Scared- new symptoms
#337131 - 10/19/08 09:53 PM
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IBSrunner
Reged: 07/25/08
Posts: 78
Loc: California
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I havent posted in awhile because to be quite honest this can be kind of a depressing place. But I need some help and some reassurance.
I have had IBS my entire life. It would flare every once in a while but then settle down when I took some extra naps or had less stress but since march my IBS has gotten so bad. After spending all of June, July and most of August in and out of the doctor and GI office having every test known to mankind I was diagnosed with IBS. I found this website and started on the diet. I started to feel a little better but even though I was on the diet very strictly I would still have flare ups every once in a while but it would eventually go back down to a level where I could handle it until recently. I stopped having my periods after getting off of Birth control in July and havent had one since. I am so bloated and uncomfortable constantly that I just feel miserable.
I dont understand I have been following the IBS diet very strictly and have been eating almost completely vegan for two months. I have a doctors appt tomorrow but I am so scared that they wont find anything and I will have to continue living this way. I am only twenty years old. This is no way to live.
Any advice or suggestions or ideas on what might be going on would be so greatly helpful. Thanks
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IBS-C Gas and constant Bloating
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Dear Runner, I am much older then you (64) but your story is my story. A year ago, out of frustration, my doctor and I decided to run a food allergy test ( blood work that is sent into Alletess Medical Laboratories and sure enough I had several food allergies. I follow my diet exactly to avoid any food that I'm allergic to and also follow Heather's IBS guidlines and I'm 100% better. It is very important to always keep a soluable fiber in the tummy before you eat anything else. I keep a list of soluable fibers in my frig. Also I just started taking her fiber which is soluable also. You can get better but you have to take full responsibility for what you eat and don't eat. yes, it will be different probably for life but well worth it to be pain free.
Good luck
mjred
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IBSRunner, you're not pregnant are you?!?
I can sympathize - recently I went off of my birth control pills to see if it helped my IBS. I think it did, however I wound up with excruciating pelvic pain daily, as well as daily bleeding and/or spotting. I have Endometriosis, and unfortunately as a result need to be on the pill to control it. I went back on a different pill starting on Friday, and while my pelvic pain is gone, I have been on the verge of vomiting and had a horrible headache since. I guess my body just needs to readjust.
I guess my whole point is that maybe it's not all gastro related? Have you had a gynecological workup done?
mjred - I'm curious about your food allergy testing. Would you mind telling me what you're allergic to? The reason I ask is because I just had similar testing done, though it was sent to a different laboratory. I'm waiting for the results, and I'm dying in anticipation! I'm just curious what your results showed.
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IBS-C
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No I am not pregnant I just had that test. I have been eating tons of soluble fiber and its been helping alittle. But what was frustrating was that I am eating a very strict EFI diet and was getting worse.
Fen- I am going to the doctor today to get a reference to a gyno. I think whatever is going on is making my IBS falr even more.
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IBS-C Gas and constant Bloating
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Hi IBS runner
I can sympathize as my IBS has totally messed with my menstrual cycle. I've had light constant bleeding for the last month and my last period was really heavy and came with
some nasty cramps. It was like being a teenager again! I asked my doctor and we think it's because the IBS means I don't absorb the pill as well as I should so my hormone levels drop. Hence the light bleeding and unusual cramps. If things aren't back to normal next month he's going to switch me to a higher dose pill.
I know you had a lot of tests but did you get checked for fructose intolerance? If you've been eating a lot of fruit and bread a fructose intolerance will make you worse.
Oh and I totally understand about finding IBS boards a little depressing. I had to stop going to the myirriatiabelbowlesyndrome forum as there were so many people there in such awful situations that it really freaked me out. All I could think was that is that going to be me. Self centered I know but it was how I felt. However I find this site way more helpful and inspiring. Mostly because it's geared towards improving your health and not merely living with it with the help of a sympathetic ear.
cheers
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Stable IBS D
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It's amazing the things attributed to IBS or that IBS effects. I have a young friend who has suffered w/ IBS for about 3 years - could not find any definite food triggers - just hit and miss. She married about 2 years ago and just recently had a lot of gyno tests, one in particular, for endometriosis - very invasive, but outpatient. They found a falopian tube totally blocked and endometriosis everywhere. After scraping/burning (whatever they do now) all the endometriosis out of her system, she has not had one IBS attack!
Me, at the opposite end of the spectrum (much older:-), am finding even though I was told I was in menopause 10 years ago, the last 2 - 3 years things have worsened as far as IBS and anxiety. So, I think its safe to safe hormones play a major factor in IBS.
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"I Will Survive! :-)... I shall live and not die and declare the works of The Lord..."
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Fen, I'm not sure if I got back with you about my food allergies. Been gone. In case I didn't, these are the foods that I'm allergic to. Pepper ( black, white, red, all), Sesame, coconut, watermelon, safflower oil, milk and all milk products, shell fish, cinnamon, catchews. Not eating any of these foods, adding Heather's fiber and Flora Q 2 along with making sure I eat mostly soluble fiber has really helped me. From what was a terrible stomach each and every day I am now down to hardly ever having stomach problems. Do I have to be constant in watching what I eat? Yes, but it is worth all of it.
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I've had traditional allergy testing - the skin type, etc. and I've had the RAST - blood type, but they weren't as comprehensive as yours seems to have been. Do you mind me asking what kind of tests you had done? I need to go through it again and need more information.
So glad this discovery has helped you and you are doing so well!
My symptoms are ranging from gastrointestinal and then become respiratory - this time even my eyes... Just not sure where to go next.
Thanks & Blessings! - Dorothy
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"I Will Survive! :-)... I shall live and not die and declare the works of The Lord..."
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Hey IBSrunner. I am not sure I have advice for you, I am not sure excactly what to eat or not eat at this point. I hope the gyno can help you some maybe. I just wanted to identify wth you. I am 23 and have been diagnosed IBS since I was 16 and I understand your frustrations in the fact that you are trying so hard yet have symptoms. It is nice to know we are not alone and it is not "in our heads" as some may think. Bodies are so different. Keep working hard at a diet that will work and keep searching for answers and let us know!
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