# Roller coaster! Help!



## boo123 (Jul 7, 2009)

No roller coasters don't make my IBS worse, but I swear just living makes IBS worse. I'm 24 years-old and my IBS is good, bad, good, bad.. AHHHH!!! It seems to have gotten worse every year since I've been about 20. Lately, I can't eat anything without having gas, bloating, or diarrhea. I've tried revitalex, and peppermint capsules, peppermint tea, pepto bismal.. and nothing really seems to help!!!I'm more or less looking for some moral support, because my life is becoming over run with this ####... literally!


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

If it helps, mine was bad, bad, worse, worse for 10 long, and what seemed to be a life sentence, years. Out of the blue, I chose to take a supplement to control my cholesterol and as a side effect, it slowly corrected my digestive system and bowels, to the point that the last 10 years have been pretty close to normal. Because there was no logical reason for this turnaround, it has taken me these past 10 years to find some evidence that this presumably has an affect upon blood platelets responsible for what was heretofore undiagnosed inflammation in the GI system. No one had any idea that this would happen. Certainly not me.Obviously, none of us can know what is causing your particular problems; but let me just encourage you to not give up hope, even when that seems like the only rational conclusion you can reach. Keep reaching out and keep an inquiring spirit. There is a cause for these effects, even when you don't know what it can possibly be. Different medicines and supplements and even psychological treatments reach particular causes. Keep experimenting, no matter how far out the suggestions may seem, ok?Good luck to you.Mark


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## chemist (Mar 16, 2009)

Hi,


> "Revitalex, and peppermint capsules, peppermint tea, pepto bismal.. "


 ...are all pretty weak anti D medications.Try immodium, or if that doesn't work, Lomotil (which is prescription only in the UK).Also, you can use Amitriptyline which is an antidepressant which constipates. Although make sure you seriously talk this over with your doc (or me if you're interested).From a therapy perspective, CBT is recommended although doesn't work for everyone.Hope that helps.


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

I understand Lomotil is like imodium, but what actually is the difference and is it better than imodium, I take imodium plus caplets.


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## vickieibsd (Jun 12, 2009)

Lomotil is available by prescription only. For me works so much better than Immodium as I believe the difference maybe in the opiate base of Lomotil?


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

So i suppose Lomotil is like Codeine Phosphate that i take for the IBS-D, that is opium based and prescription only. I also take imodium as well if i need to. I take 6 codeine phosphate a day 30mg tablets.


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## Little Lady (Jun 23, 2009)

Don't be discouraged. I'm newly diagnosed with IBS-D and I sometimes want to scream! Heck, sometimes I do.  It is also in your outlook and how you view the condition. IBS doesn't have control over you. You are simply a person living with IBS. I keep telling myself things like "This condition will not win." "I am stronger than this condition." "Tomorrow will be better." Yes, sometimes it gets hard to believe it when you have a bad day, but the more you stress about how the condition is affecting your life, it seems the more your gut acts up. Stay calm and take one day at a time.


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## keycat (Apr 6, 2009)

Another anecdote to give you some hope - my mother had AWFUL IBS-D in her twenties. I think hers was about as severe as IBS-D can get. Today, however, she is hardly bothered by IBS-D at all. A few things changed - she went on Effexor XR, had a baby, took a less demanding job (she had been working the night shift as a nurse) - but I think the most crucial factor in alleviating her IBS symptoms was that she simply got older. IBS can change dramatically from year to year, and as surely as it can get worse (as in your case), it can get better.


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## crstar (Jun 29, 2009)

lomitil has a morphine base........which is why it's by Rx only..........it slows down intestinal motility............this is not a cure........don't depend on any Rx drugs.........


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## Christian with a thorn (Mar 9, 2007)

Have you ever tried Levsin(sublegual)? It worked pretty good for me when I first got diagnosed with IBS. It helps stop the colon spasms that can be so painful and rush all the food through your intestines causing the diarrhea. It was the first med my GI prescribed for me, but it was as if I quickly became immune to it, because after about a year it did not really work for me anymore. Especially since you've been trying some mild remedies thus far, that may be a good one to ask the GI about that has few side affects. I would just get some dry mouth and sometimes a little drowsy, but it was well worth shutting down the attack. hang in there dear! I'll say a prayer for you.


