Why does it take so long to feel better?
#317154 - 10/22/07 03:20 PM
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Zara
Reged: 06/07/06
Posts: 883
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I've been following the EFI diet strictly for almost 4 months now. But even before I didn't drink caffeine (stopped in June 06) and generally ate food low in fat. I never ate fried food. Pretty much the only change that I had to incorporate 4 months ago was no diary, and figure out the SF/IF ratio.
My question is why don't I feel stable yet? After all, IBS is a syndrome. That means that nothing is physically wrong with our digestive systems (no inflammation, polyps, cysts, etc.). So our bodies don't really need to take long time to heal because there is nothing physical to heal. I would think that once I take out the triggers it would take maybe 2 weeks for my gut to calm down and then it should work better. But provided I follow the same diet, how can I know that out of the blue, I'll just stabilize in a year (if I already gave the diet 4 months)? Why does it need to take that long?
I'm not saying I don't have good days but I also had those before, but the majority of my days are bad days. I can't remember the last time my stomach looked flat. This doesn't mean that tomorrow I will have my breakfast at KFC and eat a bucket full of fried chicken and water it down with a milkshake. I just wonder if there is maybe something else I should look into since I'm not getting better 
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant 
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Maybe it's time to look into some prescription medications for IBS: anti-spasmodics, low-dose anti-depressant/anti-anxiety pills (low doses that WILL not affect your mood). I take Buspirone and Amitritypline and both have helped a lot with the cramping.
Other folks would probably also recommend the Hypnosis for IBS therapy. Unfortunately, I haven't tried that yet, but I've heard a lot of anecdotal and clinical evidence that it works.
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Zara....i can relate to how frustrated you are...its only been 3 weeks for me and im at my wits end BUT I also have pretty serious panic disorder and anxiety where i have panic attacks that make me black out....so the last thing i needed was ibs......
Do you remember when/how your ibs started? Were you going thru a stressful period or depressed? Perhaps its not related to emotions at all and purely a physical thing.....its quite perplexing since we dont know what causes IBS...is it psychological...is it a virus....is it a parasite....etc etc etc.......i hope you feel better soon......
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I have tried Zelnorm, Amitiza, Levsin, and a bunch of doctor recommended laxatives such as Miralax, Colace, PeriColace, etc. I do have the hypnosis CDs but yet have to make myself follow the schedule. I've been slacking off Made it through about 50 days at my best. However I think they work better for people with IBS-D and I'm a C 
I would much rather find help through diet then pills since, as I mentioned before, it's a syndrome...
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant
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My IBS kind of slowly snuck up on me. I started noticing my constipation problem in my mid-teens but didn't have the cramps, pain, or bloating. That came in my early 20's. I was going through stressful times when I was 22-25 and while it might have made my IBS worse I think the onset happened earlier.
You're right, I wish I knew what cause my IBS but I think in my case it just sort of happened. I'm sorry you have to suffer from panic disorder on top of IBS, I can only imagine how much worse it has to make things
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant
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i hear you....i feel like mine sort of just "happened"......and im 46, run long distance, excercise and eat well....ive had panic disorder for 16 years and never had any stomach issues.....
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Ugh, mine came about from a traumatic colonoscopy. I noticed IBS symptons immediately afterward and telling my then GI doc at my followup visit that I noticed I'd become lactose intolerant, etc...(blood tests from a different GI doc determined that I'm NOT lactose intolerant). Meanwhile, the reason I went to for the colonoscopy was because my anxiety which had been creeping up on me was giving me tummy issues and back then (Feb of '07), I couldn't really assess just what was wrong with me.
Anyway, IBS is now here and I've got to deal with the persistent bastard. I don't follow the EFI diet strictly, but I do follow the guidelines i.e. eliminating dairy, red meats, high fats, etc. Am I better? I can't really say because the culprit is my anxiety that's making it worse. On a good day, I may experience crampies and sometimes gurglings in my stomach and the anxiety doesn't bother me. On a bad day, however, I'll feel the usual and the anxiety may kick in and I worry myself into a nausea/crampy-thinking-i'm-going-to-have-a-D-attack-eventhough-i'm-ibsC oblivion. On those days I don't eat at all. Not even drink water 'cause I'm scared to upset the tummy while I'm not home. I'm now on Day 80 of my 100 day hypnosis CDs and I have to say that I'm better than where I was back in the beginning of August when I started listening, but I don't know if it's from the CDs. It may be but I'm sure it's from the knowledge I've gained from this site AND I'm also seeing a therapist because I've developed agoraphobia. Sigh.
