IBS or something else? Advice needed! (long post, but please read)
#211059 - 09/05/05 12:01 PM
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Ok, here's the deal. About 2 years ago, myself and my mother went to Flordia on vacation. We ate at IHop, and the next day she was kind of sick, and I was VERY sick (luckily we ate there on our 2nd last day in FL)! Once home, my symptoms were EXTREME stomach pain, bloody D, weakness, gas, etc. Mom got better-I got worse. I went to the ER and was given a rectal exam. They said I had traveler's diarrhea, and have me one giant antibiotic (I only ever had the one pill-no more). They asked for a stool sample. I gave them a sample, took the pill, and went home. I started to feel better the next day, and that was that. About 1 year later as far as I can recall, I started having what I believed was IBS. My symptoms were (are): constipation, bloating, smelly and very excessive gas, cracked fingernails, brittle hair, new allergies/or symptoms thereof (prior to this I had no allergies), REALLY itchy skin on legs. I really don't have any pain. The only time I MIGHT have minor pain is right before I have a BM in the morning, and that's it. I went to my GP and she did a test for thryoid. It came back negative for that, and so she said I had IBS. I believed her and went on my way. So, after doing much reading here, I am wondering if I might have parasites or an infection. I never did get my stool sample results back, as I started to feel better. Can anyone give me any input? I am making an appointment my GP tomorrow. Thanks for listening.
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hi krista- i can relate to your situation. i had food poisoning back in 98 and recovered. then in 2002 i had a bout of viral gastroenteritis after being on a course of antibiotics. i recovered and was fine for a week. after that my whole system completely shut down and i devloped severe lactose intolerance and over the course of a few months i developed ibs. so it seems like you had something very similar. that was 3 years ago and i feel better today, however, i have various digestive issues that i have to deal with and sometimes life in unpleasant. my best advice to you is to figure out which foods aggravate your symptoms and avoid them like the plague, you should also take acidophilus supplements, eat lotsa fiber and drink peppermint, chamomile, ginger, and fennel teas when your symptoms act up. in time you'll figure out what works best for you. hope this helps
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What are your other Digestive Problems? Do you have other problems besides the IBS?
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hi
basically i suffer from constipation, which usually gets triggered by certain foods. i also have whats called upper ibs, where if i eat too fast or too much i will experience an unpleasant full feeling in my stomach which is accompanied by lots of burping. no refulx thank god. aside from that i cant eat any dairy or raw garlic.
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...upper IBS too because I go through the whole belching/full feeling too all the time!
Is there anything we need to avoid eating, or is basically to just not too fast or too much?
I also have constipation. What foods trigger yours? I think mine is worsened by white rice and white bread, but I'm pretty much C all the time anyhow.
Have you tried eating garlic in cooked dishes?
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Since IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion, your doctor needs to rule out other possible conditions before deciding you have IBS. You can take a look at this information to see what else your doctor needs to check for. There's a lot more there than just thyroid. And remember you could have IBS and something else (oh, joy).
If you call the hospital you should be able to get your stool sample results. If they won't send them right to you, have them sent to your doctor. In general, I would advise you to get copies of all test results. Doctors don't always read them right and it never hurts to double-check. And I'd definitely ask for a copy of the thyroid tests. If it's within normal range, but at the low end, your doctor might want to rethink dismissing thyroid problems. Here's an old post of mine on thyroid problems - and be sure to read the other posts in the same thread, too.
If you decide to see a GI, your GP should be able to refer you to one. If she can't or won't or you don't like the one she sends you to, here's a thread that might help you find a good one. If you don't find one there, you can post where you live and see if anyone has a recommendation - it's best to start a new post for that.
If you do have IBS, I would definitely recommend you try Heather's approach. It is detailed in this Website, outside the Message Boards. If you have to wait a while to see your GI and/or to get the tests done, you can try Heather's approach before you get a diagnosis. It shouldn't hurt and if you do have IBS, it should help with a lot of your symptoms.
HTH. Take care.
--------------------
[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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for the upper ibs the key is chewing your food, being relaxed when you eat, and not eating too much. when i do over indulge, i find that ginger tea and peppermint tea help relax the esophagus. also red wine seems to help.
white rice should technically be safe for ibs. according to chinese medicine white rice is excellent for relaxing the intestines. usually the following will trigger my C:
- berries and raw vegetables
- avocado
- bananas
- chocolate
- anything with dairy
i can tolerate small amounts of cooked garlic, but if its raw i'm toast
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Hi Krista,
I agree with everything Sand said. Also note that you could have suffered what Heather and others refer to as an "insult to the gut" - basically something like a parasitic infection, stomach flu, round of antibiotics, even simple traveller's D can cause permanent damage to the GI system which can lead to IBS. It's not a specific CAUSE of IBS but it's often linked to it's start.
This is not a diagnosis of course - you need to have more tests etc. as Sand so expertly stated. Also, things like itchy skin, brittle nails etc. are not IBS symptoms. However it could be that your digestive system is all screwed up and not absorbing nutrients properly leading to things like brittle hair and nails. It's also possible that you have developed a specific food allergy that's giving you that reaction - in which case you'd have to do an elimination diet to figure out what it is.
Anyway, I'm not expert here, just throwing out some ideas - hope it helps a bit. Definitely read those thread that Sand linked for you.
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...that berries make you more C since they have lots if IF fiber in them. I eat berries a lot for that reason. Are you sure it's the berries?
I agree with the bananas!
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Unsafe IF...
#211215 - 09/06/05 07:46 AM
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Linz
Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 8242
Loc: England
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...can be a trigger for IBS whether you are D or C.
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