Living with IBS? Success with IBS?

A long time ago I was diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis and IBS.....I feel for everyone on here as this condition has such a awfully profound effect upon you even being able to function.

For me going gluten free helped, my Doctor recommended this and while there isn't any consensus amongst Professionals about whether it can help or not it certainly did for me.

This all happened years prior to the FODMAP idea - An elimination diet can certainly give you grounding in what your triggers are. Like others have said I tried Probiotics but found them to be of little help and the research behind their actual effectiveness due to the action of stomach acids upon them makes taking them to be highly questionable but....different strokes for different folks.

Since then I have discovered my triggers (and yes I still suffer with the odd attack if I am not careful with monitoring my foods - all the time) normal cows milk (have lactose free in the few coffees I have and it's a very small amount at that, Coffee - too many cups of my once fav. brew are deadly. Oranges, some nightshade veg. particularly potato. I avoid corn and rice like the plague as these too cause issues.

One thing I do notice is that aged cheeses as someone else mentioned are fine as is Yoghurt....although store bought is NOT good for me and we have resorted to making our own Greek Yoghurt which is very easy to do and tastes wonderful.

All the best.

I have had IBS since I was13. It took me several years to figure out most triggers. As I get older, I noticed that my triggers have changed. I can no longer tolerate heavy cream. Thus is a new trigger. Fat free milk is fine- I can't tolerate yogurt, not even greek. Fried foods and greasy meats are also a trigger. Anxiety is a trigger. I always get travel anxiety. I don't know about you but I hate using public restrooms. There is also nothing worse than being in a car on a long trip on a highway with no near rest stops during an attack. I always have toilet paper in the car- before ant long trips I avoid trigger foods most certainly as well as take Imodium that was made to assist with ibs symptoms.

Good luck.

I've suffered with IBS for 4 yrs now. I ended up in chronic pain where I couldn't do anything. I was off sick from work, in and out of hospital to have scans, colonoscopies which put me in even more pain. Eventually after 6 months of tests and being on tramadol it came down to IBS. I've had to change career as the flare ups were so bad I couldn't nurse anymore, so had to move to a desk job where I can attempt to cope with the pain whilst working.

I got an intolerance test done after I was diagnosed, it revealed I was lactose intolerant, wheat intolerant and gluten intolerant and also little other things that triggered. I cut all of this out and ate what I could that was left and then re-introduced things back in slowly to find out what was a trigger and what I could cope with and what didn't harm me at all.

I can have greek yoghurt but I can't have any other lactose sources - lactofree milk is great!! Bread is a trigger for me (White or brown) so I tend to keep away from that, and there were a few others too.

I was recommended fybogel which is an orange flavour powder you mix with water. I have this on a night and it seems to releave the pain and any constipation. I also got diagnosed with having haemorrhoids at the same time which this also helps.

The intolerance test was the best thing for me as I realised what was really triggering my pain and now I live a pretty normal life, I still get triggers now and again but it is down to a couple of times a year. I manage to run twice a week, go to the gym and weight lift 3 times a week and do yoga on my days off.

Hope you find what works for you and manage to stabilise it