Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | To the Discouraged Ones Amoung Us

I've been reading a lot of discouraged posts lately. Frustration with being unstable. Unhappy with the limitations of your diet. Upset because of the strain your ibs is causing on your personal life.

I want you to know it is possible to feel better and become stable. But, you should also know, it is not an overnight occurrence.

I relapsed in February 2006. I've had IBS for over 15 years. I've never been as ill as I was in 2006. I pretty much gave up eating. I lost over 40 lbs. I was so sick my GI recommended I quit my job outright. He also wanted me hospitalized if I dropped any more weight. It was grim. I was grey, literally. My face and skin were sallow and dusky like a little ol' lady. My hair was turning grey. I looked horrible. I had a ton of stress in my life. It seemed nothing I did to help my ibs was helping. I was beginning to give up hope of ever feeling better.

Here I am, 2 years later. Yes folks, 2 years. It took me 2 years to get stable again. And it took a lot of work, hard, painful work. Hard because I had to watch everything I put in my mouth. Hard because I missed the cheats I had grown accustomed to over the 13 years since my diagnosis. Hard because everybody who didn't know me well started to say I was just faking it, and those who did know me well just didn't know what to do or say. Painful because everytime I had an attack I knew I had taken 2 steps backwards for the 1 step forward I'd taken that day. I averaged 3 to 5 attacks a day some days. It was unbearable. I remember 1 night I used an entire double roll of toilet paper. What a memory to have

But as I said, here I sit, 2 years later - stable. It was hard work. I watched every label for ingredients and fat content. I cooked as much from scratch as possible so I knew what I was eating. I didn't eat out if I could avoid it. I carried (and still do) safe food with me everywhere I go - work, shopping, traveling, visiting family. There's a pocket in my purse specifically used for peppermint tea bags!

I want to let all of you who are so discouraged right now that it is possible to feel better. But it is going to take a long time. You might not notice that one day you didn't have an attack because you focus only the days you do have them. Take it from me, once you're attack is over, move on to rebuilding your stability.

I did the hypno cds twice. I changed careers to get away from a highly stressful environment. I follow the diet. I de-stress with aquabics and yoga. I have a mantra which I rhyme through my head when I have an attack to help me feel better. I also keep a symptom journal. I write down what I feel like every day. If something triggered an attack, I keep track of that too.

You can all do it. If I can do it, you can all do it. They say the best things in life are free, but that's not true - you have to work hard for them. And being stable is HARD WORK!

There is no magic formula which I can give to you to say how I got stable by eating this and avoiding that. You will have to work that out on your own.

I wish you all a happy tummy day. One day at a time.

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Cassandra

Live like there's no tomorrow. Love like you've never loved before.

IBS A 20+ years, Chronic Migraines, Chiari Malformation (decompressed June 22, 2010), Brachial Neuritis, and ??? the list just keeps growing, but I'm still shiny side up!

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