Quote:

---

not sure what's going on with this. i'm not sure if this is me turning ibs-a, or just being more attuned to my system and noticing things that have always happened.

(this is where i start what we all come to here, the explicit sharing of our bathroom habits.)

i always thought i was strictly ibs-d - i never had an attack on the other end of the spectrum. the first month or so after i started the diet, with the SFS and lots of SF foods, i was going to the bathroom well and regularly, pretty consistently mid-morning. the last week or two, though, the regularity's slacked off, and i'm only going every couple of days. i still feel like i need to go, and there's gas along with it, too. (as if i totally jinxed myself a couple of days ago talking about no more gas. but this gas is a little different - it feels like it's trapped because i need to go to the bathroom but can't.) when i finally do go i either need to strain a little or sit on the toilet for a while before anything happens, and then it's not a lot, and sometimes i don't feel like i'm done - i went a few hours ago, and didn't feel done, and now i'm gassy and a little rumbly, but not at all like d rumbles, just gas rumbles. i still feel like i need to go, but don't feel like i can.

i've never considered myself to be constipated before, though looking back, there have been times when i've had strange cramps that might have been C - it's never been something i've looked for, and i've never paid such close attention to my bathroom habits as i do now, so i don't know if this is exactly new. it is new in terms of my ibs, but though it's uncomfortable, it isn't painful and there aren't spasms, so it doesn't sound like the C people get from ibs. since it's the first time i've been 'irregular' since starting to treat my ibs, i've been trying, the last week or so, to include more IF, in case that's the trouble - oatmeal, cheerios, some safer fruits & veggies - and i'm continuing to up my psyllium dose. i take donnatol occasionally, every couple of days, but it doesn't seem to be related. i've started going to the gym, but that's supposed to make things *better.* in fact, everything i've been doing lately should be making me better, not worse. and especially not worse in this strange, uncharacteristic way. i eat pretty well, avoid triggers, drink lots of water and herbal teas, i'm incorporating IF, i take my SFS, i exercise and my stress has been decreasing - what could this be? and what can i do about it?

thanks.
jaime

---