r/IBSHelp

im 23 yr old female, have been taking trulance for almost a year for ”ibs-c“ per my gastro doctor. found a hollistic health doctore a few weeks ago and we did a food allergy panel and it came back level 3 for all dairy gluten wheat peanut etc. now i’m on a elimination diet for 6 weeks and went out to eat on my 3rd week last week. was starting to feel a little better but still having bad cramps bloating & gas. now im back in terrible pain and blaoting looking 12 months pregnant. turns out there was butter in one of the foods i ate out but they didnt tell me. is anyone going through this?? i feel like i can’t even out anymore and it’s causing me to be depressed. i also have the biggest sweet tooth so it’s making it worse. what do yall eat? any suggestions? help please !!!

Hello all,

Im a female and been having recurring stomach pain for 2 years now. Pain will stay for around 5 - 6 months, then I'll perfectly fine for the next few months before stomach pain returns. Pain is always in center, comes with cramps, and on really bad days, I am sitting on the toilet feeling like I'm going to pass out from the pain. Sometimes I get cold sweats, weak, shaking, nauseous and I would crawl into bed with a heat pad. Heat pad and pepto bismol helps to a degree but after these severe attacks, I'd have dull stomach pain for the next 3 or 4 days. Pain comes whenever I'm done eating or hours after I'm done eating. I strictly avoid spicy foods since they trigger stomach pains, eat generally healthy with occasional fast foods, and don't drink/smoke.

Took ultra sound, so many blood tests, endoscopy, H. Pylori, and CT scan. All came back showing that there was nothing abnormal. Currently on high blood pressure meds & antidepressants. GI specialist wonders if this could be psychosomatic but I am not sure if this really could be the case. I had another painful flare up a week ago and i was normal in terms of mood. We have gallbladder issues ruled out as well as any acid reflux. Most recently I did a heptatitis B blood test and have not gotten results yet.

Just unsure what other approaches I can do to figure it out and hoped perhaps someone here had a similar experience to provide any ideas as to what other tests could possibly help me figure out the pain.

Thank you

Edit: unsure if this little extra info will help, but wanted to include my father passed from stomach cancer. Originally started as a H.Pylori diagnosis and it led to stomach cancer. Unsure if it was misdiagnosed initially as about two weeks after the H.Pylori diagnosis, a diff doc (we went for second opinion) told him it was stomach cancer and it had already developed pretty badly. My doc has run several tests to check if I was having any signs of it as I mentioned these symptoms were very similar to what my father had before being diagnosed. So far i've been cleared with blood tests & h.pylori test

29M. Looking for honest thoughts because I’m struggling to work out whether this sounds more like IBS/gut irritation or whether I should be pushing for further investigation.

For years I’ve always had a fairly gassy stomach and variable stools on/off, but never really focused on it because it wasn’t affecting me much.

Around 2 weeks ago I woke up with lower left abdominal pain/tenderness, especially when pressing the area. That pain settled after around 4 days, but since then my stomach/bowels have just not felt right.

Symptoms:
constant “upset stomach” feeling across lower belly/suprapubic area

cramping rather than severe pain

loads of bowel noises/swishing/gurgling

Fair amounts of gas

periods where I couldn’t fart properly followed by loads of farting

bowel movements fluctuating from constipation to explosive diarrhoea

currently going around 4–6 times a day

stools often fluffy/fragmented/soft rather than proper formed stools

some floating stools and bubbles appearing from stools

messy wiping/wet glossy stool residue

stinging around anus from frequent wiping

symptoms massively worsen after alcohol/takeaways, etc

The weird thing is I’m still:

eating normally

able to drink alcohol

passing gas

not losing weight

not vomiting

not waking in the night needing the toilet

I’ve had quite a lot of tests done already:
Full blood count normal

CRP normal (3.0)

FIT test normal

Stool pathogen PCR negative

Stool culture/microscopy negative

Kidney function normal

Thyroid normal

Liver tests normal aside from ALT 41 (still within range)

Ferritin mildly elevated at 363

No anaemia

Doctors currently don’t seem massively concerned based on the tests, but I’m struggling with how suddenly this all came on and how persistent it’s been for 2 weeks now.

Does this sound familiar to anyone with IBS/post-infectious gut issues/food intolerance etc? Or does anyone think I should be pushing harder for gastro/colonoscopy?

Anyone on it? It calms the inflammation and intestines.

I’ve had this weird flare-up since Sunday night and it’s getting to the point where I’m checking where every bathroom is before I even get out of the car. It started after a stupid spicy wrap I had at the mall and my gut hasn't reset since.

I tried the usual stuff like Imodium but that just makes me feel like a brick for three days and then the whole cycle starts all over again.

Today was the worst because I had to sit through a 2-hour team meeting and I could literally hear my stomach gurgling the whole time. Super embarrassing.

I’m currently just drinking mint tea and I've been using ENTEROSGEL since yesterday morning just to see if it helps with the bloating and the constant trips to the toilet. It’s definitely better than those chalky tablets but man, I just want to eat a normal meal without worrying about a "disaster" 20 minutes later.

Does anyone else get that sharp pain right under the ribs when it’s this bad? I’m trying to figure out if this is just stress or if I need to cut out coffee entirely which would suck. anyway just venting i guess. i'm exhausted.

I ate half a slice of wholemeal bread yesterday to see how I would feel afterwards. Everything just felt worse, my stomach, my anxiety my headaches and my constipation. I just felt worse and I still feel worse right now. Has anyone had an experience similarly to this and how long did it last?

