Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

ha! as a layman I used to think that if you need to go to the loo and can't then you have C. Syl constantly reminds me that this is not necessarily the case, he always says that it's the frequency that matters, if you have more than 3 BMs per day, you have D, if you have less than 1BM per 3days it's C. (correct me there if I got any of those numbers wrong).

now I have this v strange thing going on that if I eat too much IF I have D, more than 3 times per day, but not necessarily real urgency, just increased frequency and smaller amounts each time than if I went say only in the morning and evening. unless I have major amounts of IF on its own(like 6 slices of wholemeal bread at once) I don't have spasms or anything just the D.

that was D, BUT if I have too much fat my bowels feel as though they seize up and nothing is moving anymore and I need to go desperately but I can't. I also have then terrible recurring pain. and I need to strain. classic C symptoms I'd have thought, at least that's what it feels like. it feels as though it all needed oiling as it was too rusty to move, my digestive tract seems to be in one huge spasm. but usually v tiny, hard amounts do leave me (type 1 or 2 on here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Scale) so I never go for 3 days without that, so technically speaking I do not have C. you can see how forthcoming I am, and I'll also say that I wish I had D all the time. v rarely do I have D where I need to rush to the bathroom, D is annoying and I know it's not good to have D but it's not as bad as the symptoms I get from too much fat.

not sure how your symptoms are, but my tips would be and what I've found is that the best way to get rid of my fat induced symptoms is to have lots of fibre, but SF-IF same amount of course. same goes for D, except that is more quickly and easily remedied than fat induced spasmodic C-like nastiness, which usually takes at least 3 or 4 days for me to calm it down.

another thing that works for my C-like symptoms is a.peppermint tea, b.symptomatic cure hypnosis that I do for myself , only 5 mins. I have the proper IBS CDs too, but I have tired of them now (they have not helped (yet- perhaps will start again at some point))but the sessions are really long too and when I need pain relief as the sessions give general advice that helps nothing. (it's a programme after all) but I use what I learnt there (like specific imagery) and that can ease (if not take away) the pain and the C-like symptoms fairly rapidly. hypnosis has not been so successful for my D and treating the effects of too much IF.

if things are really unbearable with the C and spasms, I turn to Buscopan: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004804.html
does help but it's medication and you of course can't live off medicine and knowing myself to be quite weak I try not to have that back-up option in my mind as then I shall just eat too much fat. (I have trouble resisting delicious food when my mother or my boyfriend cooks say chicken as they use normal amounts of oil and overall kcal is always more than 25%)should exercise self-restraint all the time and accept that I can't just eat what normal people eat. loads of conditions are worse than IBS, so always trying to keep that in mind. (while trying to cope with my mother having issues of why I have to suffer from this condition. her feeling sorry and frustrated for me is actually causing her slight mental problems and guilt issues! this is not making me v happy to say the least. isn't this all great..)

oh ok, really detailed post and too much info perhaps , sorry, but hope that some of those things may help you.

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now: stable through EFI+FODMAP dieting (no lactose/no fructose/some fructans and some polyols)

before: IBS-D(pseudo-diarrhoea), bloating, often unbearable pain esp from too much fat: Apr 2007- Dec 2010

FODMAPs: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/072710p30.shtml

[I've tried VSL#3 -> I could tolerate v good amounts of IF (even with less SF), it worked great (but overall I find it too expensive)]

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