Irritable Bowel Syndrome (kabag, paninikmura, atbp)

Posted on January 11, 2007
Filed Under Food, Health and Beauty, Information | Viewed 9312 times

While surfing the internet to learn more about what most kids at home have been experiencing lately, particularly after the holidays, I chanced upon an article from BBC which discussed Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), a common condition that causes a variety of unpleasant abdominal symptoms, including:

Abdominal pain and spasm
Diarrhea
Constipation
Bloated stomach
Rumbling noises and wind
Urgency – a need to rush and open the bowels
A feeling of incomplete emptying of the bowels
Incontinence if a toilet is not nearby
A sharp pain felt low down inside the rectum
Nausea, belching and vomiting

Other possible symptoms not related to the gut include backache, tiredness, headaches, and urinary or gynecological symptoms

An excerpt from the article:

IBS is the most common gut condition and affects up to one in five people at some time, often between the ages of 25 to 45 years old. Women are more often affected than men.

Although the exact cause is unknown, the condition is thought to be caused by a combination of factors including abnormal movements of the intestines and altered sensation of the gut. Some people develop IBS following gut infections and food poisoning.

It isn’t possible to prevent IBS from developing. However, certain things can trigger attacks for those with IBS and should be avoided. These include stress, eating irregular meals and, in some cases, a lack of dietary fibre.

Treatment: Peppermint oil and antispasmodic medication relieve abdominal pain. Anti-diarrhoea medication will stop diarrhoea. If constipation is a problem then increasing fluid, fibre, activity, as well as taking a gentle laxative may be recommended.

Some people with IBS find that increasing the amount of dietary fibre and reducing caffeine helps. Reducing stress and taking time to relax is important. Complementary therapies, such as acupuncture and homeopathy, are often used.

It is always useful to learn the possible causes of the disease (stress, eating irregular meals, a lack of dietary fiber), any disease for that matter, so that we could avoid them. As for treatment, most often, most doctors would outright give drugs for the symptoms observed at the moment.

One of my daughters was even at one point in time given a prescription of very expensive drugs (Nexium, Losec, or Zantac), as long term maintenance medicines (for months!). They are not only expensive, but any drug taken continuously would in the long run affect the kidney and liver. Though of course, the benefit has to outweigh the damage.

The symptoms also should not be mistaken for those of appendicitis. When my daughter started experiencing abdominal pains last Christmas, we at first thought that it was a case of either IBS or gastric reflux for which she was being treated. We were glad we went to the ER—her appendix had to be removed at 5:30 am (see related article).

Another son, Vincent was rushed to the ER last Sunday. He was not given any medicine, instead was advised hot compress, and had to be cleared of appendicitis (CBC, urinalysis) before he was released from the ER.

The good news is that, according to the BBC article, IBS does not cause bowel cancer, contrary to what many of us fear!

Comments

19 Responses to “Irritable Bowel Syndrome (kabag, paninikmura, atbp)”

Claire on January 12th, 2007 3:48 am

Interesting post. I’ve had IBS for about 10+ years now! Peppermint oil is my saviour! Being Bipolar and getting regularly depressed is my nightmare! You learn to manage it though, I know exactly what food can trigger a bad case and will avoid these foods at all costs! I also can’t believe doctors aren’t promoting that it doesn’t lead to bowel cancer more. It’s the first thing my consultant reassured me of when I was diagnosed!
karmi on January 12th, 2007 5:02 am

wow.. nice info..

dapat pala hindi binabalewala ang simpleng bloating and diarrhea.. hmmmm…

wow, i need to change my eating habit….
ces on January 12th, 2007 6:35 am

i am one IBS-inflicted mom! thanks for this info!
Utenzi on January 12th, 2007 1:59 pm

Hi Dine. Thanks for visiting my blog. It’s great to have visitors.

I’ve had IBS symptoms for about 22 years but never even considered a cancer link. It just never occurred to me. I’m glad to hear that there isn’t one. whew

I’ll have to try peppermint oil like Claire suggests but unlike her I don’t totally avoid foods that cause outbreaks. Sometimes the taste of a favorite food is worth the urgent runs to the bathroom.

