IBS GUIDE/Information for people who have Irritable Bowel

I have ibs too and was looking for others on MFP who's ibs affects our eating - is there a group? My ibs started in my life when I went through a really traumatic event. My dad also has ibs and said when he ate psyllium fiber, it went away. So i eat a serving of Trader Joe's pure psyllium husks every morning, and my ibs is completely gone. If I skip my psyllium for a few days, the ibs comes back. Basically it works because it's easily soluble fiber. Stay away from fiber suplements with additives and citrus flavors because they are worse on the stomach and negate the reason for taking the fiber. The best one I ever found is Trader Joe's - all natural. Dairy is also hard on people with ibs even if you aren't lactose intolerant, because dairy is difficult to digest. We need foods that are easy to digest, which seems like it goes against foods that help us lose weight, so it can be difficult. Part of the reason I gained so much weight actually was because if ibs. IBS pains come because we can't digest the food we ate. The most helpful website I found is www.helpforibs.com - I never bought any of the products but the information there was extremely helpful.

I hope this helps.

I have been suffering with IBC-C since I was 15. I have found the only things that help me are:

- Eat a well balanced, nutritious diet
- Drink lots of water
- Consisten exercise
- Inner Health Plus (probiotic daily tablet)
- Avoid oily, fried foods
- Don't stress

Stress is the number 1 trigger for me. As well as not concentrating on my diet. I went on a 2 week holiday at the beginning of this year and as a result of not being careful with what I ate I had horrendous stomach pains on and off for 3 weeks after I returned.

Things that doctors or websites have told me to try but fail:

- Eating loads of fiber or metamucil (my colon doesn't process fibre properly, why would eating more of it help!)
- Cutting out Gluten or Dairy
- drinking potions and restricted diet from a natropath, yes it worked really well for about a month...then it went back to normal.

IBS is a very personal disorder. Triggers, symptons and results differ for every IBS sufferer. It's basically a process of elimination to find out what does and doesn't work for you.

By following the above, I have gone from 2-3 days a week of crippling stomach pains. To about once a month, if that! :-)

I find that what makes me worse is eating a large amount of food. After eating a large meal, my body decides to get rid of everything in the large colon, no matter if it's ready to go or not. It's agonizing and I feel pain shooting through the entire torso. When I'm on a diet, I do better because my meals are generally smaller and I eat until the hunger is gone, not until I feel "full".

I have the same problem. Actually, if I eat just one big fat-laden meal I'll be fine. But it's when I go for the 2nd one in a day. Then yup, doesn't matter what was in it, everything's got to go. So now that I eat out once a week or less that's helped.

I find eating healthier is a mixed bag. I tend to get both directions of IBS (speed up, or slow down). Sometimes eating one really fatty food meal will effectively deal with the slow down.

Dairy if definitely a trigger food for me. I drink Lacteeze milk and try not to eat/drink dairy but I find it very hard because I love cheese. I buy cheesestrings now instead of a block of cheese so I try not to eat it as much. Trigger foods for me are ice cream, pizza, and anything that is fast food.

Don't discount the cheese. I'm not sure if my IBS is mostly dairy related or if the two are separate or what. But I find cheese to be my WORST dairy food to eat. Just miserable. Small amounts set it off. Strangely I can still eat ice cream (though not Breyers or anything very "natural") and small amounts of regular milk don't bother me, though usually I stick to Lactaid milk. I've met a lot of other people who are lactose intolerant, and it seems like the particular foods that are the worst (cheese v milk v yogurt v ice cream) can be drastically different per person. So you just need to find what's worse for you. I had to cut out cheese for the rest of my life. I was taking the little lactaid pills but it was at the point where I needed like 20 of them to have a slice of pizza. So no pizza for me. Haven't probably had pizza in 10 years. Sometimes I think about buying the expensive probiotic/enzyme stuff and trying some again, but I guess it's just not that worth it for me anymore.

I am trying to figure out whats going on with me and think I may have IBS.

My symptoms have been coming and going for the past 2 years. Stress and apperantly exercise seem to be my main triggers. I generally eat a mostly healthy well balanced diet.

I had a really bad episode yesterday after running a half marathon but my symtoms are not limited to post-exercise only. I have consistently been having 2-3 "bad" days for the past couple of months.

My symptoms are stomach ache, stomach soreness, diarhea, painful gas, bloating, and cramping.

I am in training for my first marathon in 3 weeks and can not afford to reduce the exercise. I just want to get this under control. I eat heathy and when I am having a flare up try to stick to rice, mashed potatoes, bananas, oatmeal, bread, rice soup with chicken and other foods that I hope will be gentle to my stomach. I don't know if this actually helps or not but the pain & other symptoms usually go away within 24-48 hours.

I am miserable on the "white food diet" though. Its so boring and I worry about not meeting all my nutritional requirements (especially protein).

I haven't gone to the doctor - but am a bit hesitant to because I am afraid it will just be a waste of my time. If it is IBS - are they going to be able to do or prescribe anything about it?