Work, Diet, and IBS
#151570 - 02/18/05 08:41 AM
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lalala
Reged: 02/14/05
Posts: 2634
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I was wondering how you all manage IBS and working. What do you take for lunch? Do you find you have to work PT? What do you do if you experience an attack at work? Do your coworkers know, are they supportive?
I just feel very anxious eating at work. I try to eat something light, but if you have any ideas on a good lunch to pack, please share. Right now, I'm only working part-time, which has made life easier. I've been stable on this diet (yay!) for a while, but I still get nervous. When I'm not doing so well, I'm afraid I won't be able to continue working and I just feel useless! 
Thanks so much for any suggestions.
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Check out the
Snacks, Quick Foods, and Good Grub to Grab in a Hurry list
for ideas. I always used to take something like sandwiches of tuna with light mayo an avocado and other snacks, plus my own tea bags and soy milk.
I found Immodium a Godsend for work.
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That's great that you're stable on this diet! Lunch at work definitely takes some planning, though.
I usually take a Thai Kitchen Noodle Bowl - it just needs hot water to prepair. Amy's brand has some safe frozen foods that are nuke-able. Also recipes like the asparagus-limon pasta gives me tons of leftovers that I take the rest of that week.
And don't forget the "snacks" so you can eat a little bit all day long. I like banannas, applesauce in indiviual containers, graham crackers, Luna bars, and a few slices of the fruit bread, if I've gotten around to making it the weekend before.
Hope this helps give you some ideas!
--Myra
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IBS-D
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Work is definietly the worst time for me. I'm an accountant so I sit all day & that's what seems to kill me. I'm fine if I eat & then walk around or do something but when I eat & then sit....the gas builds up & although I was fine in the morning, by 2 or 3 I can't wait to get home & put on my comfy sweats! In answer to your question, this week has been great for me. I think I may have hit upon a system for myself. I'm IBS-C & here's what I do.
Wake up at 5:30am & walk 3 miles on the treadmill. (exercise is really important). While I walk I drink about 20 oz of water. Then it's a smoothie of soy milk, frozen bananas & 7.5 grams of SFS. When I get to work I fill a 16oz bottle with water & 1/2 teaspoon of aciaca. By 10:30 I munch on oriental rice snack mix that I get from the HFS. I eat lunch at 1:00 & start off by having about a cup of white rice then some plain turkey or MSF imitation chicken (trying to go more veggie). In the afternoon I'll snack on some applesauce or raw carrots.
The bottom line is that I don't eat too much at one sitting & always have safe foods in my drawer or the kitchen. Eating small meals through out the day REALLY seems to help. That & taking my sfs during the day & not just in the am. Oh, I don't forget the water. I drink lots of that that all day.
Well, this was probably more than you wanted to know but I hope some of it helped.
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..is the worst ever! I know exactly how you feel! I really want to work part time, as I get quite stressed at work - but can't afford to. Where I am at the moment, they are kind of sympathetic to it, but no one truly understands what us IBS people go through!
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Thanks for your tips! I forgot to mention I'm IBS-D, but what you suggested would work for me. I do the applesauce or raw carrots thing too. But I'm going to try to eat smaller meals during my breaks so I don't overdo it at lunch. Thanks again! 
--Maria
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...aren't a great snack for IBD-Ders. They need to be cooked to minimise the IF.
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I've read the Snacks, Quick Foods, and Good Grub list before -- I'm munching on some Crispix right now -- but I was looking for something more...substantial, I guess. But the tuna sandwich with avocado you suggested sounds delicious! Thanks for your help!
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Well, that would explain the discomfort I experience after eating a handful of baby carrots.
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Hi Maria; when I get called in as a Substitute teacher I use 1/2 immodium for a precaution. For safe foods I will eat peanut butter and jam sandwiches ,bananas, apple sauce and homemade banana bread; and also drink cammomile tea and lots of water. This will get me through any day actually. Pb and J is my most safe food. hope this helps. take care Sue
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I hope you'll be able to work part time in the near future! It's made a big difference in my life; I'm poor, but I can manage the IBS better because I have time to prepare my meals and relax. Also, I live with my boyfriend, so splitting the rent and other bills makes it easier to work pt.
Do you have any ways to alleviate stress while at work? I work at a public library, which most people would think is a relaxing, quiet job, but it can get very crazy because you deal with so many people or you spend the day checking in thousands of materials! I like my job and I'm lucky to have it, so it's distressing if I have to miss work because of IBS. Also, it's a 50-minute commute for me. I find doing logic puzzles during breaks/lunch helps me relax and focus on something other than my IBS. 
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I have a boyfriend, but we are just starting out, so won't be moving in together, who knows in the future eh! I would like to share some things (esp my gas!!) oops, only joking! At the moment I am working my months' notice at work, I have a new job, which is actually longer hours!! DOH, so still a bit undecided and really just want to jack it all in and do something else completely - like work for myself! So its a bit stressful right now. I do a hypnotherapy CD and am going to get Cyndi Lee's Yoga CD Box soon too. So, fingers crossed eh!!
