I seem to be having more attacks since trying all this stuff
#61857 - 04/16/04 10:06 AM
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In the past I'd have an attack maybe once a month. Was still drinking my diet sodas then and regular in between attacks but when they hit, it was cramping for hours and bad diahhrea. Now I'm using citrucil on a regular basis, watching more what I eat and having attacks about once a week. IBS - C since starting the citrucil. I've been taking a pep cap right before my dinner (which is always when I get attacks) and then if one hits I quickly chew an equalactn and have a glass of water. The cramps seem to last longer till I have a BM, and then go to bed and when I wake up it continues for a few more looser but not watery poops. Although it's not watery now, I'm concerned about why I'm having more attacks. I've purchased some acacia but not ready to start it yet as I'm getting ready to go on vacation and don't want to have unknown worse reactions to something new while I'm gone. Last night I had a tiny bit of pasta with just a bit of balsamic vinegrette (like a teaspon - never has bothered me before) with a piece of salmon (baked in foil with a tiny bit of garlic, basil, lemon & a tiny bit of olive oil) one of the ibs recipies I found on here & a pep cap. Then 2 hrs later the attack starts. Is salmon especially an oily fish? Does anyone else have problems with salmon? I've gotten sick on salmon before but it was smoked or cooked with terryaki which I found out a long time ago didn't agree with me. Maybe it's just the fish itself? 
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Could be the types of fiber you're taking. When I took Citrocel, it made me worse! Then I took Benefiber and I felt much better. I'm not trying Acacia, not sure yet how this is. So maybe you should switch fibers and see how that goes.
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IBS-C
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I could give benefiber a try. I know I can't take fiberchoice, had an attack with that (someone said the inulin in that was a problem for some people.) Also can't take metamucil. I could start my own pharmacy with all the stuff I've bought that doesn't work. Thanks for the suggestion. Has anyone else had success with benefiber vs citrucil?? Hate to spend all this money on the unknown. Just still uncomfortable about the acacia since it's not known by doctors or sold in markets(& I'm assuming not FDA approved?) Sorry Heather. Just being honest here. If I do end up on the Acacia and it works for me I'll be telling the world.
Edited by crampgirl (04/16/04 11:21 AM)
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Diet Sodas?
#61882 - 04/16/04 11:31 AM
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Bevvy
Reged: 11/04/03
Posts: 5918
Loc: Northwest Washington State
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Crampgirl, you're not drinking that soda anymore, are you?
It's not the salmon. While salmon contains essential omega-3 oil, it's not like "regular" oil, and it's very beneficial. It wouldn't be the culprit.
There's something else going on here. You don't drink coffee, do you? Decaf?
Your attack is C with cramps, yes? And the peppermint caps aren't relieving the cramps? And you're taking Citrucel? Pills or powder? How much?
Well, I don't know anything about C -- that's certainly never been an issue with me! -- but I'm surprised the peppermint caps aren't helping with the cramps.
It's too bad you're going on vacation right now; otherwise, I'd suggest switching from the Citrucel. Are you nervous or anxious about the vacation? Worrying about bathrooms along the route? (Do C-ers worry about bathrooms? I guess not, eh? That's just us D-ers.) Is there a lot of stress going on with you right now?
Have you thought about seeing the doctor for some meds? If the peppermint caps aren't helping with those cramps, I'd call the doc. Sometimes you just need the "heavy-duty" stuff.
Bev
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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Acacia
#61883 - 04/16/04 11:34 AM
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Bevvy
Reged: 11/04/03
Posts: 5918
Loc: Northwest Washington State
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CrampGirl, don't be afraid to try it. You ordered it, you have it, just try it. What do you have to lose? You're already having cramps and C. It can do nothing more than relieve those symptoms, right?
I used to take Citrucel, but I switched to the acacia. I didn't have any problems at all EXCEPT when I increased the dosage too soon. Acacia has done nothing but help me.
Never tired Benefiber, sorry.
Bev
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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No soda. No coffee. Was doing tea till I found out it can cause kidney stones. Well, maybe one tea a week. Yes, now it's C with cramps. I initially was on Citrucil tabs but switched to powder. One heaping tablespoon a day. Could be stressed about the trip but I am leaning toward food/fiber issues. Don't really worry about bathrooms along the route. I plan to go back to my doctor after this trip and try for another colonoscopy (God, I hate to start hat whole GI doc stuff again) and maybe another med. Don't want something I have to take daily and feel groggy. Had a bad bentyl experience. I haven't had a colonoscopy in about 7 yrs, since my hysterectomy so I'm way overdue being middle aged.
