nasty bacteria)
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) or large intestinal bacterial overgrowth (LIBO)
A H-pilori infection
low levels of stomach acid
After all this.. How can I manage my IBS-specific symptoms?
Head over to my next blog post here for a detailed look into how I personally manage IBS flare-ups, but for now some quick tips will be:
Manage your stress
Address allergies and/or food intolerances
Protect (and repair if needed) the integrity of your gut lining
One last thing here - It is important to note that IBS symptoms can come and go. By this I mean that certain times in your life (i.e. if you are going through a period of stress) may aggravate and exacerbate your symptoms, whereas other times (e.g. while you are away on holidays) you may find that your gut tends to handle a lot more without experiencing IBS-like symptoms.
Let me know in the comments if this post has been helpful for you, and if you would like to know more about IBS or gut health.
Mon xx
