Mystery Stomach Pain

Decode the reason behind unexplained bloating, frequent tummy troubles and cramps.

- Anne Mullens And Gagan Dhillon

SOME DAYS primary school teacher Akash Sharma* became so constipated and bloated that his belly noticeably expanded, making his abdomen rock hard. Three or four days would go by and he couldn’t empty his bowels. When he did, it felt incomplete. He would feel gassy and suffered headaches, back pain and nausea. Tests, including a colonoscopy, threw up nothing.

When 55-year-old Mrs S experienced stomach pain, she attributed it to her “weak tummy”. As a child, she had often had watery bowel movements but of late she worried about soiling her clothes. Her doctor ruled out diabetes, drug reaction, bacterial overgrowth and even malignancy. Her symptoms seemed to aggravate after she lost a close friend to bowel cancer.

For Hemant Kumar*, an engineering student, it started four years ago when he left home for his studies. A poor diet owing to substandard food from the hostel canteen and meals at local dhabas was routine. Until the day he felt a sharp pain in his gut and dashed to the toilet. This wasn’t a one-off. Now, episodes of diarrhoea return every three to four days followed by constipation. Many gastroenterologists tested for cancer and inflammatory bowel disease but found neither.

In all three cases, this mystery disease turned out to be irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Recurrent abdominal bloating, pain, diarrhoea and/or constipation are the defining features. But excessive flatulence, cramping, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, sweating, shivering and sudden incontinence can be part of the picture, too.

For some it can feel like they are dying. Current tests can’t find anything wrong. Diagnosis is based on the presence of key symptoms, the patient’s medical history and a process of eliminating other diseases, say experts.