Life-long IBS
#208191 - 08/24/05 01:23 PM
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sdan49
Reged: 08/24/05
Posts: 9
Loc: SE USA
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I have studied your website for two days now and found that over the years I learned most of the tricks listed there by trial-and-error. I have had IBS since I was in the third grade. I have had multiple episodes of explosive diarrhea in public places, and although I was able work for over 35 years, I have now had to stop. I had 15 inches of my sigmoid colon removed due to recurrent diverticulitis, and if you think the cramps from IBS are bad (and they can be), the diverticulitis pain is excruciating. I have also had blood clots in my legs and both lungs, and must take blood-thinners for the rest of my life. Over the years I have just learned to live with all of the issues you list and others have spoken about. After my colon surgery, the only thing that changed for me was that "transit time" of a meal was reduced from about two hours to thirty minutes, and most of the cramping I used to have, as well as the gas, is now gone. For that I am thankful.
I have been calling myself a "vampire" for years, because my IBS has always been worse during the day than at night. Anything I eat between about nine or ten in the morning and seven or eight at night goes right through me. After nine o'clock at night I can eat ANYTHING without distress. I often have a glass of 2% milk as a sedative before bedtime. I am acutely aware of the humiliation of incontinence in public, and my cubicle at work was right next to the bathroom. During the final ten years of my work I did not eat at all during the day. This ultimately led to dizziness and fatigue long before the day ended, to say nothing of the social isolation. Co-workers want to go out for group lunches, and I always declined.
As much as I like to drink water, I drink nowhere near the recommended six 8oz. glasses per day, and could not possibly double that amount. It seems to me that by doing this you are just replacing one reason for runnning to the bathroom for another! I shall try the soluble fiber supplements, and I shall stop drinking all colas and coffee from now on. Other than that, I don't know what else I can do. I have not been able to travel in retirement due to this issue -- I have stopped and eaten on the road -- driven thirty more minutes, and then had to stop for a restroom at least twice within about fifteen miles.
Thanks for the great website, and for sharing all your stories. It is nice to realize I am not alone in this struggle.
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Re: Life-long IBS
#208236 - 08/24/05 04:19 PM
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Sand
Reged: 12/13/04
Posts: 4490
Loc: West Orange, NJ (IBS-D)
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Welcome to the Boards - it sounds like you've had quite a hard time.
I can't speak to the results of your colon surgery, but unless that mandates otherwise, I would urge you to try Heather's diet full out: no trigger foods (even late at night), lots of soluble fiber, and careful addition of safe protein, fat, and insoluble fiber. Most people also find it helpful to eat frequent small meals and snacks throughout the day.
An SFS was vital for me. I take acacia and am currently up to 8 teaspoons a day, which is considered a lot (I'm IBS-D). I got there very slowly: started with 1/4 teaspoon a day for 3 days, then went up 1/4 teaspoon a day every 3 days. Getting enough water is important with an SFS. I don't get 128 ounces a day, but I do consistently get 64 a day and feel best if I manage 100. My body really did adjust to all that fluid and even if it hadn't, I'd rather be running to the bathroom because of too much fluid than because of diarhhea.
Imodium can be very helpful, although I found it worked incredibly well in conjuction with Heather's diet and not so much before I started the diet. You can do a Search on it (two, really, one for each spelling: Imodium, Immodium). Some people swear by peppermint capsules, Heather's or one you buy in the health food store. There are also prescripton anti-spasmodics that may help (I use Donnatol occasionally), but they do have side effects.
For an interesting look at why foods that don't seem to be triggering your IBS may still be, you could take a look at this post.
HTH and, again, welcome to the Boards.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Thanks for the welcome, Sand. I grew up in Highland Park, NJ, btw, back in the 1950's. I also lived in Elizabeth as a teen, and graduated from Jefferson High in 1967. I appreciate your thoughts, and I must agree that it's better to be running for the john to pee than the other! One of the other things I would like to try is the peppermint tea. In addition to my colon surgery, I have also had my gallbladder removed. I have used Imodium, Bentyl, and that white prescription powder (can't think of the name, but it binds cholesterol or something after gallbladder surgery). Bentyl never worked, and my doctor discourages Imodium more than once in a while. It does work for me, however. I have an excellent internist, but she doesn't consider IBS my major problem, as I have been so sick with blood clots since 1999. I am pretty healthy otherwise. She sees IBS as mostly "in my head", and if you read the medical studies linked to this website, you can see that she is right. It's just that there is a real, physical connection -- not "just" mental. So she wants me on SSRI's, but I cannot tolerate them due to my genetic disorder -- I get a Parkinsonian tremor whenever I take an SSRI (like Paxil or Zoloft). I have seen studies that show that there is so much serotonin re-uptake going on in the gut that GE's (gastroenterologists) sometimes refer to the gut as "the other brain". I was born with a genetic neurological disorder called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (named after the 19th Century MD's who first identified it) that involves the nerve endings, especially in the legs and feet. The myelin sheaths are eroded to the point that the legs and feet are deformed by adulthood. I had many orthopedic surgeries during my late twenties and early thirties. Twenty-five years later I am now having recurrent blood clots for which the doctors cannot find a cause. However, I have researched this and concluded that it was the damage done to my leg veins during surgery that led to clots years later.
