morning commute advice
#248266 - 02/23/06 08:20 PM
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Hi;
I'm not new to IBS, but I'm new to having to function at a job. I'm starting a job on Mon...I'm semi-stable Ibs-D, on nortryptaline 10mg per day, take SF 3 or 4 times a day, and take Imodium as needed. Like many of you, morning is my worst time. Do any of you get up hours in advance to work through the IBS before driving to work? I need to be on the job at 7:15, and it's probably a 25 minute commute. I'm open to any advice from all of you experienced people! Thanks in advance!
Ps. When I save up some money I want to order the hypnosis tapes to help with the anxiety related IBS...In me, the two are tightly woven together...I feel like if I could get rid of the Ibs, the anxiety would disappear... Sorry this is so long... 
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I don't commute for work but I do have a hard time with mornings. I have to plan out my outfits and get my lunch/snacks together the night before. I have everything laid out before i go to bed. I also get up earlier than I need to so my stomach can settle a bit. I don't eat first thing in the morning, it is better for me to take a snack and eat it once I get to where I am going.
Hope this helps and good luck with your new job!
Bethany
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Microscopic Colitis, IBS-A, GERD, Hiatal Hernia
Bethany, Ontario, Canada
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I don't have a job to get to early but frequently have unavoidable morning appts and early church services. Just like you I have to get up 2 hrs early just to get my self settled down since mornings are my gas/D/more gas type of routine. One lifesaver I've found when I have to be hustling and YES stress can cause the D everytime...I take Lorazapam before I leave the house. Now this is just one added thing I do when I am stressed. Like you I take SFS (acacia) and immodium everyday after my morning BM/BMs. And I don't eat before I leave but keep Luna bars in my purse to eat after I arrive. Good luck 
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Franny
IBS/D
Celiac
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I also have a longish commute, 50 minutes, but it's not always in the morning and not every day. Thank goodness! I would take 1 Imodium caplet every morning for the first couple of weeks or until you get used to the schedule and slap on one of those disposable heat patches to help you relax. I know that staying in the driving position for more than thirty minutes can make me cramp up; the heat patches help.
I get up extra early too, at least 1 to 2 hours before I have to leave. However, I eat as soon as I get up. I know others can't eat right when they wake up, but I always wake up hungry. Plus, I want to see how my digestive tract is going to behave. If I'm going to have an attack due to what I ate or did the previous day, I'd rather start it at home, early, take Imodium and get it to stop. Sometimes if I don't eat until I get to work, I'll have an attack there. Ugh.
Good luck with your commute. It sounds like you're doing all the right things so far. Just don't be afraid to use Imodium as much as you need.
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Hi,
I have to get to work 3x a week and also get the kids off to school which can be a real stresser on my stomach. I normally get up about 1 1/2 hours before leaving for work. I will do my vitamins and fiber and a bananna. If my stomach feels iffy, you know that feeling, I'll take 2 immodium. Normally I'll go to the bathroom a few times before I leave the house. By the time I get to work, the immodium has kicked in and I feel pretty stable. I only work a 5 hour shift so I don't eat there except for some pretzels or safe cereal dry. I have some peppermint tea also. On really bad days for whatever reason, I will take a Lomotil (prescription) or a Donnatal. (anti-spasmoditic) I've had too many days where I had too many trips to the bathroom at work so I do whatever I can to avoid that. My commute isn't too long so I don't really worry about that.
Hope that helps some! Like others have said, don't be afraid to use Immodium. Do what works!
Sandy
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I'm not working and I avoid morning appointments like the plague, so my advice is purely theoretical. 
You might try taking an anti-spasmodic the night before. I find Donnatol (the regular kind, not the 12-hour timed release) often has some carry-over to the next day. It makes me too sleepy to drive or work (but see post), but by the next day I'm fine.
I'm in the eat first thing group - I start with hot decaf tea, move on to applesauce and Acacia, then on to something very safe like Heather's Brown Sugar Banana Bread. Similarly, you might try having something like applesauce with Acacia right before bed.
And if I were working, I'd be up 2 hours before I had to leave, but I realize that means getting up at about 4:45am for you. Shudder, but you might have to do it, at least until your tummy gets into a routine.
One last suggestion for that "OMG I have to leave the house anxiety". My Family Practitioner suggested I try low dose Valium. She said it doesn't affect the IBS directly, but it might take the edge off the nerves which would help the IBS downstream. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounded like it made sense.
HTH. Good luck with the new job.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I have to either be in court or at schoole every morning (except Fridays). When I was unstable, I used to dread mornings! I did wake up about two hours in advance so that I could head off any attacks or symptoms before I got to where I needed to be. However, that didn't always work because, like you, once I got in the car and found myself in stop-and-go traffic on the freeway for half an hour the anxiety just threw my stomach into convulsions!
I was put on Effexor for my anxiety about a month ago and it has done wonders for me! I am now able to leave the house whenever I please without getting the slightest bit of anxiety! Perhaps talk to your doc about some sort of anti-depressant or anxiety med if you feel it would help.
Otherwise, I'd just get up early and make yourself some chamomile or peppermint tea. Eat something safe like sourdough toast or a plain bagel. Don't rush out the door, give yourself time to get ready and allow plenty of time to get to work so you're not freaking out about being late.
I take Immodium every day as a preventative. You could try doing this for a while and see if it helps you to stress less about the commute.
Good luck!