I started having abdominal issues about 2 years ago. Then test showed I had hpylori at the time in 2024. Then I treated with the quad treatment...got a lot of anxiety and all then it got better. I had a follow-up upper endoscopy that came out clear. 1 year later, I suffered abdominal pain again, it radiates to my back (lower, left side, all over) and my belly is gassy, farts, burps frequently. Then went back to the GI doctor, they did a colonoscopy that also came out clear, after a while, the pain subsided. Usually this pain can last for 3 months consistently. Now this year, it started again early April, similar symptoms, gassy, burps, farts, back pain, abdominal discomfort. I don't have a diarrhea but noticed in my stool today that it had some white things (guessing mucus). I don't sight blood but started getting worried why the mucus is showing and also with all these symptoms. ​​​I also feel like mucus is stock in my throat. Pls is this normal, I don't know what to do again. I want to add a picture of the stool but don't know how to. I need y'all help please.

About 4 years ago, I started getting very severe pain in my stomach area. The pain would last for around 15–20 days continuously, and no matter what I took — painkillers or gas tablets — it wouldn’t go away quickly.
I consulted doctors multiple times. I got ultrasounds, blood tests, and everything always came back normal. Nothing showed up.
After 1–2 years, this became a pattern. Every 6–7 months, the same pain would come back and last for 15–20 days.
Then I did an endoscopy.
First endoscopy: nothing found

Second endoscopy: mild infection around the mucosal lining (something like a GI infection)

Doctors treated it with basic meds — painkillers, gas tablets, and syrup. It would get better… but then after 6–7 months, it would come back again.
This cycle kept repeating.
Most recently, in September 2025, it happened again. The doctor made me do a lot of tests (around ₹7–10k worth), and again everything was normal. Only CT scan was left, which one doctor suggested earlier, but I got better with basic medication again, so I didn’t go for it.
Now today, I’m facing the same issue again.
About my lifestyle:
I’ve stopped coffee

I drink alcohol moderately (2–3 times a month)

I go to the gym regularly

I take protein and maintain a proper diet

I almost never eat outside junk food

And honestly, I’m frustrated now.
Some people say this could be IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), but I don’t understand:
If this is IBS — what type is it?

Is it “mental/stress-related IBS” or digestion-related?

Because I genuinely don’t feel stressed.
I live alone, I feel normal, I don’t have anxiety attacks, I don’t even understand what “stress” is supposed to feel like.
So how am I supposed to know if this is stress-related?
And if it’s digestion-related — then what am I doing wrong?
I eat clean, I workout, I maintain protein intake — probably better than most people around me.
Sometimes it feels like: what’s the point of eating clean when people eating junk are completely fine?
If anyone here has experienced something similar, or has real knowledge about IBS or gut issues, please help me understand:
What this could actually be

Whether this sounds like IBS or something else

And what I should do next

I’d really appreciate any genuine advice.

Everyone out there with IBS and no gallbladder, what is it that you find helpful to eat for breakfast that gives you some energy without sending you to the bathroom?

Hey guys I’ve been suffering from severe, chronic bloating. That’s really my own symptom. I got rid of it before but it came back and now it’s been years that I have it. I feel miserable and it’s ruining my life. I suffer at work from it. It’s ruining my day to day life. I feel it 24/7 and it can even be painful. It’s so bad that I even think to myself maybe being around will be better because I can’t handle it anymore. I did so many test, colonoscopy, endoscopy, and I keep being told it’s just IBS but this doesn’t feel right. Now last month my GI said to not come back because there’s nothing more left to help me with. I’m getting no help. I feel lonely, lost, hopeless. I don’t know what to do! I am starting the low fod map but even that doesn’t seem to help. I don’t know what else to do.

I (35m) have had at least mild digestive issues (soft stool, loud digestion, partial evacuation) for as long as I can remember. Symptoms have gotten more severe as time goes on, to the point I had a panic attack last week and convinced myself I was dying of colon cancer. I took a FIT test and results came in negative today. I’m incredibly relieved I can cross CRC off the list as a likely culprit, but I’m stumped as far as what I should do next.
I live in the US and don’t have health insurance, so unfortunately I don’t have access to a physician to talk to about this.
I know our guts are incredibly complex and so many issues express with similar symptoms. What should I do next to figure out if I have a food allergy, parasite, other GI disease? Who can I talk to? What tests/experiments are accessible for uninsured people?

Hi everyone,

I’ve been dealing with bowel problems for years (since before 2017) and it’s starting to really affect my daily life, so I wanted to see if anyone has experienced something similar.

My main issue is that I alternate between constipation and diarrhoea. I’ll often be constipated for a few days, then suddenly get intense diarrhoea where I might go 5–6 times in an hour with strong urgency. I’ve even had one episode recently where I didn’t make it to the toilet in time.

I get quite a lot of symptoms with it:
- Cramping pain (mainly lower left and low centre of my abdomen)
- Bloating and very loud gurgling
- Nausea
- Sweating and feeling a bit dizzy during episodes

The pain usually improves after I go to the toilet.

My stool varies a lot in colour (often dark green or yellow) and sometimes has mucus, but I’ve never had blood. It can also occasionally wake me at night (maybe once a month).

I had my gallbladder removed in 2017, but these symptoms actually started before that. I’m also on Wegovy, but my symptoms were the same before starting it.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear food trigger – it happens regardless of what I eat. Sometimes I end up avoiding eating when I’m out because I’m worried about needing the toilet urgently.

My GP has started tests (bloods and stool samples), but mentioned it’s likely IBS.

Just wondering if anyone has had a similar pattern or found anything that helped?

Thanks in advance 🙂