I hope Monica is recovering well from her surgery, Dine. Christmas day is such a bad time to be sick, especially when surgical intervention is required!
Sexy Mom on January 12th, 2007 2:07 pm

dear Carmi, Claire, and Utenzi
thanks!
am still waiting for Claire’s advice on the use of peppermint oil. IBS is so irritating, and sometimes, I really get so worried, esp with Monica. she’s fine now, didn’t even absent herself from law school.
cheers
noemi on January 12th, 2007 2:57 pm

eek I often hear my stomach grumble and fear farting all over my husband. I warn him though. hehe
Kyels on January 12th, 2007 5:44 pm

Hmmm … After reading this article, it made me wonder, do I have IBS or not ‘cause I have constant stomach growls. Hmmm!

(:
Beng on January 12th, 2007 8:23 pm
thanks for sharing dine. i remember when i was a child i often had these symptoms:

#Abdominal pain and spasm
1. A feeling of incomplete emptying of the bowels
2. A sharp pain felt low down inside the rectum
But I am not sure if it was IBS. Alam mo naman noong kapanahunan ko, di pa masyadong aware ang mga magulang sa mga ganitong bagay lalo na sa province.
karmi on January 12th, 2007 8:58 pm

thnx for the comment sexy mom. ^_

i hope malaman mo na po kung pano gamitin ung peppermint oil for your daughter..
annamanila on January 13th, 2007 2:50 am

Oh my I had it too for years and years. Usually happens after lunch. I remember fainting in airports— guess because its stressful when you travel. When I stopped drinking coke after meals, my symptoms eased . It hardly occurs anymore except when the pressure is intense.
dine on January 13th, 2007 7:58 am

thanks to you, all, dear anna, karmi, beng, kyels, noemi, ces and utenzi (and to all others who send emails). i am taking note of your experiences and still learning from you all. one of my daughters even almost faints. and when she does, as advised by the doctor, she does not panic but sits down and let it just pass. she has stopped taking her maintenance medicines, and now tries to eat healthy.
Belle on January 13th, 2007 9:56 am

hi sexy mom,
my email address used to be sexybelle@.... but now that i gained 5 pounds, i refuse to call myself sexy anymore, thus, a change in my email was necessary.
i really appreciate you visiting my blog and leaving nice comments.
i have had some abdominal pains for some time now but ever since I increased my water intake coupled with healthy eating, it has improved dramatically.
docwrite on January 13th, 2007 11:22 am

Melatonin has recently been shown to help in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.
annamanila on January 14th, 2007 2:10 am

Hi sexy Mom. I tagged you for a meme. Are you up to the challenge of uncovering five of your wellkept secrets? From the little I know of you, I am sure you’re game. Kindly check my latest blog. Look forward to your bare-all piece
anjan on April 9th, 2007 2:53 pm

please suggest me how to fight against constipation.
nichole on September 11th, 2007 3:37 am

Hi,

Can someone tell me how to manage IBS. What are the food to be taken or things to do with IBS….
ibs on March 4th, 2008 12:58 pm

thank you for sharing what you know about ibs. i’ve had ibs for a long time w/c i believe was helped by food poisoning, irregular eating schedule, stress, low dietary fibre intake. i can’t believe how accurate my mom was when she kept telling me that irregular eating habits do harm to the body. same with annamanila i discovered that avoiding sugary drinks and food helps to prevent the symptoms. but still i get diarrhea every week and sometimes experience fatigue.

avoiding almost anything that uses sugar has provided the most help to me and i believe it will help anybody who has ibs. i hope you spread the word and more power to ur website.
ibs on March 4th, 2008 1:09 pm

for those who are interested, these are the steps i took to prevent or ease my IBS symptoms…

1. avoiding sugary drinks (softdrinks,juices w/ sugar, drinks with artificial sugar) and food
2. eating on schedule most of the time i.e. since work sometimes commands more attention i forget about eating but i try harder to eat regularly during the week
3. sleeping on time
4. taking chamomile tea (helps the body to relax) but don’t take it during the day if it makes you drowsy unless you work by sleeping (hehe)
5. drinking water regularly
6. mental discipline to manage the stress (for me this was very hard to do but i just keep on trying)

hope this helps somebody out there… if you have some tips to share pls. do share it also… 2lungan tayo…
francis on July 23rd, 2008 5:20 pm

my dad had kabag? pwede bang makitulongan kasi he take kalium dumle and ciprofloxacin normal poba yan nag susuka sya?!and tae ng tae,pero wala po sya kinakain?!ano po bang ang pwede nyan kainin thanks…