

Top 9 High Soluble Fiber fruits for IBS (Low in FODMAP).
Best soluble fiber fruits for IBS include passion fruit, guava, kiwi fruit, oranges, mandarin, strawberries, unripe bananas, and pear.
MD, Assistant lecturer of internal medicine, Gastro-enterology, & Hepatology.
IBS sufferer, Gut health enthusiast, and writer.
Your health matters, my content is not a substitute for the medical advice by your doctor. #Stay_Safe
✅ Evidence-Based.
By Dr. Farahat.
Hi, I am Dr. Farahat, an IBS sufferer and gastroenterologist. Many of my IBS patients get confused about IBS pain.
With all the IBS unpredictability and irrationality, Being uncertain about what caused your abdominal pain can be quite stressful; especially if your abdominal pain has atypical patterns and locations.
Here, I will provide an in-depth answer to all your questions about IBS pain on the right side of your abdomen:
IBS pain can be generalized or localized at any part of your abdomen, it is not common for IBS to localize on the right side of your abdomen. According to the journal of Hepatology and gastroenterology, Right-sided abdominal pain occurs in less than 1.5% of IBS patients.
The most common IBS pain locations are around the umbilicus and the upper part of the abdomen in the middle. Here is a breakdown of the frequency of abdominal pain according to the site (ref):
Note:
Assuming that you are an IBS sufferer, You’re now wondering: Is the right-sided pain an IBS pain or something else?
To answer this question, I will try to explain the character of IBS pain and how it differs from other causes of right-sided abdominal pain.
After explaining what is IBS pain, now it is time to explain what is NOT IBS pain.
The features and signs listed below, if present, suggests another cause of left hypochondrial pain than IBS.
Some of these causes are of benign nature, others may require you to consult your doctor.
Unlike IBS, pain because of inflammation or trauma to any organ in the right hypochondrial area is usually different from the usual IBS pain.
It can occur in the form of severe stabbing pain that increases with movement or respiration.
Example:
A very common example is the overlap between Gallbladder Pain (cholecystitis) and right-sided IBS pain.
IBS pain comes and goes (flare-ups and remissions). Persistent pain for days or weeks, progressively increasing and not related to defecation and food is not an IBS pain.
Example:
People with Enlarged liver (as with fatty liver disease), can feel persistent pain or discomfort at the right side of their abdomen under the ribs.
IBS Right abdominal pain doesn’t change in degree (severity) when you move or change the position of your body.
A pain that increases on walking, standing up, bending the body, coughing, or sleeping on one side of the body is not typical for IBS.
Example:
Right rib fracture or trauma can cause left abdominal pain under the rib cage that increases with movement.
It is unusual for IBS pain to awaken you after you fall asleep. Pain on the right side that is of new-onset and great at night is probably not IBS pain.
For example, Right kidney pain (loin Pain) can cause an attack of severe pain at the right side that awakens you at night.
Fever is not a symptom of IBS. presence of fever shows that the left pain under your ribs is not of IBS origin. This is especially important if you relate the onset of left pain to the onset of the fever.
For example, Severe right-sided lower abdominal pain (right iliac pain) with fever may show inflammation of your appendix (appendicitis) rather than IBS pain.
Right abdominal pain and vomiting may reflect actual inflammation of infection inside your gut
For example,
You may need to read this in-depth article about the differences between IBS and colon cancer symptoms
But, Please:
Reading an article about your IBS (such as this article) can leave you convinced that there is something worse is happening inside.
So, please remember that the incidence of such serious conditions is rare. It is better to think of the common causes at first (which will be responsible for such pain in over 99% of the time).
Lower right abdominal pain is not a usual IBS pain location. if you experience severe abdominal pain, associated with fever, vomiting, and related to the movement of your right leg, consider appendicitis.
How to suspect appendicitis pain:
Unlike appendicitis, IBS pain is milder in nature, not associated with severe tenderness, fever, nor vomiting.
The gall bladder can inflame with stone formation (cholelithiasis) or without stone formation.
Biliary colic is an “inflammatory pain” that is sharper and more severe than the right-sided IBS pain.
Signs suggesting the pain is of Biliary (gallbladder) origin:
the liver can contribute to a lesser extent to the right-sided upper abdominal pain (upper right abdominal discomfort is more common than pain).
common conditions causing liver pain:
How to suspect liver pain:
consult your doctor if you suspect any signs of liver disease.
