Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | BethE

Assuming this is what you're taking, you're only getting 2 grams of SF from your SFS which I don't think is enough. Plus you're getting 1 gram of IF which I think is a bad thing for us IBS-Ders. Not that we don't need IF from our food, but I don't want to get any from my SFS.

My best dose of SFS is 20 grams of SF from my SFS. This is high for a D - I think I'm higher than almost any other D on the Boards - but I do truly believe 2 grams is too low. What I found was that Heather's diet helped with the terrible cramps and the horrible, horrible urgency, but it was getting up to a higher dose on my SFS that took care of the frequency - that go; wait 15 minutes, go again; wait 10 minutes, go again; wait 5 minutes, go again; go again right away, finally done pattern.

I take Acacia. I started very low - 1/4 teaspoon per day - and went up very slowly - stayed at a dose for 3 days, went up by 1/4 teaspoon per day, stayed at that dose for 3 days, and so on. Every so often I'd stop for a week or so at a dose and see how I felt. There are other SFS besides Acacia that are just SF with no IF, but Acacia gives me more SF with less SFS. As a bonus, I like the idea of buying one of Heather's products.

It's not clear to me if you've tried taking just Imodium, without also being on Lotronex or Levbid at the same time, so I'm not sure what was causing the conjunctiva problems (dry mouth is a classic Levbid side-effect if I remember correctly). If you've never tried Imodium alone, I'd say give it a try. I only ever used it as needed (when I was going out and felt nervous, for example), but there are people on the Board who took it every day as a preventive until they stabilized.

I also have a prescription for Donnatol, which I take very rarely, but is great to have as a backup. Big time side effects - sleepy, dry mouth, a little out of it - but fabulous when I absolutely, positively have to be there - and someone else is driving. It's gotten me to a couple of concerts and a trip to deliver my brother for a visit that I wouldn't have made it to otherwise - or at least that I feared I wouldn't be able to, which comes down to the same thing. Before I destabilized myself by falling off the EFI Diet wagon over the holidays, I hadn't used the Donnatol in months. Sigh.

HTH.

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

Edited by Sand (02/21/06 09:04 AM)

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