IBS Sufferer? Let's help each other.

magglett

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to start a group here, I've done a search and read through other threads on this subject and I hope no one minds if I try another. This is really affecting my weight loss efforts, I'm reaching out, I'm feeling frustrated. I've been diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). If you're in the same boat why not come on here and talk about the good and the bad of it all. Let's support each other since we understand how it feels.

When I was first diagnosed I thought .. Great, now I know what's wrong with me. Finally, a reason for the pain, spasms, bloating, constipation. Finally, an answer. That relief was short lived when I realized how little is really known about this syndrome. There's no cure. The specialist I saw said just to eat whatever I wanted because it would make no difference, and use suppositories and fiber supplements, I would just have to learn to live with it but gave me absolutely no guidance on how. He said I should be happy that it isn't something serious like cancer. Don't get me wrong ... I'm grateful that it's not cancer ... but no one should suffer for the rest of their life with no guidance on how to deal with it. The more I read up on the subject the more frustrated I get ... is there any help out there?

My hope is that somehow, if we all post here together on a regular basis, and share our stories, frustrations, and hopefully successes and suggestions we can all get through this together.

shulaw

i hear ya when i was younger i used to get it really bad infact i could not walk on a regular basis and my flatmate said i used to turn grey when an attack happened , i found that if i eat white bread/pasta/pastry that makes it worse also eggs can cause an attack but mostly stress does it now...if i get really stressed bam i have an attack and man do i pay for it my dr just gave me laxatives and told me to eat more fiber and that was that .

have learnt myself what sets mine off and i try to avoid the triggers ,

Fayve

I don't really have IBS, but it's pretty similiar at the end of the day. I was diagnosed with ulcurative colitis about a year ago, and it left me in a hospital bed for two brief periods of time due to the amount of blood I'd lost. It took me a long time before I felt I had the strength to exercise, and therefore it was hard not to gain weight, much less lose any. On the flipside, because I was so ill, the pounds came off trying to keep me going and producing more blood, haha.

I'm better now, but medication makes it hard to lose weight. If I'm having a flare up, there's no way I can leave the bed, much less hop on a treadmill. They're talking about removing my colon if I get another one, which I'm really not fond of. But it might be for the best, since I'm at a very high risk for colon cancer between the colitis and family history. I wouldn't be thrilled to have a colostomy bag at the age of 18 Hoping losing weight and exercising can help me turn it all around!

amysambora

Great idea for a group! I'm a sufferer too, although my attacks are rare nowadays. I used to go grey too! I saw a naturopath a couple of years ago who put me on an elimination diet. All wheat products and dairy products were eliminated, as were everything high in food chemicals - both natural and artificial. Basically I lived on meat, potatoes, rice, and pears lol! I did this for about a month, then gradually started to test different foods to see what my triggers were. Turns out I'm fine with wheat, that's no problem. Dairy is mostly a no-go, although whole/un-tampered with dairy products are not so bad. Any 'lite' products are a big fat NO. Naturally occuring food chemicals (ie salicylates / amines) are fine. My biggest trigger however, was artificial food chemicals - colours, flavours, preservatives and sweeteners. Since I cut all of those out and cut way down on my dairy, I've been pretty much fine!

magglett

I'm so glad there's some interest in this group. I'll be back again tomorrow to post more. Let's all keep in touch and support each other. In the interim ... I've been reading a lot that Hypnotherapy can help with IBS. What are your thoughts on this?

LixxiKitti

Hi,
Great topic, I was just wondering today if there was anything like this on here! I have quite bad IBS, have had it for about 15 years, I'm also lactose intolerant and sucrose intolerant...however I also am fed up with the whole thing and feel like I have to live my life so I dont worry too much about the sugar thing (with mixed results....)
Also, i am addicted to diet soda (which i KNOW is terrible for IBS but is better than coffee!)

My question to other IBS sufferers is:
Do you think your IBS has given you a distorted body image? I am obsessed with having a flat stomach, something i NEVER have due to various degrees of bloating etc. because my stomach gets so out of proportion with the rest of my body, I think I look really fat and wide when sometimes its just the bloating....what are anyone elses thoughts?

