Cause/Effect
#6618 - 04/21/03 10:24 AM
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sperry_twiggins
Reged: 01/30/03
Posts: 158
Loc: Beautiful Pacific Northwest
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Hello,
I'm responding to Sharon's request to hear from "lurkers."
Before I found Heather, I used to think I had somehow caused myself to be sick - like maybe from the diet pills I had taken in college for example. I'm still not convinced there isn't some external factor involved but it seems the damage has been done.
My sister and my mother both have GI issues, but they are different from mine. Mother has diverticul**is (can't remember which). Sister is trying all the quack "remedies" out there (sorry if I offend, I've just never had much faith in the cure-of-the-month-club alternative healers) without any concrete, measurable results. We do both wonder if the years we spent taking antibiotics as children haven't contributed to these long-term ailments. I've certainly suffered from them in the short term (yeast infections, candida or similar).
I'm interested to know if any of you have ever had the same nagging feeling that you have somehow brought this upon yourself and if you would only stop (or start) doing something, one magical thing, that all your problems would go away. I sometimes wish I were more like my car: Replace the plugs and wires and it stops misfiring. How simple it would be.
sperry_twiggins
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When I was first diagnosed with IBS and Crohn's, I definitely thought I had done something to cause it. The first words out of my doctor's mouth was "stop using ibuprofen." I was convinced that I had brought this upon myself after all those years of using it. I had also taken a lot of antibiotics as a child and adult, but they tested for all the things you can get from antibiotics. There is also a lot of family history of stomach problems, so who knows how I ended up with this. My doctor doesn't know so I'm going to try and not worry about it. Every once in awhile when I have a really good day I start to think that maybe the doctor is wrong and this thing is going to pass. But then reality hits again and I realize I need to keep doing what I am doing. The frustrating thing for me is that I could always eat what I wanted until a couple of years ago. Not that I wouldn't gain weight, but my stomach never bothered me.
Heather's diet has helped me more than I ever could have imagined, but sometimes it is so frustrating having to plan meals. I miss the days when I could just quickly throw something together or use prepared food. I love to cook, but sometimes there just doesn't seem to be enough time. Plus my husband has to be careful of his diet. He recently had a kidney transplant and developed diabetes from the steriods he is taking. I've been spending so much time reading labels in the grocery store, people must think I am nuts.
I haven't posted much but I have appreciated everyone sharing their experiences. Sometimes I log on for a few minutes when things are crazy just to know there is support out there. And the recipes are great!
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Wow - That's quite a side effect of a kidney transplant. Your poor husband! Is that a common effect of steriod use? I had never heard of it.
Thanks for replying. Sharon's right about the cathartic effect of talking about what goes on in our heads as well as our intestines.
sperry_twiggins
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Hi sperry - glad you decided to "un-lurk"! I really wish I could say something magical and all our ailments would go away, but, unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. In fact when I hurt my arms and no doc could figure out what was wrong with me, the last orthopedic doc I went to was so befuddled that he said, "...I wish I had a magic wand to wave over you...but I don't". How's that for knowledge???? LOL
My opinion (FWIW)is that we didn't bring any of this on ourselves--you mean like smoking for 50 years and then getting lung cancer? I don't think it works that way with IBS. If you've been reading other posts, you'll see that when IBSers have colonoscopies, the doc will find a mis-shapen colon or other reasons for the IBS to occur. Now, I could be wrong here...
You haven't offended me with the "cure of the month club". In fact, it's kinda cute and true IMO. There are a lot of people out there trying to make money any way they can. I usually look for logical reasoning behind sickness and cureness. Besides, I think all women have had some kind of yeast infections in their lives, which can't be blamed on taking antibiotics some time in our lives.
I never for one minute thought that I brought this on myself--except that I had been eating the wrong things but they wouldn't have been the wrong things if I hadn't already had IBS. Am I making sense????
Yeh, it's really a shame we can't get a colon replacement at the colon replacement store...that surely would solve all our problems, wouldn't it??? LOL
Sorry I couldn't have been more help, but don't go back into lurking. Your questions will probably bring on a rush of information.
Sharon
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Sharon
"Anything Chocolate"...that is all!
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Annmarie - I thought I just had gotten IBS at 58 yo, but when I thought about it, I have had this most of my life. When I was a kid, I used to get constipated and then get diarrhea. When I got older and started dating, I would get diarrhea before my date because I was so nervous. It seemed to get not as bad the older I got, but then when I started WW 1.5 yrs ago and started eating all the bran and raw veggies, etc., I felt like I had to go all the time, but I couldn't. Then I found out about IBS and following Heather's eating regimen has helped me so much. My family was always a (you should pardon the expression) farting family. I think that those genes were passed on down to us kids, but my sister is different than me and so is my brother, although they still "let 'er rip" and I have found my solution. My motto is: No Gas is Good Gas!
Sharon
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Sharon
"Anything Chocolate"...that is all!
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They actually call it steroid induced diabetes. Apparently it's quite common after someone receives a transplant because they have to be on steroids for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately we weren't told about it ahead of time so we weren't prepared. But I'm glad I am aware of it now because I was on steroids for my Crohn's and just in case I need to go back on them, I'm going to make sure and talk to my doctor about it. But it seems that if you can get off the steroids then the diabetes might go away.
The good thing is he doesn't have to be on dialysis anymore, and the diabetes stuff doesn't prevent him from doing things the way dialysis did. I don't mind cutting sugar back from our diets. I've lost weight since I started following Heather's diet, so I am sure cutting back on sugar will help even more!
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