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[acetylcholine]

This is the IBS thread.

People with screwy guts come here, share tips, advice, et cetera.

I'll start:  I'm recently diagnosed (about 6 months ago), and I find OTC stuff gradually does not do it anymore.

One good side effect, I suppose, is the fact that I'm eating healthier.  It always flares up after dinner for some reason, and only if I've eaten something sufficiently greasy.

I don't have symptoms throughout the day unless I eat lactose.

I have no gluten problems, either.

[llanfair]

My doctor prescribed Dicetel, and it's a wonderful thing, ACh.  Well, that and Imodium, and fortunately I don't have recourse to them very often.

What foods set you off? With me, it's eggs, damn it - I love eggs - but it's just not worth all that bloating and blockage.

[dept_geek]

Black pepper sets my system off. It is amazing how many thing have pepper in them. (And how many ingredient lists have pepper buried under "and other spices" sigh).

Since you are recently diagnosed, ACh, be sure to keep a good food diary. My first year or so, I only ate white food (yes.. now they say that is bad for you, but the grains and fiber made me really sick). With the diary, I could add in things and watch and record the results.  (TMI: I have the "it can go either way, depending" version of IBS)

It has now been multiple decades, I can say for a fact exactly what foods & situations will send me home in pain.

Hang in there.

[gennimom]

I was diagnosed in spring 2004. Not a drop of dairy since, at least on purpose. Eggs are fine. I tend more to the constipated type rather than diarrhea, but I do have both, depending on what I ate. When I was pregnant with Genni and now with my Isaac's meds, I take Bentyl 3-4 times per day (10 mg). Keeps the pain at bay. I really don't like going to the ER explaining that my regular or over the counter stuff don't work, so please knock me out until my insides balance out again! Oh yeah, one other thing that is guaranteed to cause diarrhea and pain: Watermelon.

Ugh.

Believe me though. You learn to get inventive and really do look for replacements for food you can no longer eat. I've found replacement milk for cereal, ice cream, and cheese for pizza. Oh, and I take soluble fiber supplements every day. I can tell when I've missed.

[pisces]

I was diagnosed about five years ago. I find that it is almost entirely manageable by diet but it was tough to figure out because I have such a hard time with "healthy" foods such as salad, fruits, nuts, etc. I found the following book very useful: The First Year: IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)--An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed by Heather Van Vorous.

Dept_geek, can you tell me a little about who is now saying white foods are bad? And why? The book I mentioned above is what helped me figure out my triggers (I couldn't believe that all those foods I'm supposed to eat were the guilty one's) but it subscribes to the white food approach.

For those of you with some IBS experience: have you had to diet/lose weight since you were diagnosed? I have to lose weight for the first time since I developed IBS (I must lose the dissertation weight) and the tactics I would expect to use (such as having a big salad or eating more fruit) are not viable. And my IBS kicks in immediately if I get hungry.

[gennimom]

It wasn't so much that I HAD to lose weight as I DID lose weight. I lived in a place where dial-up was the only option, but as soon as I got home from the doc's office, I got online and looked up IBS. The best website I found talked about Bad Foods, Good Foods, and so-so foods(?). Foods high in soluble fiber were good. Foods high in insoluble fiber not so good, but okay if balanced with the soluble. Dairy was a complete no-no. A list of possible triggers was given with the admonition to try them to see if they bothered me, but that it was entirely possible to have triggers bother me one time and not the next. I don't think the site exists anymore, or the owners have totally changed it. All I know is, I've lived by it for 6 years with good results.

Although, I do eat white bread. The website talked about eating potato bread, which I did for a long while, until I could no longer get it. White bread doesn't bother me.

It is a funny thing, though. The fact that I have Isaac's may be related to the IBS. *sigh*

[llanfair]

I've found this site helpful, ACh. 

And aside from its usefulness, I just love its domain name.

[gennimom]

I read something interesting the other day about most people who think they have allergies, don't. Most of the time, when I tell people I can't drink milk, they assume I mean that I'm lactose-intolerant or allergic to milk. I don't think I'm either. I don't have an allergy, I have a milk protein intolerance, which is different than lactose intolerance. I figured this out because even milk products that have their lactose broken down could put me in the hospital. This left the relatively indigestible proteins. Yay! I quit drinking skim milk, eating ice cream, eating pizza, eating... Well, you get the picture. I started feeling human again.

Anyway, just another of my 2 cents worth!

[dept_geek]

Dept_geek, can you tell me a little about who is now saying white foods are bad? And why? The book I mentioned above is what helped me figure out my triggers (I couldn't believe that all those foods I'm supposed to eat were the guilty one's) but it subscribes to the white food approach.

In theory, white foods (processed white flour, potatoes, white rice, ...) spike your sugars and generally contain no redeeming nutritional value.  OTOH, I find them easier to digest than whole grains, veggies, etc. The good stuff makes your system work that much harder to er.. expel the waste.  Because white food is so easy to digest, you don't get hungry while experimenting with the trigger foods.

GM-potato bread is actually easy to make, esp if you have a bread machine.

I switched to soy milk and away from cow's milk altogether, which has helped. Goat milk, on occasion, isn't too bad.  Sometimes I can do yogurt, other times, nope.  Processed cheese can be done once a month or so, but no more.

[llanfair]

I think I'd wither and die without milk products, in all seriousness. 

The fibre thing is a delicate balance, too: I used to take Metamucil every morning without fail, and it kept things humming along most of the time.  But suddenly - literally, overnight - it sent me into raging IBS-D, so I stopped it, then cautiously re-introduced it.  Same reaction, so no more Metamucil (and of course I'd just bought another huge bottle).  Things have been reasonably stable since then, though.

[runwithscissors]

I too am a sufferer. I think the trigger food lists are highly variable between individuals, so definitely do the food diary for at least 12 months. For me milk and eggs are not a problem, nor white bread. If I eat pulses, dried fruit, sweeteners, broccoli or caffeine (sadly also beer... beer dammit!) I can be in pain from IBS-D for up to 48 hours.

[runwithscissors]

Oh and I tend to switch soluble fibre supplements every few weeks, I was told once that otherwise the bacteria in your gut begin to break them down.

[llanfair]

Oh and I tend to switch soluble fibre supplements every few weeks, I was told once that otherwise the bacteria in your gut begin to break them down.

Hmmm ... maybe that was it.

[runwithscissors]

llanfair: it might be worth trying. Please note that this is not exactly a scientific opinion just the uncritical acceptance of what a fellow IBS sufferer told me.

[gennimom]

That's it. I need a bread machine. Durn it.

I don't know about my gut breaking down my soluble fiber. If I quit taking it, I feel it in a couple of days. I've been taking it for 6 years.

When dairy was out, I went through several different kinds of soymilk and finally settled on 8th Continent light chocolate. But then suddenly every store in town quit selling it, saying they couldn't get it from the distributor anymore. So I tried almond milk. That stuff is great! I even like it on cereal and make chocolate pudding with it. Yay! I still get chocolate soy ice cream. Kroger carries it. Phew!