Any IBS sufferers?

d.anthony

I have it and it's ruining my feckin life:( Had the symptoms for a while but only diagnosed last month. Doc says everyone is different and I need to find ut what foods trigger it. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on how to cope with it? Diet plans etc?

BTW mods, I assume it's ok to ask for advice on this considering I've already been diagnosed and I'm just looking for diet tips?

LegacyUser

i have IBS and i absolutely hate it. have been suffering for the last 5 years with it. everything was grand until i went through an incredibly stressful period - then had a bad flu & a viral infection.. seems to have triggered it off.

best advice is to keep a food diary of what you eat. it took me 2 years to find out my trigger foods. it's awful to go through but once you identify the foods, just keep away from them altogether! it sucks being a label reader but you do what you have to!

try and keep stress to a minimum also - easier said than done.

do you have IBS-C or IBS-D or combo of two? there are different diets for each one.

there's no cure for IBS which sucks, but i heard hypnotherapy can help - i've yet to try that. i know that when i get an attack immodium helps a bit too... and keep hydrated!

sushisushi

I have it too, was diagnosed about 8 years ago at this point and living a pretty normal life these days. I only get attacks when I get really stressed or if I go and do something idiotic like eat icecream on an empty stomach, when I know better. I'm at the other end of a process of figuring out what triggers off attacks and staying away from them until the digestive system gets back to an even keel, and then going very easy on the triggers, or just avoiding them altogether. It seems like a huge pain in the ass, as I've really had to change the way I eat, but I'm a lot healthier for it all round and am only having an attack maybe every six months or so, which is a huge relief.

First of all, what do you do when you have an attack? Did your doctor prescribe you any medication to take? I have an anti-spasmodic tablet and a fibre supplement, which work together to calm the whole thing down (I get both C and D, in an alternating pattern). I used to take them every day, one before and one after every meal, until the whole thing stabilised somewhat and then started looking at the patterns of what foods were sparking it off.

The advice about a food diary above is brilliant - it was probably the single most useful exercise I ever did. I had already copped on that fizzy drinks and red meat were big no-nos (I used to be vegetarian and red meat hasn't agreed with me since). I used the list of trigger foods here and took note of when I ate any of the things on the list and when I had an IBS attack. It gets pretty easy to spot patterns and act accordingly - for example, I have no problems with cheese, butter or milk, but cream has a vicious effect; dark poultry meat and eggs are grand, coffee isn't; I can drink vodka until the cows come home, but not beer, etc. I've also figured out some of the subtleties, like realising that I can eat chocolate cake (hooray!), but only on a full stomach (so after dinner is grand, but not in the middle of the afternoon!) The woman at the link above has a cookbook with IBS safe recipes, which I used for a while. I found her recipes very useful for getting back on an even keel, but don't use it much anymore, as it's rather aimed at an American audience and it doesn't have enough Asian or Middle Eastern food for my taste (both of which generally work very well with IBS!).

It's really a process of figuring out what you can happily eat and then making (or buying) interesting food that falls within that remit. It does get better and more manageable, I promise, you just have to work with the food diary to work out what's a no-no, what's sometimes dodgy and what's always fine. Learning ways to manage stress is also *really* useful, whether it's meditation or something else. Best of luck with it - I hope it gets easier soon!

sushisushi

Also, try taking peppermint capsules like Colpermin, or drinking peppermint tea, that usually helps. If you can't stand peppermint, I believe ginger can help as well, such as lemon and ginger tea. Best of luck!

dirtyghettokid

i suffer in similar ways to yourself, sushi
i thought the foods were individual, but it's pretty much the same for me too
no caffeine at all (coffee, tea, lucozade, dark chocolate etc)
no alcohol
can't have red meat, spinach, spicy sausages, salmon, feta cheese..
raisins and grapes make me soooo sick. probably the worst food that affects me. some of these things don't make sense. and it makes me afraid of eating other things.. like because i am so affected by grapes and raisins, it makes me afraid to eat blueberries or blackberries...

IBS-D only affects me when i eat any of the above items (or stress!) .....otherwise i would get IBS-C.......but i have found that if i eat bran flakes for breakfast, it's all good

don't take any meds except immodium after an attack. are the anti-spasmatic meds any use?

d.anthony

Thanks for the replies guys, that's actually the most useful piece of information I've seen. Everything else (on the net) is contradictory.

I was prescribed Mebeverine at first but it had no effect whatsoever, then I was put on Norimode, I take 2 every morning and it's been a lifesaver, really helps. As for food, coffee is the only thing I've noticed that really makes it flare up, no matter what else I eat the symptoms are always at the same level. In the last two months I've taken up running and cutting all junk food and sweets out of my diet but no change really yet, although I am getting fitter which is always a good thing.

My main problem with it is if I'm going out somewhere, I worry that I'm going to get an attack, which in turn makes it worse! I can't get over that one obstacle, even the thought of a walk to the supermarket gets my stomach rumbling.

I wanna ask my doctor for something for the worrying about it, anti-anxiety drugs or whatever, but really don't wanna go down that road of those kinda pills ya know?

