Irritable bowel syndrome

[farmgal]

Oh jeez, I lurk here for forever and this has to be my first post.

 

I've suffered with this for many years. Anyway I'm in the middle of a "flare up". Done the obvious no caffine, no sodas, cut back on sugar, yada,yada. So I go to reread all the info that I've read a thousand times before. I'm completely confused now. I actually found a website that said basically if it is white and refined then ibs suffers need to be eating it. Augghhh!! I'm not going back to eating that stuff. I've worked too hard for my family to accept better choices nutitionally. Sorry, got off on a rant there. Anyway, does anyone have any experience with dealing with ibs? I'm listening to any tidbit you can give me. My gut is killing me!!

[goatherder]

I have suffered with what was diagnosed as IBS for awhile. The also said I have acid reflux, then most recently decided I "must" have gallbladder problems. I decided after they determined that I don't have gallstones (via ultrasound) that I did not want to go for more tests (involving being injected with a radioactive isotope).

 

I had used an herbal formula that basically cleans out your innards and liver over a period of a few weeks. I was so sick I could hardly move...bloating, nausea, gas, constipation, fever, fatigue. After taking the herbal stuff for a couple of days I was feeling way better. I feel very good now and I've been using it for just over a week.

 

There are several herbal cleanse things out there, but the one I use if from Hi Health and is called Internal Cleanse. It's two tablets and you take one of each twice a day. It really does get out the "gunk" which according to research I've read, tends to accumulate over time due to our modern diets. You might check into this.

[MizNCO]

I feel your pain! I have been there. I tried everything the doctor told me....no caffine, no sugar, nothing cold. The cold thing was a a biggie. There is something about how your body responds to something cold going through it. It has been so long since I was told that I can't remember exactly what I was told. Dairy products was also a problem with me. My IBS turned out to be caused by my gall bladder. I ended up having gall stones and by the time the docs figured out what was really wrong my gall bladder had already died and had gangrene. I have since had that removed (the old fashion way with a 10day hospital stay) and the IBS seemed to go away. I still have flare ups but I have learned what foods not to eat. Like the dairy or if I eat a lot of red meat. I am sorry I can't give you anymore advice. I wanted you to know that I have been there and know what it is like. I hope it gets better.

[Snowmom]

Some time ago we talked about IBS in the Spa forum, but it was a couple years ago.

 

Here are a few sites I found that talk about IBS.

 

http://www.ibsgroup.org/

 

http://www.panix.com/~ibs/

 

http://www.aboutibs.org/

 

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibs_ez/

 

The last one has the following information on it as well as a lot more.

 

What I need to know about Irritable Bowel Syndrome

On this page:

 

What is IBS?

Does stress cause IBS?

What are the symptoms of IBS?

How is IBS diagnosed?

What is the treatment?

Points to Remember

Glossary

For More Information

Acknowledgments

What is IBS?

Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is a problem that affects mainly the bowel,* which is also called the large intestine. The bowel is the part of the digestive system that makes and stores stool. The word syndrome means a group of symptoms. IBS is a syndrome because it can cause several symptoms. For example, IBS causes cramping, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation.

 

*Linked terms are defined in the glossary.

 

IBS is not a disease. It's a functional disorder, which means that the bowel doesn't work as it should.

 

With IBS, the nerves and muscles in the bowel are extra-sensitive. For example, the muscles may contract too much when you eat. These contractions can cause cramping and diarrhea during or shortly after a meal. Or the nerves can be overly sensitive to the stretching of the bowel (because of gas, for example). Cramping or pain can result.

 

IBS can be painful. But it does not damage the bowel or cause any other diseases.

 

[Top]

Does stress cause IBS?

Emotional stress will not cause a person to develop IBS. But if you already have IBS, stress can trigger symptoms. In fact, the bowel can overreact to all sorts of things, including food, exercise, and hormones.

========================

If you check out the site, you will find a lot of interesting information.