LixxiKitti

p.s. Fayve my father has just had another round of hospitalisation for ulcerative colitis, it is very hard to deal with, I admire your strength!

MrsFarrow

Thank you so much for making this!! I've had IBS for about 4 years now, and it's been a crazy 4 years. While food is a BIG trigger for me (sodas, super greasy food, any kind of dairy for the most part), so is anxiety. I'm at the point now where my IBS is pretty bad MAINLY because of my anxiety. I was a vegetarian for 5 years, which helped a decent bit I found, but I found out I was pregnant last June. I started eating meat because I knew it would be easier to get the nutrients I needed. Then I lost the pregnancy, so now I'm 30-50 over what I want to be because 1. excess pregnancy weight, 2. I never learned how to eat meat healthily. I mean, now I can grab fast food if I feel like it, it just seems like too much. But the biggest issue is because I've gained weight, I get anxious. All. The. Time.

We go to the mall. "Oh my god everyone is looking at how big I am...omg omg omg..." then I get spasms and I'm in the bathroom for an hour. Grocery shopping. "Hey let's get...no, too much sugar. Oh my god I want to stop eating forever OH MY GOD I GAINED SO MUCH WEIGHT" bam, in the bathroom.

I'm seriously thinking about going veg again. I felt SO MUCH better My IBS was under control, I didn't feel "bound" up or "backed" up, I dunno But this board is genius I don't think people really understand how much of a pain it is unless you have some sort of syndrome like IBS, UC, or Crohns (which my husband has, match made in heaven haha).

LixxiKitti

Hi mrs Farrow, mine is similar with anxiety although i often vomit with it as well. I have been vegetarian for about 10 years and am mostly vegan now (due to the lactose intolerance) although I still allow a bit of animal products in my diet.
i think being vege can be good for it although i feel the amount of raw veges (salads etc) im eating at the moment may be making it worse....anyway friend me if you like !

amysambora

@LixxiKitti: You're so right about the flat stomach thing. When I was heavier I never actually noticed it, but now I'm lighter around that area, I notice even the smallest bloat and it really gets me down. It's just so unfair that we can work so hard and lose so much, but because of the bloat we still don't look how we want to look At least this problem has lessened for me since I cut out dairy. I really encourage you to try and cut back on the diet soda - not only is it terrible for IBS, those chemicals are just SO NASTY and bad for your health in general! I used to be addicted too but now I don't touch the stuff EVER!

@MrsFarrow: Anxiety is a big problem for me too. I know exactly how you feel. Like you said, as soon as that worry starts - bam! In the bathroom! But diet can really help with this. If your system is less irritated due to less 'trigger' foods in your system, it shouldn't react so badly when you get anxious. At least that's what worked with me.

Badunkadunk_Buster

@ Fayve I have Colitis too. Life is pretty miserable during a flare up. I totally get where you are coming from. Most days it is hard enough to just get through the day, you can forget any amount of exercising. I have been pretty exhausted lately and have started losing a little blood which is totally depressing!

shulaw

you know i think my tummy will never ever be flat , when it bloats boy does it bloat ..i look pregnant ..ok the weight may not help but it really is annoying and painfull.

most embarrsing when it goes down though ( sorry but the wind is terrible ) ( cant belive i just wrote that lol)

slimkitty

Thank you for starting this. Tagging it for later when I have more time to read through.

magglett

OMG ... what timing I have. This morning I had the worse pain I've ever had. Of course I was at work. I had to leave. I went to the doctors office and he suggested a combination of three things ... a fibre, a softener, and something else to help the muscles work or something or other. I can't remember what ... it's in my car. I'm back at work right now. I'll check it out when I get home. That and the usual diet and exercise stuff. I have seriously never felt pain like that before. Except maybe when I gave birth. Anyway ... I'll give it a try ... I've tried so many things. He said IBS is a combination of problems so just treating the constipation part of it will never work. He's the first person who suggested something ... I usually hear ... there's really nothing that can be done. Anyway ... again ... I'm glad you're all here ... I'll be back tonight.

