IBS and BO

[mpdela]

On August 1st, my mom is having back surgery as one of her lumbar disks tends to move out of place and they are going to affix it back in place with wires, or something like that.

The stress of my mom being in such severe pain and the upcoming surgery has now triggered an IBS episode in me. I am going to observe to see if my current odor level, which my husband verified to me that I have, increases if my IBS continues to be out of control.

Has anyone learned how to control this possible trigger? Yesterday I went to my doctor, and he gave me medication to relax me, but I'm afraid of body odor produced by medication... I know I have to take it because I wonder if an irritated bowel could be more susceptible to microbial imbalance; probably so because of the severe diarrhea. I am taking my probiotics, and trying to eat healthy, though I can't seem to tolerate foods at all.

María

[jcc34]

Hi Maria

My Mum has IBS too quite badly at times. As far as I'm aware IBS is really an umbrella term, so could mean several things and I have heard it called a dustbin of a diagnosis.

I'd suggest trying to look after your stress levels as best as possible, making sure you're getting sufficient rest / not over doing things. You might want to consider making your meals smaller in size until things settle. Could you have a food allergy? Type 2 food allergies can come and go. If you have a suspect food, try absolutely avoiding even a tiny amount for 2 weeks than have it 3 times in one day and see what happens the following 2 days.

[mpdela]

Hi jcc34,

You are absolutely right. I have been so extremely stressed with my mom's impending surgery on Monday, it is a delicate situation because she has a bad heart. In addition, there are other very stressful things happening in my family life right now, and I feel overwhelmed alot. Of course, there seems to be a direct link from my stress to my digestive tract, and it immediately triggers an IBS episode. I do notice I get increased odor as well, which only upsets me more...

I agree with your advise to get more rest, since I was most certainly not getting sufficient rest, so I took the necessary meds to sleep better and to relax my gut, and I have been sleeping 8 to 10 hours a day these past few days. It has helped stop the diarrhea and pain. Of course, these meds must be triggering the odor a bit, but so be it.

Just the same, this too shall pass. I'll be at the hospital all next week taking care of my mom and dad, and then hopefully, things will get better. There is hope in the horizon.

Thanks for your reply, jcc34.

María

[Arun Nagrath]

Hey Maria,
Sorry to hear you are going through so much stress and it is impacting on your odour.

I think Jcc34 is right that IBS is a 'dustbin diagnosis'. It seems to be an umbrella term for any one of a number of unexplained symptoms such as:-

Abdominal pain or cramps
Change in bowel habit – diarrhoea, constipation, sometimes both
Feeling bloated
Excess wind and gas
Feeling of not fully emptying the bowel
Sometimes other symptoms such as nausea, tiredness, muscle, back or joint pain

My mother had been diagnosed all her life with IBS due to unexplained chronic diarrhoea. In the end they found that sulfasalazine cured her diarrhoea so called her condition ulcerative colitis instead! (an inflammatory bowel condition).

I think my odour is worse when I have diarrhoea although some say their odour is worse when they are constipated. I don't think you will know for sure if your out-of-control IBS is causing the increased odour or if it's due to stress. What do you think?

Personally, I would take the meds and not worry about any possible effects on the odour since this is largely unresearched amongst people with our condition. Also, most drugs are water soluble and are out of our body within a couple of days.

Try doing to bed early and getting up late. Do this for 2 days and see if it helps the loose motions.
Arun

[mpdela]

Hi Arun,

You bring up EXCELLENT questions here.

It’s interesting about your mom’s inflammatory bowel condition. A couple of my doctors have told me that rheumatoid arthritis or other auto-immune conditions can cause inflammatory bowel conditions. They suggested I observe to see if I have “IBS” during my rheumatoid arthritis flare-ups, to see if there are any correlations. I do believe there might be.

Regarding the odor, I do find that the odor is worse when I have diarrhea than during constipation. I must say, my periods of constipation aren’t that long, so maybe that would explain it. Although whenever I don’t have full evacuations for an extended period of time, the odor seems to get progressively stronger.

One thing for sure is that stress is most certainly a trigger for odor, RA flare-ups, and consequently my inflammatory bowel conditions. In fact, one of my doctors prescribed neurontin to help my bowels relax, which also helps with my RA flare-up. I prefer to avoid taking meds because I wonder if some trigger odor, or if the odor is triggered by the stress. But I find that neurontin does relieve stress, relaxes my intestines, and actually doesn’t seem to increase my odor.

I did try to go to bed early and getting up late for a couple of days, and I accomplished it after taking the neurontin at bedtime, and it made all the difference in the world!

Thanks so much for your advice. You are spot on in your analysis.

María