acacia not helping
#179743 - 05/18/05 05:24 AM
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rach46
Reged: 11/17/04
Posts: 8
Loc: Israel
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I have been taking Acacia now for the last 3 weeks- but it doent seem to be working.(for IBS-D) If anything Im worse than usual. I take about 3 teaspoons in a glass of water a day. Ive even gone back to taking medication. Im very disappointed as I really thought this would be my salvation!(it was also quite expensive as i live abroad.) Do any of you particularly heather have any suggestions? Would it be a good idea to stop for a while and then start again. Does the stuff have an accumalative effect? Please help me out
Rachel
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How many times a day are you taking that amount? I'm only taking 2 and a half teaspoons but I take that twice a day and then with lunch (since I'm at work) I take a fiber caplet with psyllium. Perhaps your not up to a large enough amount to work for you yet?
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I'm IBS-D and I take 8 teaspoons (almost 3 TABLEspoons) a day, split into 3 or 4 does throughout the day. I'm not where I want to be yet in terms of my IBS, but I'm so much better it's remarkable. So I agree with Meenieme that you may need more.
For me, the acacia helps a lot in addition to the diet, but when I eat off-program, the acacia doesn't prevent problems. Is it possible you've added some new food to your diet that has a trigger food buried somewhere in the list of ingredients?
On the other hand, there are cases of people who are allergic to certain gums. I think this is pretty rare, but it's possible that's what's going on with you. You can try doing a search on various combinations (don't use quotes when setting up your searches): "acacia gum allergy" (I know you'll get hits on this search, because I tried it); "acacia gum allergic"; "acacia allergy"; "acacia allergic".
I hope this helps. Unless you're convinced you're allergic to acacia, my suggestion would be to increase the dose very slowly (I went up 1/2 teaspoon per day every 3 days) and check any new food items for hidden triggers.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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That isn't a significant dose, so you need to keep on slowly increasing your dosage to get the good effects. I'm on 2T a day!
And it is great stuff, but there is NO miracle treatment for IBS - an integrated approach is needed. I used alot of meds to help me stabilise and I really think they sped that process up.
Taking Immodium daily as a preventative is a great way of re-training your bod how to behave! I did that along with the diet and Acacia...after 6 months I was completely off the Immodium! 
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Quote:
And it is great stuff, but there is NO miracle treatment for IBS - an integrated approach is needed. I used alot of meds to help me stabilise and I really think they sped that process up. I'm IBS-D and have found great improvement with an integrated approach. It's not just the SFS alone that will help; for me, it's been the combination of diet, appropriate meds and stress management that help keep my symptoms of IBS in check.
Taking Immodium daily as a preventative is a great way of re-training your bod how to behave! I've been doing this too, as needed for the last ten years but using it more consistently for that last five months in order to get stable. I do feel as though it does help my body remember how to behave! That's a great way to describe it, Linz! 
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I've been taking metamucil capsules and want to try acacia since you guys raved about it. Started with 1/2 teaspoon last night and it didn't do nearly as good as three meta caps do. I want to go slow though, right? Think I could handle more?
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I'd go for it! If you get more bloating, then lower your dose again.
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some folks have to go slow, some don't. I always tell people to just to be careful, but if you've been taking fiber already you can probably increase more quickly.
- H
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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I'd first try upping your dose - and if that doesn't make things better - then I'd try switching fibers. Acacia didn't work out for me. However -- I was using considerable more of it than you are now before I quit trying. My problem with it was mainly that it gave me very smelly gas and hard, dry stools. When I switched to a different fiber - those problems went away. I think I just didn't tolerate something about it. I think you just haven't gotten to a high enough dose yet to make a difference.
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