Do you still avoid some places
#249360 - 03/01/06 08:51 AM
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franny
Reged: 05/16/05
Posts: 508
Loc: N. FL
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I was just reading the post about commuting and bathrooms. It made me think about the places I still avoid because there are no restrooms. I stopped using a certain bank because they refused to let me use the restroom, our postoffice has no restroom for the public, and the Malls are still not anywhere I want to go. Last year we traveled up North and Maryland (where I grew up) seemed to be the worst for not allowing public use of bathrooms. That was pre-Heather so it was a really miserable trip for me since we were in MD for a week. Even the McD's had locked ones that you had to stand in line and ask for a key.....AWFUL.....agoraphobia took over my life before Heather's site. My life has improved so much since I began Heather's diet and the CD's but there are still a few places that I avoid. How about you guys, any avoidance issues still going on?
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Franny
IBS/D
Celiac
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Yes -- And No
#249368 - 03/01/06 09:22 AM
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Bevvy
Reged: 11/04/03
Posts: 5918
Loc: Northwest Washington State
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Well, Franny, I used to avoid ANY and ALL places! Now that I'm stable and on Weight Watchers, and eating a LOT less, I don't have to "go" nearly as much (I've dropped from 5 times every morning to only 1, sometimes 2). That's helped a LOT with the public-bathroom-searching. I can jump in the car and drive into town without fear. Lately I've even been able to shop in other towns south of us off the Interstate, without any problems -- a terrific success for me!
However, I haven't been on a trip like you took to MD in over 4 years. As stable as I am, I don't think I could do it. I'd have to invest in a port-a-potti and a van to keep it in!
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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people are weird about their restrooms, where i live, about anywhere i go, they will allow it, but if you go into the city like san fransisco, or the bigger cities, everyone says no! but i've gone places where i've been like "i'm soooo sorry, but i really need to use the restroom...could i please??" with ususally a look of desperation...becuase ususally it's desperate...and they'll allow me, even if they say no public restrooms. being pregnant i get away with it more too...becuase well...there is a baby on my bladder...but if i do get d...and my look of panic ususally gets me to the toilet!! everyone has had to rush somewhere to a restroom, so generally people are nice about it!!
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I recall my MIL telling me (a hundred years ago, before they had "official" bathrooms at Safeway) that she had to "go" once, and she was absolutely desperate. She went up to a clerk and said, very FORCEFULLY, with a look of fright in her eyes, "Take me to your bathroom -- RIGHT NOW! " Even though the toilet (it wasn't even a bathroom) was for employees only, the clerk didn't hesitate a second!
Good point, Lyndsey.
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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Why malls?
#249424 - 03/01/06 11:00 AM
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Sand
Reged: 12/13/04
Posts: 4490
Loc: West Orange, NJ (IBS-D)
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Quote:
the Malls are still not anywhere I want to go.
I've seen a few other people say they avoid malls. I love them - once you get there, they have restrooms all over the place - department stores, restaurants, mall restrooms themselves. Are everybody else's malls different somehow?
Quote:
Even the McD's had locked ones that you had to stand in line and ask for a key
Oh, man, that stinks. I went to a service station once that did not have a public restroom. The people who worked there told me that their manager would fire them if they let me use the employee one. I couldn't believe it. This was at the beginning of one of the worst attacks I'd ever had and we were 500 miles from home. Luckily the tire and oil change place across the street had one. I used it, no questions asked.
One good thing did come out of that nightmare. I got super-serious about getting my IBS under control and found this Website.
Places I avoid now have mostly to do with being "stuck" so it's primarily avoiding travel situations where I have no control over getting where I need to be and there are no bathrooms: subways, buses, and driving when I'm likely to run into a traffic jam. Banks used to be off limits for me, too, but I've re-introduced them. And I love the fact that our public library stopped locking the restroom doors. It's the little things in life.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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About my Mall problems...
(I've seen a few other people say they avoid malls. I love them - once you get there, they have restrooms all over the place - department stores, restaurants, mall restrooms themselves. Are everybody else's malls different somehow?)
When my IBS was raging I would get in the middle of a mall and the closest bathroom would be on the second floor, back corner of the biggest department store at the farthest end of the mall..Add to my D a panic attack, stress induced asthma attack and that ended my mall tours years ago. All the fancy little shops only have employee restrooms around our mall. That was years ago and maybe that's changed but now my husband knows how much money he has saved by my avoidance of the malls.. 
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Franny
IBS/D
Celiac
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I do
#249969 - 03/04/06 08:59 AM
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Nelly
Reged: 08/06/04
Posts: 4381
Loc: Within stray mortar fire of DC
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I'm in MD, and you're right, the availability of public restroom stiuation is BAD. If you're like me, you have your whole area mapped out. 
Large stores are usually a better bet here than small retail, food outlets or banks. There's usually a Kinko's, Bed Bath and Beyond, or Office Depot I can zip into to use their toilet. Parking is a problem, though. Too bad they can't just give us handicapped permits to use in the case of an emergency.
Speaking of handicapped permits, are they going to have half the lot reserved in 20 years, when the aging baby boomers who drive have handicapped plates? It's really going to change the parking lot landscape, I think.
~nelly~
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I still avoid Chinese restaurants. I had one of my top 2 "all-time best attacks" /HEAVY sarcasm/ the last time I ate at one (November of 2004). It was before I knew I had IBS, but I still have to wonder if there was also some food poisoning involved. It was awful.
I can make stir fry at home and I don't avoid other Asian restaurants, but Chinese is no longer on the dining-out list.
As for finding bathrooms...or just some place to "go" in extreme cases...I seem to have radar for that most times.
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Must be the MSG!!
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*Janice*
"Where there is love there is life."
-Mahatma Gandhi
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Nope, I don't think it was the MSG. Or at least, not just the MSG. I think it was a little something not right AND beef and brocolli on a really empty stomach. Anyway, it was not pretty.
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I hate those places that are pseudo-restaurants but don't have restrooms - jamba juice-style places. Doesn't health code require all restaurants with any seating to have restrooms? Oh, and Starbucks - you have to wait in line for a key at my local one.
Oh, and I avoid those bars that have the "bladder busting" nights. You know - where drinks are a $1 until the first person goes to the bathroom. Can you imagine having a whole bar full of people mad at you? No pressure there, lol.
Whatever happened to that female politician in Wisconsin or someplace who was trying to make it law that every public place had restrooms?
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