New to IBS looking for some help
#264187 - 05/18/06 02:59 PM
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I'm a 21 year old male. I was diagnosed with IBS about 2 months ago. My symptoms consist of diarrhea and abdominal pain. Can anyone recommend certain medicines or diets to try.
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Heather's diet is fantastic. Her book, Eating for IBS, has all the diet guidelines and which food are triggers. She goes over soluble and insoluble fiber. For starters, add fiber (acacia is great), get lots of water and eliminate triggers (dairy, red meat, caffeine, high fat, alcohol). Check your local health food stores for soy/rice/tofu/almond alternatives to meats and dairy products. Base your meals on potato, rice, pasta, and breads. Hot herbal teas are great. Meds have never worked for me. But some people find some of them to be helpful. Try yoga, hypnotherapy, tai chi, jogging. Hypnotherapy has a very high success rate and Michael Mahoney's program is available in Heather's store. Browse throught he recipe section and look for foods you like. If you want to know how to make foods you like IBS safe, ask us. People are very helpful and supportive here. Make sure you read through the new member link at the top of the page. Welcome to IBS world.
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If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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Welcome to the Boards. This is a support Board for people following the Eating For IBS (EFI) approach to IBS, so most of the advice you get here will be based on those principles. I'm IBS-D (IBS with diarrhea as my predominant symptom) and this approach has worked wonders for me. I hope it does the same for you.
Here's a link to a post I did recently. This post and the hyperlinks it contains will get you to the basic reading you need to do to understand the EFI approach (and all the acronyms!). My post was written for someone who is IBS-C (IBS with constipation as the predominant symptom), but the basic EFI approach is the same for all forms of IBS. The only advice change I'd make for you is that as an IBS-D, you will probably want to be more cautious about IF (Insoluble Fiber) when you're first starting out. You do need IF, though, so don't avoid it for too long.
More specifically, I suggest the following:
You need to be sure you've been accurately diagnosed. Part of the reading I direct you to has a list of conditions that must be eliminated and tests that must be done before an IBS diagnosis can be made.
If you're really miserable, consider following the Break The Cycle Diet for 2-3 days. This will calm down your gut. You can then start adding safe foods back in.
Imodium can be very helpful. You can do a Search to see what others have said about using it. Search on the Diet Board with no time limit. You'll probably need to do two searches: look for it spelled Imodium and then again spelled Immodium.
Some people have good luck with anti-spasmodics. You can do a Search for those also to see what others have said. I'd suggest searching just for spasmod to avoid any spelling or hyphenation differences. I have a prescription for Donnatol - an anti-spasmodic and phenobarbitol mix - and find it helpful. My experience with Donnatol and with Imodium, though, was that unless I follow the EFI guidelines, the drugs don't do much to help.
A huge help for me has been adding an SFS (Soluble Fiber Supplement). I use Acacia because it's been the easiest on my tummy, but preferences in SFSs vary widely. Because you're IBS-D, I would strongly suggest you avoid any that contain IF and stick with those that are pure SF (Soluble Fiber). (SFS FAQ)
I hope this helps. If you have any questions, just ask.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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