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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

IBS is a group of symptoms, such as pain and bloating in your belly (abdomen) and changes in your bowel movements (e.g. constipation and diarrhoea).

About 30% of the population have IBS. It’s more common in women, especially those aged 18 to 39 years.

Learn more about IBS, including symptoms, causes and diagnosis.

Topics on this page

What is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gut disorder that affects your stomach and intestines. While IBS can cause many symptoms, it doesn’t cause blood in your poo or fevers.

Symptoms

Symptoms of IBS may include:

  • belly (abdominal) pain, cramping or bloating that often eases after doing a poo or passing wind
  • alternating constipation and diarrhoea
  • changes in how your poo looks
  • changes in how often you do a poo
  • wind (gas).

These bowel symptoms may not be related to IBS, so it’s important to see your doctor if you are concerned about any changes to your bowel habits.

Causes

Commonly accepted causes of IBS include:

  • diet (food intolerances)
  • stress
  • gut infections (gastroenteritis)
  • medicines
  • problems with signals between the brain and gut.

Diagnosis

There are no tests to diagnose IBS. Your doctor will usually diagnose IBS based on your symptoms and when other conditions have been ruled out.

Treatment and management

Lifestyle changes

Your doctor will recommend lifestyle changes to decrease IBS symptoms .

You may need to increase the amount of fibre in your diet and follow a low FODMAP diet. FODMAPs are a group of sugars that your body doesn’t absorb properly. It’s a good idea to get advice from a dietitian so you don’t miss out on any important nutrients.

Lifestyle changes include reducing stress with relaxation techniques and increasing physical activity.

Other ways to manage IBS

While everyone is different, you can try:

  • avoiding food that aggravates your symptoms (e.g. dairy, onion, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, dried beans and lentils)
  • drinking six to eight glasses of water each day
  • avoiding drinks that aggravate your symptoms (e.g. caffeinated drinks, fizzy drinks and alcohol)
  • reducing artificial sweeteners.

To relieve constipation, try prunes, pear juice, soluble fibres such as psyllium, poo softeners like Coloxyl and laxatives like Osmolax.

If you have persistent diarrhoea, try medicines such as Loperamide.

Psychological therapies, such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and hypnotherapy may also help.

This con­tent has been reviewed by a group of med­ical sub­ject mat­ter experts, in accor­dance with Jean Hailes pol­i­cy. It has been pro­duced in part­ner­ship with the Con­ti­nence Foun­da­tion of Aus­tralia.

© Jean Hailes Foun­da­tion. All rights reserved.

1
Sperber AD, Bangdiwala SI, Drossman DA, et al. Worldwide Prevalence and Burden of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, Results of Rome Foundation Global Study.Gastroenterology. 2021;160(1):99-114.e3. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2020.04.014
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Hadjivasilis A, Tsioutis C, Michalinos A, Ntourakis D, Christodoulou DK, Agouridis AP. New insights into irritable bowel syndrome: from pathophysiology to treatment. Ann Gastroenterol. 2019;32(6):554-564. doi:10.20524/aog.2019.0428
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Philpott HL, Nandurkar S, Lubel J, Gibson PR. Drug-induced gastrointestinal disorders. Frontline Gastroenterol. 2014;5(1):49-57. doi:10.1136/flgastro-2013-100316
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Gastroenterological Society of Australia, Clinical Practice Resources
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Monash University, The low FODMAP Diet
Last updated: 
25 September 2024
 | 
Last reviewed: 
31 January 2024

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