Need HELP
#297401 - 01/20/07 09:24 AM
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I'm sorry to moan but I am really having a bad time at the moment and am desperate for any advice/support/help anyone can offer me.
I don't really know where to start...
I am so awfully bloated (although I never seem to pass wind) and haven't had a BM in almost a week. It isn't actually a long time for me considering - before I knew about the EFI diet it wouldn't be unusual to not have a BM for 2-3 weeks so I am used to the feeling. But now I am really determined to sort this because I hate being so tired all the time and never having an appetite.
I just don't know what I am doing wrong. When I first started the EFI diet, I ate only the foods from the SF list to try and stabalize my tummy and also cut out cow's milk (mainly use rice milk now). I have also been taking 1/2 teaspoon acacia daily for just over a week and am looking to increase the dosage. I felt great for a few days and had a fantastically flat tummy (something very rare) but I didn't have a BM. I started to introduce IF foods a couple of days ago in the form of banana bread, raisins in my porridge, mixed nuts sprinkled on oat cereal, and also tried blueberry porridge recipe (very yummy!) but nothing has helped me "go". I diced up some onion into a can of tuna and had it with pasta the night before last and the results were horrific...heartburn, burping and that thing when you kind of vomit in your throat...nasty. No BM. Last night I tied some mashed banana and raisins on wheat free toast followed by some prunes. No BM as yet today so for lunch I tried more prunes with banana and soy yoghurt with crushed up oat and ginger biscuits on top. I am just at a loss to know what IF to introduce next. I have been close to tears all day, I am really an emotional wreck 
I don't take any form of laxatives at the moment because I got quite addicted to them in the past and I feel that they have just made my bowels lazy and therefore my IBS worse. I am hesitant to start taking them again in case the same thing happens.
Can anyone offer any advice about what IF might work to help make me go? I know it's an individual thing and what some of you have might not work for me, but I would appreciate knowing what helps for you and I am really anxious about introducing new IF foods for fear of what will happen.
Also, I am going to ask my doctor about some anti-anxiety meds...any good ones you can recommend?
Thank you.
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Re: Need HELP
#297406 - 01/20/07 10:42 AM
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ECM
Reged: 08/23/06
Posts: 132
Loc: Jasper, GA
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Hi jennifer,
I'm sorry you are so miserable. I am IBS-C and understand your pain. I too became dependant on laxatives. I have been on the EFI diet since August'06 and it has taken me this time to see real results as far as the C.
You need to introduce more IF veggies one at a time into your diet very slowly making sure they are well cooked, and only small portions. There are no overnight "cures" for constipation. Seems it takes longer to "stabilize" than for people who are D.
I still have problems with gas buildup, but my pain has gone from an 8 on a scale of 1-10 everyday to between a 2-5 depending on the events in my life and the stress levels I am having. I tend to hold every thing inside of me.
I am religious in ingesting a tablespoon of ground flaxseed every day either sprinkled on my food or in a fruit smoothie. I eat lots of fruit & IF veggies buffering it with Acacia and SF veggies.
Be patient, ask questions, read the information contained outside the message boards. Learn stress management, and invest in the Hypno therapy tapes. I will be starting my second round in February.
Snookie, IBS-C
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Snookie, IBS-C
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Thank you for your advice ECM. The most comforting thing I have learnt so far from this website is that I am not alone. For such a long time I felt like I was abnormal and that it was "all in my head".
Fortunately, I do not suffer a lot of pain from the bloating apart from when it gets really severe I get cramps at night and painful lumps in my lower abdomen which keep me awake.
I have bought some ground flaxseed which remains unopened at home at the moment ( I have been at my sister's house since Wednesday) but I will start using it when I get back. I did try something called linseed (is this the same?) a while ago. I sprinkled it over my porridge for a couple of days and I got D almost straight away so I stopped using it. I am also worried that I do not drink enough water so am fearful to increase my acacia dose in case I make things worse. I find drinking a real chore and it seems to make me even more bloated.
What fruits/veg do you eat the most? I used to eat so many fruits and veg but I have really cut back and just live on bananas at the moment. I worry that my body isn't getting enough nutrients because I have limited what I am eating, although I do take a daily vitamin and mineral supplement.
I am also confused about milk. I have cut out all dairy from my diet and now mainly use rice milk or soy milk. However, I have heard rice milk can be constipating and soy milk can cause gas?? Can I ask what you use, if anything? I have yet to try almond milk and oat milk but I have bought both.
