IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome is estimated to affect 10-15% of Americans based on population studies. According to a John Hopkins Study, it is the second leading cause of work absenteeism after the common cold.
Symptoms include:
Can be described as crampy, "gassy," frequently on the lower left side of the abdomen but the location can vary widely, gets worse from time-to-time, can be relieved by a bowel movement.
Diarrhea dominant; constipation dominant; or alternating between diarrhea and constipation.
Includes bloating, gas, belching, feeling full very easily, fullness in the stomach or abdomen.
Someone doesn't need to have all of these symptoms to have IBS.
These symptoms can limit quality of life. People can end up feeling tired all the time and have the mental stress of not being able to predict when they will feel OK or when their IBS may act up.
I see many patients who had been diagnosed with IBS previously and were advised to simply "eat more fiber," "reduce their stress levels," and "exercise more." While these are all good recommendations for overall health, there are many patients to follow these advice but still do not feel better. Indeed, IBS is a complex medical condition.
It is important to work with a clinician who has worked with a lot of IBS patients because IBS symptoms may mimic other conditions that are not IBS and may have to be treated differently.
In women, abdominal-pelvic symptoms have to be differentiated from gynecologic issues that may be mistaken for IBS; examples may include dysmenorrhea, painful ovarian cysts, urinary/cystitis pain. If a female patient has not had a gyn exam recently, or if the suspicion is high that the pain may be gynecologic in origin, I will usually refer to a gynecologist or one of the doctors in our clinic specializing in gynecologic health for a consult.
