by Cathy Miller

Created on: November 05, 2008

Irritable bowel syndrome, or spastic colin as my doctor referred to it, is a troublesome but not serious condition. It won't cause cancer or get worse, however, it does make it's presence known when you've eaten certain foods or for the most part, when you're very stressed out or emotional. Also, with women, IBS is usually worse right before and during your menstrual cycle. And more women are affected by this condition than men.

Irritable bowel symdrome is caused by your intestines squeezing too hard or not hard enough to expel the foods you might consume. In other words, the food may be going through your system more quickly or more slowly than what it should. That's when the symptoms start to occur. The cramping, the intermittent diarrhea changing to constipation or the other way around. The bloating and gassy feeling like you've eaten five bowls of beans.

Symptoms of IBS usually start out with abdominal cramping or more cramping than usual during your menstrual cycle if you're a woman. You may experience more gas and bloating than usual after eating certain foods. The biggest and most telling symptom of all and one that will be quite noticeable is the change in your bowel habits. You can have diarrhea for a few days and then suddenly become constipated. Also, there will be mucus in your stool.

If this happens, you should see a doctor to be sure that what you have is indeed Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The doctor will ask you how long the symptoms have been going on and possibly if there were a pattern in these episodes. Were you under a lot of stress while these symptoms were happening? Had you eaten certain foods each time the symptoms seemed to flare up? Stress and not eatng healthy foods can make the symptoms worse.

If the symptoms have just started your doctor might want to perform a blood test, colonoscopy or a rectal exam (in which your doctor will check for signs of blood) to make sure that it is Irritable Bowel Syndrome instead of something more serious.

If the tests come back fine and you do have Irritable Bowel Syndrome your doctor will talk to you about how to work on keeping yourself as stress free as possible. They might even have a nutritionist talk to you so that you can watch what you eat.

Your doctor or nutrionist might have you keep a diary of the foods you eat so that you will know which ones make your symptoms flare up. Don't quit eating a food if it only upsets your stomach one time, however, if symptoms occur every time you eat a certain food

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