Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

A probiotic is good bacteria. It's sort of the opposite of an antibiotic because it adds bacteria in, rather than killing them off. Some people think IBS is partly caused or made worse by too few good bacteria and/or too many bad bacteria. If you take a probiotic, you're giving your body good bacteria which may help you digest your food.

A prebiotic is a substance that helps feed the good bacteria. So it's something you might take before you take the probiotic, so the bacteria have a kind of food they like and are more likely to take up residence in your gut.

An SFS is a Soluble Fiber Supplement. As Heather explains it, Soluble Fiber is good for IBS because it helps normalize the colon spasms (that's a really simplified version). It's hard to eat enough Soluble Fiber to make a difference to an IBS colon, so she strongly recommends taking a Soluble Fiber Supplement to get enough Soluble Fiber to calm down your gut.

Miralax is a laxative. I think that in the US it's only available by prescription. A lot of people believe it's safe to use everyday because it works by drawing water into your gut to make it easier to have a BM. That makes it gentler than laxatives that force your colon to move. I don't have an opinion on Miralax, since I've never had to use a laxative, but I know some people swear by it so you might discuss it with your doctor.

Acidopholus is one kind of probiotic. It's a particular kind of good bacteria that a lot of people think is particularly important for your gut. It's also the kind found in yogurt, if I remember correctly, so it's one you can get "naturally". (I don't think our bodies care whether we get our bacteria naturally from soy yogurt or unnaturally from a pill.)

If that means you keep going back to eating just Soluble Fiber foods, that seems to be a really bad idea for people who are C. If you're C, you need Insoluble Fiber to make you go. The trick is to eat Insoluble Fiber with enough Soluble Fiber to cushion it.

You might consider keeping track of what you're eating for a couple of days and posting it on this Board. People here are very good about taking a look at information like that and making suggestions that might help.

If you didn't see it, Heather had a series of FAQs about Constipation in a couple of recent newsletters. You can look at old newsletters here. Maybe some of those suggestions would help.

For the bloating, people recommend fennel tea and Gas-X, so you might try those.

I'm sorry you're having such a terrible time. I hope this helps.

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

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