Your digestive system, the connected organs starting from your mouth and excreting through your rectum, breaks down what you eat, absorbs the nutrients, and removes the waste that is left over. Between the two ends of the system, food moves through your esophagus, stomach, and the small and large intestines, which are supported by your biliary system.
Several conditions can affect this vital system, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which often occurs in the stomach and intestines. This illness affects up to 10% of the global populace, and while it’s more common in people under 50, it can affect many age groups.
The key to keeping this problem under control is knowing what symptoms to look for and what to do when they happen. Dr. Eric Ibegbu and his dedicated medical staff at Atlantic Medical Group specialize in helping Kinston, Jacksonville, and Gastonia, North Carolina residents with a range of digestive problems, including coping with IBS.
Describing IBS as a disease can be misleading; it’s more accurate to say it’s a collection of different symptoms that have been classified as a syndrome (itself defined as a group of signs and symptoms indicating an abnormal issue). With such broad criteria to work from, IBS is classified into a few different types:
Other common symptoms of IBS include abdominal pain, excess gas, bloating, stool with mucus, whitish stool, or the feeling of being unable to void your bowels even after defecating.
While not everyone deals with the same triggers for IBS problems, several foods are often connected to bouts of diarrhea and constipation associated with the condition, like:
Food intolerances such as lactose intolerance often cause symptoms, but other conditions can increase your chances, including dysmotility, visceral hypersensitivity, altered gastrointestinal gut bacteria, and severe infections.
There are several steps you can take to get your IBS under control, such as dietary modifications, exercise, and psychological therapy. Reducing your food triggers, along with eating slowly, stopping eating when you’re full, drinking more water (at least eight cups daily), and limiting caffeinated drinks and sodas can help lower IBS incidents.
Exercise can be tricky with digestive issues, but research indicates it can help restore proper gut bacteria. In addition to the other changes, cognitive behavioral therapy and relaxation training can help to modify behavior and relieve stress.
We can offer a range of medications to help reduce the impact of IBS on your life, including drugs like antibiotics, antidepressants, antispasmodics, fiber supplements, anti-diarrheals, and anticholinergics. Depending on your needs, we can prescribe one or more medications.
IBS can make your life a lot more difficult, but you can get it under control, and we can help. Make an appointment with Dr. Ibegbu and Atlantic Medical Group today to relieve your IBS.
