Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

It is not your "fault" (as I'm sure your therapist would tell you

). You're not stupid. If you're doing something that means your IBS is not getting better, you'll figure it out and fix it. Yelling at your body is fine and so is crying.

My guess would be stress. If I had to fly across the country, to a wedding I didn't want to attend, to see a family I had huge unresolved active issues with, I'm pretty sure I'd be stressed beyond belief. (Actually I did and I was, but that was blessedly pre-IBS.) Add to that a shifting schedule and not enough sleep and (if I remember correctly) being pretty new to Heather's IBS Diet and I think destabilizing is perfectly understandable.

So that's part of it. Now it may be that you can do some food stuff that will help even if you can't do much about the stress right now. If I were to identify a food culprit, I'd pick Gatorade. It has glucose-fructose syrup in it and there is no way to know how much fructose that means. Try eliminating that.

Beyond that, food-wise, you could try - or re-try - the BTC diet or the What To Eat When You Can't Eat Anything diet for a few days. That might help settle things down whether it's diet or stress.

Non food-wise, rely on Imodium - maybe try it as a preventive. You might also talk with your doctor about an anti-spasmodic or an anti-anxiety drug. I'd double-check with your therapist about that, though - therapy can be less effective if you're chemically supressing your feelings with anti-anxiety drugs.

And pay attention to that little whisper in your mind. I sometimes think learning to do that is the truest goal of therapy.

I hope this helps. Take care.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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