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Quote:
(Do C-ers worry about bathrooms? I guess not, eh? That's just us D-ers.)
I'm an A-er and sometimes you can't tell the difference and panic and think you needa find a bathroom fast and then..whoa...never mind  Although there are sometimes when I can totally tell if it's one or the other..eh..who knows! Try being in a car ride from LA to bay area b4 being diagnosed w/ibs and having a mcdonald's milkshake on empty stomach.  I don't think my stomach had ever hurt so badly and wow...I was in the bathroom like all night (even once i got home  )
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If you live life to love, you'll love to live life.
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That's not really a lot. Is this just one dose or divided? You want to have a dose before each meal.
- 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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Re: Acacia
#61923 - 04/16/04 01:09 PM
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rosey
Reged: 04/05/04
Posts: 23
Loc: Roseville, CA
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Scanning for Acacia via google.com I found its included in lots of things. One-a-Day vitamins even has it listed as an ingredient. I've been taking Heather's Acacia for about 4 days now (after taking the Fibercon for a week) and I've noticed that I'm having normal BMs and much more stable.
Rosey
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Heather, I was trying to work up to more but didn't know if the amount I was already taking was causing problems of blockage (with my additional problem of scartissue/adhesions) so have been afraid to increase it yet. In the past metamucil would block me so bad I'd have to vomit it up so I gave up on this type of thing all together for years. I've even spoken to a surgeon who said more surgery to remove scar tissue just makes more scar tissue. If you cut one piece it forms scar tissue on each end which doubles it. So between IBS and scar tissue I'm a mess.
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I've never found any talk about UniFiber here, but it was suggested to me a few years back by a nurse at my GI docs office. It's a little hard to find....I am only occasionally able to find it at Walmart. I haven't taken it for a while, but when I did, it worked well. The nice thing about it is that you can mix it with any soft food...yogurt, pudding, etc. And it's all natural if I remember right.
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Hi Crampgirl - Are you drinking enough water for the soluble fiber supplement to work? I know sometimes if I slack on my water I can get a little C-ish. What version of the Citrucel are you using - you're not using sugar-free are you?
It could be the salmon. Salmon is higher in fat - it's a good fat, but your bowel could care less if it's a good or bad kind. Either way it's still fat. Others have posted that just can't do salmon. Or, did you not have enough soluble with your salmon? Did you take the supplement before you ate, or were you just counting on the pasta as your soluble?
And are you absolutely sure you've cut out all triggers? Are you sure that red meat you still eat once a week couldn't be causing you problems?
Hope something there helps you figure out what's going on! 
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Mags, I had a full glass of citrucil and water about an hour before dinner and then the pasta before tackling the salmon. Seems like enough soluables to me. Before I started all this fibre stuff I had been eating even more red meat and no attacks for months. The last red meat I had was over a week ago. I've been eating plain chicken most of this week & thought I'd try some fish. Back to my safe tuna.
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How much water do you drink throughout the day is what I meant - not what you had regarding this meal. If I don't have enough water throughout the day I have C problems.
And maybe it is that you and Citrucel don't get along. Maybe you should try the acacia.
Hope you feel better soon.
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I have a glass with me all day long and keep filling it. Maybe 6-8 glasses I'm guessing.
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Hmm...see you had the fiber right before dinner, so it very much could have been the fiber giving you pain. Try taking the fiber in the morning and see if it gives you cramps.
--------------------
IBS-C
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I think you could probably drink more. I can't remember the exact amount we're supposed to drink, but I can go by what I do drink. In the am, I drink a pint (2 cups) with my Citrucel. Then, I have a peppermint/fennel tea with/after breakfast. Then, when I get to work I open a 24 oz water and my goal is to have that finished before I go to lunch. Come back from lunch, pop open another 24 oz - that one has to be gone before I leave work. Before dinner, I have another pint w/ Citrucel. Sooo, that right there (not counting my tea) brings me to 10 cups of water a day, plus my "miscellaneous" teas throughout the day.
So, I have problems on the weekends, because I don't give myself that goal to have water by.
I don't know if upping your water a little will help you, but it can't hurt. When you have your attacks after dinner, are they D or C attacks? I know you said you had D before, but now feel C-ish, so I was a little confused on what types you have after dinner. I was thinking if it was a C attack after dinner, maybe the water could help, but if it's D attacks I don't know - maybe bumping up your fiber supplement like Heather suggested? Or switching?
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I'll have to make a point to add more water. I used to drink even more but I guess I've slacked off a bit lately. I thought we were supposed to have the citrucil/fiber first thing in the morning and again before dinner. Maybe I should change the times so it's not so close before a meal. Maybe my tummy is just too full then with fiber and food and we know too much in the tummy itself can bring on an attack too.
