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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common intestinal condition associated with unpredictable bowel movements that can change the way people with IBS live their life.
In people with IBS, the lower digestive system doesn’t work quite right, even though there may not be an obvious medical problem. People with IBS have stomach (abdominal) pain at least 1 day a week, for at least 3 months.
In addition to stomach pain, people with IBS experience changes in how often they pass stools and how the stool is formed (or its consistency). There are certain changes in bowel movements that are associated with the 4 different types of IBS:
An estimated 16 million people suffer from IBS with diarrhea
An estimated 13 million people suffer from IBS with constipation
Mixed symptoms of both diarrhea and constipation
Bowel changes that cannot be placed into 1 of the other 3 groups (unclassified)
Symptoms can be different in everyone with IBS-D, but the most common are:
stomach* pain, stomach* cramps, frequent diarrhea, gas, bloating, urgency
*Lower abdominal pain.
Are your symptoms adding up to IBS-D?
*Lower abdominal pain.
If you have symptoms such as stomach pain, diarrhea, gas, or bloating, plus any of the following, talk with your healthcare provider. Your symptoms may be caused by a different medical problem.
Healthcare providers can diagnose IBS-D based on your symptom history, which means medical tests typically aren’t needed. Scroll over to see if signs pointing to other possible causes are ruled out. Your healthcare provider may ask:
Has your stomach pain been bothering you for an average of at least 1 day every week for the last 3 months?
Are more than 25% of your stools/bowel movements loose or watery (diarrhea) and are less than 25% hard or lumpy (constipation)?
Did your symptoms start at least 6 months ago?
Learn more about an IBS-D treatment option that may be right for you.Learn more
What causes IBS-D?
Look closerLiving with IBS-D
Learn moreIBS-D Resources
Find them here