People's experiences with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

In My Humble Opinion
1

I don’t normally spend much time in IMHO, and I definitely don’t usually talk about embarrassing personal issues of a TMI sort, but I suppose this is the place to go for what’s on my mind right now. Oh, and, mandatory upfront notice: I am not asking for medical advice.

Alright, now with that out of the way. About three years ago, I started having a variety of embarrassing problems, centered around what I now realize was and is chronic constipation. The nineteen years of my life before that, everything had been hunky-dory on that front. I never had to give such matters much thought, so my current slide into problems is a bit unexpected, to say the least. Anyway, after stupidly waiting more than a year without telling anyone, and then seeing various doctors over the next two years, some more useful than others, it seems the label I’m to be stuck with is “Irritable Bowel Syndrome - Constipation predominant”.

Great. I’d been hoping for something I could pop a pill for and have disappear, with a sudden return to normalcy, but I guess that’s not gonna happen. But, I still wonder, is any kind of return to normalcy likely over time? And, if not, what can I expect, on this front, for the rest of my life?

So, I’m looking for stories from people who have/had or know about others who have/had IBS, how it evolved over time, how it affected their daily life, if they got better or got better at coping with it, that sort of thing. I’m personally IBS-C, like I sad, but IBS-D and IBS-A stories are fine too, or other related things.

(In case anyone cares, I’m now taking Miralax daily and Milk of Magnesia occasionally, as per my GE’s orders; it’s no fix, but I guess things aren’t as bad as they have been, either. I like to think that maybe the problem’s entirely psychosomatic, and if I could just relax and eliminate the anxiety about the problem, that would eliminate the problem itself as well, as my body suddenly remembered how to act like it used to. But it’s hard to put this theory into action to test it, as well as difficult to really believe that psychosomatic effects can be so strong as to both cause and cure something with such “concrete”/“tangible” symptoms as this.)

2

Much sympathy!

I was never diagnosed, but I probably had IBS-D for a couple of years when I was in a stressful job. The problem got a little bit better when I quit the job, and it got much better when my doctor told me I could take Immodium A-D every other day, or even daily, not just when I, um, needed it.

I stay away from spicy, peppery food, and I’m fine now, even without the Immodium. I can even drink coffee!

So yeah, I think decreasing stress can help.

3

I’ve lived with IBS for about 10 years now, and I have the alternating type. Mostly I’ve learned to live with it and to keep the disruptions to my life at a minimum.

My main strategy at the moment is to take plenty of fiber and avoid foods that I know trigger problems. For me this is mostly spicy foods, high fat content foods, carbonated drinks and heavy foods…like potatos and such. Though I still have periods of time where I have to use a laxative. (I only do so when its been 5+days of constipation) Of course this is umm, balanced by the periods of time when nothing will stay in my system and I’m in the bathroom 5+ times a day.

To be honest, I’m in pain all the time but I’ve learned to live with it most of the time. I have been in the ER twice because of intense pain caused by IBS and have had to miss work over it but I can usually handle it. Life with a GI system that doesn’t work normally is no picnic, but it can be managed.

Advice I would give you…

  1. Do what you can to reduce stress. Stress is a well known trigger for IBS problems.
  2. Keep track of what you eat. Certain foods can trigger problems and if you know what screws with your system you can avoid some pain.
  3. Hang in there, IBS has no cure at this time but hopefully one will come around. In the meantime listen to your doc and keep on keeping on. :wink:
4

My husband and I both have IBS-D. Immodium is a regularly stocked item in our house.

I developed it in college during a very stressful time. Unfortunately when the stress was gone, the IBS wasn’t. I suffered from it off and on, but over the years my attacks have gotten fewer and farther between, to the point where I only have a flare up once or twice a year. At its peak I was having episodes roughly 2-3 times per month.

The doctor I saw for it was very dismissive, which I’m still a little angry about. He basically told me “take immodium” as he breezed out the door. The problem was my attacks would come on very suddenly and painfully, and once they were done there was no point in medicating as they ended just as abruptly. Immodium did nothing for the hour or two of pain that made me nearly vomit and/or pass out each time. I never could find a trigger - I tracked food, drink, situations, etc. It was totally random.

The midwives I saw for my two pregnancies were more concerned. They said the first doctor’s attitude was not an acceptable response, and gave me the name of a doctor at a local hospital who is known for actively working to address IBS. Fortunately my problems have disappeared enough that I haven’t felt the need to seek medical attention.

In my husband’s case his attacks tended to coincide with drinks (fountain pop does it every time, or too much coffee, or too much orange juice) and anxiety from social situations. The antidepressant he takes for depression/anxiety has helped with the latter, but he still has to watch his beverage consumption.

