r/ibs

📊 How this works (PLEASE READ)

⚠️THE MAIN RULE: PLEASE ONLY COMMENT INDIVIDUAL ITEMS THAT DO NOT ALREADY EXIST. IF THEY EXIST, PLEASE UPVOTE THE EXISTING ONES. THANKS! ⚠️

This is a community ranking of IBS triggers. The goal is to identify the most common triggers through upvotes.

To do this, we need to work together. It WILL be worth it! 😎

🌾 1. TRIGGER TYPES
Each top-level comment represents an INDIVIDUAL trigger type/category (e.g. Dairy).
⬆️ Upvote every trigger type that affects you.

🍞2. TRIGGER ITEMS
Under each trigger type/category, each subcomment represents an INDIVIDUAL food or item that falls under that category.
⬆️ Upvote every trigger item that affects you - OR post one if it hasn’t yet been posted.

Over time, this will create a community-ranked list of general and specific IBS triggers.

⚠️RULES
• ONE trigger type or ONE specific item per comment.
• Keep comments to trigger types or specific items only. For further comments, you can reply to individual items (subcomments).
• Post specific items under the correct trigger type.
• Check for duplicates before posting.
• Upvote generously - if it affects you, vote for it!

FINALLY: If you appreciate this post, please UPVOTE it so others can see it & benefit! 🚀

Literally dying here. It feels like I have to go, no cramping or pain, but it feels like stool is too large to actually pass. I have tried my usual trick (venti iced white mocha, whole milk, extra whipped cream, from Starbucks.) No luck. Took a stool soften/laxative combo and its been about 4 hours. Nothing.

I'm dying, the discomfort is absolutely driving me insane. I can't sit down without feeling it. I usually have the opposite problem and never once did I think I'd be writhing around thinking "I wish I would have almost shit myself at work today."

Absolutely any suggestions. Downright evil, malicious suggestions even. I want to be within an inch of my life at the end. The kind of cleanse you get from a colonoscopy. I'm not even in pain, it's just a nonstop, oppressive discomfort.

Update!!!!! 4 AM, I have officially shit my brains out. I feel like a brand new person. I feel cleansed, renewed, free of sin. I will be following advice here for any future issues. You're all amazing and I wish all of you healthy, regular, frequent bowel movements.

Edited again to add; a demon possessed me in my desperation and I decided to slam a cup of warm cranberry juice, with ginger. Then immediately chug a 50/50 (6 ounces each) hot peppermint tea and whole milk. I am lactose intolerant. I will be keeping up with a stool softener (not laxative) for a few days, and also will be drinking water like I've been out on the desert. Liquid I.V is also on the roster, cause I'm not looking to shrivel up and die. 10/10 would recommend, if you're dumb like I am.

I see a lot of people in here talk about it, but I’d like to know the science behind the ibs morning symptoms because I am the same. I wake up in a morning and within 10 minutes I need the toilet, most days it’s just fluffy stools straight away but occasionally I’ll start off with a good type 3-4 stool. But I’ll go like 3-5 times within the first 2-3 hours of every day without fail, usually getting softer and softer until it turns into a type 6, at that point I’ll take a small 2mg of Imodium and I’ll not go again until the next morning. It’s a proper pain in the bum ( lol) cus I’ll get to work and just be non stop going to the loo and it’s getting boring and annoying more than anything. Has anyone tried taking the Imodium before bed so they are already slow for the morning ? And what other morning symptoms does anyone else get, like nausea, fatigue, body aches etc etc.

Edit- I also get some tenesmus for the Rest of the day which results in nothing or just mucus

Hi everyone!

I'm a uni student (22F) who has bren struggling with IBS-M on and off for the better half of 2 years now. My main triggers are stress and greasy food, the latyer of which I can avoid pretty easily. I'm otherwise healthy and exercise regularly.

My IBS attacks often look like:

- slowly worsening pain in the abdomen, often a few hours after a heavy meal

- rushing to the bathroom and vomiting a bit

- a few hours of agonizing abdominal pain, paired with gurgling and nausea and almost passing out. The way i've described it is that i don't know which end it will come out of and yelling out that i think i might die (a bit dramatic maybe, but the pain is unlike anything else I've experienced)

- passing of some constipation which then gives way to diarrhea, this lasts for a few more hours. Afterwards I'm often so exhausted and shaky that I go straight to bed.

I'm giving these details in case someone here resonates. I'm concerned because the attacks have gotten more and more frequent despite no changes in my diet and if anything, my stress has lessened. I had an attack a few days ago and my stomach has been very sore, I've also been unable to pretty much eat anything without it coming out as diarrhea almost immediately after. My older brother had IBS that developed into Crohn's Disease when he was around my age, so my concern is somewhat grounded in reality.

My question is: should I seek further help? Do you think a medical professional will take me seriously? My wish would be to get some kind of relief or advice, as my list of safe foods keeps decreasing.

Thank you everyone!!

