The ‘D’ in IBS-D stands for ‘diarrhea.’ If you have IBS-D, you may experience the urge to go to the toilet more frequently.
An IBS- D diagnosis requires more than 25% of stools to be loose and less than 25% of them to be hard and lumpy.
You may be diagnosed with IBS-D if you regularly experience the following symptoms:
IBS-M diagnosis
The ‘M’ in IBS-M refers to IBS with ‘mixed’ symptoms. The Rome Criteria for IBS-M state that stools must be hard, lumpy, and loose in consistency at least 25% of the time.
This means that during some IBS flare-ups, you experience diarrhea, while in others, you experience constipation.
IBS-U diagnosis
While rare, some people may meet the diagnostic criteria for IBS but aren’t able to be classified in any of the above groups. This sub-type’s ‘U’ refers to an ‘unclassified’ IBS diagnosis.
Non-IBS symptoms
One of the most important reasons to seek a formal IBS diagnosis from your doctor is that these symptoms may also be present in other health conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases. Conditions that have similar symptoms to IBS include:
Celiac Disease
Lactose intolerance
Crohn’s Disease
Ulcerative Colitis.
Gastrointestinal symptoms that are not part of IBS and may suggest another condition include:
You’ve been diagnosed with IBS. Now what?
The great news about getting an IBS diagnosis is that you now know why you are experiencing these gastrointestinal symptoms and can begin managing them and improving your quality of life.
Low FODMAP diet
More than half of people with IBS report worsening symptoms after eating certain foods. The low FODMAP diet eliminates food that is not easily digested by the gut and can trigger a flare-up. These include food such as wheat, dairy, onion, and beans.
IBS medication
Many medications are available to manage IBS symptoms, both over-the-counter and prescription. This includes laxatives, fiber supplements (such as psyllium husks), and anti-diarrhea medicines.
Stress has been shown to play a significant role in triggering IBS flare-ups, so anti-depressants may also be prescribed.
Gut-directed hypnotherapy
Gut-directed hypnotherapy has been shown to reduce gut symptoms, such as abdominal pain, bloating, and nausea by up to 72%, without the need for additional medications or changing diet.
It’s thought that people with IBS experience miscommunication between their gut and their brain. Messages that flow between them may be misinterpreted as pain, or that the intestinal processes need to slow (constipation) or speed up (diarrhea), when they are, in fact, normal.
Hypnotherapy for IBS looks to recalibrate the gut-brain connection, as well as provide your body with stress relief.
The Wrap Up
IBS can be diagnosed non-invasively by a healthcare practitioner using the Rome IV Criteria. They may also be able to diagnose the IBS sub-type: IBS-C, IBS-D, IBS-M or IBS-U. Other more serious health conditions share similar symptoms to IBS so it is important to speak to your doctor if you are experiencing abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, rectal bleeding, and weight loss. Once IBS has been diagnosed, there are various management tools available, including diets, medication, and mind-body interventions such as gut-directed hypnotherapy.
References
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