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Okay, I take the subway to work about 50 minutes door to door every weekday. One thing no one has mentioned is having a contingency plan so that if you have to go along the way there's a convenient bathroom that you've already scoped out. For me that basically means knowing where there is a starbucks just outside one of the subway stops along the way to work (in my case wall street, 14th street, 96th street, etc). Starbucks has basically become the unofficial public restroom of nyc! As long as I know they're there, it helps calm my nerves and I only need to get off during my commute every so often - maybe once a week or every 2 weeks.
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Ladies & gentlemen take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Ladies & gentlemen take my advice, pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
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Wow--I thought I was the only one with this problem! Before my diagnosis, I had an accident at work as a result of getting stuck in traffic one afternoon after running an errand, and I have a 40-50 minute commute in very heavy traffic (I drive less than 45 miles)to contend with!
I have found that keeping myeslf distracted helps alot. In the morning, I listen to a radio talk show that I really like, is funny and very captivating for me. If I am having a really bad morning, I do have few people that I don't mind me calling them at 7 am if I am having a really bad morning and just have to go to work that day. I also eat a banana while I drive on bad mornings, which is very comforting to my stomach and seems to sooth any cramping. In the afternoon, on my way home, I make a lot of phone calls, return calls to people who have called me, etc, which helps my anxiety, as well as frees up time during the day.
I also (as many do) take one immodium when I get up if I am feeling iffy, two if I am definately having symptoms. I also take two GasX in the morning right before I get in the car, one on the way home if I need it. I also know where every restroom (clean, so-so and "big emergency") is along the way, which also helps alot.
At first, I used to give myself time to make 2-3 stops along the way, primarily stopping into grocery stores or Wal-Mart for a quick break--just to be sure. As I began feeling more confident, I would try to have fewer and fewer stops, and now I can usually get all the way to work without stopping at all--a really great feeling of accomplishment!
There are a few stretches of my commute though that have nothing along the way, but them I timed that distance one morning, and realized that it is less than 10 minutes between restrooms, which used to seem like forever, but I have worked on psyching myself out during that stretch, and feel so proud when I can get all the way to work without stopping.
I have even scoped out a few doctor's offices that open early or stay open late, and, I found out that in my state, any government building, including Fire Departments, must allow thier facilities to be accessible to the public--one of the rural stretches has a fire department in the middle of it--I have not had to use it, but I have comfort knowing that it is there!
Good luck to you--I will be thinking of you while I am in traffic!!
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Beth
IBS-D, IBD, Pain
Working toward stability
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I wish I'd had advice like yours and Hawkeye's when I was still working in Manhattan. It took me, too, a disaster at work to finally figure out the importance of scoping out "pit stops" along subway and bus lines.
How cool that government buildings in your state must have facilities open to the public. I still have a warm spot in my heart for the New York City Transit Police for letting me use their restroom once in an emergency. I've also found that libraries usually have nice clean restrooms.
And I laughed out loud at your restroom categories:
Quote:
clean, so-so and "big emergency"
Perfectly put.
Happy commuting.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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For me, my disaster was the wake up call that I needed to realize that this was not normal as the attacks were becoming more frequent, with (it seemed then) no reason, and to go see a doctor and keep asking questions and providing symptoms until I got a diagnosis that seemed to make total sense.
I love my job too much to let this inconvenience ruin it! Luckily, I have a great staff and very understanding people that I report to all whom barely knew me when this all started as I was only about 3 months into my job.(Now they probably know too much, but who cares!)
Thanks for the "compliment" on my categories--there really is no other way to describe it! I am thinking about developing a travelers map with restroom reviews--much like that of restaurant reviews. 
BTW I have been reading Jill Sklar's book--she talks about a card that you can get from the Crohn's & Colitis foundation that explains that you have a condition that causes you to need a restroom. They need a card like that for IBS, too. You can use it in an emergency in places where there may be no public restroom, but you know they have a bathroom! Very cool! I have found though that if I explain that I am not feeling well and it is an emergency, they let me right in! I used this most recently at my bank. 
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Beth
IBS-D, IBD, Pain
Working toward stability
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I used to get up 2 or 3 hours before I needed to leave. I would just start my day earlier and go to bed earlier. Do my cleaning or homework when I had classes or pay bills, etc..., get everyhting out of my system and then be off to work. Now though I've stabilized and I don't worry about it so much. I listen to my body and take Immodium if I feel like I am going to have problems and that usually does it. I drive about 35 minutes to work and sometimes with traffic over an hour home, but so long as I don't focus on it, I usually don't have trouble.
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If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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Beth
IBS-D, IBD, Pain
Working toward stability
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Thanks for all the advice! All in all it was ok...I got up 2 hours early, took immodium upon wakening, lomotil an hour or so later when I didn't feel stable. I ended up going 3 times before I left the house, and had to stop once on the way. I had no incidences at work, but I felt rumbly later so I took another immodium just in case. The bottom line is I need this job and the IBS has to be under control. I will find out results of a blood test for celiac sprue in the next day or so. I'm wondering if I might be intolerant of grains/gluten right now. I have a lot of stress right now, so maybe that's the problem. I may have to try an anxiety med in the future. I take 25mg of nortryptaline nightly, but maybe there's something better on the market. I also may buy the hypnosis tapes when I have the money. I just want to be stable...I take SF 4 times a day, and follow the diet pretty well. I know there are others out there who know exactly what I'm talking about...thanks for understanding!
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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That's great! I refuse to let this interfere with my job also--I really like it too much, the money is good, and like most, I have bills to pay (even more now thanks to medical bills!) I am having a bad week--had to stop twice this morning. I am finding that bananas in the morning are very soothing to my stomach--almost like they stop (or at least lessen) the cramping. I don't even care if it is all in my head that they work, because they work, at least for me.
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Beth
IBS-D, IBD, Pain
Working toward stability
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