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Ok i'm totally new at this game. So, I'm trying to get information from 1) you guys 2) my doctor 3) my pharmacist 4) my nutritionist. Some information do cross over but many remains contradictary.
First I just wanted to say that is totally normal. Everyone has different advice it seems and the thing about IBS that I have found not only for myself but for so many of the other people who have it is that IBS is an extremely personal thing. What works for one person, may not work for another and so forth. This is when things like food diaries, and just paying extra careful attention to the new things you are doing AND having an open mind and be willing to try different things comes in handy. After my D-attack yesterday morning, I took imodium and I took two more today. Didn't go since yesterday, but I had mild cramps all day long. Did I BTC or not? How do you know you BTC?
I'm sorry, but I am unfamiliar with this term. What does BTC mean? I will address the cramping, though.. A lot of times immodium can help people with cramping, but some people find no relief in any symptom from immodium except for the D.
I'm really confused about what you are saying about SFS. How can it be good for C and D at the same time. All the medical personal I talked to about it says it's good for D if you drink less water (not cut the water altogether, which would be wrong, you're right), but they all say if you drink a lot of water with it turn into a laxative.
Okay, keeping in mind that I am not a doctor or anything, I can't say live by my advice BUT I have never heard of anyone saying that drinking water was BAD for you. I do know people that end up drinking SO MUCH that they strip some things they are putting in their body but to get to that point you have to be drinking and absurd amount of water.
Water is very important to keeping your body hydrated, especially if you are having frequent D. Water is not a laxative. Fiber and water go hand and hand and oftentimes fiber is not very effective without sufficient water.
For more information on Soluble fiber, try reading HERE and it will give you a better idea of what it is and what it does.
It DOES work for both IBS-D AND C. Before I was taking anything else, I started taking fiber and although it is a rocky road at first while your body adjusts to it, it did help. It helps by binding all the stuff in you together and absorbing the extra water that would cause the D. It's not drinking water that causes this, by the way.
I don't no what to do. And about your experience, did you really mixed the imodium with SFS without any problems?
Yep, sure did. I started taking fiber as an every day way of controlling my IBS. I took immodium as a preventative and only AS NECESSARY to help me stabalize. Fiber is not something you take when you get an attack, so you should look at it as something you are adding in to your every day routine to help prevent more symptoms in the long run.

About the tea, you said we can have all the tea we want. And what is Reflux? Sorry if i'm asking questions you probably heard a few thousand times.
When I was really unstable, I probably drank about 6 cups of tea a day and they did give me relief. Now that I have found other things that help me, I drink tea less often but I have never had a bad reaction. I could still drink 6 cups of tea a day if I wanted to and not expect any problems whatsoever.
Reflux is when acid from your stomach comes back up your esophagus. It is an upper GI problem that unfortunately lotsa IBS folks tend to have in different severities. It's heartburn/indigestion.. that sort of thing. If you have reflux, peppermint becomes a problem because it can cause the reflux to get worse and you'll be more likely to get indigestion and that throat burning awfulness. You'd know if you had it, most likely but there are tests for it.

Thanks a mil
No problem!! Hope some of this helps, good luck! Don't forget to have a good look around the site, especially the Frequently Asked Questions link to find out some of the more asked questions. It might help take some of the confusion out for ya!
Cheers!
--Steph

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