Any ideas why IBS is somewhat sudden onset?
#334525 - 08/12/08 04:04 PM
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jlrws
Reged: 08/12/08
Posts: 22
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Up till as soon as one year ago I could eat almost anything and be great, all except a bit more gassyness than I would have liked. Then, over the course of a few months, I went to having C and D alternations that both consumed lots of time and pain.
This seems to be a common pattern, that it kind of comes on all of a sudden. Is there any research out there about if there is a trigger for this change?
I am having a hard time getting my wife to buy into EFI and the idea that I have IBS at all, especially because it was so sudden a change. She is trying to be supportive and I don't want to paint her as anything but loving and helpful, but of course it is a big change for our life, she can't cook me things she got joy from cooking, we can't enjoy a drink on the weekend, we have to buy different foods, etc. And since I am not 100% perfect (still bloated and somewhat more C than expected), its just hard to get her to buy into it all the way. Sometimes I think she thinks it's all in my head (which I know in a way it is but that's not what I mean)...
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You should have her sit and read these boards.No one really understands until they get it.Then they finally understand.I also have panic attacks and my friend just kept telling me to come on out,You'll be fine.Until the day she had one driving down the 401 and called me panickiy.I explained what she was having and talked her through it and now....she gets it!
It's tough for others to understand.As frustrating as it is for us, they too get frustrated.
Think back to when your symptoms began.Were you stressed out then or before?You may not think you were but were you super busy or dealing with something different?
Stress is my biggest trigger and I think I'm pretty easy going! It takes a few months for me to relax my body and I am eating better and trying to relax more.
Hopefully you can narrow down the reasons for an attack.
I should ask...have you had all the ellimination tests?Are you sure it isn't something else?
HTH!
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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No, I have not taken elimination tests but am beginning to think that should happen next. Also, yes, it was a very stressful time when it kicked in-- going back to college and working full time. So that is almost certainly a factor.
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I was diagnosed with IBS-D when I was 18 (I'm now 31). My IBS comes and goes. I will go a few years without any problems then BAM out of the blue I'm sick again for about a year then on and on...this has gone on for years with me. I'm not sure what triggers it but it's very frustrating. There seems to be no rhyme or reason.
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Also....my family had a rough time adapting to the EFI diet and all the changes I made as well because of course "I could eat that before" but once they saw what a difference it made for me they understood. Now they are very understanding and help keep me on track!
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thanks for the response. my family are usually helpful, my daughters especially 'daddy! there's cheese in that!' or whatever
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That would definitely be my guess. I have always had a tendency to get D especially in stressful situations. In late 2006 and early 2007 my father was dying and work was especially stressful making it impossible for me to travel the 1000 miles to see my father during his last illness. I became so ill with IBS (although I didn't know what it was at the time) that I ate nothing except bread and water the last two days of my trip home for the funeral and upon returning I immediately went to my internist because I was convinced I had cancer or something like that. After 3 months of tests I was diagnosed with IBS. I have found after asking that most of my father's family suffers from one form or the other of IBS. My father had C but both of his sisters tend to D. Two of my surviving siblings have D like I do and have to really watch their diets. I agree with Dragonfly. Let your wife read these boards and go on the recipe board to get ideas. Sometimes I get so tired of chicken I want to literally scream but it works so well I dare not risk going off the diet because the consequences are so bad. I fix special meals for my husband that make me hungry for non EFI meals but when he comes home with pizza I just about climb the walls. Giving up coffee also nearly got me but all in all it has been so very much worth it because I have my life back. Now I have a mild attack about every two weeks, usually from stress, and I can always feel it coming on and it only lasts an hour at most unlike the 24 to 48 hour sessions I used to have. Good luck to you.
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IBS-D, Gas & Bloating
Barbara50
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Had you taken any antibiotics, or other medications before your symptoms started appearing?
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Honestly, I think I've had IBS forever! I remember having colon attacks very early and not mentioning them (dysfunctional family) - I was officially diagnosed when I was 19 - I was very sick by then and hospitalized. It was scary. Over the years, I have had ebbs and flows, but it has always been with me and I assume it will always be something that I need to monitor. I'm pretty healthy otherwise, so I consider myself fortunate.
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yes, fixing non-EFI meals for the family (mostly the kids, my wife does WW so her diet is already light on fatty stuff) is sometimes hard.
the things I miss the most (sometimes makes me almost cry with desire) are coffee, cheese, and a cold beer. but i have managed to avoid them most of the time. when we go to somebody's house to eat i generally just go with the flow and deal with the consequences in the days following. that's one unfortunate thing with IBS is it's not something you generally want to tell people about. at least not me...
on the stress front, my wife and i are both starting back into school part time this fall, and meanwhile we both work fulltime and have two kids, and a social life... we are going to be crazy busy. i was hoping to get my IBS in control from the dietary side. so, i hope i can stay chill amongst the choas... (yes, we are insane)
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If you feel uncomfortable telling people that you have IBS(cause most people don't even know what it is)Then just tell them you have food allergies.It sucks to just go with the flow and suffer later.When you go to someones house and need to eat, take along french bread or sour dough if thats what you like and make sure you fill up on that first,then the "bad" food won't be as hard to handle.
I hear ya about the beer,I really miss my rye and coke!
My husband is so sick of chicken but I told him if he didn't quit whinning,we'd go vegetarian and meat would be gone forever!!!!!That would be my nightmare too but I try to cook normal meals and even if I can't eat the pork chops,I have extra potatos.That way everyone gets what they want.
Good luck to you guys.
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IBS-D since 1999...mostly stable..i do cheat too.Bad me.
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