Symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome manifests itself through symptoms in the digestive tract that are difficult to pinpoint. Those affected often report cramp-like or dull abdominal pain, accompanied by bloating and flatulence. Bowel movements are also often altered, in the form of constipation, diarrhoea or a combination of both.

With irritable bowel syndrome, it is crucial to take the individual characteristics of the condition into account. The symptoms can manifest themselves in very different ways, which is why a patient-centred approach and therapy is essential. In addition to the primary symptoms, accompanying symptoms and external factors can also exacerbate or worsen the severity of the symptoms.

Depending on the predominant symptoms, four forms of irritable bowel syndrome are distinguished:

• IBS-D: Irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (diarrhoea-dominant irritable bowel syndrome)
• IBS-C: Irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (obstipation-dominant irritable bowel syndrome)
• IBS-M: Irritable bowel syndrome with mixed stool behaviour (e.g. both diarrhoea and constipation within one day)

Die verschiedenen Formen treten häufig in Kombination auf.

IBS-U: Patients meet the general IBS criteria but their bowel habits don't fit neatly into the other three subtypes

The non-specific symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome make it difficult to distinguish it from other gastrointestinal disorders such as coeliac disease or gluten/wheat sensitivity. Careful differential diagnosis is therefore important to avoid misdiagnosis and enable targeted treatment.