People with IBS experience a symptom burden that impacts negatively on their quality of life. These symptoms can interfere with normal daily activities such as work, diet, sleep, sexual function, personal relationships and on ability to travel. Most people have had IBS for more than 10 years and often suffer in silence. Others may have visited their GP numerous times and may even have ended up in hospital due to their IBS. Often people with IBS have tried many therapies without any relief of their symptoms.
IBS can be categorised into four groups based upon types of bowel movements: diarrhoea-predominant (IBS-D), constipation-predominant (IBS-C), mixed (IBS-M), and unsubtyped (IBS-U).