Abdominal Pain Heartburn

Q: I get daily abdominal pain heart burn that can only be described as severe bloating/trapped gas. It is NOT a cramping/spasmodic type of pain. Has anyone had this and been able to get in under control? If so, how did you do it?

A:I have used 1 x 20mg Pepcid AC (prescription) mainly to prevent heartburn, and it helps a little for bloating gas. I find sometimes that I get very bad cramps from dehydration. If I don't drink enough water during the day, it feels like really bad hunger pains. I get severe pains on the lower left side after I eat anything...so, for lack of finding anything, I'm told I have IBS and have had since I was a kid. For the last 3 years, I have found that the only thing that works for me is DARVOCET-N 100 which, of course, is for pain and not precisely your textbook solution for IBS. Ultram did not help me at all-well, that's not entirely true, it did help a little. The problem with DARVOCET is that is a narcotic, of course, which means that I feel like a criminal when I request a prescription from my Dr. DARVOCET is a mild narcotic and if you take it for real pain, there is no addiction. I find that the pain usually fades after about 30 minutes and I get about 2 hours of relief which may not sound like a lot, but as you know, 2 hours of relief from IBS is still 2 hours of relief from IBS!