Anyone here with IBS?

[Ginevra]

It's my stomach again. :glare: I have not been able to parse out why my stomach is going crazy every here and again. If anyone recalls my saga that I recently posted about (digestive diet questions). Well, I had strong suspicions about dairy, but I don't necessarily see a strong connection there. I ate an ice cream at Dairy Queen yesterday with no problems at all. I've been taking Lactaid with meals that have dairy. But tonight - again, my stomach went crazy halfway through my dinner and I am in such pain right now. The meal was meatloaf, potatoes and corn. :confused: Not a particularly dairy-concentrated meal.

 

So, I'm doing the "Dr. Google" tonight and come up with IBS as a maybe. Anyone here been dx'd with IBS? How did you get it diagnosed? What has helped?

[Tracy in Ky]

I have IBS. I was diagnosed at age 18 (I'm 42 now). Generally IBS is diagnosed by a process of elimation--when you test negative for other things, they finally diagnose IBS. They did do an air-contrast barium enema on me.

 

I've tried different diets and medication. The only thing that has ever helped me is enteric coated peppermint oil. Nothing else helps.

[Mesa]

Your dr will run tests and diagnose you.

 

I have it, it's out of control. I'm trying Bentyl for it, but it makes me sleepy, dizzy, and confused. Great combo, right?! LOL. My Gastro doc recommends "Align" from Sams Club its a probiotic. He also said I could take up to 10 Immodiums per 24 hours. (as needed)

 

I am having another colonoscopy done in January to rule out other Diseases that cause IBS like symptoms.

[elfgivas]

thou shalt not eat corn. its one of the definite triggers (corn niblets, corn on the cob, etc. corn tortillas, corn chips, corn meal are all fine). that said, it rarely triggers as you eat it, BUT eating triggers your digestive system and then you know you are in trouble, often from something the meal before or the day before.... or stress.... or weather.... or stress..... or stress....

 

dh has IBS, i have ulcerative colitis. there are foods that are definite triggers, some just for some folks, but some that are so common they come in the "thou shalt not" category.

if you google ulcerative colitis diet or IBS diet, there will be lists, and you can see if that helps.

 

psyllium capsules in the late afternoon often help, because they bulk up whatever you eat for dinner.

 

its a lousy thing; i'm sorry....:grouphug::grouphug:

ann

[Aggie]

A friend was dx with ibs and suffered for years. Finally she was tested for celiac. Her quality of life is so much better now. Many drs won't test for it right away so you may have to press for it.

[jenL]

DH has IBS. It was first diganosed years ago as lactose intolerance, but like you, he would be fine if he occasionally ate dairy. He went to another doctor who ran some tests, and diagnosed the IBS. He takes a dicyclomine pill before every meal to calm his digestive track. He does have triggers though (spicy and fried foods usually) and stress is also a huge trigger for him. Some days are better than others with it, and it does disrupt our lives every now and then, but far less now that he takes the medicine with every meal.

[meet me in paris]

I diagnosed myself a year and a half ago after years of misery. I started taking Digestive Advantage supplements for IBS and it has changed my life. It's a pro-biotic formula. They will give you a free 30-day supply at the link above. Within 2 weeks I was completely symptom free. I quit taking it for a while when I wasn't having any symptoms and that was a mistake!

 

The most important thing is to figure out what your triggers are. A lot of things I was doing for my upset stomach were actually making it worse like soda/high fructose corn syrup and chewing gum (sorbitol is a big trigger for many people). There are lots of books out there on IBS - check one out so you can get more info before you start having invasive tests. I ended up never needing the tests because the supplements have worked so well.

[joannqn]

I diagnosed myself a year and a half ago after years of misery. I started taking Digestive Advantage supplements for IBS and it has changed my life. It's a pro-biotic formula. They will give you a free 30-day supply at the link above. Within 2 weeks I was completely symptom free. I quit taking it for a while when I wasn't having any symptoms and that was a mistake!

 

The most important thing is to figure out what your triggers are. A lot of things I was doing for my upset stomach were actually making it worse like soda/high fructose corn syrup and chewing gum (sorbitol is a big trigger for many people). There are lots of books out there on IBS - check one out so you can get more info before you start having invasive tests. I ended up never needing the tests because the supplements have worked so well.