I also suffer with stress and tend to "bottle things up". I believe a stress over-load is what caused my IBS symptoms to flare up initially. I recently ended a 3 1/2 year relationship which has been a bit traumatic so maybe I need to recover from that firstly before I can hope for my stomach to settle.
Good luck with the Hypno tapes. If I have no success with the diet, I may try them. I do yoga regularly at the gym and at home which does help an awful lot to clear my mind.
Thank you.
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Re: Need HELP
#297409 - 01/20/07 12:09 PM
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ECM
Reged: 08/23/06
Posts: 132
Loc: Jasper, GA
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I have never tried linseed, so I can't comment on it. As far as the fruit/veg - I eat everything. I just make sure that the veggies are well cooked.I love bananas, but they tend to constipate me, so I only put them in my smoothie along with other fruits The meats I eat are either chicken or fish, nothing else. I do not use dairy products. I use almond milk when I make a smoothie. Soy gave me too much gas.
Again, it took me 6 months to get to the point I am at. I introduced IF back into my diet very slowly after going on the BTC diet. I started out out with 1/2 teasoon of Acacia twice a day and added 1/4 teaspoon each week until I was at 1 tablespoon twice a day. I started the ground flaxseed after about 3 months. I started with 1 teaspoon and added 1/4 teaspoon each week, leveling off with 1 tablespoon a day. I have a BM once a day in the morning, but occasionally I skip a day, but not too often. I try not to let it upset me when I skip a day. I just continue as normal and will usually go the next morning.
Snookie, IBS-C
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Snookie, IBS-C
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I so feel for you I'm more an IBS A/D, but i think we all can understand the exasperation your feeling right now. Have you ever tried lactulose? My nan uses it everyday, its not a purging laxative or anything it acts like a gel that helps keep everything moving. They often give it to people in hospital to help them go when they've been inactive. Really hope you start to feel better soon x
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Quote:
I so feel for you I'm more an IBS A/D, but i think we all can understand the exasperation your feeling right now. Have you ever tried lactulose? My nan uses it everyday, its not a purging laxative or anything it acts like a gel that helps keep everything moving. They often give it to people in hospital to help them go when they've been inactive. Really hope you start to feel better soon x
I have tried lactulose and I seem to remember it gave me an awful lot of gas and much more bloating, although I was experimenting with all kinds of fibre supplements and laxatives at the time, none of which seemed to do the trick. The only one that did work was senna which I had to take 3 or 4 nights in a row (the max dose) before it had an effect and then I would get D for an entire day. If I stopped taking it the C would start again so I got myself in a viscous cycle where I would take it to "empty" then leave a couple of days, then take it to "empty" again because I knew my bowels wouldn't do it on their own. I stopped taking them in the end because I didn't want to be taking laxatives all my life; I really want to be able to "empty" naturally through eating the right foods.
The only thing that get's my bowlels to move is just eating until I'm almost physically sick because then my bowels don't have any choice but to shift things! However, the sickness and diahrrea that follow make it not worth the effort because I end up not being able to eat hardly at all for the next 3-4 days. Stupid solution I know, but sometimes I just get so angry with this, especially when the advice I get at home is "you just need to eat more!"
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It might be worth trying it again, you can hardly make things worse when they're that bad. My nan puts it in a glass with hot water and drinks it first thing in the morning then follows it with a hot drink. Within an hour she normally goes. Might be worth a try x
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Quote:
It might be worth trying it again, you can hardly make things worse when they're that bad. My nan puts it in a glass with hot water and drinks it first thing in the morning then follows it with a hot drink. Within an hour she normally goes. Might be worth a try x
You're right, I think I'm just going to have to try it. Luckily my sister actually has some in the cupboard that I could take but I may wait until I get home because if it does make me "go" 'big time', I'd rather be at home than living at my sister's! I leave tomorrow anyway so if I can last that long then I will. But oh my god, this feeling is REALLY horrendous
Thank you for your help.
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Thats ok, be brave and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you x
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Jennifer, I think I already told you about this -- did you try Natural Calm?
It's a laxative, but it's not one that will make your bowels contract for you. It makes your stool retain more water, so, it can't compress, so it sort of needs to get out.
It's the gentlest laxative I've heard of, doesn't cause cramping and doesn't seem to cause bloating.
I used a generic version of Natural Calm while becoming stable and I loved that it actually made me go without making me bloated and gassy (as Miralax did) and without hurting me (as ex lax did) by causing cramping. It was a cool thing that enabled me to eat on the BTC diet and still go to the bathroom. I was pain free while taking it and didn't have any more C.
Did you try it?
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