Hi everyone.

 

I'm 26 and i've suffered with IBS since I was about 14, if not younger. As a result I was told I had something that some people refer to as toilet phobia, because I had panic attacks whenever I was away from a bathroom or if someone else was occupying the bathroom etc because I could not trust my bowels to behave. I was getting bloated and uncomfortable with every meal and life was a bit of a nightmare.

I've tried all kinds of over the counter products as well as looking to therapies and complementary therapies etc to try to overcome the physical symptoms and the anxiety that came with it. Last October I started taking a natural health product that gave me more improvement in just 3 days than I'd had with anything else that I'd tried before, and after a month I was a lot lot better. If anyone wants to contact me for details then please do so by private message as I'm not sure about the rules of putting links on here etc.

I never thought my stomach would improve but i'm glad i eventually found something that helped. I hope you all do too because IBS is such a nightmare! I'd also recommend a great book called Romance, ritches and restrooms or something like that, which you'll find probably on amazon.

Take care! Tanya

Hi Tanya,

I sympathise with you, as I have had IBS for over 24 years now, I am now 42. My niece who is 23 has just been diagnosed with IBS too.

I tried a lot of different treatments, and found it was certain foods that I ate that gave me more spasms and cramps. I now eat little often, and keep a food diary so that I can see if there is a pattern and then gradually take back the foods you eat and the ones that still give you problems then it is possible you are intolerant to that product or something within the product.

I recently found out that I am now affected by some products which I have never had a problem before, but it is the Protein in them that gives me severe spasms and diarrohea.

I registered with IBS Network .co.uk, they are great, and you get a membership card that has "I CANT WAIT" on it, and says that the holder of this card has a medical condition that requires them to use toilet facilities now. it is great when you need to go to the toilet and there is a queue, as you can then use the disabled toilets or ask to be first in the queue by showing the card. I havent had any problems with irrate people for me using the disabled toilets, but I just say

You Cant Hold Whats Not In Your Hand !! and Dont Judge a Book By its Cover !!

I suggest also, using a hot water bottle or heat pad you put in the microwave onto your stomach, over the years my hot water bottle is always with me,,, as the heat is good for the spasms. I also take peppermint oil, as it is good for spasms, cramps and wind. I also take Lapromide (Immodium) each time I have diarrohea, and it also helps cramps and spasms too. Ask your GP about this, as Immodium over the counter is expensive, where as if you try it and it works get Lapromide on prescription, much cheaper.

I do a lot of talks in my areas on IBS, and how to deal with it, and I am surprised that there are so many different age groups including men that turn up.

With the IBS Network organisation, they also have a list of support groups in your area, (not much in Wales, but getting better), but maybe in your area there might be one close to you that you could register with and talk about your IBS. as chances are someone is having the same problems as you and has got some hints and tips for you to try.

anything else let us know and i will help as best as I can. 

 

Hi Pob, try a hypoglaecemic diet cutting out sugar and carbs. It seems to help most people who suffer from this. Have you tried Buteyko breathing? This helps to calm one down and regulate breathing to avert anxiety in periods of stress. Hope this helps and you get relief!

Hi velvet, Thanks for the advice. Fortunately I don't really feel that my IBS is affecting me so much these days since i started these products so the physical symptoms are not such a problem anymore. I never really experienced much pain anyway, it was just diarrhoea really. I must admit though, because I have still not reversed the anxious thoughts I do still use imodium as a preventitive measure sometimes if i'm going anywhere i'm particularly anxious about. I am a member of the IBS Network, at least I was, i'm not sure if I still am. I do have the Can't Wait card although I've never been brave enough to use it! I don't know why, I guess I think people will think badly of me if I admit that I can't control my bowel at times, but I do like knowing I have it with me anyway! the anxiety continues to be my main problem. I've tried hypnotherapy and had some improvement, and i'm currently seeing a counsellor who's shown me a few more techniques but sometimes I do wonder whether anxiety will always rule my life. Not the best attitude, I know, but it's difficult to stay positive sometimes!

Hi,

 

I, and all my family, suffer from IBS. The worst attack happened when i was just 17 during my A levels and the attacks floored me for a week and resulted in me losing alot of weight through vomiting and stresing over what was wrong.
My IBS is atrributed to stress and worry so if there is a particularly tough time coming up ahead, I make sure I have herbal rememdies to hand. The best one I found is Peppermint tablets as they relax my stomach and help the pains cease.

Even though this may work for me, it may not work for all but it is worth a try!

 Hope your attacks are not so frequent :)

 

Harriette
 

I got my IBS under control through advice from American IBS patient-expert Heather Van Vorous. She doesn't recommend weird diets, just good guidelines based on nutritional science. She is the author of 'IBS: The First Year' and 'Eating for IBS'.

