TTC with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

[Bagpuss17]

Hi,
Does anybody else suffer with IBS? I've recently been diagnosed with it after suffering with dreadful stomach cramps since having my son.

I started taking Pregnacare vitamins and since taking them 3 days ago, I've had IBS pains every night. Looks like they're too strong for my stomach to take.

Just wondered if other people have experienced the same.

 

[sarah113]

I was recentley diagnosed with IBS in june
Somedays its not as bad as others but when its bad its really bad

 

[Bagpuss17]

It's dreadful. It never occurred to me that I had IBS as I didn't associate the abdominal pains and cramps with it.

I'm sure the pregnacare tablets have caused IBS pains for me. Will find out tomorrow as I've not taken any today.

I only tend to suffer a couple of times a month. But the last two months it's been severe.

Have you had any pains whilst pregnant? I'm so worried about that.

 

[Happybunny]

I have suffered from IBS for some time now. It sholdn't affect fertility and lots of women think pregnancy eases the symptoms.
Unfortunately it hasn't eased for me, in fact it is worse and I can't take anti-sposmodic pills. I can control it to an extent though through diet and 'regular' habits

 

[Baileys-Angel]

hey bagpuss
i have suffered ibs for the last five years. i had to go for an ultrasound of womb and fallopian tubes last month as i have pains very low on the right side of my groin that doc couldnt explain but get worse around ov and af. ultrasound was clear and i was told that ibs does not affect fertility but the pains can be triggered by a hormonal change.
i have heard tho that the symptoms decrease when you are pregnant again down to the hormones.
hope this helps a bit xx

 

[happy-chick]

I have quite severe IBS and have had it since being a teenager, it could be the iron or another supplement in the Pregnacare causing your IBS to be worse so would suggest just taking folic acid supplement and see if it improves?

 

[Bagpuss17]

Thanks girls for you replies, they're really helpful.

I didn't take a pregnacare tablet yesterday and sure enough I was fine last night. I now have 3 boxes of pregnancare Will still to folic acid now.

I've read that it can be worse for women around the time of AF and that hormones can be linked. I've had severe spasms after ov'ing the last 2 months. Hope it's not the same this month.

Relieved that it can't affect fertility but it's worrying when you get severe pains in the 2ww.

 

[Kittykins]

bagpuss - sorry I didn't reply to this earlier, just got back to the land of internet access!

I don't have IBS, but when I bought my last lot of Pregnacare vitamins, the lady in Boots told me that a lot of women had recently been saying that the Pregnacare brand had given them stomach cramps and diarrhoea. There's another brand of preconception multivits, think it was in a white and silver pot(!), which she said these other women had switched to without problems. I bought the Pregnacare anyway as I'd been taking it for 3 months without any problems.

Anyway, if you switch to another brand, you might well be fine? If you bought the Pregnacare from Boots, take it back and explain, they'll probably let you swap it for the other stuff.

 

[Baileys-Angel]

hey ladies
i ovulated on sunday and my ibs has been bad since. very strange as it hasnt been like this for ages. im hoping its a hormonal imbalance and my BFP is on its way xxx

 

[Rosebay]

It could also be stress- that brings on my IBS something chronic! I have a milk intolerance that triggers my IBS, that and stress. When I was PG with Mel the milk thing was actually fine and it hasn't been as bad since. I've had it in the 2WW because of my nerves.

Hope you have a BFP and that your pregnancy eases your symptoms
+++

 

[Bagpuss17]

Thanks Kitty, will try and swap it for another brand, although I'm a bit wary now as I don't want to bring on more pain.

It's been 17 months since I had my son and it's definitely got milder over time, with the exception of the last 2 months where I've had a severe case once each month.

Fingers crossed for all of us awaiting our BFPs and lets hope IBS doesn't make us suffer too much in pregnancy.

I'm going to start reflexology to help relax, see if that makes any difference. They reckon it helps for all kinds of things including IBS and TTC.

 

[Baileys-Angel]

hey all
my ibs is due to lactose (milk) intolerance so i have soya milk etc. i joined the "ibs.network" as i used to have to take three imodium a day (sorry tmi) just to be able to get to work, drive around etc and the ibs network were very helpful. i take multibionta every day as they work the same as activia / benecol / actimel etc but without the yoghurty bit and am very careful with my diet. i can manage my ibs now and went on holiday last year for the first time in 5 years . alcohol can aggravate my ibs too and its really strange that i can tolerate baileys
hope this helps xx