Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Starving! some ideas which i hope might help you....

Hi Katgirl -
My daughter is in college here in Oregon, first year. We just found this site about 3 weeks ago and she has been helped enormously by Heather's diet and other suggestions. I wrote you a long post the other day -- before i finished it -- somehow it got erased! grrrr ... i just couldn't do it over at the time !!

She is eating instant oatmeal in her room every morning and that is helping alot. As she feels more stabilized, she has added a few things to the oatmeal like almonds and ground flax seed for insoluble fiber (but don't do that at first). What has helped her the most (she is C) is taking the soluble fiber supplements. She has worked her way up to 12 grams in 3 weeks and that is really really helping everything. She also drinks a ton of water with it --a habit she has always had which is very unusual - but drinking alot of water is absolutely crucial to get the benefit of the fiber caps. 16 cups a day if you can do it !!! Write it down and keep track of it..... She always always carries it with her. This may sound odd -- but drinking lukewarm water (when she's in her room) is very comforting and helpful to her too. Also she has peppermint tea every night and she is taking Heather's peppermint capsules. They have a "hot pot" in their room which makes hot water. Also I have been sending her dry soups that you just add hot water to and they are pretty filling -- do you have them there? You have to be careful which ones you get, of course.......Are you doing the fiber supplements? She takes them before each meal, which is an added "safety" factor.

Have you read Heather's website thoroughly and gotten educated about all the stuff? Especially soluble and insoluble fiber and how that all works and also about soluble fiber supplements? You probably don't have time for this - and i don't know if you can get it there -- but Heather's book -- "The first year of IBS" (or something like that) is really really excellent -- also for your morale, it has alot of people's experiences. My daughter has had alot of angst over this and also how hard it is to explain to anyone or deal with socially. She has chosen to miss an event (a retreat with a club she is in on the Oregon coast) this weekend that she really wants to go to because she just needs a break from dealing with the food issues -- and just needs to get stabilized. Hopefully -- in time -- she will get these retreat type events figured out (she had a very bad experience with food at one and is scared about it -- that was before Heather's diet and she was just avoiding wheat) -- they are the hardest - where they only serve one kind of food. Avoiding wheat makes it even harder -- and she is a person who hates to draw attention to herself -- so having to bring her own food -- or ask for something special is very very painful for her. She seems to be managing quite well on campus though -- by supplementing in her room and also the cafeteria almost always has rice and chicken. And she went away for a 3 day weekend with some friends recently (stayed at one of the girls' houses) and we were all thrilled at how easy it was for her to stick to the diet and that she felt well and could enjoy herself -- this was such a gift after so many bad off-campus experiences!

Could you talk to your food people at school there and maybe ask them if they could accomodate you that way and carry those things (rice and chicken) regularly?? i know the food services here will do things like that. I have sent her alot of stuff in the mail to help supplement -- she is near a supermarket but far from a health food store. I also send her the fiber supplements in the mail. Maybe your parents could do that?? I send her little cartons of soy milk which agree with her quite well (but she has been drinking that all her life) -- i think it is usually ok for IBS people unless they have trouble with beans, and then taking
"beano" at the same (a digestive enzyme - don't know if you have it there) can help. If soy milk doesn't work for you, try rice milk, if you have it there. She puts the soy milk in her oatmeal and that makes it a complete protein and much more filling. She has had trouble with being hungry all through the 9 months of problems (i'm not sure about now) and losing weight has been a problem - when she gets very C, she can't eat much -- but i think this is much better now with Heather's diet. The little soy milks are great to take with her for snacks, which she really needs sometimes, and rice cakes are good for that and in her dorm room too.

Maybe i could send you a package of stuff if you can't get these things there!!! I can always use another "girl" to mother ! (she's our only child) ( i know you all aren't girls and children anymore -- but we parents probably always think of you that way a little bit -- even when you get to be 50 !!)....... Let me know how I can help...... Sorry this is soooooo long !!!!

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