What do you do after making bad decisions??
#235962 - 01/05/06 10:30 AM
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Alli
Reged: 04/23/05
Posts: 195
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I have recently made a few very bad decisions. I did not eat any trigger foods or anything. I just ate too much of a processed food item. Way too much. I don't think I have ever been more bloated then now. I think I was trying to move my bowels by getting D or something, but it didn't work, apparantly. I'm very uncomfortable, so what should I do?? I kept eating them for all day yesterday, and felt horrible.
-Do I go to the BTC diet?? Or start over?
-If so, would this be counted as an entirely new attempt to become stable? For instance, if I were to have a goal to stay on the diet for six months, and see if I'm stable, would I only be able to count over again now?
-Suggestions would be extremely helpful.
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Short answer: I hope for the best and stop eating triggers.
More details: I hope for the best, stick around the house if I think the repercussions will be truly awful, eat especially safe for a day or two (BTC plus other stuff that are Snorkie-safe like green beans). If I'm gassy, I drink fennel tea. If I am away from home, I will take a Levsin besides making sure I have some sort of soluble fiber available. It depends on the situation, really.
My purse is also the tummy trouble depot. I carry Fibercon, Pepto Bismal tablets, Levsin, Phayzyme, and Lactaid. The Lactaid is for the those ocassions when the call of pizza must be obeyed, but only if I'm stable.
Hope this helps some. 
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We all do it, Alli, we all give in to the temptation for that fabulous salad bar with fresh broccoli and rich Honey Dijon dressing, only to have The Bomb hit in the car on the way home! Oy.
My "medicine cabinet" in my purse is filled with the same things as Snorkie's. I stay in, take my Donnatal and Imodium and/or Gas-X, Equalactin, and heating pad on the tummy, curl up in my recliner with my knitting, and pray that I will have better sense not to do it again.
I hope one day my prayers will be answered....!
Meanwhile, I'd go easy on the IF, and maybe try a little oatmeal, mangoes, papaya, or banana, and lots of Tummy Mint tea.
As for your goal to "stay on the diet for 6 months", I think of it more as a way of eating permanently, with some variations. But I wouldn't focus on that right now; just concentrate on feeling better, and above all, not being too hard on yourself.
Bevvy
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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...but I would count from today if you want to only give it 6 months.
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Yeah, we all do it sooner or later: eat something we shouldn't. When I do it, I don't go all the way back to BTC, but pretty close... go back to what's safest for you personally for a few days. I do BTC plus chicken breast, spinach, and carrots, because those are all very safe foods for me.
I would count this as a new attempt to become stable. However, I *really* think you should give the diet more than 6 months to work. First of all, as Bevrs pointed out, it's not a temporary fix - it's a permanent lifestyle change to manage your symptoms. Second, it really might take you more than 6 months to stabilize. It took me more like... um... 14 months, maybe 15.
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Oh okay. Well, it's disappointing to now know that I must start over. But I did NOT eat any trigger foods! I just ate way too much at once. I think I lost it there for a while. And it's no use telling me not to beat myself up about it, because I personally find that it is impossible.
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This is something that's popped up in some recent posts - give it 6 months, a year, 2 years. The longer time frames really surprise me because I can't imagine sticking with any eating plan for more than, say, 6 months if I wasn't seeing some benefit from it. So when you say it took you 14 or 15 months to get stable, did you feel better sooner than that? Not all the way, but just seeing some improvement? (I'm kind of assuming you must have in order to stick with it, but I wanted to be sure.)
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I'm doing it now - lots of soluble fiber with some safe protein, very little IF for several days, very low fat, lots and lots of water, herbal tea - plus Imodium and Donnatol if things are particularly bad.
I guess I never thought in terms of how long I would give myself to become stable - I thought in terms of seeing improvement, so as long as I was getting better, I was fine. I would only have given up on the diet if I hadn't seen any progress at all after some period of time.
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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Hi Snorkie, She says she wasn't eating any triggers. There
are three important questions, that haven't been asked.1)
Alli, what exactly did you eat?, 2)Exactly how much did you
eat of it?, and 3) Why did you think it would make you D?
-Bob
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<img src="http://www.math.mtu.edu/~rwkolkka/BritPicA.jpg">
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Hi Bob!
Okay, so I stop eating anything I *think* might be a trigger.
As it is, I think I may also have an attack brewing. BAH!
I am following my own advice.
This would be after about a month of bad decisions. Either that, or it's only the coleslaw I ate Monday night that doesn't usually bother me. At any rate, for the last 3 days, I've gotten gassier and gassier. Stinky, no pain, but also not any really good BMs since Monday or Tuesday morning. The thing is, I don't recall being this gassy for this long for a looong time. I wish my body would make up its mind and either make the gas go away or just get the attack over with. 
Meanwhile, I'll continue sipping my fennel tea and hoping for the best whilst I contemplate a Levsin before bed. 
Edited by Snorkie (01/05/06 06:50 PM)
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I ate no trigger foods at christmas but being fairly new to this whole thing I didn't fully realise what would happen when on xmas day I ate one huge meal! 3 days on the toilet and I'm not right now! It's a nightmare... I can hardly get any insoluble fibre in my diet either which is a problem too! Dietician wednesday... I shall grill her to death about this cuz it's really hard! Really don't beat yourself up tho... I have finally decided that I can do this gracefully or kick up all the way and feel depressed! one thing is for sure - I gotta do it cuz I'm just not 'normal'! Sad but true! Hope you feel better soon. Sorry I can't offer advice, only sympathy!
