Hello Tam
I spotted your post and immediately related to it as this is my greatest fear. I often wish that I had superpowers so that I could stop time, run out and do my business, then get back to the journey with none of my fellow travellers being any the wiser! But, back to reality and I would suggest looking at coping techniques. I think the fear of this happening can be as distressing as the actual IBS and because of this, I'd offer the following advice:-
• Following the IBS eating plan including taking sol. fibre supps will increase a regular bowel function, so remember, that when you are in your comfort zone (office, home, in the bath, whatever it is for you) quite a lot of time passes without you thinking of being stuck without access to a bathroom. The thinking being, to associate this positive reinforcement of your ability to control your IBS when you are in a situation where you don't feel so comfortable, i.e. when travelling
• Have you thought of looking into the hypnotherapy cd's – I'm doing the programme at the moment at there is some imagery working about controlling the brain/gut function
• Last suggestion, and this is the toughest one for me, building up your journeys (perhaps your therapist would go with you?) so that the fear of travelling on cars/trains subsides as you get some success under your belt? I don't know your IBS history, so I'm not trying to generalise, but rather empathise as this is real big problem for me too. When I'm travelling by train, my fear of being caught without access to a bathroom got to the stage where I'd have to sit next to the loo. Then I'd have to check that the loo wasn't locked, and then I would get anxious if someone used the loo – what if I needed it? It started to really build so I started to slowly defuse the panic by sitting a little further away from the train bathroom and so on. I still need to know it's there (after all I've got chronic IBS!) but I had to prove to myself that I could live a regular life too. By car, you could start with a journey time that's ok with you, perhaps a 20 minute drive, then build this up too until you are able to tackle a journey where you can travel with a friend for a period that's comfortable for you. You could start with journey route where you know you have access to a bathroom, if you needed it.
Face the fear and show it who the boss is! Let me know how you get on, you're not the only one with this issue – I'm sure lots of IBS people can identify with what you are going through.
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Re: Worst case scenario...what would you do?
