You know your large intestine hurts from symptoms like lower abdominal cramping, bloating, changes in bowel habits (constipation/diarrhea), excessive gas, and sometimes nausea or fatigue, often felt as dull aches or sharp spasms that can come and go, signaling issues like IBS, inflammation, or obstruction.
Cramp-like pain -- This type of pain is not serious most of the time. It is likely to be due to gas and bloating, and is often followed by diarrhea. More worrisome signs include pain that occurs more often, lasts more than 24 hours, or occurs with a fever or rectal bleeding.
Symptoms
Yes, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) can cause nausea and, less commonly, vomiting, often linked to digestive issues like delayed gastric emptying or gut-brain axis problems, though severe or persistent vomiting might signal another condition, requiring medical attention. Many people with IBS experience both upper (nausea) and lower (diarrhea/constipation) GI symptoms, suggesting a shared root cause, but unexplained vomiting is a symptom that prompts doctors to look for more serious issues, according to the Mayo Clinic.
stomach pain or cramps – usually worse after eating and better after doing a poo. bloating – your tummy may feel uncomfortably full and swollen. diarrhoea – you may have watery poo and sometimes need to poo suddenly. constipation – you may strain when pooing and feel like you cannot empty your bowels fully.
Here are six other conditions that may be mistaken for IBS
Large intestine problems often show up as changes in bowel habits (diarrhea, constipation, urgency, blood/mucus in stool), abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, gas, fatigue, and sometimes unexplained weight loss, signaling issues like IBS, IBD (Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis), inflammation, or obstruction, requiring prompt medical attention, especially with severe pain or inability to pass gas/stool.
Lifestyle and home remedies
The 5 cardinal signs of acute inflammation, described by the Greeks and Romans, are Redness (Rubor), Heat (Calor), Swelling (Tumor), Pain (Dolor), and Loss of Function (Functio Laesa), resulting from increased blood flow, fluid leakage, and nerve stimulation, indicating the body's protective response to injury or infection.
The three main red flags for abdominal pain needing urgent care are severe, unrelenting pain (especially with fever/rigidity), vomiting blood or black material, and blood in the stool (bright red or tarry black), all signaling potential serious issues like appendicitis, obstruction, or bleeding that require immediate medical evaluation. Other major flags include inability to pass gas/stool, jaundice, significant weight loss, or pain radiating to the back.
Diverticulitis pain feels like a sharp, constant cramp or ache, usually in the lower left abdomen, often accompanied by tenderness, bloating, fever, nausea, vomiting, and changes in bowel habits (constipation or diarrhea). The pain can start gradually or suddenly, may be intense, and might worsen after eating or ease slightly after a bowel movement, sometimes radiating to your lower back.
Feeling sick and being sick. Feeling full after eating. Stomach pain often described as “burning” or “gnawing”. Very rarely, severe gastritis can cause bleeding, which may cause the stool to turn black (called melaena.)
They may recommend:
If more of your colon is inflamed—especially the right side—stool may move through too quickly for water absorption, leading to more liquid consistency. However, diet, hydration, and unrelated digestive changes can also affect stool texture.
At a glance: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and colon cancer can be confused because they share several overlapping symptoms, which can make it challenging to distinguish between the two without medical testing.
Ulcerative colitis is an IBD that causes your colon (large intestine) to become red and swollen. The redness and swelling can last for a few weeks or for several months.
The first signs of IBD can appear after exposure to something that irritates the intestines, such as a medication (including aspirin, ibuprofen and antibiotics) or a GI infection. The irritation or infection goes away, but the immune system keeps responding.
Make an appointment to see a doctor if you have:
Common IBD symptoms include: Lower abdominal pain that may feel like stomach cramps. Blood in your poop (stool). Chronic diarrhea.
A Colonoscopy is a test that allows the doctor to look directly at the lining of the large bowel (also called the colon or large intestine), from the rectum (back passage) through the large bowel to the lower end of the small bowel (also called the small intestine).
Symptoms
Most people with IBS develop their first symptoms before the age of 40, with many patients recalling the onset of symptoms during childhood or young adulthood. There appears to be a familial component, as many IBS patients report having a family member with similar symptoms.
It has since been found that 82% of IBS sufferers are also low in vitamin D (less than 20 ng/mL)2 so naturally we come to question if there is a link between vitamin D and IBS symptoms. The University of Sheffield has been spearheading this important area of research.
Main symptoms