So, I was born with this terrible...disease, I guess you could call it. I can't drink a cup of coffee, or eat anything heavy or anything without my stomach hurting me so bad, it wakes me up in the middle of the night and brings me crying into my parent's bedroom, begging for my mom to do something. It's the worst pain in the world, and I've delt with this for so long. And no matter how hard I try or how many foods I cut back, I always get a bad spell now and then and frequent tummy aches all through my day. It's gotten out of hand and I just don't know what to do. I mean, I can't describe the pain, sometimes, it literally has me crying. Does anyone know what I can do to at least releive the symptons and every now and then spells where it's unbearable?
I have heard good things about fennel seed for stomach problems and IBS. Might be worth looking into.
I so sympathise as I know someone who has it and they're going through a tough time at present. Always had a mild form, but it flared after a bout of food poisoning and it's very distressing. She keeps a diary of everything she eats, that way she can find the 'trigger' foods, which for her seem to be starch based and some dairy. I don't know about your doctor, but hers is useless and knows nothing of the condition, so it was a case of searching the internet and speaking to other sufferers. At present she is taking Fybogel Meberverine...it's orange flavour, quite pleasant, and she has 1 sachet twice a day, morning and evening, half an hour before food. The main ingredient is Ispaghula Husk...you can Google it...and people who take it have given good reports. She's also found that eating small meals throughout the day is much better than say 3 large ones. The cramps are awful when they start, but Fybogel is anti-spasmodic. It's so tough only being able to eat certain things as the diet gets boring and she longs to go just grab some junk food...that would be a luxury indeed. I can't think of anything else at present, apart from peppermint capsules for the bloating, and wishing you the very best of luck. Take care!
What about Zelnorm? Honestly I know nothing about it other than what I've seen on commercials, but if IBS is causing you such terrible pain it might be worth a try. I thank you for this post though. For a little longer than six months I've been having intestinal irritation and problems and I thought it was due to medications that I'm on. I'd completely forgotten to consider IBS as a possibility, and it's definately something that I'm going to look into now. Lately I've been thinking about eating 2 fairly large meals a day kind of early in the day to try to combat the pain and frequent trips to the bathroom. I'll be a hell of a lot hungrier, but that might be better than the pain. I'll let you know how that goes if I can even do it.
I have IBS and my doctor told me to either eat more fiber or take suppliments. Stay completely away from caffine, dairy, and fruit in large quantities. Don't eat large portions either. Just eat enough to fill you up for that moment, because otherwise it'll hurt later. Like someone else said, keep a diary of the food you eat so you can find your trigger foods, and avoid them completely. Unfortunately, bad spells will probably just happen once in a while, I can't think of any way to get rid of those random occurences. Hope some of this helps. Peace
Here's the best site I've found for IBS. Pages and pages of important and helpful information. (BTW coffee is something that you may have to give up.)
i feel your pain i have lived my whole life with IBS as well. i have found that if i cut out certain foods its much more bearable. i try not to have full cream milk (the fat is bad) and i dont drink coffee. i try not to eat processed foods and eat more fruit and veg . i also have this routine in the morning. i put some metamucil (fibre) into a glass of V8 (fuit and veg juice) and i take an inner health plus tablet (good bacteria) and some multivitamins and some fish oil tablets. not only is this excellent for my health but it tends to make ibs less of a problem for me. i always carry round a greeen tea bag with mint. this usually relieves some bloating and pains. i also try not to stress. stress always has my stomach cramping up. i just take a breather and relax. unfortunatly it doesnt always work but sometimes it helps a bit. i drink lots of water and just generally try and keep a good morale up so things dont bother me as much. dont eat quickly and dont eat when you arnt hungry or if you are nervous abotu soemthing. if you know something makes you have an episode dont eat it. hope this helps. pm me if you wanna talk. i know how much ibs sucks
Definitely go to a gastroenterologist to find out about other medical options. One of the things I noticed you said was hte pain wakes you up at night, which is usually not a symptom of IBS. That could indicate Crohns or celiacs disease...make sure to be checked for both (it just requires a blood test). My doctor also has me on anti-spasmotics (I use levbid now, and was on bentyl before) which have helped immensely. When i have a particularly bad episode, i use imodium as well. I also make sure to have a glass of water with citrucel (my GI doctor said it is better than metamucil becuase it doesn't have the selenium in it). Finally, I am going for a colonoscopy in a week just to check to make sure it isn't anything more serious...I completely understand the pain you are in and I've always been afraid its something much worse. The past few times it has been so bad I've cried and even passed out once. I wish you all the best and hope you find something that helps you soon!
