IBS

mg1982 wrote: »

Had an appointment with Gastro doctor in hospital yesterday. After an endoscopy and scans he believes i have IBS and is putting me on tablets. Im glad i have a diagnosis because i been suffering with my stomach more and more the last few years and i didnt know what the hell was going on. At this stage the only foods that dont seem to make me feel ill are rice pasta and corn flakes, everything else just flattens me. I just hope the medication will help.

what scans did you get? what tablets are they putting you on?

witchgirl26 wrote: »

I've been suffering for about 14 years with IBS (9 officially per diagnoses). I was managing it really well up until about a year or so ago when I put on a bit of extra weight & now it's hitting in harder that previously.

I did the FODMAPs app to get an idea & think it'll be something I'll persue with a trained professional as it did seem to help. And I'd love to be able to cut down on some of the tablets I'm on.
Over the counter, I found that Fybogel was really good for getting some normality to my functions.

Like sullivlo I found that it wasn't just white bread etc that I had a problem with. Too much fibre in my diet led to more problems. I also got a colonoscopy to rule out any other things such as Crohns as some of the symptoms can be so similar. My health insurance covered most of the cost of going private for this (I would have been waiting approx 1 year at least as was "non urgent").

Is app a typo for diet? if not I must look into that, I might retry the fybogel again. Ive had D predominant for 10 years and it interferes in my life so much that its difficult to plan anything.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I've had IBS for 12 years, mostly D but can lean towards C at times.

I'm normally good for spasms and it's mostly that my digestion feels aggravated and raw along with GERD and racing heart. Stress and hot weather makes it worse. I've had times when I can eat anything I want and have no symptoms at all, and as an avid foodie, those times are bliss

I've done FODMAPs and while it works during a mild flare, it's useless when I'm having a really bad flare. Then I can only eat cheese, meat and freshly cooked rice (has to be freshly cooked as resistant starch in reheated rice can cause issues when I'm very sensitive). No fruit, no veg, no spices whatsoever. It's really dull but worth it to ease the flare.

The best 'medication' I've found is Krill oil + vitamin D. Calms the gut inflammation right down (for some reason NSAIDs make the situation worse). In my experience a short course of 4 weeks is all that's necessary.

I believe my whole issue is related to dysbiosis of my gut bacteria that was probably brought on by a series of strong broad spectrum antibiotics I took related to dental treatment in my early 20's.

I'm going to try a protocol soon that will attempt to address the dysbiosis for the medium to long term. I'll report back with details if I have any success with it.

I heard something like this about reheated rice, Ive been eating rice as my main part of a meal for at least 5 years, although I still eat potato as I think the fibre in them (especially the skin) may help.
Never heard of krill oil, I'll have to look into that, Ive been giving everything a go, but I really think its dysbyosis myself too.
In the last 8 months Ive read more about the role bacteria play in the gut than I have in the remaining 10 years Ive had IBS. Id been prescribed antibiotics when I was younger, but think I had some after a routine surgery, since that time my gut was different than it was before but not bad, Id about 2 or 3 bad bouts when IBS came onto the scene, back then I used to get bad spasms and was basically how IBS introduced itself to me as what I thought was really bad indigestion.
In hindsight I feel I may have suffered some food poisoning which triggered it, and due to the use of antibiotics, feel that its possible what Ive gotten may have come from a number of sources, namely how some non beneficial bacteria can spread.
Recently Ive been trying specific probiotics, Id had what I felt was some success with one as I searched for a type that had a specific constituent sachromyces boulardi) a yeast that affects bacteria in the gut, along with certain bacterial strains in the tablets, (Unfortunately it seemed to lose effectiveness after a time of use, I tried another which has another probiotic but seemed less effective.
Im sure people will recoil, but Im honestly considering FMT as a treatment, just not sure how to get a willing donor.

Modern medicine, in my experience is that they dont know or care as its not cancer! and it cant be treated with a prescription.
On top of that there seems to be a lot of information pointing to what causes IBS and other gut problems and the role bacteria play in the gut aiding the immune system among other things.

We are basically transportation devices to move bacteria around, wholesale undermining their balance is not helpful. I think that has been done with foods produced in modern farming and with overuse of antibiotics.
There a re so many things I cannot eat, annoyingly some of the foods that are supposed to be good prebiotics for bacteria that aid us, such as brocolli, I try to eat some greens but the affect it has on me isnt good.
Ive made up water kefir and am looking into kefir milk and sourdough bread to make myself, Im even thinking of growing some of my own food just to try it, big problem to me is meat,cant raise enough of that! antibiotics again in mass farming.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Are you my twin? I pretty much had a very similar experience.

DEFINITELY try the krill oil, it's miracle for chronic D, It's honestly the best thing I've tried.

