Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Mixed progress notes and a rough food diary (sorry, long)

Well, as some of you might have read, I did a bit of grocery shopping Tues of this week. I found a wealth of interesting natural food products, as well as the usual ones I've grown to like. I made notations. Basically, about every month, I try to buy a few new things to incorporate into my IBS diet routine. This time I am nearly out of money and am not sure if I'll have enough to buy groceries to cover the entire month, especially the way I have to eat - the IBS diet itself, and the fact that I have to eat at least 6 meals a day, usually more. If I go more than 2hrs w/o food, I get pretty nauseous and my blood sugar drops (and my blood sugar is actually normal), it's just that I've always eaten that way. Several small meals and snacks a day is a better way to eat than 3 large ones; better for your metabolism, stabalizing blood sugar, and as Heather has explained, so that our colons are always working on something.

This past Tues afternoon and evening were some of my best IBS hours that I can remember in 6yrs. Wed morning was a bit exciting too. Unfortunately, I got really sick for some reason later on during Wed., so sick in fact that I literally couldn't eat. I mean I couldn't even swallow, let alone chew and swallow food.

But let me go back to Tues. I spent a fortune on a small bottle of Beano tablets, generic Gas-X, Lactaid tablets (just in case), a box of Digestive Advantage for IBS, a box of Eater's Digest organic herbal tea, and an armful of my favorite soy products (Soysation slices in cheddar and a package in swiss, Silk unsweetened soy milk, Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, a few bags of Soysation shreds in Cheddar/pepper jack flavor...the store was renovating so a lot of their usual products were moved or weren't restocked yet.) I'll be back though, and hopefully I can afford to get the rest of the groceries I need/want. I bought a few other new products other than the tea and the gas meds; a can of organic soup (Wolfgang Puck's Chicken w/wild rice), Naturally Preferred brand spaghetti sauce in mushroom flavor, Spectrum spread (a butter substitute), and Nayonaise (the original not the grapeseed oil one). I have yet to try the Spectrum or the Nayonaise.

When I got home, I followed the directions on the Beano and the generic Gas-X and took a Digestive Advantage tablet (even though I still had some Zelnorm left) and had a bagel w/the Tofutti. I also brewed up some of the Eater's Digest tea. I also took the Beano before my first bite of dinner, which was chicken stuffed shells. It was a very comfortable evening/night and when I woke up Wed, I didn't have the usual stomach cramping that I always have every morning. I had some mild PMS cramping, but that was so mild I was okay with it. I'd also eaten about 8 maybe 10 plain table water crackers before I had gone to bed Tues, hoping these wouldn't hurt me as much as sesame seed table water crackers did. Luckily, they didn't seem to cause a problem.

I had another bagel w/Tofutti for breakfast, some cranberry juice, and some tea with the usual meds.

Later on Wed though I just felt weird. Maybe it's b/c my doc altered my meds a bit (I'm on a lot of various meds both OTC and RX) and I always ask my doc and pharmacist about drug interactions and IBS interactions. Wed night I barely choked down a nutritional shake (Equate which is the generic equivalent to Ensure and is dairy-free), but eating bread was just too hard to swallow. I was nauseous and I wanted to gag every time I tried to put food to my mouth. I drank lots of water though with a peppermint Altoid dissolved in it. I tried taking some ginger capsules for the nausea, but they didn't work (sometimes they work for me). Even midday on Wed I couldn't eat, couldn't drink anything but water. It was freaking me out. I was about ready to call my doc or 911.

I couldn't sleep well at all last night b/c I was so sick yesterday I just laid there, unable to move and eventually fell asleep and was surprised I woke up in time for my counseling appt. I was starving. I tried to eat a tv dinner called Amy's Macaroni and Soy Cheeze, but again, I couldn't. I drank some more water, was barely able to manage a Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Apple Cinnamon granola bar. Dinner was, as I mentioned, a can of generic Ensure and I also tried to eat some sourdough bread. I finished the drink, but only got about 3/4 of a large slice of sourdough down. I felt so nauseous and miserable. But I didn't have any gas or bloating! *rolls eyes at herself*

This morning I have a lot to do, although I slept poorly last night, I got up out of bed after waking up after 2hrs and lounged around wondering if I should try eating again. I finally decided on watery Gerber Rice Cereal w/bananas. Instead of eating it like normal, I drank it from a cup. It seemed to help. I feel a little bit better now. I took a shower and not too long ago had a bowl of oatmeal (finishing up the last of the Quaker instant maple and brown sugar) and am sipping this tea. My tummy feels fairly decent right now.

On an interesting note, it looks like my state medicaid now covers Zelnorm as a prior approval drug, only. Hopefully my doc will help me out with that, and hopefully I'll get approval.

The only thing I haven't done in a few days is taken any of the Citrucel Clear Mix. Sometimes I forget and sometimes I'm afraid that I'll have to have a BM and the bathroom will be in use and holding it in doesn't help.

Thanks for reading and for everyone's support and help.

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XOXO from lil' ol' me.

(IBS-C, mood disorders, etc., etc.)

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