I have been researching irritable bowel syndrome on the internet – this is something a friend of mine suffers from, and some of the symptoms of ibs sound like what I experience. However, he and I also have different problems.

I am 24 years old. For as long as I can remember, I have had problems with my digestive system. As a child I can remember experiencing acute, painful diarrhoea, especially after intense exercise or taking a course of antibiotics. Lately, I have noticed I also experience these symptoms if I drink beer or chocolate or eat too much. I usually experience abdominal cramps that come in waves about 15mins apart, starting as an unsettled feeling and developing into severe cramps - a ‘wave’ of cramps passes after I pass wind. Over a period of one or two hours the cramps intensify until I reach the point where I have to rush to the toilet. I then usually experience acute diarrhoea – the cramps usually continue during this bowl movement, but eventually subside – sometimes after half an hour or so, I experience further cramps and need to rush to the toilet again. After this, I am usually constipated for one or two days.

My bowel movements can be regular ie once or twice a day. However, more often than not I have an unsettled/bloated feeling in my bowel, not painful, but irritating and sometimes has an impact on how well I sleep – this can sometimes lead to excessive passing of wind but usually nothing more. When I do pass wind, sometimes it smells horrible.

I sometimes also experience itchiness around the anus and mild rectal bleeding, typically appearing as a small amount of bright red blood spotting or streaking toilet paper after a bowel movement.

What do you think?