hyper_stitch

I'm with you all, I commented on another post this morning about IBS. I actually have crohn's or ulcerative colitis my diagnosis has changed so much I don't know what any more lol Diagnosed when I was 7yo and I'm now 29 .... soon to be 30 :noway:

I have good days and bad I am terrible at taking my medication and have gone years in the past without taking :blushing: I don't know why I do this I think it's pure stubborness refusing to acknowledge I'm ill. This past 6 months mines been flaring up pretty bad and bleeding quite regularly, I know what I shouldn't eat but generally eat it anyway and suffer the consequences.

It's so nice to speak to others in the same position, it's very hard to explain to people x

amysambora

I agree magglett, amazing timing! I too had a horrible attack yesterday - I haven't had one in so long. I can't figure out what caused it. I ate really well, the only thing I did differently was a super vigorous workout, can that have an effect? It was awful, i think I lost every morsel of food I've eaten in the last six weeks lol (sorry TMI!) But on the upside my tummy is flat as a tack today!

I just hate the randomness of it. You do everything you can but there's no cure...it still gets you whenever it wants to

magglett

magglett

Hey Amy, boo on the attack but yay on the flat tummy. We gotta find some positives in all of this right? When it happened to me yesterday I had all the pain and effort and I tried to go but nothing came out ... So much pain for nothing ... I hate that. But this morning for some reason the bloat I've had for a while seems to have gone and I can breathe a bit better. I wonder if the pain had something to do with it. Who knows right?

So this doctor yesterday told me that just increasing fiber and watching the diet only treats constipation and since I have IBS-C I should be treating all of it not just that part of it. He said I also need 3 things ...

1. Stool Softeners (which greases sides of bowel and stool) like Omega 3 capsules = 1/day at Night Time
2. Osmotics (which brings water into the gut) like Lactulose = 15 - 30 mL at Night Time
3. Stimulants (which pushes stool out with muscle contractions) like Senokot (senna) = 1 - 2 tablets/day at Night Time

They are all available without a prescription. He said if I do all of these in combination with keeping a journal of what I eat and how I react and avoid the triggers it should really make a difference. If after this I'm still experiencing the pain I should get a prescription for an antispasmodic but he feels confident that the above should really help.

I'm going to give this a try and see how it goes. I've tried so many things over the years. This is the first doctor that told me to combine different treatments so who knows right? He is the first to give me some real guidance ... most of them know nothing in my area.

Well, I’m off now to enjoy my weekend … it seems nice out. Maybe I can get a hike in or some geocaching, that would be awesome. Take care of you.

shulaw

i think im about to have an attack my tummy has bloated way up and is rock solid ..sigh on weigh day to ...getting ready to be in pain for the next couple of days am so tired of this

whiskey9890

oh i wish when i was having an attack it was constipation but no exactly the opposite :grumble: mine is stress induced and i also get the vomitting thing going on too. thankfully i've been ok for quite a while now as i know if i'm going to be in a stressful situation i have my coping mechanisms. i learnt to recognise my triggers and my main one is tea, which is a pain as i love tea, but the odd thing is it mainly effects me in the morning, if i'm a bit wound up i know not to drink the stuff before 9am or i'll be in the loo till 11am, but this also works in my favour cos if i'm going to be stressed out (interviews, meetig new people etc) i can beat my body to the reaction by filling myself with tea which then reacts and i have nothing left to effect me. not that i advocate this behaviour but it works for me when i am in desperate need.

the thing with ibs that frustrates people is the doctors not being able to do anything with it, they can't because they don't know what it is, ibs is a blanket term used to describe various digestion problems with no obvious root cause and has soooo many different variations. i recomment the book IBS for dummies, it really is a good read simplifies lots of jargon and give lots of information on how to narrow down the causes of our problems. those of us who suffer a lot due to anxiety will probably find its worse during our TOM as the hormone levels in our body change. also interesting reading about the artificial sweeteners and the effects they have on our bodies.

xraychick77

I am just sharing my personal experience. I used to suffer from IBS..badly. I became a vegetarian for moral reasons, but a nice bonus was my IBS went completely away.

