Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: HELP ME I haven't been able to leave the house for 3 days!

For the short-term, go on the Break The Cycle Diet strictly for 2-3 days. I know it's bland, but the idea is to stay away from absolutely everything that might irritate your bowel. When my gut is super-touchy, anything other than Soluble Fiber is a bad idea for me. Going with only SF foods and hot herbal teas should calm things down. After the 2-3 days is up, start adding in more foods carefully.

Take your Imodium. Don't be afraid to take the maxium dose. Try taking it at regular intervals throughout the day to help get things calmed down.

Looking beyond the BTC Diet, here are my thoughts on what you're eating:

I checked the ingredient list for Honeycomb Cereal. It lists whole grain corn flour, corn bran, and whole grain oat flour. Any grain listed as "whole" or "bran" is almost certainly high in IF and should be avoided until your tummy is not in open rebellion. Even then, you should eat it after SF. Eating anything high in IF first thing in the morning just about kills me.

Oatmeal is half SF and half IF. Once you're fairly stable you may be able to handle it, but I'd avoid it for now.

The Cadbury chocolate almost certainly contains dairy so avoid that. If you want chocolate once you're off the BTC Diet (and I, personally, would no longer find life worth living if I couldn't have chocolate), try the Anti-Depressant Brownies from the Recipe Index. They're nice and chocolatey.

Beyond that, if your tomato sauce is store-bought, check it for culprits like dairy, HFCS, high fat, and meat. If it doesn't contain any of those, it should be fine once your tummy has calmed down. I'm with Cailin, here - I do great with tomato sauce most of the time but when I'm not doing well, I avoid it.

Long term, if you're not using an SFS, give it a try. Since you're D, you want to avoid those that contain any IF and stick with a straight SF type ( web page). As for water, I shoot for between 64 and 100 ounces a day of liquids, made up of water and herbal teas. I need this much because I take a LOT of Acacia. If you're not on an SFS, I'd shoot for 64, more if you can manage it easily - you need to avoid dehydration. Spread it out throughout the day and remember that ice cold beverages can make things worse. Drink your water at room temperature and drink as much in the form of hot herbal teas as you can manage.

HTH. Feel better soon!

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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