Does anyone in Ireland even do FMT? I know you can get it done in UK for 5K sterling which is so much when it's not a guaranteed cure! There are some DIY efforts on some forums that are just like :eek::eek::eek:

Iseedeadpixels, careful with fybogel, I'm taking psyllium at the mo (main ingredient in fybogel) and I'm tapering it VERY slowly (had only 1/2 teaspoon!) and god did I know all about it! I'm on super low fodmap at the moment as well. I'm hoping to stick with the psyllium until I can tolerate 4 teaspoons. It's vile but I'm trying to get my body to tolerate it so it can increase the effectiveness of some very very strong probiotics.

Maybe?
Where do you get the krill oil? online? health food shop? Im planning to look into digestive aids (alpha galactosidase?), definitely been told twice Im not lactose intolerant and have done the tests for Crohns and Ceoliacs? (sic), but I have considered the root cause being inability to digest foods by not producing enzymes, and then how bacteria play a role in that later in the Large Intestine. Mine (D) isnt so chronic as it was, used to be pretty bad though, so much so that I would be in agony, but I have other symptoms
I did have a SIBO test and am due one again, when I asked what they tested for and how they tested, I got no clear answer??? I dont know if they are looking for something specific or something not present?? or some very specific things, which may or may not have any effect on what problems I have.
The Fybogel I dont find too bad tastewise, not great but, (compared to say, clean prep) havent had it in a while, I was advised about western diets and fibre but additional fibre and certain fruits made me much worse, I eat a bowl of porridge every morning, winter or summer, it seems to not have a negative affect, compared to weetabix or bran or other sugar laden cereals which can have a negative affect, even the more sugar laden normal cereals arent as bad as additional fibre laden types I considered.

Mostly my diet is low sugar too, highly processed foods are out, Pizza or takeaway, or eating out is a no, although from time to time I fall off the wagon. I still eat meat but am concerned about antibiotics in them, just dont know how much it might affect me??? I could cut out meat but that would be difficult plus the range of my diet is very limited already. I cut out peas due to FODMAP, but I try eat rocket, and spinach from time to time and while I like cheese, the outcome is unknown in advance, and I hardly drink any alcohol anymore (very little and not regularily, the outcome is also uncertain as sometimes I can have a red wine with no affects and others I do).

Whats the protocol you mentioned you are planning for resolving any bacterial imbalance? Im interested to know, as per FMT, Im willing to try pretty much anything at this point, I really need to look into kim chi, we did our own bread but it was from packets, I want to try a sourdough or spelt to make using the now idle bread machine. I think pro/prebiotic natural foods especially that we can prepare and take regularily may be a help with a boost from synthetic or processed pro/prebiotics from time to time, but I consider any dysbyosis needs to be addressed, probably likely, firstly.

@cerastes I had a CT scan on my stomach just to rule out other cause and it came up clear. The medication im currently on is spasmanol but im only on it for less than a week. Its not doing a whole pile yet. Been looking down the pro-biotic route myself and was taking one called Alflorex and it did help alleviate symptoms. Trouble is its expensive.

mg1982 wrote: »

@cerastes I had a CT scan on my stomach just to rule out other cause and it came up clear. The medication im currently on is spasmanol but im only on it for less than a week. Its not doing a whole pile yet. Been looking down the pro-biotic route myself and was taking one called Alflorex and it did help alleviate symptoms. Trouble is its expensive.

Alflorex was the other probiotic I finished recently, I'm not sure if it has made a difference for me at all really, saw it recently mentioned on TV and the reports seemed very good. Worth a try and I think no harm anyway, but pricey. I think it might be hard to determine or assess a benefit but unlikey to make things worse.
I'll look into elixa too, do you take the psyllium husk as fybogel from sachets? If so, is it the type with mebeverine in it or without?
I've considered glucosamine? Not that it seems unusual, for tissue repair of the bowel wall lining, need to check the name.
If it seems like I'm clutching at straws, its probably because I'm willing to try anything given that modern medicines answer is to just live with it.

Deleted User wrote: »

I suffer from IBS since I had my last child 20 years ago. My doc tried everything he could think of and nothing seemed to work. While waiting for a prescription in my local chemist, the chemist came out to me and asked if I'd tried Linseeds. They changed my life! I sprinkle a dessert spoon full on my breakfast and am now down to one attack a year and haven't needed medical help in about 10 years. I take 2 Buscopan for the bad attacks.
Foods can play Hell, but it's just trial and error as to what you can tolerate.

Linseeds, anything is worth knowing if its helped someone.
The only thing is IBS being what it is, peoples symptoms and how they are affected are different.
I will still try them, any idea how long you were taking them for a noticeable effect?
I actually chew a teaspoon of fennel seeds, Id do it once or maybe twice a day, at breakfast and then at a later meal, kind of a licorice taste