 

:iagree:

 

I definitely consider getting checked out, but I can't recommend Digestive Advantage enough. It works, for us, WAY BETTER than the other lactase supplements. My son was having all kinds of problems when he was younger...diarrhea 5 times a day and severe learning delays. I started elimination diet trials, starting with dairy, and saw improvement immediately. I put dairy back into our diet but gave him Digestive Advantage Lactose Intolerance formula. He never had a problem again. In two years, he not only caught up on the delays but was evaluated as being ahead when he was evaluated for his IEP at the end of preschool (was in special ed preschool). He doesn't currently need Digestive Advantage.

 

My younger son is having similar digestive issues and is now taking the same Digestive Advantage. He's diapers are looking a little better, but his speech is really exploding suddenly. I was noticing articulation issues but wasn't worried just yet. It's hard with him because he practically lives on dairy. It's almost his only protein source, so until he eats other proteins better, I can't really take it out of his diet.

[Amy in TX]

I was diagnosed by a dr. at age 23, and I'm 45 now. I've had it my whole life, and my dd12 has the exact same symptoms as I do, only worse.

 

Two things have done wonders for us. One is cutting out all snacking between meals, and eating at the same times every day. Just a consistent schedule seems to "calm" the digestive tract. (BTW, the only way I can go from one meal to the next without hunger is by eating low carb. I don't know if this style of eating has been a factor in helping the ibs or not.)

 

The other great help is probiotics. The only ones I would use, based on lots of studies, are Align and Culturelle. (Culturelle's capsules contain gelatin, which often is made from pork, so you'd want to use Align if that's an issue for you.) Dd used to get such terrible abdominal pain that she'd literally roll on the floor, but she hasn't suffered a single "bad one" in the year or so that she's been taking the probiotics.

 

Good luck--I hope you find some relief. :)

[Liz CA]

I agree with supplementing with probiotics even if it turns out you don't have IBS. It won't hurt you.

You could try some Kefir as well which acts like a probiotic. You usually find it in the dairy section even though it's made of grains.

 

I don't suffer from IBS but like the probiotic effect of the Kefir. I pour it over fruit in the middle of the day for a little snack.

 

[mysticamethyst]

I cannot eat ground beef very anymore, I think the triggers are different for everyone and you really just have to keep a food diary to find yours. What where you eatting at dinner when you started feeling pain, and what have you eatten in the past 24hrs. I can drink a hot peppermint mocha from Starbuck, but not the cold, system cannot take it for some reason, go figure. As elfgivas said, corn is out of the question. I take 2 extra strengh gasexx tablets before dinner almost every night, this has helped me immensly, only get really bad maybe 1 every other month or so now. I hope you find something that works for you and soon. :grouphug:

[Hikin' Mama]

It just means the doctor doesn't know what is causing your symptoms. :glare:

 

I had diarhea (sp?) all the time; it was stressful leaving the house. After doing all the tests he knew to do, including a colonoscopy, the gastroenterologist told me I had IBS and gave me a prescription for something. I took it, my symptoms continued, but my vision became blurry to the point of making it hard to read, and I was thirsty all the time. I quit taking the meds and went to a naturopath, who helped me greatly. He put me on an anti-candida diet and gave me supplements and probiotics, and he had me do a parasite cleanse. I was much improved, but still had diarhea sometimes, but nothing like before. I could never pin it to any particular foods, though.

 

In the meantime, I was also very anemic and no one could figure that out, not even a hematologist. So I went on being very tired, with occassional diarhea, and bloating every day. (Iron supplements made me break out in hives.)

 

By mere coincidence, I read about how celiacs have unexplained bone loss (yep, that's me, so I started lifting weights to combat it) and anemia. I beefed up my bread consumption and went in for a test. In whatever test they did, the normal range ended at 19, and my number was 236! I quit eating gluten and guess what...I haven't had diarhea AT ALL in many months, I'm not bloated any more (I used to wake up with a flat stomach and be bloated by afternoon or evening every day), and I no longer crave ice (symptom of anemia), a pimply rash on my nose and itchy bumps on my elbows disappeared, and even my "normal" bm's are more normal now. I also don't have daily stomach aches any more.

 

Oh how I wish the doc would have tested me for this 12 YEARS AGO!

 

I don't know if this is your problem or not, but I thought I would share my experience. If you go gluten free, you have to really do some research, because I've found that gluten is disguised in many forms. There is an online forum for celiacs. I haven't gone directly to it, but many times when I google "Is so and so gluten free", it takes me there."

 

Good luck!

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Mine went away with my coffee habit. no kidding. It was a difficult and long process to quit coffee and my quitting had nothing to do with, er, "tummy trouble" but when I had finally kicked the habit, I noticed no more "tummy trouble."