 Cutting out gluten only helps those who are intolerant of gluten. Gluten intolerance is not the reason for everyone's IBS. Similarly, sugar is not an IBS trigger - you may have a problem with it because of other reasons though and many sugary foods do also contain IBS triggers.

pob:

Just wondering if anyone else on here suffers with irritable bowel,Im lucky that i dont have it too bad and only get a couple of attacks a year, but ive got a particularly bad episode at the moment and am suffering with dreadful spasms, that are just like having contrractions. I was told by the GP to use the breathing technique to get thru them and i also take Buscopan but nothing seems to be helping at the moment. I just wondered if any of you have any remedies that you use that may be of some help to me

 

 

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it anywhere on the forums but as a sufferer of IBS and Endometriosis to which leaves me bed bound 3/4 days a month i have found The Gut Trust( formally the  IBS support network ))invaluable! They do some great work and are always there to help and give advice! I urge anyone who suffers with IBS to contact them!

 

http://www.theguttrust.org/

 

 

Hi Tanya (and the rest of all you IBS sufferers out there!  Just joined this very welcome IBS Support Group and am so glad to  find a group of folks who understand this terrible affliction.

 

I was diagnosed 18 months ago with the (literally) "IBS case from Hell!"  I have severe pain, diarrhea interspersed with periods of constipation, bouts of nausea (which has caused weight loss that I can't afford) and terrible depression.  I am now on so many meds, including narcotic pain meds, that the side effects are worse than the disease (hard to believe, but true).  I have also had every test known to the medical profession, including colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies, and full body cat scans to rule out any "serious" (ha!) disease.  Nothing was found other than low blood sodium, most likely the result of one of the antidepressants I've been on.  Anyway, won't bore you all any longer, but if you have found an over the counter med that helps even a little bit, I would love to hear about it.  I live in the 'States (California) and it may not be readily available here, but I can sure get it by mail order or have someone get it for me and mail me a sample -- I've managed to get an awful lot of things that way.  Please let me know what it is.  

 Eileen

Hey, yes I have IBS I have had it now for 3years (and im only 18) when I first got the pains it scared the hell out of me cos I thought it woz appendicitis, so went to A&E and they told me that I had IBS. the doctor who I saw told me to take Fybogel and that seams to do the trick. I still get the pains (mostly around the time of the month) but all you can do is get on with it. Some of my mates have it as well.

For remedies that may help you which help me are:

1. have a hot bath

2. use a hot water bottle

3. rub lightly were the spasms are

thats all i can think of. Hope this helps :)

i used to suffer with ibs but luckily i found out what triggered it and cut that out...for me it was actimel...so try cutting certain things out like something u started using just before the episodes come on...hope it helps xx

hi,

ive suffered bad ibs for several yrs,on and off.my worst sympton was terrible very smelly wind.i was so embaressed by it,going to work or out shopping would be horrid,id just dread going out.nothing i really tried worked.id been given colofac,that didnt work.this yr in june id had enough,again,and went back to the doctors.this time i was given MINTEC* PEPPERMINT OIL CAPSULES...and they worked very quickly.i would reccomend these to every1,its worth a try,it worked for me....i feel i have a social life again.(mine were 0.2ml caps). GOOD LUCK TO ALL.

Having suffered with stomach problems for 12 years and going in and out of hospital i had, had enough. Every time i was diagnosed with severe IBS so was given many different types of tablets and powders for those to make me feel even worse.  After having a really bad episode which lasted about a month and losing 2 stone in weight my husband and i decided to find help ourselves.  Just by chance we found a Kinesiologist (the science of human movement, it focuses on how the body functions and moves) at first i was a bit apprehensive as i wasnt sure what to expect but after seeing her i had so many intolerances, that just to be sure i went to see another one and exactly the same intolerances came out.  They both found that im intolerant to yeast, wheat, all dairy, eggs, oranges, grapes(these contain yeast on the skin), pears, beetroot and many more, also so far i am the only one that has been found to be intolerant to sunflower oil/seeds which is one of the hardest things to avoid now as so many new products contain this.  I cut out all of the above out which was hard but i just wanted to feel better and after a couple of weeks i felt totally different, this was approx 2 and a half years ago and it has changed my life. Yes it is hard but if it makes you feel better its definitly worth it. Unfortunatly the doctors and specialist do not believe it works as it not " Scientificely proven" but it has worked for me and maybe it can help many others. It is private and not NHS, when i asked my consultant if he could send me for some intolerant tests he told me that there wasnt anywhere he could send me!!  I take a multivitamin with iron and flaxseed oil.  I hope that this maybe of some help to you.

I was interested in this topic as I suffer from Ulcerative Colitis/Crohns.  I have the LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) to be of considerable help to me.  As we know, IBS is a cause of a suppressed auto immune system.  LDN boosts the auto immune system.  I have been taking it since November and no longer suffer from those awful embarrassing attacks, bloatedness and pain.  Please look into this, it may help you too.