Symptoms such as stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation are caused by IBS, which tends to come and go over time, lasting days, weeks or months.
The exact cause is unknown – possibly it’s linked to motility, where food passes through your gut too quickly or too slowly, oversensitive nerves in your gut, stress and a family history of IBS.
Usually lifelong, it can be frustrating with a big impact on everyday life, but it’s not life-threatening. Although there’s no cure, lifestyle and dietary changes and medicines may help control symptoms.
Main IBS symptoms include stomach pain or cramps, usually worse after eating and better after a poo; bloating, where your tummy feels uncomfortably swollen, and either diarrhoea where you need to poo suddenly, or constipation where you feel like…
