More research and testing for IBS sufferers
The Issue
I am in a support group with over 31,000 people who have been told by their doctors that they suffer with IBS.
I am an IBS sufferer. For the last 11 years, I have been given blood tests, I have given stool samples, I have had allergy and intolerance tests, I have had a sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy (several times) and I have been discharged from the Gastro department when these tests have shown my results to be normal. The last time I spoke to a doctor about my symptoms, her words were, ‘I don’t really have anything else to offer you.’
Myself and many IBS sufferers that I know have to deal with extreme bloating, agonising pain, severe constipation or diarrhea, blood and mucus in stools and dehydration. We are told to change our diets and to ‘try not to be stressed’.
IBS affects my daily life. I avoid plans such as camping and I don’t wear a dress without thick, waist control pants to hide my bloated tummy. I am a teacher and I spend a lot of my time clutching my tummy, trying to hide my pain from the children in my class. I have had experiences where I have almost not made it to the toilet as the feeling comes over without warning. I have been hospitalised with severe constipation. IBS relief medication and laxatives don’t work anymore. I am told that IBS is chronic and that I have to live like this.
I am writing this petition for each and every one of you who is an IBS sufferer and lives with this struggle every day; I feel your pain and I know the effect that it has on your mental health.
The NHS states the following about IBS:
- It's usually a lifelong problem. It can be very frustrating to live with and can have a big impact on your everyday life.
- There's no cure, but diet changes and medicines can often help control the symptoms.
- The exact cause is unknown – it's been linked to things like food passing through your gut too quickly or too slowly, oversensitive nerves in your gut, stress and a family history of IBS.
We are desperate for more research into the cause of IBS because being told to ‘live with it’ is not good enough. Diet changes and medication are not helping. There must be more answers out there - please help us.
Please fund more research into the cause of IBS.
432
The Issue
I am in a support group with over 31,000 people who have been told by their doctors that they suffer with IBS.
I am an IBS sufferer. For the last 11 years, I have been given blood tests, I have given stool samples, I have had allergy and intolerance tests, I have had a sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy (several times) and I have been discharged from the Gastro department when these tests have shown my results to be normal. The last time I spoke to a doctor about my symptoms, her words were, ‘I don’t really have anything else to offer you.’
Myself and many IBS sufferers that I know have to deal with extreme bloating, agonising pain, severe constipation or diarrhea, blood and mucus in stools and dehydration. We are told to change our diets and to ‘try not to be stressed’.
IBS affects my daily life. I avoid plans such as camping and I don’t wear a dress without thick, waist control pants to hide my bloated tummy. I am a teacher and I spend a lot of my time clutching my tummy, trying to hide my pain from the children in my class. I have had experiences where I have almost not made it to the toilet as the feeling comes over without warning. I have been hospitalised with severe constipation. IBS relief medication and laxatives don’t work anymore. I am told that IBS is chronic and that I have to live like this.
I am writing this petition for each and every one of you who is an IBS sufferer and lives with this struggle every day; I feel your pain and I know the effect that it has on your mental health.
The NHS states the following about IBS:
- It's usually a lifelong problem. It can be very frustrating to live with and can have a big impact on your everyday life.
- There's no cure, but diet changes and medicines can often help control the symptoms.
- The exact cause is unknown – it's been linked to things like food passing through your gut too quickly or too slowly, oversensitive nerves in your gut, stress and a family history of IBS.
We are desperate for more research into the cause of IBS because being told to ‘live with it’ is not good enough. Diet changes and medication are not helping. There must be more answers out there - please help us.
Please fund more research into the cause of IBS.
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 8 February 2021