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## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

CRSTARSo it does work on the same principle as codeine then, my gi said it would help with slowing the gut and they make you constipated, they have been working quite well, up until monday, but my anxiety got the better of me and i had terrible D so had to take 4 immodium.


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## Hester (Jul 5, 2009)

Hi, I have been recently diagnosed with IBS-D as well although I am also a Steven Johnson Syndrome survivor. The SJS burned off all my mucus membranes which grew back but now this diarrhea for two months . . . I do not know if there is correlation and neither do my doctors.Anyway, I thought I would mention that 1 in 4 people cannot breakdown dairy at all and this is either protein and/or sugar. Hence the lactaid tabs probably bring no relief because that would only help with the dairy sugar. Years and years ago after a bowel perforation, I lost the ability to digest dairy food and had chronic IBS-D with gas and bloating and unbelievable cramping. It was really a lactose and casein intolerance. I turned to soy and rice-based products and do not eat any sauces or soups or mixes unless they are *casein, casinate, whey, dairy, cheese, lactose free.* In restaurants, I always order plain food, no butter and ask for olive oil and garlic as my "sauce/butter." This virtually eliminated the problem for 20 years. The key is to not have anything with dairy. It took about 1 month before my symptoms improved and by three months, I was symptom free and able to even eat cheeseless pizza.







The diet is very strict and dairy can hide in even "diary free" labels. So, if you want to try it, you need to read every label very, very carefully. Soy/rice ice creams are not really that bad. With this new issue even though my sprue test came back negative and the biopsy too, I have eliminated all wheat products and already the diarrhea has stopped. So have my runny nose and itchy red eyes. However, my gut is still full of gas. I hate to also eliminate furctose but that will be next. Also, I am taking the calcium and D, a multi-vitamin, Noni juice, special liquid fats for easy absorbtion, a gluten and dairy free/wheat free protein shake with rice milk, digestive enzymes and a few chinese herbs. The probotics will be added only if the diarrhea returns. I have also added the glutamine power and ground flax seed to my rice cereal and rice milk in the morning. So far so good, but it has been only ONE week free of diarrhea. I do take the THC pills to stimulate my appetite and today stopped the imodium but will remain taking 4 to 6 metamucil fiber caps a day. I have my fingers crossed that I start to gain some weight back and have the energy to return to work.


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## peaches10 (Jul 7, 2009)

cherrypie09 said:


> I understand Lomotil is like imodium, but what actually is the difference and is it better than imodium, I take imodium plus caplets.


My worry is....ok, Immodium and Lomotil work to stop the diahrea...but.....isnt the diahrea there to tell you there is a problem with what you are ingesting?? I've taken Immodium so much in my past that i just have this worry that.....shouldnt i fix the problem instead of trying to stop it up with drugs that i shouldnt really need??? I have begun taking Acidophilus Culture, in liquid form and seem to be having a little bit of relief. I also take an herb called Slippery Elm Bark, I drink it in Hot Tea form...open the capsules into about 4 ounces of hot water....it is very soothing to my stomach and seems to thicken things up a bit.Guess i just dont want to take Medications all my life when i can eat what will not make me sick and help boost my immune system/digestive tract with what should be in there to begin with JMHO


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## Hester (Jul 5, 2009)

peaches10 said:


> My worry is....Guess i just dont want to take Medications all my life when i can eat what will not make me sick and help boost my immune system/digestive tract with what should be in there to begin with JMHO