[G5052]

It just means the doctor doesn't know what is causing your symptoms. :glare:

 

 

DH has IBS that has been complicated by neurological damage from the waist down. For years he had been told that it was "all in his mind," and then he went to a top-notch gastro doc that had him keep a diary and worked out with him the triggers and how to keep things going. Most of the time he's good if he takes a probiotic, Citrucel, and eats fiber from a variety of sources. When he gets bad, he has to avoid tomatoes, chocolate, and take medication.

 

Periodically I seem to get IBS during periods of extreme stress, and my internist perscribed Bentyl, which seems to do the trick. I haven't needed it this year though despite it being a rollercoaster year, but I've been very careful with my diet and have gotten better at managing things.

[dsmith]

I started taking Prozac when I was going through a rough patch. Haven't had any IBS symptoms since, and I'd been suffering with it for 20 yrs. I'd been through all the diets, meds available at the time, nothing helped. I weaned off of Prozac, and 1 1/2 weeks later, I was bent over double in pain again. I started taking the lowest dose just for the IBS. I read a study where they are starting to prescribe low dose antidepressants for IBS, so apparently this isn't a fluke. SIL started a low dose a few weeks ago, and she is getting relief.

[mrsrevmeg]

I started taking Prozac when I was going through a rough patch. Haven't had any IBS symptoms since, and I'd been suffering with it for 20 yrs. .

 

A friend of mine's son takes prozac for his stomach. My husband and oldest son have IBS. It's tough. My son has recently just had a rough time where his stomach hurt for 14 straight days. He survived off chicken soup, chicken and rice, or just plain rice. He lost 5-6 pounds. (pounds that were not excess) We have been giving him probiotics, extra fiber, and he started back on his stomach medicine that he pediatrician subscribed a while back. He's on the mend now. I am sorry to hear you have this. It's tough to find all the triggers and all the things that help.

[Tess in the Burbs]

corn tears me up every time! not corn meal but corn on the cob or canned corn.

 

I have IBS but finally went gluten free and feel amazing! But corn is another one......

 

you really need to keep a food diary and keep track of your stomach. I discovered peanut butter cookies also made me sick almost instantly...peanut butter? egg? (I eat two a day!) ??? eggs for breakfast don't bother me. but peanut butter cookies do. but Reese's don't :-)

 

it's a process to figure it out. but when you find the trigger it's so wonderful!!

[Susan in TN]

I don't think this has been mentioned, but please read a book called "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottschall. My public library carries it, and you can also find info on line. It explains the physical issues behind IBS and Crohn's and suggests a diet to help your body heal itself (called the "Specific Carbohydrate Diet" or SCD).

 

My sister was near death several times from her Crohn's and she took the info. and followed the diet for a couple years. Within a few months she was off all her medications but one, and now even years later her system is very healthy and she can eat almost anything.

 

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Ginevra]

I thank you all for your replies. This issue is about making my head spin! :glare: I can really relate to the pp who said her son was surviving on chicken soup, chicken rice and rice, because that is what I'm eating, too. I am going to start keeping a food diary, but I also know from going through an elimination diet with my son that this is a tremendous PITA and it's hard to draw any consistent conclusions from it. It almost seems to me that anything that is not a plain fruit or veggie hurts my stomach. I wouldn't touch a soda with a ten-foot pole right now, not even if you paid me. :D

 

The thought of trying to narrow this down with a doctor really gives me the willies, because I know about all those horrid tests involving cameras going places not intended by Kodak. :glare: OTOH, I can't live having a bad stomach attack every week.

[AnitaMcC]

So, I'm doing the "Dr. Google" tonight and come up with IBS as a maybe. Anyone here been dx'd with IBS? How did you get it diagnosed? What has helped?

 

I was dx with IBS a few months after my gall bladder was removed. I still have issues but not as severe as it was the first few years after the surgery. From what I was told, my issue with IBS is to do with gall stones and not having a gall bladder anymore. For nearly a year I was on questran until I was able to wean off it. Then I took immodium ad every morning for many years. I haven't had to take anything after my last son was born nearly 9 years ago. As some have mentioned about taking prozac, coincidentally I also take prozac since youngest was born (I went into post partum depression) and still take a low dose of prozac.

 

Now I just have to limit fat intake, and not eat breakfast. For some reason I can not eat breakfast except for toast or bagel. Anything else I have to wait until I have been up and about for a few hours. I have to make sure I eat lunch and dinner or I may suffer the next morning.

Edited December 11, 2009 by AnitaMcC