Thanks again for the replies guys, it's good to get some first-hand experience of the problem!

sushisushi

The anti-spasmodic tablets, combined with fibre supplements, are really excellent, I find. I use a tablet called Colofac, which you take before meals - my doctor explained it as something that starts to calm down the mad spasming that causes the cramps, so your digestive tract can start working on a meal, in a more normal fashion. Then I have little packets of a fibre supplement called Normacol to take after meals. It's made from stericula, which is a type of plant fibre that's easily digestible and doesn't irritate the intestines. I used to use stuff called Fybogel, but it was really messy and impractical, cos you had to mix it with water and drink it and it basically set on the glass if you didn't wash it off immediately, so not great for eating anywhere but home (or leaving a trail of water bottles behind you!) The Normacol is little granules that you swallow with some water, way handier and much more discreet! My doctor wasn't keen on using immodium or motillium for anything other than occasional use, because he reckons its too easy to over-compensate for a C or D attack, much better to try and even things out, which the fibre supplements really do. When I started out, I was taking the tablets and supplements with every meal, but these days, I only rarely need them (although I always have a few in my bag, just in case!)

And good stuff on the bran flakes, dirtyghettokid, they're a great start for the day. The other thing that's brilliant is porridge, if you have time to make it (although I cheat and use the microwave and a dishwasher!) The most annoying thing about IBS is the fact that trigger foods can be so apparently random! I'm sure lots of people I know think I'm just a diva, cos I won't eat this or that, but I know that if they had my digestive system, they'd be doing the exact same thing, so they can eff right off. I used to occasionally try new things when I had a couple of days when I didn't have much important on, so I wouldn't be missing stuff that I wanted to go to (or important work stuff on), if it didn't go well. And then at least I'd know if blueberries, etc, were on or off the menu for the future.

d.anthony, I just looked up mebeverine and that's what's in Colofoc. I'm glad to hear that there's another alternative and that it's helped you. On the anxiety front, there's a few other things you can do instead of pills - what about trying some meditation instead? I also found that cognitive-behavioural therapy is really helpful for IBS-related anxiety, because it helps you pull your head out of the worry-loops that start when you need to go more than X-distance from a toilet (I don't mind admitting that I used to have every publicly-accessible loo in Dublin scoped out, just in case!) Or, get a couple of meditation CDs and listen to them regularly at home, maybe? I know lots of people recommend yoga as well, although a DVD that you can do at home might be better for a lot of people with IBS to start, before venturing out to a class Definitely one of the more gentle types, like hatha yoga, though, not the more energetic stuff.

I've spent so long living with this that I really take it for granted as part of life now, but I remember what the first few years were like, so I'm glad to be of some help. I know all the usual disclaimers apply about it being individual and different for everyone, but people do have similar experiences and there is hope of getting it under control and manageable, to have a pretty normal life again.

porschespeedst

I take Spasmonal, Fybogel and peppermint oil tablets.

Thanks for posting the above links, sushisushi. Meat, I can happily survive without and don't even eat that much, but I find it hard to imagine giving up beer, dairy products and tea/coffee. :eek:

I have not got to the stage of keeping a food diary. TBH, when my IBS is bad practically any food can trigger spasms (unless I take the meds I already mentioned). Rice I find the worst but I went for an Indian the other night, ate the food with rice of course, and all was fine, so I don't know.

dirtyghettokid

it's heartbreaking to give up the foods you love that trigger IBS. speaking of indian, that is another thing that sets me off. bombay pantry do the most gorgeous curry i've ever tasted and i can't have it... sends me straight to the loo!

i'm thinking of trying hypnotherapy - while i don't suffer too often, i would like to see what kind of results that could be achieved through hypnotherapy.
anyone try that?

I'm sure lots of people I know think I'm just a diva, cos I won't eat this or that, but I know that if they had my digestive system, they'd be doing the exact same thing, so they can eff right off.

YES! OMG i don't know how many times i've been out with people and they give me all sort of strange looks. they just don't understand!
i don't really eat out much because i'm scared of restaurant food giving me a flare up. sometimes they'd put sauces over stuff and i get so ill from them!

vincentdunne

I am glad most of you seem to have found an answer of sorts.
I am sick and tired of going to GPs, colonoscopies, etc. just to be told, 'there is no cure'.
I am seriously thinking of jacking in my job after 36 years due to days missed, inabiliy to concentrate. I have missed dinner dates, funerals, weddings, etc.

As for food triggers, I am already diagnosed as a coeliac so all that crap is out. I can go for months without symptoms ,,,, then bang, back to square one. C or D., dreadful abdominal spasms, lower back pain, pain in my testicles are the latest (GP comment 'Well they are all very close together'!!. I have sat in a bath at 3.00 in the morning waiting for the pain to go after taking 2 Zydol and 2 buscopan (I know I should'nt) I have been to a psych. and had cognitive therapy.
I am just ready to give up. Just found this thread, sorry to be a moaning minnie as Graham Norton would say, but seriously, wit's end is just about it.
God knows how my wife and work put up with it.
MAybe just a hypochonriac. At least then I would know .....

snowstreams

Have any of you tried taking alot of omega3 fish oils to help with your IBS?
I was diagnosed with IBS 8 years ago. I didnt get any treatment for it, but i just put up with it and didnt eat much fatty foods etc.
I ended up getting pain in my back around the same time. I got diagnosed last year as ankylosing spondylitis.
It turns out that the two are related. And treating my IBS could help to fix my back. I took salazopyrin as treatment which worked a bit.
But once i started taking fish oils straight on a spoon, I noticed a huge difference in both my back symptoms and my IBS symptoms.
Im just wondering that maybe fish oils could be good for all IBS sufferers?