Pain from the stomach is:
The character of pain is usually sharp, stabbing, or burning pain. it is usually associated with nausea, GERD, or bloating.
Common gastric conditions that can cause stomach pain under left ribs:
Always consider Functional dyspepsia if you continuously experience post-prandial fullness and pain under the ribs with your IBS.
Functional dyspepsia is of special importance as many IBS patients have associated functional dyspepsia. Actually, this meta-analysis estimates that about 37% of IBS patients suffer from functional dyspepsia.
Functional dyspepsia (also known as indigestion) is a group of symptoms including stomach pain, bloating, nausea, and maybe a loss of appetite.
Unfortunately, no specific test or imaging can diagnose such functional diseases. Only your doctor can diagnose you with such conditions after the exclusion of any organic diseases.
We base the diagnosis of functional gut diseases only on certain clinical criteria. The “Rome Foundation” for gastrointestinal diseases is the primary reference for functional GI diseases.
Due to its common association with IBS, consider functional dyspepsia (indigestion) as a cause of right abdominal pain with IBS.
IBS is not the only condition that may affect your colon. Other diseases or conditions that affect your colon (especially the right colon) can cause pain on the right side that is similar to IBS pain.
Examples:
Learn more about the differences between right IBS pain and right colon cancer pain here.
Usually, the differentiation between IBS and various causes of colonic pain is not easy. But with IBD, the condition is more severe and may be associated with Blood in stool, fever, or weight loss.
This is another very common cause of pain that may affect your right side with IBS. the conditions can be simply of muscular or skeletal origin.
Any bone trauma, bone diseases (especially osteoporosis in females) can lead to vague right abdominal pain at the ribs or just under the rib cage.
Another contributing cause is a persistent or chronic cough. If you have a persistent cough for many days or even years, then subcostal pain can be attributed to cough.
The distinctive features of pain from the musculoskeletal origin are:
Another cause of lower right abdominal pain with IBS is defects in your abdominal wall called a hernia.
With Hernia, a part of your intestine and its surrounding fat may protrude through muscle defects causing stretching or stabbing pain usually in the inner side of your right thig (groin area)
A swelling caused by the herniation of the intestine can also be noted. It may reach down to the testicles.
another cause is painful conditions of the right kidney, but the right kidney lies in the back behind your colon and liver.
Som typical kidney pain location is in your sides or middle to upper right back. Common conditions that cause kidney pain are
When you suspect kidney pain:
pain originating from the female reproductive system can cause lower abdominal pain.
Examples of conditions that can cause pain:
Note: most of the above conditions are rare, the most common causes include:
Often, doctors cannot identify a specific cause of abnormal pain locations with IBS.
IBS can cause pain in “atypical” locations or presentations such as (ref):
One of the common examples of non-typical IBS symptoms is its association with fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia is widespread pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in your body. And the pain under your left rib cage may be one of its symptoms.
Some studies estimate that Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FM) is present in up to 60% of patients with Irritable bowel syndrome (ref).
if you experience pain in “atypical” IBS locations, consider discussing fibromyalgia with your doctor.
Read My in-depth guide about “IBS pain relief”
Best soluble fiber fruits for IBS include passion fruit, guava, kiwi fruit, oranges, mandarin, strawberries, unripe bananas, and pear.
Choosing the best probiotic that works for both IBS and GERD is challenging. the two golden rules for choosing the best probiotic for IBS & acid reflux is to go Multi-strain and to avoid probiotic with high FODMAP constituents.
IBS doesn’t cause anemia, and anemia is not a symptom of IBS. presence of anemia with IBS requires consultation of your doctor about the causes of anemia with IBS. Both anemia and IBS are common conditions, their co-existence doesn’t necessarily mean they are related.
Apples are high in both sorbitol and fructose (two FODMAPs). Those two sugars rapidly ferment and produce gas, resulting in worsening of your IBS symptoms such as abdominal pain, distension, and bloating. So, they can do more harm than improvement in your IBS-constipation
Right abdominal can be because of IBs or other causes. We will discuss the 9 causes of right abdominal pain with IBS.
IBS pain under the left rib cage can a rise from IBS or other organs located at the upper left abdomen such as spleen, pancrease, stomach, and left kidney