Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!

I have experienced the fear and desperation that you are feeling now. Seven years ago my digestive system (which had never been the strongest) collapsed suddenly. I didn't vomit, but lost a huge amount of weight and was 'd' constantly. My nerves were also affected and they also put me on anti-depressants (they had an "opposite" effect on me). My dormant eczema flared up, my lower back ached, I had insomnia and I felt tired all the time. I was put on anti-biotics, which made me worse. After several months I had my first in a series of gastroscopies and colonoscopies, lactose breath tests, barium xrays, and even University stool analysis. It was discovered through biopsy that my villi in the intestine were badly damaged and that I have coeliac (celiac to you guys) disease. I rejoiced! Something I could do! Gluten (wheat, rhye, oats, barley, malt) is found in almost everything from sauces to thickeners and there is a high risk of cross-contamination of food with things that do have gluten. But I eagerly began the new diet and was strict as you could be. I did not get better. I kept losing weight. I tried diets like all-juice diets. I took supplements A-Z. I saw an allergist, a dietician, a acupuncturist, a hypnotherapist, and tried therapies which I can no longer even remember (Bowen was one). I ended up in hospital. And yet, besides the coeliac, there was nothing they could find. They can replace people's hearts but when it comes to bowels they are mystified. My family's finances were running very very dry and I felt incredibly guilty about affecting the family so much. My wife, a nurse, has difficulty being so helpless and gets as frustrated as I do. In hospital I was put on nasal-gastric feeding. It helped me stabilise the weight (I was well below world health standard average for my height by now) but didn't improve my 'd' or bloating, wind, nausea, back pain, tiredness etc. I kept the tube up my nose for a few months and was fed by a machine with bottles attached. In the end I was content with an improvement of sorts. I have continued to struggle with my health and only just found this website, ordered one of the books, and started trying this newest challenge. In two weeks I have reduced my 'd', but still feel bloated and windy quite often. I'm not sure how quickly everything should stabalise (or if I still have problems with an ingredient like, say, potato), but considering the state of my system, I am prepared to keep on going with the hope I can have some sort of control in the near future. This was a long story, but I wanted to illustrate to you that you are not alone in struggling, and to express surprise that neither of your specialists have suggested you are severe enough to have a stay in a hospital to try and stabilise your health with either a nasal gastric-feed or intra-venus feeding (sp?). This website does point out that most nasal feeds are not the best if IBS is your problem, but it will at least see that you are getting the nutrients you need for the short term. I'm not sure what criteria you have to meet to be fed through a vein, but it would rest your digestive system. I, like the others who have answered, hope that this diet will help you (and for that matter me!). My personal opinion is that you should get medically fully checked out (which you sound like you probably have done mostly), see if you can get stabilised at least somewhat if it is that bad, and then try this diet. I wouldn't go spending a fortune on all those therapies and natural pills that offer hope but don't seem to deliver. I agree from my personal experience with those supplements that are suggested here on this site. I was taking everything from slippery elm, Metamusil, peppermint, ginger, calcium, various powders from pyramid marketing schemes, barley green, digestive enzymes, multi-vitamins, aloe juice, oh it goes on and on. I think calcium/mag, digestive enzymes, pro-biotics (non-dairy), soluble fibre and teas as described here seem the most you should need. I'd be happy to give up food altogether and get a bag to be honest, but that only works if is only part of the bowel that is bad, not a functional disease like this. By the way, most coeliacs DO improve with the STRICT gluten-free diet...I'm just an exception. I don't know if I helped much, but I do hope you find some sort of improvement.

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