I’m a failure. Sometimes when my stomach really hurts I manage to get poop on my hands when wiping. This is not common and I feel like a failure freak. I stand and squat and wrap the to around but somehow it still gets on my palm or I brush it with my pinky. This is making me depressed

I’m 18F and I’ve been dealing with IBS since I was 12 years old. However it seems to be getting significantly worse. On Friday, I took four vegetable laxatives. Stupid me thought vegetable laxatives would be more gentle.

Oral laxatives of all kind cause severe stomach upset and the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life, even if I drink 60oz of water with the laxatives.
The other kind.. well they hurt my butt.

Anyways. I woke up at 5am on Sunday to horrible stomach cramping. I went to the toilet and could barely go. I took zofran for nausea and bentyl to hopefully help relieve some of the pain.

Around 9am I woke up, throwing up completely undigested food from the night before. And I mean terrible pain to the point I was in tears. I had to go to the ER for iv pain meds and nausea medicine. I’m still recovering and barely being able to eat.

Does anyone else have any advice? I’m on probiotics and fiber supplements already. I don’t know what else to do and I genuinely can’t live like this.

I am genuinely so scared right now. about a week ago, I had a bad oyster which caused me to have liquid diarea one time. thought I was fine. but then I started to feel constipated and took a glycerin suppository. somehow made me feel absolutely horrible with anal pressure. wasnt able to sleep at all the next night. my gas and bloating progressively got worse day after day and I havent been able to sleep at all for the past week. I went to the doctor yesterday and they did a blood test and CT scan and found nothing. they diagnosed me with IBS. i think this is the end of the world for me and I’m having so much trouble sleeping and tolerating the uncomfortableness caused from gas. is it really true? do I really have IBS at 17 years old? is it too early to tell?

The doctor prescribed me some laxatives and probiotics but none of it is helping.

my symptoms are horrible at night. i lie down, so much gas + uncomfortableness builds up, I burp it all out, lie back down, and repeat. I haven’t been able to sleep at all for the past 5 days and I’m suffering super badly. I also have a lack of appetite.

what can I do to at least stop this uncomfortableness sensation at night? it’s genuinely taking a toll on me and it’s only been 5 days. I feel like I’m already losing so much weight. I think I’m going to go insane. what do I even do????

Does anyone else get extreme fatigue in the summer months? Its like an on and off switch. One moment its dreadful and the next I feel fine. Paired with some nausea, hay fever, high humidity and high air pressure it's a recipe for disaster!

That's it...Now nothing is safe. I'm planning to try loperamide but I'm not sure if it'll work. Depressing as hell

Hello!

I'm writing this post in hopes that I can help someone.

So late 2024, I started experiencing digestive issues. I would have intense gurgling and floating loose stools/diarrhea within an hour or two of eating. The fattier the meal, the worse the consistency and transit time. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I finally went to see a gastroenterologist. My PCP said it was diet and IBS, but I insisted. Underwent several tests which showed severely low pancreatic elastaste but everything else was fine. I also had a colonoscopy which was normal. Basically, my pancreas is not producing enough enzymes to break down food. So the next step was a CT scan to show why my pancreas is not functioning properly. Well, that came back normal. I have Sjögren’s disease and there's a link with EPI.

So my doctor put me on Creon, prescription digestive enzymes. And when I tell you I feel so much better...I still feel some anxiety when eating because of what I went through last year but nothing like it used to be. My poop sinks, is well formed (tmi lol), and I don't have to worry about being near a bathroom or eating around others or restricting my food to just bread and crackers. I also believe you can get digestive enzymes OTC because this kind of testing is not cheap, unfortunately...

Pancreatic insufficiency is kind of uncommon for my age (32) but I'm just sharing my story in case this may be the cause of someone's symptoms. You can ask your doctor for a fecal elastaste test. I wish you all the best!

So in the Uk its been fairly warm recently and nearly every day ive had a super dry mouth and diarhea once or twice a day. I've been drinking to try replenish my liquids but still having diarhea and dry mouth, anyone in the same situation or any suggestions?

Ps I am taking zoloft so it is highly likely its that and being dehydrated is affecting it

I just woke up from sleeping 15 hours. This has been my life for as long as I can remember. I usually get around 6-7 hours of sleep before I go to work, and as soon as I have a day off, I sleep for almost the entire day. I don’t know if this has anything to do with my IBS but it’s really starting to affect my daily life. I struggle to get up in the morning, and my stomach will hurt for about half an hour after I first wake up. I feel exhausted all the time. I am also anaemic but I am unable to take iron tablets frequently as it makes my constipation worse - that could have something to do with it. I just want out of this cycle.

