Newly diagnosed. Looking for advice.

[Azderiel]

Unfortunately a week ago I was diagnosed with IBS and I've really been in a lot of pain dealing with it. My symptoms seem way worse than anything described online and my GP has been little to no help at all. Switching GP's to hopefully get better advice. It seems no matter what I eat I just feel crap. I've been to the emergency room and had paramedics come to me in the past week. My chest feels unbelievably tight at times, I'm short of breath, I get hot cold sweats randomly, feel faint, bloated, sick, and even passed out a week ago. My anxiety is through the roof and several times I honestly felt I was going to die of a heart attack or something. I convinced myself if this doesn't get sorted soon it could become life threatening. I know IBS isn't life threatening and chances are that's just my anxiety but this just seem way worse than I even imagined. I started having symptoms of IBS around 3 years ago and never got it seen to. They were mild, just diarrhea and some indigestion. I thought it wasn't anything serious so left it to get out of control to the point where now I have this constant tight feeling in my chest. I'm on Fluoxetine for the anxiety and take Pepperminn Oil three times a day. Been sticking to a low FODMAP diet for a few days now but don't feel any better and in fact am starting to feel worse as the days go by. Mentally and physically I feel so drained. I've dealt with clinical depression most my life so that doesn't help. I sleep about 3 hours a night even though I feel so tired. Every time I lay down I seem to feel worse. I really don't know what to do. I have heard about fasting helping with IBS but I also read that it's best to eat meals regularly and never too much so information online seems conflicting. Some places say eat eggs, others say stay away from eggs. I guess I'm just asking for any advice possible to help me through this. I've never felt worse in my life and have no family for support. I feel completely lost and have had no support at all, not even from my GP (which is why I'm switching but that takes 2 weeks). I have this tightness in my chest that's there constantly and has been for months now. Maybe 6 months. It gets worse after I eat but never goes away. Sometimes it's bearable, other times I feel it's crushing me. One moment I can feel hot then the next I'm cold but still sweating like crazy. I'll open a window only to have to close it 2 minutes later. If you can give any advice or link to any podcasts that you feel could benefit me I'd be really grateful. I really don't know what to do and feel like I'm breaking down. Any advice is welcome.

[talkhealth]

So sorry to hear you've been diagnosed with IBS. You need to go back and see your doctor. Does your surgery have a doctor with a special interest in IBS? Some surgeries will so it's worth checking. Also, your surgery may have a specialist bowel nurse so again worth asking.

What you might be interested in is our MyIBS Patient Support Programme that's launching in September. It's a free 13 week programme and once you've joined you'll be sent weekly bite size information to help you to manage your condition alongside the advice you'll be getting from your doctor. You can find out more about it here - http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/psp/ibs.php - you can also register your interest so you will be notified when the programme has launched.

Hope this has helped.