Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | I voluntarily withdraw my 5th amendment rights, but in my defense...

In this case against Sommer v. IBS-C, I will be be defending myself against my own allegations. (This'll be interesting, I promise, and educational, too.)

I haven't been keeping a food diary very well, or rather, hardly at all. I have been sick; physically, emotionally, and mentally, and have been and am currently on LTD (long-term disability). I have tons of stuff to do all the time and not enough time to do it. However, I am doing my best to work on these other variables, such as counseling, medication, and life skills, to name just a few. I'm also busy w/trying to continue my state medicaid and food stamps until perhaps one day I can try getting off of disability.

I've been suffering C a lot or having absolutely no BMs at all within the past few weeks, probably b/c I'm not keeping up w/my SFS, Citrucel Clear Mix. I have been able to remember most of the time to take my Beano, if necessary, and the generic Gas-X, if necessary. Both seem to help most of the time. For several days I slacked off badly on drinking my tea, but then in the last couple of days I have remembered to drink at least two cups a day (Traditional Medicinals "Eater's Digest") and I am finding that most of the time the tea has more of a positive affect on me. Although once or twice I got some pretty bad back pains while drinking it (kind of like a heartburn feeling).

I was going to eat a pre-packaged frozen shrimp fried rice meal my BF purchased, but something urged me to read the ingredients. HFCS. I struggled with myself and finally told him that I would find something else to eat and the packaged meal was all his. Prior to that, I had recently informed him that HFCS is an IBS trigger for many. After smartly shunning this, I stupidly consumed over the past few weeks some HF foods, including chicken wings. I don't know why I thought that chicken wings were safe (I don't eat the drumsticks, but the other part, whatever it's called). Regardless of how they are cooked, I thought the part of the chicken that I was eating was white emat. But DUH!! I realized that they were still HF and contained skin. Instead of eating several of them on an empty stomach, I thought of doing an experiment with SF first and then only 3-4 wings. I haven't yet ruled those out, but my gut both literally and figuratively tells me that I should forgo the wings. Today DB brought home my favorite fast food - Chick-Fil-A combo which included their famous sandwich, waffle fries, and a coke. Yes, I ate the entire sandwich, half the fries, and probably 8oz worth of Coke. I remember to take my SFS today! I drank it in Minute Maid Limeade. And then... *smacks self on forehead* I realized that this drink that I love contains HFCS, as does Tropicana Lemonade (another juice I like). At least I know the juices won't go to waste. DB will drink them.

I'm having my third cup of tea today. Right now, I'm using Zelnorm, Beano, and generic Gas-X. When I remember to, I use Citrucel Clear Mix as my SFS. I'm going to get better at remembering that, I have to. I had a great BM today, though, even though I still feel a bit C, the BM was comfortable to pass and was definitely a relief to my system, even if it was just temporary.

I'm getting better at forcing myself to eat SF before any IF. For example, tonight's dinner was the Crispy Balsamic Baked Chicken. I made rice to go with it and french-cut green beans. I took a little more rice for myself than I gave to DB (besides he barely could finish his own, as he said he was still full from lunch). I ate a good deal of rice first, then rice with the chicken together, then a bit more rice, then the beans last. (And yes, the Beano, Zelnorm, and Gas-X were included in this all this).

Every day, even if I've gone astray, I've been eating SF before IF. I recently tried Natural Spectrum Spread made with canola oil. It tastes very decent, as close to butter as one could hope for. The texture is interesting, though - reminds me of a custard. I've used it on sourdough bread and also in pasta when I've made buttered noodles with garlic powder, onion powder, and basil. I haven't yet tried the Nayonaise Soy-based sandwich spread that I bought. I've been eating corn pops and honeycomb cereals as snacks and Nature Valley granola bars Trail mix (apples and cinnamon flavor and fruit and nut flavor), Sunmaid Fruit Bits, Kroger brand Britannia crackers, plain bagels and plain Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, Gerber Rice Cereal w/bananas, and 2nd foods (organic pears, applesauce, etc.) I also eat a lot of turkey-based products, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rice, pasta, egg beaters, soy cheeses (I'm really loving Soysation), and I also eat strawberry sorbet and sometimes make smoothies, use low-fat bisquick, make my own baked oven fries more often than buying them from fast-food or the frozen food section.

Well, this self-interrogation has left me exhausted and I can't remember anything else atm (at the moment). I also have rambled and am probably no longer making sense; I apologize for not proofreading.

It may sound like a lame excuse to those of you who are stable and don't have cravings for real ice cream or real pizz, soda, alcohol, etc., but I'm only human. I think my experiences as I've incoherently described above are not only enlightening for me, but gives me a chance to remind ppl that the pain and discomfort is sometimes the best and only teaching tool we have to know what we can and can't tolerate whether it lies within the guidelines of "safe" or "trigger" foods. It s still difficult, but some of the cardinal rules are starting to be ingrained in my brain. Thank you.

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XOXO from lil' ol' me.

(IBS-C, mood disorders, etc., etc.)

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