Juniper3411

Here here on this topic!!!! I was diagnosed with IBS (i think I have IBS-C because I am constipated a lot more often) when I was 18. I am now 30. It has been a rough ride thats for sure I have definitely noticed though that when I eat healthy the symptoms tend to be a lot better overall. I know (for the most part) my trigger foods and feel like I have it somewhat under control.

I also learned that my gallbladder needs to be taken out as well, and that this might have been causing a lot of my discomfort over the years. We'll see what happens when and if I do get it out.

Good luck to everyone with this...I know how difficult it can be!

magglett

I'm so on a high right now. Spent the day hiking out in the sunshine and doing some Geocaching ... Love Love Loved it. Check out this picture I took ... how's this for a sign of spring ... a little purple sprouting through the deadness ...

shulaw

thats pretty nice photo:)

LixxiKitti

Hi all, had a bit of a hideous weekend with the stomach upsets, was in a mood on Saturday/Sunday about some personal things (my weight being one of them) and decided to 'give myself time off' my diet, ate things i havent eaten in weeks....refined carbs, potato, chocolate, wine etc....seriously felt like throwing up and ended up hopping into bed early last night and propping mself up on pillows to try and make my stomach more comfortable.
Was pretty disheartening and am quite disappointed in myself...aside from the calories, I really made myself feel very ill with the IBS and wont be doing that again in a hurry.

magglett

Hi all, had a bit of a hideous weekend with the stomach upsets, was in a mood on Saturday/Sunday about some personal things (my weight being one of them) and decided to 'give myself time off' my diet, ate things i havent eaten in weeks....refined carbs, potato, chocolate, wine etc....seriously felt like throwing up and ended up hopping into bed early last night and propping mself up on pillows to try and make my stomach more comfortable.
Was pretty disheartening and am quite disappointed in myself...aside from the calories, I really made myself feel very ill with the IBS and wont be doing that again in a hurry.

Hey, we all have off the right eating days. Lesson learned and then we move on. Unfortunately, with IBS, it takes us a few days longer than most to get our systems back to bearable. Sorry you had a rough time with the personal stuff.

magglett

Here here on this topic!!!! I was diagnosed with IBS (i think I have IBS-C because I am constipated a lot more often) when I was 18. I am now 30. It has been a rough ride thats for sure I have definitely noticed though that when I eat healthy the symptoms tend to be a lot better overall. I know (for the most part) my trigger foods and feel like I have it somewhat under control.

I also learned that my gallbladder needs to be taken out as well, and that this might have been causing a lot of my discomfort over the years. We'll see what happens when and if I do get it out.

Good luck to everyone with this...I know how difficult it can be!

I had my gall bladder out years ago. I didn't have IBS back then. I really hope it makes a difference for you. You'll have to keep us posted with that. Good luck.

magglett

I am just sharing my personal experience. I used to suffer from IBS..badly. I became a vegetarian for moral reasons, but a nice bonus was my IBS went completely away.

That's awesome!!

magglett

I must say I had a fabutastic weekend. The weather was perfect for hiking. Today I went with the hubby and the BFF to Crawford Lake Conservation Area in Halton, Ontario. I had never been there before. What a great hike (burned me some calories) and they also had a 15th century Iroquoian Village. A nice place, I’ll definitely go back again.

Along with using the recommended stuff from the doctor, I went out today and got some almond milk to put on my cereal and in my coffee in the mornings, I’m going to try and go non-dairy to see if it will make a difference with the IBS.

Well ... that's it for me today. Hope you're all doing well and we'll talk again soon. Keep a positive attitude and the rest will fall into place they say. Take care all.

cmowat13

bump

magglett

Hey Hey ... It's Monday ... A brand new beginning ... Let's get her done!!!!!