h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have been suffering(occasionally) from crippling intenstinal pain for some time. However it only happens once or twice a month at a maximum and I seem to be able to ease it by sitting on the loo until my system has cleared itself.

Of course sitting on the loo for 3/4 of an hour straining before that final explosion of relief gets noticed and worrys people, especially when you tell them that while this pain is occuring all you want to do is take your large intestine and squeeze the contents out of it like you would sausagemeat out of its skin.

I have only ever mentioned this to a doctor in passing and so never sought a diagnosis but have long wondered if it could be IBS, or is it, as was diagnosed when it first happened at the age of 13, just colic from taking to much air in with my food.

Certainly I know that eating big meals quickly has a propensity to cause this pain but also I know that sometimes I can feel it building well before a meal.

So is it IBS?

Only a doctor can give you that diagnosis. It could be many things and could be something as simple as diet so don't worry. Just see your doc and let him know what is happening.

My Wife-to-be has finally nagged me into seeing a quack about it after suffering a long-winded attack in her company for most of the last two days.

Let us know how you get on

The appointment was just over a week ago but I'm going back for blood tests and a further appointment.

After doing some further reading it seems likely that what I've got is IBS as opposed to either of the Inflammatry Bowel Diseases or Ciliacs(which was mentioned and the doc ruling out with blood tests)

The symptoms I get seem to match up with at least one form and I've had a couple of attacks since writing my first piece and they seems to be trigger of large, fatty meals. My fiance's got me taking Peppermint Oil when an attack is in progress but I don't know if that will help.

It could actually be the beginnings of gallbladder problems if it follows large fatty meals (sorry for the osmodoc diagnosis!) - maybe try following a lower fat diet for a while to see if things improve.

I'm sort of doing that anyway, but i'm also waiting for the blood test results to rule out everything else but it does look like I have one of the types of IBS. Think it's just a case of watching what i'm eating and keeping away from foods that have triggered. Of course that can be a problem when your wife to be is addicted to Starbucks andfish and chips are SO tasty.