Any advice on my condition please?

[markhooper42]

My bowel movements are constantly changing and inconsistent. They have been mostly tending toward diarrohea and particularly bad over the last 2-3 months, but my GP has no answers, apart from agreeing to my earnest request for a CT scan. I now have to take at least 1 Imodium per day just to be able to get out of the house. Recently this isn`t sufficient and I have to add in a couple of Zapain tablets. These provide pain relief and with the Imodium they slow down my bowels even more, which is desireable.  This is worrying but more so are the lower stomach pains that precede a bout of diarrohea. These have happened only recently but are severe as the pains are followed almost immediately by diarrohea and I need to find a toilet damn quickly. My lower stomach cramps persist on a lower level during the night and sometimes wake me up. All these symptoms cause me stress and anxiety as I have not been conclusively diagnosed with IBS.

Can anyone please offer me advice or comment on my symptoms if you have suffered something similar.

[Jeffrey Roberts]

Hi markhooper42,

This is a very similar picture that I just answered in another post. You might benefit from the medication ondansetron versus imodium and zapain. There is a recent study that you can refer your family doctor to that indicated that titrated doses of ondansetron provided lasting relief for people with IBS.

Anxiety is best managed by cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), although using CBT in conjunction with medication might also help. I would ask to see a psychiatrist that knows how to work with GI patients. Don't be thrown off by the psychiatrist title. They know how to manage the chemicals in the brain which can relieve GI symptoms and anxiety. Family doctors are only guessing.