One of the many downsides about diagnosing conditions such as IBS is that sometimes conditions are frequently misdiagnosed or even wrongly diagnosed for that matter, and as a result, proper diagnosis may take many years to complete it successfully. Patients therefore find themselves trying out treatment after treatment and often suffer from their efforts in trying to discover relief from their symptoms. What are these symptoms and can Domperidone (Motilium) provide relief?
Getting to know IBS better
IBS is known by many names that include spastic colon, irritable colon, mucous colitis and spastic colitis.
Essentially, it’s a separate condition from inflammatory bowel disease and is not related to any other bowel located conditions.
It comprises a group of intestinal symptoms that take place together but that the symptoms differ in duration and intensity in each individual.
They do however, last for at least three months occurring for at least three days per month.
In some cases, IBS can do damage to your intestines but this is very unusual thing to happen.
There is no substance in the claim that IBS can increase the risk of getting gastrointestinal cancers, but it can still have a very significant impact on your life.
You can learn more about how IBS can affect your bowelby clicking this link.
What causes IBS?
It’s true that there are many ways for treating IBS, but it’s also true to say that what causes IBS remains in the dark because it hasn’t been possible to pinpoint the cause or causes.
It can be caused by an unusually sensitive colon or some flaw in the immune system.
It may be caused by a bacterial infection suffered in the gastrointestinal tract sometime in the past.
The variety of possible causes is the main reason why it has proven very difficult to prevent the occurrence and treatment of IBS.
What triggers IBS?
Many people believe that the most effective way to manage the signs and symptoms of IBS is to avoid things that trigger its occurrence.
Because IBS is a condition that affects the gastrointestinal tract it’s no surprise that for many people, certain foods can act as triggers for IBS symptoms as well as stress and anxiety.
For many people with IBS, certain food types can act as triggers but some of these foods may exert greater effect on you than on other people.
Due to this uncertainty, it may be of help to keep a food diary for a period of time so you’ll know which types of food are IBS triggers in your case.
Pre-empting situations that can increase your stress and anxiety levels can help you in avoiding such situations or develop safeguards that will minimize your levels of stress and anxiety.
There are many other tips that can help in avoiding and managing IBS triggers.
The signs and symptoms of IBS
There are a variety of signs and symptoms for IBS but their common factor is that they are usually present for a long time in a person. The most common signs and symptoms can include:
- Pain in the lower abdomen, cramping or bloating due to passing of substance in the bowel.
- Alterations in the appearance of bowel movements
- Changes in the frequency of your bowel movements
Other often related symptoms include bloating, rise in the presence of gas and mucus in the stool.
You should quickly see a doctor if you have a consistent change in your bowel habits or other IBS related signs and symptoms.
These persistent changes may indicate that you may have a more serious condition, such as colon cancer. However, there can be more serious signs and symptoms such as:
- Stubborn pain that refuses to be relieved by passing gas or bowel movement
- Weight loss
- Diarrhea at nighttime
- Difficulty swallowing
- Rectal bleeding
- Unexplained vomiting
- Anemia caused from iron deficiency
Even though it’s difficult to know precisely what causes IBS, there are certain factors that appear to play a role which include:
- Contraction of intestinal muscles. The intestinal walls are covered with muscle layers that automatically expand and contract while they push food through your digestive track. The stronger and longer lasting contractions usually cause gas, bloating and diarrhea. The weaker contractions of your intestines usually move food at a slower pace resulting in hard, dry stools that usually result in constipation.
- Disorders in the nervous system. Sometimes, irregular functioning of the nerves in your digestive system may cause you to experience greater discomfort than you normally do. The reason is due to the stretching of your abdomen from gas pressure or stool movements. This sometimes causes the poor coordination of signals between the brain and your intestines that can cause overreaction to the changes in the digestive process which results in pain, diarrhea and constipation.
- Chronic infections. It’s usually the case that IBS may develop following a severe attack of diarrhea (gastroenteritis) from a secondary attack by bacteria or a virus. IBS may also be triggered by an excess presence of bacteria in your intestines also known as bacterial overgrowth.
- Childhood stress. Some people who find themselves exposed to stressful experiences especially during their childhood have the propensity to get more IBS symptoms.
- Microbe changes in your gut. These can involve changes in bacteria the population of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that normally live in the intestines and play key health roles. Research has indicated that the microbes in people with IBS may be very different from those found in healthy people.
So how can Domperidone help?
This generic medication, that contains active ingredient domperidone, is also known by its brand name Motilium is also used for the treatment of people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
If you are one of those suffering from IBS, domperidone may be the fight medication treatment for you.
This active ingredient has the propensity to block the dopamine receptors in the upper part of your gastrointestinal tract.
This interference can lead to an increased flurry of contractions of the stomach and bowel and by increasing these contractions domperodine (Motilium) assists food to move more smoothly through the stomach.
At the same time, domperidone can act to relieve nausea and vomiting usually associated with impaired digestion.
Another benefit of Motilium (domperidone) is its anti-emetic drug that acts as a prokinetic agent that accelerates the digestive process thereby preventing a nauseous feeling.
Conclusion
To be overwhelmed with a discomforting and sometimes debilitating condition such as an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a situation that you need to avoid at all cost. Your gastrointestinal tract is of such paramount importance to your general health that safeguarding and ensuring its proper function and treating it when it gets into strife should be of paramount importance to you. But you have an array of effective treatments including domperidone that you can use.