Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Hi everyone...
I'm new here but have been lurking for about a month. I was diagnosed with IBS in my 20s by two docs (without any tests whatsoever, just based on symptoms) but have been having stomach pain since I was about 5 yrs old. Anyway, I had what I guess was a flareup of IBS after my son and I had a stomach virus about a month ago. After reading the diet guidelines here I broke my coffee habit (was up to 4-5 cups a day of full strength coffee) and stopped eating chocolate (was eating solid dark chocolate every day), drastically reduced dairy (no ice cream since Thanksgiving) and started drinking lots of fennel tea. After about 3-4 days of this, I woke up with NO abdominal pain and my tummy has flattened unbelievably. Constipation gone, practically no gas. I didn't even know I was bloated, but now I can see that I was since my tummy has disappeared. I have also lost about 5 -6 pounds. All that remains is some occasional heartburn.

My question is --does this tummy flattening and weight loss seem like a normal response to the diet changes? And how long does it take to recover from a virus? I'm wondering if I should have the heartburn checked out or just wait it out. It seems to be very slowly getting better. It's kind of a new symptom for me though.

Thanks for any input. And thanks for this site. The fennel tea alone has been a revelation!

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