Hi all, doctor suspects ibs.. I get constipated (have tried osmotic laxitives but they don't work very well) and feel like I constantly have trapped gas and a bloated tummy. It's like I can feel the fart right there and it doesn't come out.. And stool doesn't come out until I fart. It's happening everyday and affecting my intimate life as my pelvic floor feels really 'muted' like I try to do my kegal exercises but don't feel much. I feel completely gross. I've tried drinking more water etc doing tummy massage and yoga poses. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hi, I just turned 15 but the past few 6+ weeks, ive been experiencing symptoms that ive never had before.

‎1.  Fatigue (im slowly feeling it go away)

‎2.  Bowel Changes

‎3.  Constipation

‎4. Thin Stools???

‎5. Feeling I haven't emptied my bowels yet

‎6. Passing gas alot

‎7. For the past 5 days, its hard to release my waste.

Scared that this is a serious disease. Any thoughts?

Read the last post here (apparently can't repost)

https://www.reddit.com/r/ibs/s/qKcfIIM7Gy

So I did get a colonoscopy (yaaaay), but they ruled out it being anything physically wrong with me. The butt doctor say it is probably a training issue where I've trained my body to behave like that.

Bit of an issue though, so my OCD makes me want to stay so I can shower afterwards, having multiple showers isn't exactly convient.

Another issue is that since my poop comes out every 15-30mins or so, I finish, get up, walk, maybe have a snack or something. In 20mins imma be back at the toile. Could be like 2-4 times imma do this.

Even just cutting my poop times in half when I was trying to train, imma be going from 2 to 4 times daily, each being a 30mins to an hour long.

Honestly I am probably doing the training wrong, but it is hard man.

Anyone else have some advice?

Okay so basically, I have been diagnosed with IBS-D for about 5 years now. A while ago, I had a traumatic experience where I almost had a major accident in my family’s car during heavy traffic. Since then, I've had a lot of similar close calls. It is so frustrating because I used to go out frequently, but now I stay home constantly out of fear of having an accident.
I take Imodium a lot, but it rarely takes away the mental anxiety. However, when I wore an adult diaper during a recent road trip, I suddenly felt free and could move around without a care in the world.
The fear is so bad now that I stay home even when I desperately WANT to go out. There are so many places I want to explore and visit, but this fear gets the best of me. My mom discourages me from wearing protective undergarments because she worries I’ll become too reliant on them. She keeps reassuring me that there will be bathrooms everywhere, but my overthinking mind tells me, “Even if there are, you won't make it in time.” People tell me the physical urge is "all in my head," but whenever I get that sudden panic, I actually do have to use the restroom immediately.
I have never actually had a full public accident, but the near-misses and the fear are absolutely terrible. I can't travel anywhere and keep making excuses to stay home. I can’t afford therapy right now, but adult diapers are actually cheaper than pads where I live, so we bought some.
I want to wear one to church tomorrow just so I can sit through the service at peace, but my family is telling me no. I even switched to online classes because of this. I'm terrified that I will never see the outside world again unless I am allowed to wear protection to lower my anxiety.
Has anyone else dealt with this? How do I get my family to understand that this is a tool for my freedom, not a step backward?

Does anyone else get morning stomach pain? I'm trying to figure out what my flare ups are. So far I know it's caffeine and sugar. Right now I'm coming to the conclusion that it's red meat although I didn't have any yesterday and my stomach kills this morning

I don't drink alcohol, I'm on pepcid for acid issues, I use ginger drops, drink pure aloe, take a probiotic and try to do everything right.

I started eating more turkey instead of red meat, but last weds after my brain MRI with contrast I had a horrible stomach ache from the contrast. It has continued since and the only thing I can think of is I had red meat 3xs since then.

Anyone else?

In the bathroom as I’m writing this, I need to get this out (pun not intended) because I’m irritated and in so much pain right now.

I was diagnosed with IBS in 2023. My main problem is diarrhea and the excruciating pain and nausea that comes with it and end up being in the bathroom for hours, sometimes up to like 4 hours (how much poop can a person even have?!). But sometimes, I also go days without pooping. I get bloated then but not any big issues with pain. Nausea maybe but I’m always nauseous.
I have been referred to a cardiologist by my doctor because of suspected POTS so that might have something to do with it too. I’m just so lucky.

Nothing works for me when it comes to food. Seems like everything is a trigger. I’ve considered white rice a safe food because it’s something that majority of the time doesn’t cause a flair up. But then one day it decides that no not anymore. “Hah, you thought it was going to ease your anxiety around food, well I got bored so let’s have some fun. Sincerily, your favorite white rice in your cupboard” well okay then fuck you rice.
Same with pasta. I know it contains gluten which can be a trigger but it’s still, majority of the time, safe for me. I will however be cutting out gluten now. I already don’t eat anything with lactose in it.

I’ve had to take a few breaks while writing this because of the waves of nausea. Flare ups also cause anxiety which triggers more nausea and more stomach pain and issues. I also have anxiety because I still live at home and I’m still trying to get this mindset out that it’s embarrassing. I know it’s not embarrassing but it feels like it and I am currently working on it.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

Like drink your entire water bottle in 30 seconds thirsty.