Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptoms

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a disease characterized by frequent periods of constipation and diarrhea and is usually accompanied by pain or bloating. After the food is partially digested in the stomach, it is pushed through the thin and then through the large intestine due to regular contractions of the muscles of the intestinal wall( peristalsis).With irritable bowel syndrome, these muscles can be cramped and move the food residue too fast( which leads to diarrhea), or too slowly( which causes constipation).Irritable bowel syndrome should not be confused with more serious inflammatory bowel diseases.

There are no ways of treating irritable bowel syndrome;but the symptoms can be reduced by combining special exercises and diet. Sometimes relief comes from medication. Irritable bowel syndrome is more common in women than in men;symptoms may worsen during menstruation.

• The cause of irritable bowel syndrome is unknown, although it is believed that it is most likely associated with impaired gastrointestinal function, and not with general disorders in the body.

• Emotional stress may be a contributing factor.

• Certain foods may cause disease outbreaks. Typical irritants include fatty foods: bacon, poultry skin, vegetable oil, margarine and dairy products, and foods that cause excessive gassing, such as beans and broccoli.

This is a fairly frequent variant of the functional disorder of the intestine, which is a violation of motor and secretory functions of the intestine in combination with increased sensitivity of its various departments to a number of nutritional factors( allergic, temperature, mechanical, etc.), neuro-emotional. Irritable bowel syndrome is often the result of past infections, intoxications, worm infections. It can arise as a consequence of previous dysentery, salmonellosis, other acute inflammatory diseases, when the causative factor has already lost its significance, inflammatory and other pathological processes have disappeared, but there has been a changed susceptibility( reactivity) of the mechanisms regulating the activity of the intestine. At the same time, the most diverse influences( psychoemotional, food, physical overload, cooling, overheating, cold infections, etc.) can cause the manifestation of painful symptoms from the intestine.

• Constipation, diarrhea, or alternation.

• Discomfort, pain, swelling, or cramps in the abdomen.

• Excessive gas generation.

• Feeling that the bowel is not completely emptied.

• Nausea.

Disease often occurs at a young age, more often in women. The disease proceeds undulating and is characterized by the appearance of attacks of acute, cramping pain in the abdomen. The pain is accompanied by a frequent urge on the bottom, with the departure of a small amount, usually unformed or liquid, feces, sometimes with a high content of mucus. Attacks of pain, often against the background of bloating and rumbling in the abdomen, with the release of mucus and diarrhea, last from 20-30 minutes to several days, followed by a normal stool and overall good health.

Short-term functional disorders of the intestine can be observed with food excesses, with alcohol abuse, including when taking dry wines, champagne, and soft drinks, especially cold carbonated( lemonade, pepsi-cola).In such cases, after a few hours( less than minutes) after a heavy meal, especially greasy or poorly combined( for example, milk with cucumbers and fish), there may be short-term diarrhea, rumbling and transfusion, pain throughout the abdomen. As a rule, the general condition of patients suffers little.

Functional disorders of bowel activity in the form of constipation, diarrhea, bloating and increased gas formation, short-term pain can be the initial manifestation of inflammatory or other( organic) diseases. Therefore, self-medication or( even worse) indifferent attitude of patients to the appearance of symptoms of the disease is a gross error in relation to their health. In all cases, the most correct step is to contact the district therapist or gastroenterologist, conduct, under their supervision and supervision, a set of necessary studies and receive recommendations for treatment and prevention after diagnosis.

• Need a medical history and physical examination. The diagnosis is made when the possibility of other diseases, for example, cancer and inflammation of the intestine, is excluded.

• An enema with barium may be needed. Barium creates a clear image of the intestine in X-rays.

• To inspect the entire colon( colonoscopy) or part of it( rectosigmoscopy), a small tube with illumination at the end can be used.

• It is recommended to eat foods that are low in fat( fatty foods increase symptoms).

• You can try eating fibrous food. Some people find that symptoms decrease with the use of foods rich in fiber( raw fruits and vegetables, bran, whole-grain bread and dried vegetables).Others argue that eating fibrous foods increases symptoms.

• Should be eaten more often and in small quantities.

• Consultations with a psychologist and auto-training can help in relieving tension. Regular moderate exercise can also reduce stress and relieve symptoms.

• A doctor may prescribe laxatives, fixing, anthyspasmic or sedatives, or medications to improve digestion.

• Smoking can act as a trigger, so it should be avoided.