I guess my attacks now are C and not D. Hours of cramping and BM but not D type anymore, probably because of the fiber.
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One more thing I didn't think of till now (duh - sorry ), how is your insoluble fiber? Are you getting enough of that to help prevent C also? I just realized I didn't think of that before.
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I'm gradually increasing it but also (with my adhesions/which could mean possible partial obstruction) I'm going slow until I can get another colonoscopy which I won't be able to do for a few more mos. Long story. 
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I have tried Benefiber and I find it stabilizes me more.
With Citrucel it actual promotes me to have more bowel movements as to diarrhea and then causes excess cramps. My doctor highly recommended the Citrucel. I had never really asked about the others until I got to this board and brought Heather's book and there is a section in the Month2 about Soluble Fibers that I have a question, maybe someone can answer if not answered already.
On page 163 she writes
"Make sure that your soluble fiber supplements are not the sugar-free variety as artificial sweeteners can cause diahrrhea in sensitive people." This is from the book of the First Year of IBS and I was reading the Benefiber canister and it says that it is sugar free. I am confused as this does not cause excess diahrrhea but the Citrucel does. So I am confused. What do you think, am I interpreting this wrong?
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What does the benefiber say it uses as its artificial sweetner, sortibal, aspertame, something else?
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I read the label and I do not see that indicator, all it says is that it is sugar free. I find great results with it over Citrucel and that is the one, Citucel that my doc recommeded. Question in reading Benfiber it says to use one Tablespoon in 4 oZ of water and to use 2 if drinking 8 0z, what type of fiber is Benefiber over Citucel. Why do you think my doc would recommed Citucel over Benefiber?
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A Vaughan - check Heather's info on various fibers at web page . She knows a lot more about it than I do. Possibly benefiber is newer. Some doctors just seem married to their one type of fiber. I had one doc that always said to take metamucil but I and most others her have problems with it. If benefiber works good for you that is good. I have been considering trying that myself and also acacia, just haven't switched over yet. Maybe the sugar free in benefiber means there is no type of sugar at all, including artificial. It is the artificial kind that hurts most of us. Why don't you type in all the ingredients and someone may recognize any artificial sweetners if they are in there. I think citrucil (memory here) has methylcelulose as it's fiber source. Type that in on the internet as a search to find out more about what exactly it is. Keep us posted.
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The ingredients
Partially Hydrolyzed Guar Gum ( A 100% natural fiber) I found this on the net about it
Partially hydrolyzed guar gum: clinical nutrition uses.
Slavin JL, Greenberg NA.
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. jslavin@umn.edu
OBJECTIVE: This paper provides a review of research on partially hydrolyzed guar gum that is relevant to clinical nutrition practice. METHODS: All relevant papers published on partially hydrolyzed guar gum were reviewed and the results summarized. RESULTS: Partially hydrolyzed guar gum (PHGG) is a water-soluble dietary fiber with a wide range of uses in clinical nutrition. Its low viscosity allows its use in enteral products and beverages. PHGG can be added to enteral formulas and food products as a dietary fiber source. PHGG provides the benefits associated with dietary fiber ingestion. Addition of PHGG to the diet reduced laxative dependence in a nursing home population. PHGG also reduced the incidence of diarrhea in septic patients receiving total enteral nutrition and reduced symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. PHGG also increased production of Bifidobacterium in the gut. CONCLUSION: The ease of use of PHGG and its clinical effectiveness make it a good choice in clinical nutrition practice
So I guess I will stick to Benefiber and toss Citrucel to the side. I will also try fibercon to see if this works as well I need to have something portable as the Benefiber is powder, too bad that they do not make that in tablets, I would live on it. Thanks you all have been help here, I am new and I have found more results on this site than any where else. My doctor has been helpful but I never really got a jist of what I had even though he explained it to me, I never understood it. Finding this site by accident was a great thing. Thank you !!
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Wait I am excited, I just found out that Benefiber comes in chewable tablets. I love it. :-)
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which is just dandy. Often the supplements that say "sugar free" have artificials sweeteners instead - you don't want that. Benefiber doesn't have either, so no problem there. 
- 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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we aren't suppose to use sugar-free citracel? i thought that would be okae bcos it was "sugar free." should i go buy the non-sugar free type?
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When it says sugar free with citrucil it means it has "artificial" sweetners which can hurt us. Benefiber says sugar free but doesn't have any artificial sweetners. Watch out for artificial sweetners like aspertame, sorbital and others.
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