Can IBS cause weight gain or weight loss?

Can IBS cause weight gain or weight loss?

Lin Chang (UCLA Division of Digestive Diseases) gives expert video advice on: Can IBS cause weight gain or weight loss?; Is IBS painful?; Can IBS damage the colon or other parts of the digestive system? and more...

IBS typically is not associated with significant change in weight whether it be weight gain or weight loss. In fact one of the alarm signs, or what we call red flags, to suggest that the patient doesn't have IBS and they may have what we call an organic or structural gastro-intestinal condition is weight loss. So, unintentional weight loss, say for example ten pounds, would be unusual for IBS. I have seen some with severe IBS where they'll develop weight loss but its pretty atypical and its actually classified as an alarm sign. There are no studies to show that IBS is associated with weight gain but my experience is that there are a lot of patients who report that they don't eat that much food because they can't tolerate that much but they will have weight gain.