Psoriasis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation

I am living with both psoriasis and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). While recently on a trip to Washington D.C., I learned a valuable lesson about psoriasis and constipation. I learned that just because you have gone to the bathroom, it does not mean you clearing your bowels all the way.

A trip can interrupt our routines

Going on a trip can interrupt our routine for bowels. Especially when we travel, because we tend to not drink nearly as much water as we would normally. I don't know about you but when I travel by car or airplane, I don't drink much because I don't want to run to the bathroom often. It's very inconvenient on an airplane. I usually try to sit by the window and dislike asking my entire row to move so that I can pass to the toilet. Not to mention the fact that if I feel rushed I have a hard time finishing going to the bathroom. That feeling of not knowing if you are done or going to have to make a return trip is awkward during travel.

When I am traveling with other people, I try to keep in mind that they may tire easily of my many trips to the bathroom. I dislike becoming the person that makes everyone stop several times. I am sure they realize that I do indeed have to go, but the delay can be lengthy sometimes. You may understand if you have that sudden I am going to literally poop myself if I don't get to the bathroom feeling. There are times when I think that I should just never leave the bathroom!

I may have to use the bathroom immediately

I had no idea that IBS could cause both constipation and diarrhea. There are times I can feel absolutely normal and then I have to suddenly have a bowel movement. Yes, I have actually had to sprint to the bathroom. Worse yet, I have actually been in a store and not made it to the bathroom and messed up my underwear. Yes, I am openly admitting this (as embarrassing as it is)! I had to send my daughter to purchase me new underwear and shorts. Talk about an awful feeling.

I spoke to the doctor about it. Apparently, having a disease that effects the number one biggest organ (our skin) of our body goes hand in hand with bathroom issues. I know it's a strange concept, but it makes sense. In order to have a bowel movement you need Fiber (roughage) and water. One of the biggest things that psoriasis patients do not have enough of is water. Our skin tends to need extra water to operate on a daily basis and because of this it draws water from our other organs. Here is an example when you drink water it goes to your mouth, stomach and intestines. It gets absorbed and goes to your skin, kidneys and blood.

When you have psoriasis, the absorbing part is different. Now instead of going to your kidneys and blood along with your skin equally, it mainly goes to your skin. So your kidneys and blood would be missing out.  That means you need to drink more water to give everything what it requires.

Drinking more water

As a kid, I can remember my mom making me drink water. Personally, I didn't like it. There was no real taste to it. As I grew up I only really liked water when I was really hot. So summer was my water time. Going on to college, I was always busy and never gave it much thought. On to having a family of my own I taught my kids to drink water but did not lead by example.

Now that I am an adult, I have learned that this causes me a great deal of unstable bowels. When my bowels are full of water, I go to the bathroom regularly. When I am not drinking enough I have slow transit constipation. Yes, that is what it is called. I must confess I thought of a subway with a slow moving cars in a potential traffic jam. Which is exactly what happens. Your bowels get dried out and don't have enough liquid to propel itself to the end of the process. This causes it to stop and get stuck.

Now if you have more fluid coming it sometimes can propel the new stool forward and push the other along with it.  In my case this was seldom happening. So the wetter stuff flowed around the stuck parts. This causes discomfort and urgency. The result?  yep, you guessed it diarrhea. The bad part is that the stuck stuff is still sitting there. Unless you have enough fiber and water to push it through. Your intestines stretch a bit to allow this sort of thing to happen.

Medications can impact our bowels too

My intestines were overstretching and created a pouch. This was the place near my bottom that my stool chose to hide. Due to the inconsistent bowels this put a huge amount of pressure on my tail bone. Thanks to my other co-morbidity it created swelling and pain for my arthritic spine.

The doc took x-rays and found the problem. The solution was adding more fiber to my diet. I have a daily plan and an emergency plan. I take recommended stool softener and fiber. So far this working much better for me. I don't have that weighted feeling from being full constantly.

Something else I was surprised to learn is how much medications can effect our bowels. Some medications can cause you do go to the bathroom more like cholesterol medication while others like pain management can slow your process down. I encourage you to definitely speak to your primary care physician if you are experiencing or think you may be experiencing problems with inconsistent bowels.

It really has changed how I feel. I don't feel as tired, weighed down, or nearly in as much pain. I never realized how much it could all effect. Cheers to you and your routine!