Irritable bowel syndrome

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What is irritable bowel syndrome?

Irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic noninflammatory disease characterized by abdominal pain, altered bowel habits consisting of diarrhea or constipation or both, and no detectable pathologic change in the intestinal tissue.

Common symptoms reported by people with irritable bowel syndrome

Common symptoms
How bad it is
What people are taking for it

Reports may be affected by other conditions and/or medication side effects. We ask about general symptoms (anxious mood, depressed mood, fatigue, pain, and stress) regardless of condition.
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Treatments taken by people for irritable bowel syndrome

Treatment name(s)
Type
How many have tried
Tried for
Treatment name(s)

(Bentyl)
Type
Prescription Drug
How many have tried
717
Tried for
irritable bowel syndrome (1)

Data from patients with irritable bowel syndrome, who have ever reported treatments, ordered by their reporting frequency during the last 5 years.
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Compare treatments taken by people with irritable bowel syndrome

Treatment name(s)
Perceived effectiveness
Side effects
Total evaluations
Tried for
Treatment name(s)

(Bentyl)
Perceived effectiveness
No evaluations
Side effects
No evaluations
Total evaluations
0
Tried for
irritable bowel syndrome (1)
  • Major
  • Moderate
  • Slight
  • None
  • Can't tell
  • Severe
  • Moderate
  • Mild
  • None

Data from patients with irritable bowel syndrome, who have ever reported treatments, ordered by their reporting frequency during the last 5 years.
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Who has irritable bowel syndrome on PatientsLikeMe?

  • 0 new patients joined this month
  • 1607 say IBS is their primary condition

Age
Age Proportion # of patients
<20 0
20s 201
30s 547
40s 521
50s 561
60s 557
70+ 1478
Age at first symptom
Age at first symptom Proportion # of patients
0-19 years 456
20-29 years 265
30-39 years 288
40-49 years 255
50-59 years 252
60-69 years 195
70+ years 106

Distribution of sex

Sex
Sex Proportion # of patients
Male 905
Female 6584

Types
Condition Types Proportion # of patients
IBS-C (constipation predominant) 283
IBS-D (diarrhea predominant) 350
IBS-M (mixed diarrhea and constipation) 394
IBS-U (unsubtyped) 61
Diagnosis status
Diagnosis status Proportion # of patients
Diagnosed 4585
Not Diagnosed 480

These charts show data from IBS patients who have completed their condition history
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