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Wow, you're a substitute teacher! I bet that can be stressful. I was an ESL assistant/interpreter at a high school for a few years and I was amazed by all the work teachers do and how versatile the subs were. What subject do you teach?
Thanks for the tips! Using Immodium as a preventive would probably help me feel better/confident on those days I think something might happen. I've been enjoying almond butter on toast for breakfast and I'd recommend it. Good ol' PB&J sandwiches -- I haven't had it in such a long time. Do you put it on your banana bread or just on regular white bread? Seedless jelly?
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The IBS diet is great. Since I've been on it, I feel better and healthier. I'm going to do my best to stay with it; when I start feeling better or am stable, I get brave (silly) and I'll eat something I shouldn't. And then I pay for it!
I've read a lot of positive reviews on these boards about Luna bars. They sound goooood. I'm going to have to try some.
Thanks for the help!
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I sub in all classes from Junior Kindergarten to gr. 8's. I prefer the lower grades to the higher ones, so I teach different subjects. I also sub as a Teachers Assistant as well; which involves working with different students through out the day. I love doing this. I do have a job. It is crossing guard for this school. I work in the am for 45 mins. (this is the toughest hour because mornings is when I usually go about 5 times to have a bm).An hour at lunch (some kids go home) and then 40 mins after school. I don't normally take immodium when I do my job ONLY if I have too!! If I know there is no way in h--- that I can make it to the bathroom I call in my sub  and stay home. There has only been about 3 close calls that I didn't make to the bathroom. I have been doing this job now for 9 yrs. Not bad huh?
Anyways my body(IBS) is getting better every year.Going on 12 yrs now. About eating PB/J, only on white bread,sometimes on banana bread and sometimes on crackers. Everyonce in awhile I will give whole wheat bread a try, and no go...end up with gas and cramps. So back to the white.. hope this hasn't been too long. Any more questions and I will try and help. Take care Sue
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Hi.
I work full time as a policy analyst for a Congressional Commission in Washington, DC. The job is often VERY stressful and my average work week is 50 - 60 hours. The keys to getting through my day - I drink peppermint tea and water all day long, constantly. I also hardly ever eat out for lunch. Not only would there be problems with cafeteria greese and all the other stuff we find when eating out, it's just too damn expensive in this city. Almost every day I eat leftovers that I've brought from home and nuke in the microwave. I cook every night and both hubby and I pack our lunch (me every day, him about half) so my leftovers are generally dinner from the night before - that might be harder though for women with families since more food is consumed - cooking for 2 generally leaves more leftovers. I also bring snacks that I know are safe and I keep them in my cardenza cabinet. I have individual apple sauce, rice crispee treats, hunny nut cherios, dry mangos and dry papaya. Sometimes if I'm feeling particularly crampy, I'll just munch lightly on the snacks through the day and skip a bigger meal till I'm home. I also eat instant oatmeal every morning at work for breakfast (yummy - comfort food). It also helps LOTS that I am almost always within easy access to a bathroom. When I'm writing reports or working on other research stuff, I can leave my desk whenever I want and the bathroom's right around the corner. On days I have big meetings, if I'm worried about my access to the bathroom, I do often pop an immodium in the morning and that helps.
Good luck to you with this and hope my hints are helpful.
Min
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My chronic C started when I went from working PT at a job where I stood the whole 4 hours to when I began working FT at a sit down desk job for 8 1/2 hours a day! UGH  I regret this decision quite often, and mostly after a long streak of no BM days.
I may start looking for a new job partly because of this reason. I know it's crazy, but it's like any other condition I guess. Wouldn't expect a deaf person to be a receptionist.  Although jobs are very hard to find now a days.
so until then, does anyone have any suggestions on stretches or ways to deal with the uncomfortableness and problem of sitting at a desk all day?
It is frowned upon to leave and just wander around. And I only get 30 minutes for lunch, so no time to go out and walk even. Barely time to eat, and once again, that is done sitting at a table.
Thanks
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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That was the PT job I was referring to in my other post! The job where I was on my feet all day. Boy do I regret leaving that job for this FT desk job.
And yes, people used to comment to me all the time how lucky I was to have such an easy job where I could read all day. Right. If they only knew how stressful that job gets at the circulation desk! Especially when someone walk up with over 30 books to check out.
But I'd go back in a heartbeat and I am currently looking for another library job, PT like the job I just left! Better for my IBS!
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Right. When I first started the diet I thought carrots were SF since they were on the list, but they have a lot of IF too and need to be cooked to be considered SF. Fortunately I seem to do fine with them but I still prefer to cook them to play it safe. Sometimes in summer I eat them raw if I am feeling really good. But it is something newbies need to be told- like I did!
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IBS-A for 20 years with terrible bloating and gas. On the diet since April 2004. Remember this from Heather's information pages:
"You absolutely must eat insoluble fiber foods, and as much as safely possible, but within the IBS dietary guidelines. Treat insoluble fiber foods with suitable caution, and you'll be able to enjoy a wide variety of them, in very healthy quantities, without problem." Please eat IF foods!
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