Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Thank you Syl for your words of encouragement.

I have been dealing with the intense pain for five months and have never had to deal with that much pain before. I was extremely concerned and frustrated when the doctors could not find an answer. A final hiatus scan to check my gallbladder went terribly wrong when I started having excruciating pain after they injected the hormone that would simulate eating. When they looked at my bowels they told me they were contracting 100 times more than the normal person after eating. Thus due to the fact that nothing else was fitting the symptoms and the bowel movement I was diagnosed with IBS.

I had been given very wrong perceptions of IBS, as I had been told that usually only elderly had IBS and it was unusual for people in their twenties to have IBS (I live in a rural community with fairly poor medical care). I started immediately looking on-line for any information possible. Finally I went to a gastroenterologist that tried to fully explain what is going on.

I am a program manager for a non-profit company that restores habitat for fish, which is a very exhausting and stressful position. This along with five months of pain and not knowing what was wrong has been physically and mentally exhausting.

Currently they have put me on Donnatal (an anti-spasmatic) and Amitriptyline (an anti-depressant that they say works better to turn off my pain receptors). Has anyone ever been on either of these medicines?

I am a little concerned about the anti-depressant due to the fact that how will I be able to tell if there is anything new going on if my pain receptors are off. I have asked this to the doctors and they have reassured me that this will not be an issue. As a matter of fact they want me to be on these consistently for the next month.

Is this normal, does every one control the pain first by medicine then work on the diet? What has been the coarse of action for others? My doctor is suggesting controlling the pain by medicine first then working on the diet. What has been your experience?

I already know that dairy and coffee are trigger foods for me (as a matter of fact I have had issues with both for a number of years) so I am attempting to eliminate them. I am curious if in dairy it is just lactose that is the issue or dairy as a whole? Has lactose free dairy products worked for anyone? Is it better just to have soy substitutions? What about Almond milk? I know that Almonds are high in fat (which is a suggested trigger category). Does Almond milk work for some people?

The doctors have also suggested that IBS may make it harder for me to have kids. My husband am I do want children in the future, this came as quite a shocker to us both. I do not quite understand how IBS could make getting pregnant harder. I could believe that it might make a pregnancy harder but how does it make getting pregnant more difficult?

I am having a difficult time wrapping my head around everything that the doctors are telling me. Is all of this generalities? or worst case scenario?

Thank you for all of your advice, It is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Concerned Patient

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