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As of today, I have officially been stable, no D, for 7 whole months!! wwwwwwwwoooooohhhhhhhoooooo It's been over three years since that's happened (my IBS got much worse around that time.) How did I do it? I got serious about Heather's diet. Specifically for me, it was a combination of three things, any two of which were not enough -- it took ALL THREE!

1. Heather's diet, especially no alcohol, no red meat, low fat, not too many calories at each meal, and most importantly making soluble fiber foods the basis of each meal. (Love my starches!!) I hear ya girlfiend!!

2. Soluble fiber supplement, full recommended dose. Metamucil works for me although it gives some people gas. I had to work up to the full dose very gradually, but now if I miss a dose my tummy lets me know right away!! Yes, SFS is very important....I don't know how I ever lived without it....oh wait, yes I do....in pain!

3. Meds, both Rx and OTC. I had been prescribed Bentyl but was only taking it when I felt an attack coming on. When I checked with my doctor he said to try taking it every day. BINGO!! That's when I finally got stable. I also take a generic version of Gas-X every day, plus acidophilus probiotic twice a day. AND whenever I feel even a teensy bit iffy, I take Imodium, which thank goodness does NOT make me C in the amounts I take. In addition, some of the meds I take for other health issues also help with the D, for example Elavil (amitryptiline sp?) and Xanax (alprazolam).

I don't mind taking meds if they help. I figure they're like SFS for the brain!! If I had penicillin or diabetes I wouldn't hesitate to take my meds. IBS is no different. Okay, maybe if I followed Heather's diet EXACTLY, I wouldn't need meds. I do cheat in some areas for various reasons (some health related). But I KNOW I'm cheating and I'm NOT in denial about it, thinking "Oh, it's okay, I can eat this with no problem." It's a trade off that I can live with, but I would NOT recommend that anyone else cheat in the areas I do. In fact I refuse to even say what they are because I don't want to encourage anyone and then have a problem. So when asked I will always say, "Do what I say (follow Heather's diet EXACTLY), not what I do." Amen!

Cheers and here's to an IBS free week for all of us. Cheers! (I'm holding up my water bottle)

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Hey LS,

WOW, what an achievement! I'm so proud of you.

Thank you!!

I have a couple of questions for you? Do you take the Elavil everyday (my mom takes it to sleep) for sleep or something else?

Yes, I take it every day for my fibromyalgia related sleep disorder. It promotes deep delta wave sleep which we fibro'ers don't get enough of.

Does it help? Lord, yes! I never knew what it was like to be well rested. I thought being so tired I needed a nap every afternoon (even at work!! ) was just part of getting old. IT'S NOT! Now when I lie down to rest during the day, I relax, but I don't fall asleep! I CAN'T nap anymore because my body knows it doesn't need it -- how cool is that! (Well, except when I get a migraine, but that's for different reasons.)

Also, I have taken Xanax (which worked great) for my anxiety & panic attacks. I only take it rarely, though. The Librax that I take everyday seems to help under normal stress circumstances. But for the big stress times I need something stronger...You know what I mean???? I ran out of it the other day and had not refilled it for a long time and called my doc to get some more. The nurse called me back and said that doc no longer likes to give out Xanax and would call in Serax (she said it was like Xanax) Do you know anything about Serax? I got the prescription filled and now I have it and have "fear of taking something new". I really don't need it today but I know I will probably with the grandbaby coming and having to take a plane trip soon.. Both which stress me out big time.

I looked Serax up and it does say it is in the same family as Xanax. Then.....why not just give me the Xanax???

Not sure on this one, sweetie. Maybe it's some new and improved version with fewer side effects or cheaper?? But I wouldn't be afraid to take it. I usually test drive new meds by taking one on a safe day just to see how it feels before I really need it! Anyway, sorry I missed your post!

Barbie

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I can not imagine seven months with no D. I did take your advice and took half an imodium yesterday and that worked. I thank you for all your postings, Derek

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