Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Hello. I have been diagnosed with IBS-A for about six weeks now , however, I have suspected that this was the case for quite a few months. I started having symptoms almost exactly a year ago. I have both of Heather's books, which I've pored over, taken to my doctor, asked questions about on this board, etc. I have a few more. Since I have started Heather's diet (November of 2002) I have become VERY stable, I have felt better than I have in months, my energy is back, it's great! Last weekend, I was feeling so much better I decided to splurge and have one of my mom's oatmeal cookies, in fact - I had three! I thought, hey - it IS made with oatmeal, how bad can it be (even though I knew it had vats of butter, milk - I'm lactose intolerant - coconut and chocolate chips in them too). It didn't sit too well, but my "attack" really wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. If I had had this cookie last summer, I would have been in serious pain for a while. I DID have pain, but not nearly as bad as I thought when I felt the first twinges of pain. I have been trying to figure out why and the only thing I can come up with is that I have been on Heather's diet for months now with no deviation whatsoever so my system is much more stable and can handle the list of no no's. What do you think?

I also think I've been diagnosed quite quickly in comparison to some other people. I've read and heard that some people go for years without a diagnosis. Even though it has been a year since my symptoms started, I have been following Heather's diet for five to six months now and previous to that, my "flare-ups" were gradually getting worse every time I had one. Since I've been on the diet, they now seem to be getting better. Could the fact that I was diagnosed so quickly be a factor? (Even though at the time it didn't seem quick enough!)

My other question was about bloating and gas. I have felt "normal" for a while now, except for the bloating and gas. I've tried fennel tea with honey in it to ease the pain, but this doesn't seem to work for me. I can't seem to pinpoint the trigger for this. At first I thought it was too much protein in my diet, then I just assumed it was part of my C which I deal with constantly unless I have a flare-up which then turns to much worse pain and D. For the last couple of weeks, I have tried drinking fennel tea, and let me tell you, I'm going to start swimming in it soon (lol), but I thought this was making it worse, which makes no sense! I then thought maybe the honey I was putting in it was the culprit. Can honey cause gas and bloating??? I've stopped taking fennel tea and started taking peppermint tea which is helping these last couple of days, I think. I couldn't take peppermint tea before because I also have GERD and this irritated this problem, but that seems to be under control as well and peppermint tea is now tolerable - woohoo!! I'm also very active so doing any more exercise that I already do is just not feasible to help with gas. I have an appointment with my doctor for April 25 and I'm going to ask him about these charcoal tablets that I've read about. We'll see what he says about that. I have been reading previous posts that indicate they give some people C, but I'll ask him about this as well.

Sorry for the loooooooong post.

Lorna

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Lorna

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