Heather, could it be other than IBS? Soluble fiber and diet don't seem to be working....
#68088 - 05/06/04 07:11 AM
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Roz
Reged: 02/29/04
Posts: 35
Loc: New York
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I've written several times about my husband...he has had every GI test done and the doctors have found nothing. As I had written once before, we think the 2 colonoscopies he had exacerbated his condition. The last doctor we saw, who is supposedly excellent, said to eat everything and buy "depends". Before we totally give up on doctors, I see the name Dr. Jane Geders on Heather's list...has anyone tried her? We are in the Westchester County, New York area.
My husband has been following Heather's diet for several months now and takes 1 1/2 tsp of acacia morning and evening. He also takes the peppermint tea and pills when needed. He continues to have D almost every day and loads of gas and rumbling in the lower colon.
Please help!! He's not sure if the condition has worsened since being on the soluble fiber, but it doesn't seem to have gotten any better either.
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Roz
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That's still not a lot of Acacia. He should try and slowly work up to about 6x that!
Also, are you sure that you've ruled out all the triggers? You need to cut them ALL out to stabilise, even if then you can cheat occasionally.
Has he tried Immodium? I was on this for a while and it really helped to stabilise me. Now I only take it on really bad days.
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Hi Linz,
Yes, he does take immodium when he absolutely has to (if he has to go out) and it does help alot. How much acacia do you take? (( 6x what he is taking (3tsp daily)sounds like so much..and he is getting so much gas that we are afraid the fiber is causing that))
We tried keeping a diary, but couldn't seem to figure out the triggers..even when he ate the same thing each day, one day he would be good and the next day..D. It's a real mystery to us.  Thanks so much for your advice.
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fiber
#68126 - 05/06/04 07:58 AM
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jenX
Reged: 08/11/03
Posts: 3252
Loc: Richmond, VA
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Heather says you can get up to a maximum of 3 tablespoons a day (divided). i would recommend that your husband up his acacia dose again. it needs to be done slowly, as i know many of us do get gassy when we increase the dose. i drink a lot of fennel tea during those times, and it really helps. You may find it helpful to reread Heather's info on acacia.
would you feel comfortable posting his food lists for a few days? we may be able to help you find some triggers you may be overlooking...
keep in mind, triggers can be things other than food. stress is a major trigger, and things that are seemingly benign, like a cold drink, can set off cramping and diarrhea! i know i am likely to get an attack if i overheat (really looking forward to summer.  ). are you checking labels for hidden dairy? is each meal strongly based in soluble fiber? are meals small and frequent, or are they big meals just 3 times a day? are you avoiding things like MSG and aspartame? even though things like MSG and aspartame and dairy products never bothered me before IBS, i find that i am extremely sensitive to them now. it sucks, but it's true. i think many people figure since they "used to be able to" tolerate something, then it's not a trigger for them!
i think a food diary is great, but it needs to contain a lot of other information for many of us to get help from it. i would track how much sleep he got the night before, what the weather is, maybe a stress level on a scale of 1-10 or something similar, so he has an easy frame of reference.
maybe your husband should go back to the book or this site and reread to see if anything was missed when you first read it. i did that when i wasn't improving and found about 4 things that didn't register the first time i read the books! also, it may be a good idea for your husband to go back to what to eat when you can't eat anything, and see if he can stabilize. he should. if he doesn't, there may be additional problems going on. once stable, slowly add foods/drinks back in following the rules of this diet and keeping a careful record. it may be easier to identify triggers that way.
hopefully upping the acaica will help, and identifying any lingering triggers should seal the deal.
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Re: fiber
#68165 - 05/06/04 08:54 AM
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Roz
Reged: 02/29/04
Posts: 35
Loc: New York
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Thanks Jen for your suggestions...we'll start upping the acacia today.
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and I would just second all of it. As an aside, I've had docs tell me that anyone diagnosed with IBS-diarrhea who doesn't stabilize on 12-15 grams daily of a soluble fiber supplement doesn't have IBS after all, and this should be a big red flag for some other underlying problem. So if you get to that point, I would have your hubby brave a new doc (not fun, I know).
You might also have him add in peppermint, either tea or the caps or both. That can really help calm things down and get him stable.
Hope he's feeling better soon.
- Heather
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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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