u/Chocolateforlunch37

I know we get a lot of stick for moaning about our heatwaves but wondering what everyone thinks?

I have lived in the South East of England all of my 53 years and tbh I have never liked the very hot weather, I am an Autumn lover and adore bright, sunny but cooler days. I am also rather partial to a nice rainy day.

However, I can not tolerate our heatwaves one little bit, they actually leave me feeling very unwell. We have this heatwave coming this weekend and I already feel sick to my stomach just having popped some washing on the line.

Does anyone else feel very unwell with the heat?

Most people I know love the heat but I have never been able to tolerate it. I for one will be looking forward to this first heatwave buggering off asap.

I started getting perimenopause symptoms around 8 years ago when I was 45 but at the same time my mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and is now in the advancing stages. It's one of the most stressful and heartbreaking things I've been through so I'm not sure if the stress from this is making everything so much worse?

However, I've found that during this time my 30 year journey with IBS has gone crazy. I have horrible gut issues every day. My bowels are unpredictable and I'd say I'm IBS mixed, I also suffer with a gnawing nausea, upper stomach pain, belching, gas (up and down) and bloating.

I've had so many cameras up and down and lots of scans and stools tests but everything is clear (except for hydrogen SIBO but I just can not cure this so no idea what to do about that).

Up until peri hit at 45 I was able to control the gut issues well with the low fodmap diet, hypnotherapy, peppermint oil capsules, imodium when needed and healthy living and exercise, I'd have flare ups every few weeks and it would be mainly around my period/cyclical. Now the symptoms hit almost daily, I get very few good days.

I don't know what to do anymore, my gastroenterologist and doctor don't seem to know either. I've tried hrt but as I also have endometriosis and adenomyosis (only found this out at 50) hrt makes the pain worse. Antidepressants make my diarrhoea worse. I've started Nortriptyline last week and will see what that brings but it's not a drug I want to be on long term.

I'm so fed up with everything. So fed up with the stress and heartache of watching my mum slowly dying, the gut issues, the aching everywhere, the hit flashes (especially at night), the low mood and crying (as a mainly stay at home mom I'm struggling with my kids reaching 18 and 21 this year) and the anxiety is on another level than I've previously had (I was also diagnosed with ADHD last year).

Everything seems to have come at the worst time in my life.

Is there anything I can do to make life easier that I haven't already tried? I only drink water, no alcohol or caffeine, no dairy or wheat, low fodmap. I exercise every day (fast walking out in nature), yoga stretches every evening, I get to bed for 10.30 every evening (although broken nights with hot sweats).

I am in the U.K. and it seems there are few doctors/specialist here, especially within the NHS who are onboard with viewing SIBO as an actual real issue.

I have had IBS for 30 years and all standard gastro tests have come back clear (colonoscopies, gastroscopes, BAM scan, pill camera endoscopy, stool tests etc).

In 2023 I tested positive for hydrogen SIBO via a lactulose breath test. My gastroenterologist and my neuro-gastro both tell me the lactulose tests are very unreliable and very often give false positive results. My neuro-gastroenterologist (from a very well respected London teaching hospital) went further still to tell me if she were to breath test thousands of individuals many would test positive, even those with healthy guts and no troublesome issues, all because the tests are not reliable and SIBO is such a complex and not fully understood issue. She still believes most gut issues such as IBS are due to problems with the gut-brain connection. She went on to say, in her opinion, many doctors who are pushing a SIBO diagnosis are actually just out to make money.

I honestly don’t know what to think anymore. Ive been trying to battle this bacterial overgrowth for the past 3 years and failing miserably. I have tried a round of rifaximin and it made me feel awful. I don’t have the funds for more antibiotics, supplements, biofilm disrupters etc.

I know this is a SIBO group so I may be posting in the wrong place for a balanced view but wondering what everyone’s opinions really are?

I've lots of symptoms similar to a B12 deficiency but am told time and again that I don't have any issues because everything is 'within range'. I'm in the UK so under the NHS and can not afford to go anywhere privately.

However, my folate is 3.3 and no range given on my blood test so not sure if this is low or not, although I have been told on a FB group this is low and it may be artificially inflating my B12 levels.

My B12 is 326 pg/mL - levels are 197-771. The test a year before was 379 and before that 289. I've never taken any supplements only vitamin D here and there during winter months.

My last folate test at the same time was 3.3ug/L with no range. The year before was 4.4 and year before that was 6 so it's going down for some reason.