5

Undiagnosed here. My mother was diagnosed with colitis (not ulcerative, just colitis) years ago, and I never quite figured out if IBS is the new trendy name for colitis.

Either way, she and I have a lot of the symptoms of IBS-D. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember, most of my 25 years. Like Solfy, I tried keeping track of food and drink consumption to see if there was a pattern, but the only one I could find was it always happened on special occasions. Holiday dinners and eating out at restaurants always triggered an episode, which made Christmas dinner particularly embarassing.

Anyhow, if colitis is not actually the old term for IBS-D, I dunno. But my mother’s doctor recommended Metamucil and increased fiber consumption. Seemed like an idiotic suggestion, if you go too much (with an occasional can’t make it to the bathroom accident) to take a laxative. But it worked. She makes sure she gets her 30+ grams of fiber daily, and hasn’t had a problem since.

I started eating more fiber on a whim one day (I found out after my mom went grocery shopping, that I love prunes). The first couple of days were a disaster, because too much fiber when you’re body’s not used to it triggers diarrhea (although thankfully not the painful cramps). After that, though, no more episodes. Now if I make sure to get enough fiber, I’m fine. I’ll have an episode if I’ve been eating poorly recently, but the pain is usually enough for me to self-regulate my diet.

It’s turned me into a fiber crusader though. Most of my friends just laugh if I offhandedly state that so-and-so needs more fiber in their diet, not knowing that without enough fiber, I’m in intestinal hell. But the average American only gets half their daily fiber, so I’d recommend anyone give it a shot. Just up your intake gradually, a lot of fiber to a body that’s not used to it means a lot of gas and poo. Once you get used to it, though, not so much an issue.

6

I’ve heard the fiber angle, too. It wasn’t a helpful suggestion for me at the time because I’ve always had a high fiber diet, but I’ve made sure to maintain one.

The reasoning is that once your body is accustomed to the extra fiber, all the added bulk serves to slow the flow of things down, giving your body more time to absorb liquid, preventing diarrhea.

7

Coming from my side (as the only type C here, apparently), I’ve definitely heard a lot of “Eat more fiber, drink plenty of water” as the doctor’s breezing out the door. So I’ve tried Metamucil, Benefiber, unprocessed bran, and such things. It’s unclear to me what, if any effect, they’ve had, though: sometimes it seems like added fiber might be helping a little, but after a while it usually feels like it’s just making things worse, and so I abandon it. (For all I know, it’s not doing anything at all, and I’m just projecting the usual ups and downs onto it)

In general, with a lot of things (e.g., exercise), I think I get disappointed at a lack of immediate results, lose motivation, and abandon them, which I know isn’t a good approach, but it’s hard to snap out of it.

8

As regards “colitis”, my quick reading of Wikipedia tells me it refers to inflammation of the colon, and therefore is not a feature of IBS; however, IBS was once confusingly called “spastic colitis”, and so perhaps that is indeed what RedRosesForMe’s mother has.

9

I’m another sufferer. I did an elimination diet (still am, really) where I dropped out everything that ever caused problems for any IBS sufferer and then gradually started adding things back in. The list of things I can’t eat is pretty huge, but if I don’t eat them for a while I can add one or two of my “bad” foods in on occasion without too much trouble.

I’ve pretty much had to eliminate certain foods entirely, favorites like onions and tomato sauces. Other things that are common triggers for other people, like caffeine, don’t seem to make any difference to me.

Regarding fiber, I dropped as much insoluble fiber as I could and switched over to soluble fiber. I feel so much better.

So, I’m still in the experimental phase. I really recommend trying the elimination diet to see if you can pinpoint exact problems.

I used this page to get some ideas: What to Eat for IBS When You Can't Eat Anything | Eating for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and the Eating for IBS Diet

Good luck.

10

Tomato, I miss tomato based sauces. I can still do a little bit of fresh tomato or a tiny bit of mild salsa…but it’s not the same.

11

Yeah. I want lasagne, and I want it baaad.

I saw a recipe somewhere for an alfredo-based lasagne, but it just wouldn’t be the same.

12

I’ve had a spinach lasagne with alfredo sauce and it was yummy. Not the same thing but still really good. Of course alfredo is bad for another reason, those cream sauces are murder on the waist line!

13

I had ulcerative colitis. Not the same, I know, but it did cause bowel issues. I was lucky- the type of food I ate didn’t affect the pain. I was on a prescription enema for about two months.

Funny thing is after I stopped taking the enema I got constipated. Guess my body just started to get used to the presence! So I started drinking a LOT more water, and trying to find foods with more fiber.

There are a lot of options out there- you can drink orange juice with extra fiber, along with toast made from 2x fiber bread. All the ‘extra fiber’ stuff tastes fine to me. I also tried to eat more fruit/vegetables.