I would say if you have not tried eliminating all dairy from your diet, you should give it a try. It takes about a month to feel the improvement. I just do NOT "buy" the IBS blanket diagnosis fullheartedly and all the meds they want to throw at us to control the disease. I think it is our inability to deal with certain aspects of our diets. Anyway, dairy is in EVERYTHING! Throw out all your milk, yogurt, ice cream, "non dairy" creamer, soups, cereals packaged and canned goods with spices, mixes or sauces. Avoid anything that says cheese, dairy, whey, casein, cassinate, milk products, lactaid, lactose. Eat soy or rice milk and vegetarian products that have eliminated all dairy (hard to find). It is a very basic diet but healthy. Up until this bout of whatever got me now, I had not had an IBS-D/gas/bloating problem in 20 years. Hence, I think my new problems are a new intolerance like wheat.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Lots of things cause diarrhea, not just contaminated food.Stopping diarrhea because you over-respond to the "i ate" signal isn't a bad thing and doesn't keep the bad bacteria in or keep you from releasing toxins.Some food issues have nothing to do with contaminated food. Just some things in some foods (like sorbitol in apples) pulls water into the stool and can make it looser than it would be. Stopping that also isn't dangerous.Herbs and other natural remedies have toxicities and side effects and often are just as likely to be "stopping a symptom" rather than correcting some imbalance in the body. If you have to take it every day for the rest of your life it is just "covering up the symptoms" like any drug people worry about. Avoiding a food that bothers you is just as much symptom control as anything else. It doesn't cure the underlying intolerance.


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## chemist (Mar 16, 2009)

> ...all the meds they want to throw at us to control the disease. I think it is our inability to deal with certain aspects of our diets.


Whilst diet is ciritcal in some cases, this completely discounts IBS linked purely to anxiety, which is what many, many people have. Changing diet does not have a significant affect in situations like this.Also, I don't think that anyone throws meds at us. If anything, the medical profession has _very _little knowledge of the meds available in the first place. There are people on this forum who tell people to completely discount medication, simply because it hasn't worked for them. I think this is rather irresponsible, especially when talking to those who are new to all of this.I'm happy to go 'on record' and say that medication has helped me greatly, whereas a dairy free diet has not. But that won't be true for everyone.


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## Hester (Jul 5, 2009)

Well, I am sorry if I made it sound like I am anti medication. I am not. But dairy intolerance should not be underrated nor the length of time it takes to recover from a food intolerance or how hard to avoid that food group in our modern world. I think a lot of people try a medication or diet for a couple of weeks and give up because they do feel better fast enough. Even high blood pressure medications take a good month to see the full effect. Hence, we cannot be impatient when starting something new. Certainly, this condition can be caused or worsened by anxiety and stress. I am just very disappointed in the medical community to hear about the same several meds as the treatments for what is a debilitating condition and no clear path or algorthim for treatment. Whomever posted the lenghty and very scientific explanation on gut activity and digestion did a superb job. It is very complex. I hope the supplements work for me but I am willing to try antidepressants in order to get back to work. I just wanted to emphasis that until I found out it was dairy, I was told by several doctors it was stress related. But that was twenty years ago and I have no idea what is happening now. However, I read a couple of clinical articles (not blogs) that discussed how if individuals are intolerant of dairy, a large percentage of them will eventually be intolerant of wheat. That is why I am trying to eliminate both now.


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## boo123 (Jul 7, 2009)

Thank you so much for all the replies! It makes me feel just a little bit better knowing I'm not alone out there!! I would never wish this on anyone but sometimes I wish I had a friend with it, so they could relate, as NO ONE understands... well I haven't told anyone yet, but I have a feeling they wouldn't.Anyway I will try some of your suggestions. The main reason I haven't tried many Rx's is because my doctor is skeptical of IBS.. oh if only he knew!!I just started calcium and it seems to be helping.. well either that or I just haven't had an attack in the last couple days.THANKS AGAIN for the support!


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## chemist (Mar 16, 2009)

> well I haven't told anyone yet, but I have a feeling they wouldn't.Anyway I will try some of your suggestions. The main reason I haven't tried many Rx's is because my doctor is skeptical of IBS.. oh if only he knew!!


Um...first thing is that you need to find a new doctor. I have been through 2 and have now found someone who is willing to work with me - as a sort of partner - so help solve my problems. Don't waste your time wth someone who is "skeptical" about a problem that affects millions of people. Secondly, it took me about 5 years and what I would call a breakdown to start to tell people. Even my gfriend who I had been with for 4 years. I can tell you that letting people know is one of the most important things I have ever done. I've told people ranging from my partner's family / old school friends / people at work. All I say is that I have 'stomach issues' and that they do cause me problems sometimes so bear with me. So far, every single person has been supportive. Some say "'oh I've got that". Either way, it takes off a huge amount of pressure. I recommend it. It also helps put it in context, that it is not your fault and that you are actively making progress.


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