Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | I survived my bachelorette party!

Yay! Where there's a will, there's a way! I'm so happy I decided to go ahead and do something. Even though I've been stable for years on Heather's plan, I was really afraid that the added stress from planning (and having to attend) yet another wedding-related event might send me over the edge. However, I was even more afraid that I would really regret it later on down the line if I let my IBS control my world and prevent me from experiencing one of life's milestones.

So, while my fiance was having his bachelor party in Vegas, I planned a nice little slumber party with a handful of women I feel safe and comfortable around. I did start to feel an attack coming on about an hour before when preparations were getting really frantic and it was getting closer to the time people would start arriving. Luckily, one of my close friends showed up, first, and she just happens to be a doctor, so she directed me to the Citrucel and made me some soup rice and calmed me down a bunch and I ended up being just fine. I'd also forgotten how brutal the staying-up-all-night thing was and had to do some serious maintenance once everyone left around noon, but it was definitely worth it!

Since I'm a lawyer by day and grad student by night, I needed food that would hold up for a long time and require little to no preparation. I also wanted everything to be stuff I could have so I wouldn't feel deprived and/or left out, etc. So, here's what I served:

- big bowls packed with slices of sourdough and french bread

- tiny bowls filled with peanut butter (the kind you grind yourself at the HFS that doesn't have anything but peanuts in it) and that better 'n peanut butter stuff (a great big thanks goes out to whoever it was that posted that timely bit of wonderful information)

- tiny bowls filled with assorted jellies that are safe for me

- pizza party snack mix (this worked well b/c I had lots of leftover cereal for breakfasts in the morning)

- soy crisps (BBQ)

- crostini (I sliced two french baguettes diagonally and stuck under the broiler for a couple minutes) with hummus (the only store bought one that I've found to always be safe for me is Athenos black olive)

- baked Lay's potato chips

- Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream

- baked Tostito's with Pace mild picante sauce (not the thick and chunky kind!)

- cheeses that I cut into cubes which were a HUGE hit (Galaxy rice, Lisanatti almond jalapeno jack, Senora Lupe chipotle soy)

- Skinny natural corn chips (this is a new fave find!)

- fat-free saltines

- low-fat graham crackers (Safeway brand)

- at midnight we had fruit with melted Moonstruck dark chocolate bars (whipped with a little lite tofu)

- way after midnight someone busted out the Amy's soy cheese pizzas, but I didn't have any of that

- Metromint waters

- Lots of peppermint Honest Tea

- people brought beer and wine since I sent the word that I don't drink it and didn't have any clue what to buy

I also bought the new Kettle baked potato chips, but they never actually made it out. I'm still looking forward to trying them. Sarah Lee plain and Thomas plain bagels with Rice (Galaxy?) cream cheese and Rice butter ended up being the most popular breakfast option, even though I had oatmeal and cream of rice ready to go.

Anyway, I'm feeling much less anxious about the wedding (25 days!) since I was able to make it through a whole night of commotion. If anyone has any advice for how they got through the actual day, I'd sure love to hear it. Way back before I was stable, I was IBS-D, so I guess that's still my predominance. I can't plan on relying on taking Immodium or anything like that to head off an attack b/c I had a serious addiction to Pepto Bismol pills that took me a long time to kick and I don't want to even think about going down that road again. Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps with someone's next party/wedding planning!

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