my daughter
#162497 - 03/20/05 04:26 PM
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I am a new member of this message board, and I am hoping that someone can provide guidance for me and my daughter. My daughter recently turned 18, and has been in constant abdominal pain since she was 14. She has severe IBS-Constipation and, due to the severity of her symptoms (pain, constipation, bloating), is significantly underweight. She has also developed severe food allergies. When her constipation problems are at their worst, she has to use Phosphosoda laxative.
She needs help with pain management and a dietitian who is expert in dealing with the problems of IBS and food allergies. The dietitians in our area tend to specialize in eating disorders and have been of no help to my daughter. They only push calories and ignore the reasons that my daughter has difficulty in eating fats, sugar, wheat, etc.
Has anyone had any success in dealing with CONSTANT pain with IBS? Since my daughter is allergic to many medications, I wonder about spinal cord stimulation. Has anyone tried it? And, does anyone have advice concerning the weight-gain, dietitian issue?
Thank you very much.
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Hi! Sorry to hear about your daughter's problems. When I was suffering constant pain I found the low doses of amitryptilene (sp?) the doctors put me on to be very helpful- I know a lot of people have benefited from low doses of antidepressants when in constant pain. Has your daughter tried this?
On a side note- you're a music prof? I'm working on my Phd and teaching theatre to undergraduates right now... what school are you at?
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I'm so sorry to hear about what your daughter is going through. Many people with IBS, unfortunately go through periods (short, or long like your daughter's) of constant pain.
Has you daughter tried out this diet? A soluble fiber supplement? If not I highly recommend both. Take a look around this site for all the guidelines - they are extremely helpful and a huge relief after (as most of us have experienced) very unhelpful doctors' advice.
Lots of people on here are trying to gain weigh too - not many of them post too much on this forum but try doing a search of the diet forum for weight gain. Many of them probably rely a lot on sugar to help pack on calories but that's just another challange. The biggest thing for helpering her gain weight is getting her stable, I'd imagine. Go to the 'what to eat when you can't eat anything diet' for a few days (and only a few days for constipation) - you can find that page in the diet & recipes section, 'how to eat' tab. And then gently begin to reintroduce insolubles. That's the really short version of it - please read all the guidelines on this site.
Trust me, it *IS* possible for her to feel better! And to gain weight. Have hope! And keep coming here too, these forums are great for asking questions because no matter what it is, someone else is been through it. Maybe she could start her own account too so she could post on here as well.
Oh, and welcome! 
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Thanks for your reply. My daughter did try amitriptyline, Effexor, Neurontin, Zoloft, valium, Zelnorm, etc, but nothing helped her -- in fact, her symptoms either got worse, or she developed allergic reactions or bad side effects. Due to her reactions to almost all medications, she needs to try non-pharmacologic treatment.
I teach at a university in Wisconsin. I hope that your PhD studies are going well.
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Thank you for your reply, encouragement, and guidance. I will have my daughter read your post and look up the diet guidelines. She will likely open her own account. Thanks again.
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I agree with retrograde. The best way to get your daughter to gain weight and feel better is to do Heather's diet. Have her read through all the guidelines on this website. With a good fibre supplement, and eating properly, she should start to feel better. Is she taking a fibre supplement? If not, that's where I would start. Try acacia, benefiber, equalactin, citrucel. Just make sure to start at a very low dose and work her way up SLOWLY. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get on the right supplement as well. If she gets bloating and gas and pain, it's a sign to try another one.
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Formerly HanSolo. IBS, OCD, Bipolar, PTSD times 3.
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