"What it's like to suffer from IBS" - Jim Keegan

Jim Keegan is a 50 year-old teacher. He has suffered for three years from recurrent abdominal pain and bloating. His problems started after a trip to South Africa when an acute gastroenteritis was diagnosed which was successfully treated with metronidazole.

"I had a good life until some three and a half years ago. Nice job, nice wife, two children. After a trip with students to South Africa I started getting terrible abdominal pains. Sometimes it was only for a few hours, but it was not unusual for the bout to last a good few days. Most of the time it was a sharp, kind of colicky attack. I really felt awful, could not function any more and often had to leave my class because of the pain. The best thing I could do was just lie down in my bed and wait until the attack finished.

All the time my belly felt like a balloon. I needed to wear bigger clothes. After going to the toilet the pain was often relieved, although I still had the feeling of incomplete evacuation.

"My wife tried to cook only mild things. No peppers and things like that, but that did not really help. I tried laxatives and rest but nothing really helped. The abdominal pain always came back. One week some 6 months ago I had a terrible attack of abdominal pain.

"This was the point my wife said I really had to see a doctor. At the first appointment he asked me all kind of questions, like if I had had blood in my stools (which was not the case) and if my weight had been stable over the last few years. After that first visit the physician made an appointment for a colonoscopy and some lab tests. Fortunately he could tell me he had not seen any abnormalities and diagnosed me as an IBS patient. With a good diet and an antispasmodic I feel much better now and the abdominal pain is now under control.

"The doctor told me that the IBS probably will never be cured. But with an antispasmodic I can control the symptoms better and nowadays I can put up with my IBS."