It is also possible that my genetic disorder has something to do with the IBS. Anyway, I am also interested in trying hypnotherapy, and per this website there is an IBS therapist (LMSW) within a hour's drive of my home. I think frequent small meals are a good idea for any of us. What I will never understand is why my episodes have always occurred during the day, and never after the evening hours. As I said, I have no trouble between the hours of about 7 at night till 7 in the morning. That is a half of every day! Of course, I was always more relaxed in the evenings and at night during my working years, but now my time is completely my own (hence my propensity to run on so!) and you would think that I would have an easier time handling the day-time hours now, but not so. Anyhow -- I shall attempt several of these strategies, and let you know. Thanks again for your warm greetings and helpful ideas.
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...unless you do the diet 100% you aren't giving yourself a proper chance. And a gentle SFS will help.
Btw, Immodium is safe to take all day long, in the long term. I was lucky enough to see one of the best GI's in this country (private medical insurance - yay!  ) and he had me on daily Immodium for about 6 months...at which point I had stabilised so well with the diet that I didn't need it.
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as for the nighttime calmness, it's possible that it's related to the fact that when we sleep, our digestive systems effectively shut down - a nap has always been a great help for me in stopping an attack. i don't know if this applies to you, as 7pm seems a little early for this effect to kick in, but it might be related. especially with the bedtime milk - as you take it right before bed, it won't affect you till you (and your digestive system) wake up in the morning, and then you get a day of havoc - the eating anything you want after seven with no ill effects may just be a postponement till the next day.
jaime
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jaime
ibs-a (mostly d) // vegetarian
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Thanks, Jaime --- I thought of this over these many years. You theory is as good as any I have been able to come up with. It's amazing how much time I have spent (to say nothing of my long-suffering wife) trying to figure out what it was THIS time. Nightimes have always been quieter. Then again, I have seen the just eaten raw tomatoes in the commode less than an hour after I injested them at noon-time, so transit times are different, although, as you say, the "cause" may lie in that mid-night snack the night before.
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Beginning third day of "new" diet -- actually nothing really new as much as a shift in eating times/habits. More frequent meals, but smaller portions. Oatmeal every morning (I had been doing that in the winters recently anyway), no more coffee, Coke, iced-tea (not so easy when you live in the South) or any other iced drinks, no more late night milk, addition of SFS, and LOTS more tepid water. Three days now without D. Not bad! Thanks to all for the encouragement.
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Re: Life-long IBS
#208774 - 08/26/05 09:58 AM
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Sand
Reged: 12/13/04
Posts: 4490
Loc: West Orange, NJ (IBS-D)
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Ah, sweet tea. One of the joys of life. Here's my substitute (I'm originally from Alabama):
Brew 1 Honeybush teabag in 4 cups of boiling water for at least 5 minutes - 10 is better or just forget about it for a while. Add sugar to taste. Let cool. Drink at room temperature or, if your tummy can handle it, cold from the fridge or, if you're really feeling brave, iced. (It took me a while on the diet to work up to iced, so be cautious.) Honeybush is as close to "plain old Lipton" tea as any herbal I've found.
I'm glad to hear you're doing so well.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Thanks again, Sand. Of course sweet (iced) tea is ubiquitous here. I am not all that convinced that regular tea is a problem at this point, but as I usually have D at least every other day, and have now for 40 years, I am willing to try just about anything. I have not had any in three days now. Most of the "sweet iced tea" served in local restaurants is pretty watered down anyway. I make our home brew from Lipton's decaf tea (two family sized bags -- boil for ten minutes and add water and 3/4 cup of granulated white sugar), and it never seems to bother me. But then, the whole idea of "attacks" that so many here are referring to seems foreign to me, as I don't have "attacks". I have a "life-style of diarrhea". No lie. I think Heather's ideas about the coldness of the drink (triggering that gastrointestinal motility) is more the key. My internist warned me years ago about hot coffee, because of #1 caffeine, and #2 the heat. She is right about the caffeine, but wrong, I think, about the heat. Hot tea seems to help calm my stomach a lot. Peppermint tea, especially. I traveled from here to New England for two weeks last winter, and hardly ate at all. I lost 20 pounds in two weeks. It was my first real "trip" in about 15 years. I visited friends and family in NH, MA, PA, and NY. They all tried to get me to eat, but I only allowed myself supper, and then just something bland. But I drank LOTS of hot peppermint tea. And, I had no problems with my gut for the entire two weeks. Very rare for me. A first, actually.
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as someone who has dealt with IBS for some time, what can you recommend to someone who is very young, possibly just beginning the journey of life into the "real world"?
my names ashley. ive had IBS with constipation since i was 16. this past year became my 4th year battling it, which makes me 20. im about to go back to college again in the springtime. and i have alot of ideas in mind as far as the rest of my life goes. but i notice when i get into a time-crunching schedule, im unable to tend to the comfort of maintaining my stability.
i just returned from a month-long european vacation and am still on a "leave of absense" with my job. i still have about a week of free time to myself before i have to return and in my "free time" i seem to have been very responsive to my constipation problems. im worried that when i return back to work, i may not be able to keep up the same schedule. ive been able to relax and wake up at my own pace which has naturally set me back on a normal sleeping schedule, which i now see is very important.
what types of tricks did you use for managing your own stability? were you often stable/unstable? i had been pretty unstable for awhile, and went thru some eating struggles, and then i changed my whole diet around and became a strict-vegan [ie: no animal-by-products; no presservatives] so you see ive already got to be careful with my nutrition since i lost vitamins in food sources i used to eat. with the IBS though, i feel i need to be extra-careful. any advice you can offer would be wonderful to me. im sorry that you had to go thru so much with all of your struggles. but if youre alright [esp after 9] then that is very good thanks in advance--peace
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VEGAN ASHLEY~IBS/C
www.myspace.com/dutchflowers
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