Does anyone know if it's possible that I may still possibly have a B12 deficiency even though my doctor is confident it's all within range.

I'm mixed IBS and for the last week or so I've been experiencing some constipation, not sure why as I basically eat the same low fodmap food day in day out and only drink water and quite a bit of it.

I have been passing No.1 on the Bristol Stool Chart type poop but 3-4 times a day and often a pressure feeling like I still need to go.

Is this normal for IBS?

Also is it normal to start off with No.1 rabbit dropping type poop and end up with diarrhoea, all in the same sitting?

You'd think I'd know this after suffering for 30 years but no day is ever the same for me!

I turned 53 in March and believe I started perimenopause around the age of 45 as I started to feel unwell around that time and my periods started flooding.

In 2022, at 49 I had a uterine ablation, biggest mistake of my life because each period, although very very light has been so painful. A MRI scan in 2023 detected endometriosis and adenomyosis. I'm now waiting a hysterectomy and excision surgery (I'm in the UK).

I have always tracked my cycle on an app and until a couple of months ago I felt that I was having a period, even though I didn't bleed I would have the awful 'period pain' for around 5 days the app said I was in period range. I would also have symptoms mid cycle/ovulation time as I always have.

But the last 'period' came with only one day of very light pain but I've still got the mid-cycle type ovulation pain.

I have so many symptoms going on but as I also have daily IBS, the endo and adeno and extremely stressed caring for a parent with dementia I have no idea what's going on with my body anymore. I'm not sure if my symptoms are down to my hormones or anxiety or if I've even entered post menopause.

It's all so confusing, I suppose if I felt well I'd be less anxious about it all. I can't take HRT atm as it makes pain worse.

Has anyone on here had an ablation, a mirena or you are on birth control and unable to tell if you've entered menopause or not? How do we know for sure?

Does anyone take either of these drugs for their IBS?

If you do, can I ask what time of day works best for you?

I am about to try Nortriptyline today (10mg but I may cut them in half and go in slowly). It says to take at night but I wonder what time works for everyone? Early evening or just before bedtime?

I've had gynae issues since my periods began at 12 and digestive issues from mid early 20's. I'm now 53.

Since my 20's I've been told time and again that very very painful ovulation (week long pain) and very heavy periods is just normal for some women and that my digestive issues were 'just' IBS symptoms even though I have never managed to get any relief from my tummy woes no matter what I have tried over the years.

Following on from a failed uterine ablation back in 2022 which left me in pain I pushed for a MRI only to discover late 2023 that I actually have deep endometriosis and diffuse adenomyosis. I was 50 at the time and now I'm an NHS (I live in the UK) very long waiting list for a hysterectomy and excision surgery.

My hospital is an endometriosis centre and my gynae is an endometriosis specialist yet he will not agree with me when I say that I am certain my gut issues are related to my gynae ones. My gastroenterologist won't commit to agreeing to this either. I even consulted with a private GP last week and she agreed with them saying the two are separate clinical entities and not related, she said I'd have to be experiencing rectal bleeding to have bowel endometriosis.

Yet every day I have nausea, bloating, excessive gas, pain, constipation/diarrhoea/loose stool which is often hard to push out (I have a very retroverted uterus which I am sure is pressing on my bowel), suddenly needing to use the toilet, gurgling and just a general unwell feeling in my digestive system - all gastro tests are clear (colonoscopies, gastroscopes, BAM scan, pile camera endoscopy), so they all say it's 'just' IBS but nothing I do for IBS which helps other IBS sufferers, helps me.

Does anyone on here experience digestive issues alongside their gynae problems and do you think they are connected?

Could my gynae conditions be affecting MY digestive system? I feel as though I am going mad and banging my head against the wall all the time as no one takes this seriously - it's literally ruining my life.

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I also have adenomyosis and have awful gut problems (nausea, acid, burping, gas, bloating and a very unpredictable bowel), every single day but much worse at certain times in my cycle.

Not one health professional will connect the two. I am sure they aren't separate but my endo gynae says they are, my gastroenterologist won't commit either way and my GP also says it's simply IBS and nothing to do with my gynae issues.

I am 53 and also in perimenopause which is making everything a million times worse.

I am due a hysterectomy and excision surgery this year. My MRI from 2 years ago doesn't state it was on or near my bowel so endo gynae says he will only consider it could be an issue when he does the op and if it is on my bowel I will have to have another op with a colorectal surgeon on hand - urgh!

I'm in the UK so under our NHS system and sadly can not afford private healthcare so can't go anywhere else for a second opinion.