Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Debra:

My life-long experience with IBS has been that even the slightest wrong ingredient can trigger a lengthy attack. So even following Heather's diet may not be enough to prevent attacks. There will be some things that Heather says are "safe" that may not be safe for you individually so there's some trial and error involved in the diet.

If you want to avoid these surprise, sustained attacks, I highly recommend eating (wherever possible) organic food and preparing everything you eat so you have full control over your food supply/intake. (Don't buy prepared foods unless you absolutely know you are okay with a particular food.)

IBS is also very elusive in some ways. Sometimes you can tolerate something one day, but get sick when you eat it on the second or third day.

It took me a long time to get a handle on my IBS. Thankfully most of the time I am now its master instead of its servant.

When I used to get attacks, it would take me up to TWO WEEKS to recover and I would have to eat a very bland, boring diet during that time to allow my stomach a chance to bounce back.

I know setbacks are discouraging, but I believe it's possible for IBS people to live a virtually pain-free/attack-free life. Unfortunately, though, it takes awhile to get there and may involve some changes in which one may have to change their food supply and set aside more time for food preparation (a difficult thing for most of us to do in our fast-paced, junk food society).

Belinda

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