i have ibs and i have noticed that taking pobiotics and fiber daiy do seem to help and has made it way more managable i hope it works for u and i know how u feel
you r not alone and good luck:bigsmile:

Trust me you will hear that forever, my mom has Crohn's and since she was 19 she was told it was all in her head and that nothing is wrong with you etc etc. Doctors refuse to believe that anything is wrong. Now my mom is 42 and she had to have major surgery because she had an obstruction the size of a grape fruit in her colon and even then they were still convinced that it was her appendix. Therefore she had her appendix taken out and then had bag for 6 months followed by a second surgery to reconstruct her colon. I have come to the conclusion that doctors are idiots, well not all. Maybe just this particular doctor lol. Not to totally bash doctors at all! My bad!

i agree it is very hard to find good doctor and i hope ur mom is doing better

For years before my diagnosis of Crohn's, I must have been to every doctor in the Dallas Fort Worth area. They did tests which came back negative. To appease me, they put me on all these antiboitics which helped for a week or so and then the pain and fever would come back. Every doc said it was in my head along with my ex-husband. So then came the antidepressants which of course didn't make anything better except a false sense of happiness. And I had then lost 75 pounds putting me at 90 pounds. But according to the docs...nothing was wrong.

Fortunately, when we moved to Colorado, I went to a family doc. He listened to me and referred me to a great GI doc. And I was able to get in the next day. Within 2 weeks and a few tests later, I was diagnosed. I was put on all the fun meds that goes with Crohns. I stayed on the meds for about 3 years and then I went off of them by my choice. I stayed in remission for 8 years. One reason...i got rid of the stress in my life..meaning...my now ex-husband.

I came out of remission about 3 years ago. I was put back on the drugs but had to come off them not long after because it was causing kidney damage. Some days were good some were really awful. In August of this year, I went to a new Doc who is a naturopath doctor. I wanted to go in a more natural way of controlling my illness. I have been on a couple herbal supplements and some plant enzymes. It has done more for me than the drugs and none of the awful side effects.

I am not against Western Medicine, It just didn't work for me this last time. I have changed my diet, lost some weight and quit smoking. The combination of the supplements and a better lifestyle, I can say I am feeling pretty good. Granted when I get a little stressed, it does flare up but for the majority of the time, I feel great.

There is hope and a doc out there that will listen. Its not an easy journey but you just keep going and you will find what works for you.

I get a kick out of watching people on MFP stressing about how much or how little they can eat. While we worry about WHAT we can eat. I can not eat many of my favorite foods anymore... Sunday, I made a spicy curry chicken with spicy Indian rice (used brown rice) ... it cost me time off work this week as I was too sick to go in ...

I too find it humorous about people getting stressed about food intake. There are days that I can't even think about eating or when I do I worry about if will be accompanied with pain. I soo miss spicy foods and dairy products. I can only go day by day. ^_^

Hi. Living with IBS, or whatever you might really have sounds awful. Can you find a better doctor. I have Crohns and know many who have it. I was so lucky to have a good doctor and hospital nearby. Maybe people go through years of no-diagnosis and pain....

I've been taking Bentyl for over a year to help with cramping from Crohn's. The main side effects of it (light-headedness & nausea) kind of suck at first but your body will get used to it. I don't really feel any side effects. Most days I wouldn't be able to function if it wasn't for the Bentyl. Maybe see if you can start out at the 10mg dose at first and work your way up to the 20mg if you feel you need it.

I get a kick out of watching people on MFP stressing about how much or how little they can eat. While we worry about WHAT we can eat. I can not eat many of my favorite foods anymore... Sunday, I made a spicy curry chicken with spicy Indian rice (used brown rice) ... it cost me time off work this week as I was too sick to go in ...

I can relate to everything 1000% percent. I have IBS-C and UC. I can't eat many of the foods I used to love and contrary to popular belief, I CANNOT eat high fiber foods (they make the -C worse and cause major bloating) I also can't eat the commonly touted whole-wheat type products, they make everything worse. I'm also now, lactose intolerant. I'm not often hungry because about 75% of the day, I feel full.

I was very social and outgoing before I started developing all of my issues, but that's all changed too. Now I don't make plans, because they often get thwarted by not feeling well. I think friends started to think I was making excuses so I didn't have to show up. But I find no one really understands unless they have it too. Sadly, it's not something people want to admit, so it can be all too common to feel alone with this illness. It's not all in your head. I'm here too if you ever need someone to lean on.

Hello, I have IBS-C although in the past it was more like IBS-D.

Strangely I no longer have no wind, or pains in my stomach, but I did for many years and then it stopped in the last year or so. Don't ask me why. Well actually I know what some of the trigger foods were for that, rich dairy...so I have cut that out for a good few years. Always causes pains and gas if I decide to try them.

Now I just get severe nausea for days at a time when I eat something that triggers me. I have also become very intollerent to a lot of foods and seems to be getting worse.Something happened about 4 months ago and since then it has gone down hill.

I noticed some really strange things happening, like my appetite increased ten fold, all of a sudden I had to eat like every 20 minutes because my stomach would just feel so empty, after a big meal and would grumble heaps. That stressed me like no tomorrow, but lucky after a good month it went away, then I got bone pain in my ribs (bones felt like they were pushing out of my rib cage) and just became really bloated. But has settled down.

I always have had IBS, but things would go back to normal for long periods of time. I would have a few weeks of bad patches and then normal eating could continue, but not anymore, for a good 3 months anything I touch I have to be so careful with.

I also notice strong scents like outside smells are getting to me. Cigarette smoke is the worst. I just want to dry wretch all the time when outside in the city.

However, when this occurred I wanted to get on top of it, so went to a new gastroenteroligst and a dietitian. The dietitian put me on the FODMAP diet and has really helped. Although, if for some reason I eat something that triggers me (which I don't know always what) I am back to nausea. I find the restriction quite hard, but at the same time I am slowly getting many days without nausea so it's worth it to me, for the most past.

I too have had lots of test and everything seems to come back negative, apart from low vitamin D, which I have read can make IBS worse.

Anyway, it might be a good idea to investigate the FODMAP diet, it was created specifically for IBS sufferers by Monash University in Australia.