newbie needing encouragement
#272892 - 07/07/06 09:11 AM
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Alyson
Reged: 07/06/06
Posts: 10
Loc: Austin, Texas
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Hi, I'm new to the boards, but not new to IBS (diagnosed six years ago). Another member suggested I post here. I'm in need of some encouragement, maybe some advice too.
I've managed to keep my symptoms in remission for the better part of the last few years, but I have experienced a lot of stress this year and so have been suffering a nasty flare-up for a couple of months.
The most frustrating symptom is my gut spasms, which come and go. My anti-spasmodic is helping me to survive. However, it's hard to keep working in this condition, especially since my job requires that I sit all day long. Also my diet is limited--I've pretty much been stuck in Heather's "What to Eat When You Can't Eat Anything" category. My recovery seems to be following the pattern of one step forward, one step back. If I stay up just a little too late at night or try to re-introduce a food too soon, my system goes haywire and I feel as if I'm back to square one.
The last time I got this sick I lost my job and had to rest a few months before I could even start job-hunting again. I wish I could take a month off to really give my body a chance to recuperate, but it's not an option for me right now. If anyone can give some advice or anecdotes on how to keep the nose to the grindstone while the colon is acting up, I'd really appreciate it. 
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IBS is crappy (pun intended!   ) enough to have in itself but to have to work while feeling sick is awful. I'm in the same boat, I also have some other medical issues as well and I know how hard it is to go to work everyday. Have you tried the TheraCare heat patches? They are little heat patches that you can attach to your tummy, sold for menstrual cramps but work well for IBS cramps too! If you wear an untucked shirt, no one can tell you are using one. I wish I had some more advice but still trying to figure this one out for myself! Hope you feel better soon!
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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It is very effective. The last time I had a flare-up I put in one of my hypnosis Cds and the next day I was back to normal. Flare-up gone. Have you checked into the audio program here on Heather's site?
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If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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I'm both new to the boards and new to IBS. While I can't give you any advice, I can say that I know what you are going through. Working and IBS are a hard combination. Mine started after Easter with a nervous stomach and bad D after most anything I ate and just the feeling of being run over by a truck. I'm an elementary computer teacher and most days when I got sick, I couldn't even sit at school and supervise the kids on the computers. Things settled down after I pretty much quit eating (lived on chicken bullion and lost 15 lbs.) while the Drs tried to figure out what was wrong. After alot of tests, the Drs decided it was IBS. After getting Heather's book & reading it from cover to cover, I could make better choices about eating and have felt pretty normal (bloating is still an ongoing problem although fennel tea helps alot). I do great while I'm at home - my problem comes with traveling. We're on the road almost every weekend with baseball tournaments and eating out is a real hassle. I hadn't realized how much fat I was eating until IBS happened to me. The good thing is that my family is more aware of healthy eating because of this!
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Robin
IBS-A
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Thanks, all of you, for the replies. It helps just to be surrounded by others in the same boat. hohoyumyum, I didn't know about IBS hypnotherapy until recently when I finally read Heather's "First Year IBS" book. I am interested in trying it. Did you say this website has a program? Michele, I have not heard of the TheraCare patches, so thanks for the suggestion. Robin, I'm sorry to hear about your sufferings but glad you finally have a diagnosis and are taking advantage of the healthy diet IBS tends to enforce. That's a blessing I've taken note of as well. Another blessing is learning to live day by day (though I'm certainly not always good at it).
Progress report: I stayed home for most of the July 4th holiday weekend because I was having major fatigue (the hit-by-a-truck feeling, as Robin described), then felt much better by the time I had to go back to work on Wed., and then I messed up my recovery by staying up one hour past my bedtime Wed. night [gasp!]. Yesterday I felt horrible again, and on top of it I forgot to bring my lunch so I spent lunch hour hunting down food I could eat. My spasms were getting bad again, but thanks to some meds and an *early* bedtime last night I am feeling much better today. Does anyone else find themselves rebelling again and again, prolonging their recovery? I should know better by now, but I guess I just get frustrated when the recovery process drags on and on. 
Edited by Alyson (07/07/06 02:30 PM)
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http://www.helpforibs.com/hypnosis/
The IBS Audio Program (hypnosis) is available through Heather's site. Follow the above link and you'll go straight to it. It's very affordable. I went to in-person sessions with a hypnotherapist and it cost about $600.00. So $90.00 is a great deal. It will help with the IBS symptoms and will also help you get more rest. Half an hour of hypnosis is the equivalent of about 2 hours of restful sleep. Check out the hypnosis board for more info and feel free to ask any questions you have.
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If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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