Hi, WS --
Heather's right about the difference between IBS and colitis. I would just add a couple of things: diet has more of an impact on the "management" of IBS than on the "treatment / cure" of colitis. While there are certain foods and beverages to avoid if you have an inflammatory bowel disease like colitis, you can pretty much eat a normal, healthy diet. IBS, however, as you may have already discovered, requires more of a trial & error process to find out which are your particular trigger foods, aside from the ones that seem to be no-no's for everyone with IBS. Regarding colitis: there are several forms of colitis and they're not all "ulcerative", although that's the type we all hear about. I was diagnosed with "mild acute colitis" in April and was put on a course of Asacol. The dx was made after a colonoscopy which showed healthy tissue to the naked eye - but microscopic inflammation. In fact, my GE said that it was SO microscopic that the pathologist couldn't pin down which of the two types of microscopic colitis it actually was! The medicine, Asacol, is an anti-inflammatory by the way. At my recent checkup, the GE decided I could discontinue the Asacol since the chronic diarrhea has disappeared. Now, if I don't follow the IBS diet carefully, I WILL have some IBS symptoms, including diarrhea - but the colitis apparently has cleared up. While you can manage the IBS yourself - a la Heather's diet, exercise, stress reduction, etc - after a physician has ruled out anything more serious - you should probably be followed by a physician, preferably a gastroenterologist, for the "inflammation" - because it can indicate a serious but treatable condition. By the way, did you learn of the inflammation from a colonoscopy? If you've never had one, you may want to consider asking your doctor about whether or not it would be an appropriate test for you. I'm 51, so it was a no-brainer! -- Hope this is helpful.
Blessings,
Kaybee C
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Re: Colitis vs. IBS