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Wendy IBS A thru Z 
Taking it one day at a time...
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Zara,
Could you give us a sample of what you eat? Are you still constipated most of the days?
Sincerely,
Tatyana.
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IBS-C since 2006. No signs of IBS now, it's been 4 yrs. Only dairy allergy now.
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Sure, here's my typical diet:
breakfast - oatmeal or oatmeal squares with rice milk or non-dairy yogurt with oats or low-fat granola
lunch - leftovers from dinner or a sandwich made with turkey breast and thin slices of avocado
dinner - usually recipes from Heather's book but I substitute half of white rice with wild rice, chicken with sweet potato, vegetable soup with Italian bread
snacks - cereal, bananas or apples, toast, etc. but with fruit I make sure I have SF, a small piece of chocolate or hard candy (no food colorings) or baked goods from Heather's book
I also take SFS and make sure I get at least 30g of fiber per day. I drink mostly water or "tea" - mint, fennel, ginger
So there isn't really anything wrong with my diet . I'm not constipated all the time, I have good days and bad days. I still do feel pretty crappy often and that's why I'm wondering when it's going to work...
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant
Edited by Zara (10/23/07 07:33 AM)
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Kudos to you for doing so well with the CDs! And I'm sorry about your agoraphobia! What is it exactly, it's my understanding that it's fear of unexpected events in large public area? Am I wrong?
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant
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Thanks everyone for your answers, I really appreciate them. However, noone really gave the answer to the main question I asked (which is understandable since it's a tough one and I don't know the answer either). Maybe Heather would know - Why does it take so long for the diet to kick in since this is a syndrome and thus there's nothing to heal (physically)?
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant
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I haven't been diagnosed with agoraphobia, but the workbooks that I have all point to it.
Agoraphobia is the fear of having a panic attack/losing control/getting sick in places where you can't escape (think being stuck on the subway) or places where help isn't readily available. So something as simple as me sitting in a salon chair, waiting on line, being in a meeting kind of freak me out now 'cause I feel like I'm stuck and I can't get out should I have to. When I go to the movie theater, I make sure to sit in the aisle seat should I have to get out. Crazy huh?
Last December 13, I was at work and at about 10:30ish AM, I got D. I don't know where from but it happened. Then I started feeling nauseaus and was about to hurl but somehow I fought that feeling off. I left work and got on the subway (I'm only 30 minutes away from home) and I started feeling panicky and the D and nausea feelings came back--stronger each time. I wound up getting off 2 stops later and walked to my friend's job where I used the bathroom. He then accompanied me to my stop (8 stops) and throughout the train ride I was freaking out. I was crying and scared and he was trying to calm me down 'cause the last thing I want to do is be sick in public. It was my worst "what if you get sick and you're "so far" from from" nightmare. Once I got off at my stop, all ill feelings went away--as if it never happened. Looking back I now know that it was my mental self that was exacerbating it all. Since then, this feeling of getting sick when I'm not home trickled to just standing on line at the supermarket, going 2 blocks to the laundromat, going to doctors appointments, and even mustering up the courage to go down to my lobby to get my mail! (Think Sigourney Weaver in the movie CopyCat.) Thankfully, I haven't felt like that day since but I do get panicky when I feel any little flutter in my stomach or if I'm full of malaise and nausea 'cause I start to wonder how I'm going to make it home because I'm scared that it'll be a repeat of the 13th with less luck. See, I'm always full of negative thoughts! Just this Saturday my sister and I were at the laundromat and I had to leave cause I got super nauseaus. I hurried home, symptoms went away, and then I went back out again (I also felt bad for leaving my sis stranded with my stuff). I felt better but I was still fighting my insides.
I tell ya, something's gotta give!
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Wendy IBS A thru Z
Taking it one day at a time...
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awww, poor you! That really sucks, feeling like this! I guess I never though about it this way (being a C) but we do get stuck in places where there is no place to escape
I hope the therapist will help you overcome this!
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant
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