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Really?
#236451 - 01/07/06 08:38 AM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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did I know this? For some reason I thought it worked for you sooner.
What do you think of Sand's question?
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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I had an attack about 4a.m this morning. I ate about 5-6 Ritz crackers. I didn't think they would bother me, but was I wrong. I get stable pretty quick compared to a lot of people. I only have a few days to get my self stable or I can't work. My cramps get so bad I feel close to passing out.
This is what I do. Banana in morning, Sour dough bread with smart balance spread for lunch, and noodles with spaghetti sauce, or olive oil for dinner. I take Benefiber 2 times a day, a Bentyl 3 times a day, and Immodium when needed.
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Hey Lannie!
Ritz crackers gave me a HORRIBLE D ATTACK back in September. Won't make that same mistake twice!!! I only had eaten about 2-3 and thought I would be okay, too. I guess both of us were WRONG!!!
Feel Better Soon!!
Michelle
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IBS-D. Hiatal Hernia, GERD
Unstable
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Yes, it did take me 14 or 15 months to get to what I would call "stable", but I DID see some improvement along the way. I will say that the first 3 or 4 months passed with no improvement whatsoever, but I stuck with it because I know, from past experiences in having to adjust my diet for specific health problems, that these things take time.
I have never thought of this as an "eating plan". It's a lifestyle change. As in, this is the way I will be eating for the rest of my life. Anyone who ISN'T thinking that way is in denial... and setting themselves up for relapses in the future. But if you think of it as a lifelong project, giving it 6 months, a year, or even 2 years isn't unreasonable.
I will also say that if you're ONLY changing your diet, you're not giving your body a fair shot at healing itself. You have to be in this for the complete lifestyle change. You have to change your diet with no cheats. You have to learn to manage stress and anxiety, by whatever means (therapy, medication, hypnosis). You have to exercise and drink a lot of water, get plenty of sleep, quit smoking/drinking/drugs. You have to at least try the recommended supplements, herbs, and minerals that Heather suggests. If you're not doing all of this, you're not giving it a fair try, because you're not eliminating a lot of trigger factors beyond food.
Off my soapbox now, haha. 
And as far as how I define "stable", by the way: I still have attacks and "bad days", but they are - thankfully - only maybe once a month, and not nearly as bad as they used to be. I will NEVER be completely symptom-free, and I'm fully accepting of that... which was a HUGE step in my recovery/stabilization process.
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you were probably ignoring me. That's alright, I see how it is. 
Like I said in my reply to Sand, the first 3 or 4 months, I hardly saw any improvement at all, IF any at all. Once I started managing my anxiety, I was able to expand my diet a little bit, and then I could really start to follow the diet, and I started to improve... slowly.
I registered here on the boards June 2004. I actually started the diet about a month before then. (Yes, I was a lurker, hehe.) I didn't consider myself "stable" until this past August or so... and considered myself stable THEN because my attacks dropped down to once a month, usually hormone-related. I will NEVER be completely attack- and symptom-free. So anyway, yes, that happened 15 months after I started the diet.
Ya know what, though - and I didn't mention this in my reply to Sand - I would have stuck with the diet and lifestyle changes even if my IBS symptoms didn't improve, because it's generally a HEALTHY way to live, and the kind of diet that EVERYONE should be following, IBS or not. But that's just me.
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Think of it this way....6 months or 2 years of trying to stabilise by following the diet is NOTHING to 50 years of pain and disruption from unstable IBS.
My IBS stability is now in MY hands and that makes such a big difference.
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I actually like it when you get up on your soapbox - you're clear, succinct, and direct. And you always make a lot of sense.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I just needed a reminder! Honestly, I can't keep straight who got better when! Fast, slowly....thanks for you "soap box" lecture. I love them! You are a smart cookie! 
And I think this post will be a good inspiration to others who continue to struggle. Hope for the future???
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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I sure hope so, anyway! I really don't think you're ignoring me! I know that it's hard to keep track of who says what and when. LOL
I don't know about being a smart cookie, but I guess when you've been sick as long as I have, you do learn a thing or two. I hope this post helps people... you just gotta hang in there, and I'd say there's ALWAYS hope for the future.
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Yep
#238119 - 01/12/06 06:46 PM
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Augie
Reged: 10/27/04
Posts: 5807
Loc: Illinois
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I knew my buddy was teasing me!
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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So,even if you follow the diet excactly and don't cheat attacks will still happen no matter what? I was doing great for about 5mo. and boom-out of tha blue I had an attack--not sure why.
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I don't know (m)
#240541 - 01/22/06 08:43 AM
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Sand
Reged: 12/13/04
Posts: 4490
Loc: West Orange, NJ (IBS-D)
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As long as I followed Heather's diet and took enough SFS, I did fine. Stress would occasionally de-stabilize my system, but never so much that either Imodium or Donnatol wouldn't calm it down. Pre-Heather, drugs had no effect on my attacks.
On the other hand, I know there are people on here who have been stable longer than I who do still have attacks from time to time. I really don't know if they come out of the blue or if they're always traceable back to something: illness, meds, stress, season, inadvertent trigger consumption. I'd prefer to think the latter, obviously. 
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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...outside of foods that are harder to control, eg. illness, tiredness, stress, weather, etc.
But I'm like Sand, even if I do have an attack now, it's ALOT easier to get under control than my old pre-stable attacks.
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