IBS

Alright, first thing first, this post may not be pleasant to some. But it's something that I really want to share. Sort of like a public service. Everyone should know about such things.

Recently I have been having really irregular bowel movements (yeah baby, I am talking about SHIT! See I told ya!), and by irregular, I actually mean downright irritatingly weird.

For starters, it is not exactly consistent. I can function normally, go to work and stuffs, but when it hits, the pain is almost crippling. It's the kind of sharp, numbing pain that breaks you out in cold sweat. And it can happen anywhere. Usually after I ate something and often in the middle of the night.

Which means that if I am on the public commute, I have to get off and get the business out of the way first before I can be on my way. Not to mention the jerking away in the middle of the night and crawling to the bathroom because I just could not ignore the pain. And the "product", erm, produced is always kinda watery and mashy-like, as if I were having diarrhea.

It is very disturbing because not only is it weird, it is disrupting my daily routine and my sleep. This has been on-going for about a week or so before I decided to see a doctor about it yesterday.

And the doctor wisely announced that I am suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and threw me a bunch of medication that includes charcoal pills, painkillers and some lactobacillus acidophilus (the crap you find in Yakult and Vitagens), which according to some medical website is a "friendly bacteria". *sings lacto the friendly bacteria~~~*

Not satisfied with what little I know, I decided to Google IBS, it is actually the first search suggestion that popped up so apparently this is a popular search, and the most helpful website I came across is this.

Here are some excerpts:

"The pain and other symptoms will often:
- Occur after meals
- Come and go
- Be reduced or go away after a bowel movement

People with IBS may switch between constipation and diarrhea, or mostly have one or the other.
- People with diarrhea will have frequent, loose, watery stools. They will often have an urgent need to have a bowel movement, which is difficult to control."

Oh! That sounds exactly like me! Wise doctor is right! Then I continued down the page and read this:

"Expectations (prognosis)
Irritable bowel syndrome may be a lifelong condition. For some people, symptoms are disabling and reduce the ability to work, travel, and attend social events."

Ohmymuthafarkinggawd! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Lifelong? Mai ka wa seng siao leh! So scary!

"Symptoms can often be improved or relieved through treatment.
IBS does not cause permanent harm to the intestines, and it does not lead to a serious disease, such as cancer."

Okay, now at least that's a silver lining.

So well, there is that. It is not fatal and will not cause permanent harm, although it may be a lifelong kind of thing. Bleh.

There is also no specific cause for IBS, it could be anything from problems with the intestinal muscles to after-affects of intestinal infection. Even stress can be a possible trigger for it, which I guess is probably the cause for mine.

Boy, I must be more stressed than I think I am. There are just so many things that can be stressed about that I don't even know if I am genuinely stressed about it. But knowing what I know now, I am definitely going to try my best to treat my intestines better.

It's not fun to have to keep running to the toilet. People think I am crazy.

Do give the article a read to learn more.