In the treatment program for patients with irritable bowel syndrome, the individualization of nutrition is most important. During the exacerbation of the disease, frequent diarrhea, abdominal pain, other phenomena, it is necessary to switch to the dietary regime of diet No. 4c, to exclude from the diet foods and dishes that are not well tolerated by the patient. With a tendency to diarrhea and the prevalence of fermentation processes in the intestines( rumbling, bloating) it is recommended to avoid milk, milk soups and cereals. To such lactic products, as curdled milk, yogurt, acidophilus and fermented baked milk, should be treated individually, depending on the portability. Contraindicated acute sauces, gravies, canned food in tomato, refractory fats, cold drinks, products made of dough.

Patients with irritable bowel syndrome should sufficiently study the characteristics of their body in terms of the reaction of the intestine to the nature and diet, so that conditions for exacerbation of the process are not created. So, most of these patients do not tolerate cold, carbonated drinks, especially on an empty stomach. Therefore, you should beware of lemonade, pepsi-cola, water from the siphon, as well as juices and compotes immediately from the refrigerator. From the diet it is advisable to exclude strong coffee, provoking diarrhea, or drastically reduce its use.

Many patients suffer not only overeating causing intestinal dysfunction, but also abundant food. Therefore, the food should be frequent, but low-volume, especially in the morning. Within 30-40 minutes after eating, patients with irritable bowel syndrome should not be engaged in manual labor, especially heavy, so as not to cause diarrhea. It is difficult to enumerate all the situations that each patient may encounter during his illness and which stimulate intestinal dysfunction. Hence a certain conclusion arises: to know all the causes of the deterioration of the course of the disease and not to allow their recurrence.

With a tendency to diarrhea, it is recommended to drizzle blueberries in the form of infusion, broth( 1-2 teaspoons per cup of boiling water) or in the form of blueberry jelly, as well as cherry fruit( 10 g per 100 g of water, take no more than 0.5 cup 2-3 timesin a day).To neutralize the corrosive substances for diarrhea prescribed activated charcoal or carboline( 1-2 g twice or thrice a day).However, long-term use of it is undesirable because of the possible development of enzyme deficiency of the digestive system, deterioration of absorption in the intestines of vitamins and mineral salts. In order to stop or reduce diarrhea with success, herbs can be used,

Essential aid in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome at home can be provided by the internal use of mineral waters. This provides a calming effect on impaired intestinal motility, a decrease in the phenomena of irritation and increased sensitivity of its mucous membrane, and an improvement in the functional state of other digestive organs. With diarrhea due to increased motor function of the intestine, hot( 40-45 ° C) small and medium mineralized waters containing HCO3 and Ca ions( Smirnovskaya, Slavyanskaya, Feodosiya, Jermuk, Borjomi, Essentuki№ 4 », etc., 100 ml 3 times a day for 30-90 minutes before meals, depending on the initial level of gastric secretion: with reduced acidity - for 30 minutes, at normal - for 40-60, with a high - for 90min.).

Small intestinal procedures in the form of therapeutic enemas are also very effective in diarrhea, especially in cases where irritable bowel syndrome is accompanied by an inflammatory process in the area of ​​the intestinal exit( sigmoid and rectum).They are performed as follows. Half an hour after a small amount of warm cleansing enema, placed very carefully, 250-350 ml of warm mineral water( such as Essentuki No. 4 or Essentuki No. 17, Smirnovskaya, Slavyanovskaya, Jermuk, Arzni "and others).This portion of water should be tried to detain in the intestines possibly longer. The procedure often does not cause urge, and water is completely absorbed into the intestines, providing a good anti-inflammatory effect, eliminating violations of the motor function of the intestine. Medical enemas can be done every day for 2-3 weeks.

• There is no known way to prevent irritable bowel syndrome, however the symptoms can often be weakened by changing the diet and special exercises.

• Make an appointment with a doctor if signs of irritable bowel syndrome interfere with daily activities.

Finally, we should seriously warn against uncontrolled use of medicines, especially antibiotics, sulfonamides, enzyme and other drugs. The illogicality and danger of self-treatment of the listed medicines in the syndrome of the diffuse intestine, as well as in other forms of functional bowel diseases, is that these potent agents are designed to suppress pathogenic( pathogenic) intestinal microbes that are absent in the examined functional diseases, for the treatment of severe inflammatory phenomenamucous membrane of the intestine and deep disorders of intracavitary and parietal digestion, which is also not present in patients with dskineziey bowel syndrome and irritable bowel. Moreover, having no possibility to influence pathogenic microorganisms of the intestine, antibiotics, sulfanilamines and other potent medicines show their side effect - a disastrous effect on the normal intestinal microflora, which leads to dysbiosis. As a result, fermentation processes intensify, the body's supply of vitamins deteriorates, and unfavorable influences appear. All this should convince the danger of self-treatment, the advisability of seeking advice from a doctor for the choice of individually indicated treatment.