Sorry to vent! (slash introduce myself?)
beamie2687
Posts: 95 Member
Hi, everyone! My name is Christine and I've been living with an IBS diagnosis since 2007. At the time, I was IBS-C with significant weight gain (I was literally full of crap!) plus uncomfortable gas. When I got my diagnosis, the woman doing my stomach ultrasound looked at me with pity and said "you must be so uncomfortable!" I was.
Fast forward - my symptoms regulated themselves. I was still constipated most times, but I switched to a vegetarian diet and the fiber seemed to help. I moved out on my own after graduation and everything seemed okay. I almost forgot I had IBS as I settled into my bathroom habits!
More recently, I graduated law school. My final year was insanely stressful as I was finishing up my Master's at the same time, running our school's student government (nerd), working 30 hours a week, and trying to maintain a social life while going through a pretty bitter breakup. All of a sudden, you guessed it, diarrhea. For weeks-long stretches, I wouldn't be able to keep anything in my body for longer than an hour.
As I studied for the bar, I adjusted to this new schedule. I tried FODMAPS, but found no specific foods to avoid. I also suffer from moderate/severe acid reflux as a result of a stress-related eating disorder (what I'm saying is, nothing on my insides works).
Now: As of January, 1 this year, my (now) IBS-A has been rearing it's ugly head. I am apparently on a 2 weeks D, 2 weeks C schedule. The diarrhea was bad enough - discomfort, cramping, inability to eat, exhaustion/fatigue. But the constipation has been much worse than before. My stomach gets hard because it's so filled with gas. My stomach is so bloated I look pregnant. IF I go, I can tell by smell and color that it's at least 5-8 days old. It's been hard to stand up straight.
I'm so frustrated by swinging through these extremes! I've keep a food log: it's literally "foods that upset my top stomach (acid reflux)," "foods that upset my bottom stomach (ibs)," "foods that make me generally uncomfortable."
However, it's been really difficult to pinpoint foods to add to my second list since I'm constantly fluctuating between C and D. The foods currently on my list are things that had affected my IBS-D, but I'm finding that they're not affecting my IBS-C. For example, even when I add the fiber that hurts my stomach in a D phase, it doesn't help my C phase. Instead, the fiber builds up painful gas.
I swear, I'm almost done ranting. I just thought that after my 8th year of dealing with IBS that I'd be more advanced at handling it. I recognize that stress is a big factor in my digestive help (I'm studying for another bar exam), but since stress is not a factor I can change at the moment, I'm just super frustrated. Thank you for listening/reading, my IBS family. I just wanted to come to a place where people would understand. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears!
Fast forward - my symptoms regulated themselves. I was still constipated most times, but I switched to a vegetarian diet and the fiber seemed to help. I moved out on my own after graduation and everything seemed okay. I almost forgot I had IBS as I settled into my bathroom habits!
More recently, I graduated law school. My final year was insanely stressful as I was finishing up my Master's at the same time, running our school's student government (nerd), working 30 hours a week, and trying to maintain a social life while going through a pretty bitter breakup. All of a sudden, you guessed it, diarrhea. For weeks-long stretches, I wouldn't be able to keep anything in my body for longer than an hour.
As I studied for the bar, I adjusted to this new schedule. I tried FODMAPS, but found no specific foods to avoid. I also suffer from moderate/severe acid reflux as a result of a stress-related eating disorder (what I'm saying is, nothing on my insides works).
Now: As of January, 1 this year, my (now) IBS-A has been rearing it's ugly head. I am apparently on a 2 weeks D, 2 weeks C schedule. The diarrhea was bad enough - discomfort, cramping, inability to eat, exhaustion/fatigue. But the constipation has been much worse than before. My stomach gets hard because it's so filled with gas. My stomach is so bloated I look pregnant. IF I go, I can tell by smell and color that it's at least 5-8 days old. It's been hard to stand up straight.
I'm so frustrated by swinging through these extremes! I've keep a food log: it's literally "foods that upset my top stomach (acid reflux)," "foods that upset my bottom stomach (ibs)," "foods that make me generally uncomfortable."
However, it's been really difficult to pinpoint foods to add to my second list since I'm constantly fluctuating between C and D. The foods currently on my list are things that had affected my IBS-D, but I'm finding that they're not affecting my IBS-C. For example, even when I add the fiber that hurts my stomach in a D phase, it doesn't help my C phase. Instead, the fiber builds up painful gas.
I swear, I'm almost done ranting. I just thought that after my 8th year of dealing with IBS that I'd be more advanced at handling it. I recognize that stress is a big factor in my digestive help (I'm studying for another bar exam), but since stress is not a factor I can change at the moment, I'm just super frustrated. Thank you for listening/reading, my IBS family. I just wanted to come to a place where people would understand. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears!
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I completely understand!! I've been battling this problem with it changing over time for over twenty years now. I've now found I have a full- blown gluten allergy and also have small bowel bacterial overgrowth which is apparently very common in IBS sufferers and can be treated with ongoing antibiotics and a Low FODMAP diet. I know you've said you have tried the diet but I have to avoid everything all the time, it appears I am sensitive to all the FODMAPs!
It took me a long time to get my GP's to take me seriously enough to refer me to specialists but am now under Gastro, Immunology and Dieticians at the hospital which all deal with their specific areas and it has really helped!0
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