 

This is where we talked about it.

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...age=8#Post60848

 

It was long enough ago that we had our site put on a different place and I am the one who posted the information, not LCM, everything I posted before the site was fixed, was under LCM. Anyway, I thought I would let you know what I had found before.

 

[Glynn]

Farmgal, I'm sorry to hear you're having a flare up. My DH has Crohn's Disease and I am very familiar with dealing with that.

 

This is the official website for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation:

 

http://ccfa.org/

 

Your gastroenterologist should have information about local support groups.

 

As much as you don't want to hear this, fiber is not your friend. I know it goes against everything we are taught. One thing that helps tremendously is to back off solids and give your gut a rest and time to heal from the inflamation. Try Boost or Ensure, soups, juices, and then gradually work up to semi-solid and easily-digested food, such as eggs, apple sauce, bananas, etc.

 

Please post again and let us know how you're faring. Best wishes.

[Becca_Anne]

Have you tried enzymes and pribiotics? My Dh doesn't digest some foods at all, and has IBS. Probiotics have helped him a lot. Also, check out the Maker's Diet by Jordin S. Rubin. He has a lot of great advice that might help you, and cured himself of Chron's disease.

[Mother]

Welcome to Mrs. S Farmgal. I'm really sorry to hear you are having these problems. I'm sure that all you've read and heard are just being repeated again and again and you've probably tried everything you can think of to aleviate the IBS so this may not be new to you but I'm going to mention a few things anyway just in case.

 

IBS can have several causes and it's possible that one person can have more than one cause for it. Even if you think you've found one cause, another may be just as much of a factor so it doesn't go away until you fix both or many causes.

 

Besides all the above possible causes, allergens can and often are a factor in IBS. Foods, food additives and chemicals of all kinds seem to be the worst offenders but anything can be an allergen. Chemicals are a tough one as most of our air is laden with them.

 

Another, often overlooked cause is intolerance to gluten found in wheat, rye, barley and some say oats. Even without official celiac disease which can be detected through testing, a person can have an allergy or just an intolerance that causes severe problems. The cure in this case is absolute avoidance of anything containing gluten and believe me, it's hidden well in a lot of foods.

 

Another suggesstion is, if you haven't already, look into Specific Carbohydrate Diet. http://www.scdiet.org/ You may find yourself described there. It is a diet that has helped many people with Crohns, IBS and other colon disorders.

 

Remember though, that sometimes it takes a while on a specific regime to find results. In the case of allergies or intolerances total avoidance IS the cure.

 

Good luck and hopefully you'll find just that one piece of info that you need.

 

((( )))

 

 

 

[Lilly]

I have IBS. It runs in my family. My Brother has it and my Mom and Grandmother had it. Fast food, and salad bars really set ours off. I have to take fiber supplements so I will go regularly. Stress does make it worse. I have Diabetes as well, so the white stuff is a no-no for me. I hope you get to feeling better soon. Welcome to the board.

[Mother]

I just came across some info and reasearch on Dietary Fructose Intolerance. (there is also Heriditary Fructose intolerance but that starts in infancy). It seems that some people cannot handle fructose and it causes almost all the same symptoms as IBS. The research suggests that there is a corelation between Gluten Intolerence, Dairly intolerence and Fructose intolerance. The information was very sparce but it's something to check out at least.

 

General info:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption

 

Here is a forum on it:

 

http://groups.msn.com/FructoseIntolerance/dfimessages.msnw

 

((( )))

[hannahhkelly]

Hi there,

 

My father has been suffering from IBS for the past 2 years. When we started out for his treatment, we had no clue were to begin. While i was doing a research on Ibs, i came across caring.com. The article looked interestd and i decide to research more on it. I got a lot of information on IBS. I hope it helps you all too.

[GirlNextDoor]

OTC Loperamide tablets help with even the most stubborn diarrhea. I have colitis.