Cases of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

This is the case of Mr. K. D. N (Patient Ref. No. S-2225), a forty one years old male patient who reported to the clinic with complaints of habitual constipation since 15 years. The stools would be hard and requiring much straining to be passed. There would be sensation of incomplete evacuation after stools. Frequently he would have ineffectual urge to pass stools but there would be no bowel movement. He would experience much heaviness and bloating of the abdomen and flatulence. Eating bread would worsen his complaints and it would also get worse from traveling. Apart from this he also complained of cramps in the legs that would be worse after evening and continue till late in the night.

His appetite was normal and thirst for water was less. He did not have any other complaints apart from this. Patient was into furniture business and there was lot of stress on him due to certain problems in the family. His wife suffered from leukemia and had suffered a lot during her last few days. She had expired few years before the patient reported to us. He had married again but would not get along well with the second wife due to the age difference between them (she was much younger to him). There was lot of conflict in his life due to this and he said that he had no peace in life at all. He was a very hardworking person and very industrious by nature. He also suffered from a major loss in his business whereby he had lost everything that he had built up so far. He had to start his business from the scratch again. Thus he had been through lots of mental stress before he reported to us and was under stress even when he visited the clinic. He would not share his problems with others but usually would want to solve it all by himself. He was religious by nature and a god-fearing person.

We can see in this case that there is lot of suppression of his emotions and an inability to express his thoughts. Constant anxiety, especially on the family front, is an important aspect of his case. The psychological stress remains unattended and hence it expresses itself at the somatic (physical) level in the form of altered motility of the gastro-intestinal tract. Thus he started getting constipation-predominant IBS and other symptoms of IBS as well.

He was prescribed homoeopathic medicines based on this history with the understanding of the stress in the background. Sulphur and Nux Vomica were the two remedies that wonderfully took care of all his complaints. After starting the treatment, gradually his complaints started improving. He stools would not be hard as before and would not require much straining to be passed. The sensation of ineffectual urging and incomplete evacuation were much better now. The heaviness in his abdomen significantly improved. In between he did experience periods of worsening of the IBS when he would be under stress but then it would be taken care of with homoeopathic medicines. Overall he did very well with the treatment and continued to improve.

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Mrs. L. S (Patient Ref. No. S-6014), a 27 years old female reported to the clinic with complaints of irritable bowel syndrome since 7 years. She would experience the urge to pass stools immediately after eating anything. She would take long time to pass stools, about 45 minutes to 1 hour on an average. She would have to strain a lot to pass stools and would have much pain n the abdomen before and during defecation. The frequency of stools would be at least 2-3 times in order to evacuate the bowels properly. There would be mucus with the stools and she even passed blood with stools on a few occasions. There would be lot of ineffectual urging to pass the stools and she said that daily she would have to spend at least one to one and a half hour in the toilet in the morning. This would also cause much fatigue and irritability lasting all day long. She would also get recurrent loose motions when she would pass stools that were watery with mucus and lot of rumbling in the abdomen. Her abdomen would feel bloated up most of the times and she would also have lot of burning in the abdomen and chest. Her complaints would be worse from certain foods like spinach, cucumber, certain pulses, watermelons, etc. she had lost weight of about 3 kilograms in a span of 7 months due to this illness.

She also had complaints of frequent headaches whereby she would get splitting pain in the head that would be relieved by passing stools.

She was a lean female with an average appetite. She was very fond of sweets and sour foods. She was a very chilly person and could not tolerate the slightest exposure to cold climate. Her sleep was sound except that sometimes she would have frequent waking from sleep.

She was working for a renowned company as their product manager and she was very industrious by nature. She said that she had recently become very irritable and would be outright expressive about her anger. She had a constant feeling of misfortune due to her ill health and she would constantly brood about it and feel sad. She was impulsive too and would react sharply to situations. She had also become forgetful in the past few months and would frequently forget things here and there. She had lost her alertness about self and her things. She also complained that her memory had become poor and she would not remember numbers and figures as easily as before.

There was no history of any major illness in the past. There was history of diabetes, hypertension and bronchial asthma in her family. She had seen more than half a dozen gastroenterologists for her complaints of IBS but she had not got any relief from any treatment so far.

Based on the above history she was prescribed a remedy called Ferrum metallicum along with another remedy called Pulsatilla in the 200th potency. At the end of about 8 months of treatment, her complaints were much better than before. Her urge to pass stools immediately after eating was lesser and she would not have to strain much to pass stools. There was no blood in the stools now and the mucus was lesser than before. The ineffectual urging for stools had also reduced and her bloating of abdomen was significantly less. She had to continue the treatment for another few months to get more relief. She would get mild relapse of her complaints in between but it could be tackled effectively with the medicines. Overall her quality of life was much better than before and she was able to lead a near normal life.

Remark: The remedy prescribed in these cases is patient-specific i.e. it has been prescribed based on the symptoms specific to the patient at that point of time. It is advisable that the patient does not indulge in any self-medication.

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