# New to IBS



## gemma611 (Dec 9, 2008)

hi all,i just recently found that i suffer from IBS. My diagnosis came just a few weeks ago however i have been suffering since April of this year. I constantly feel like I am not the same person and have had to curtail or change my activities completely since this all started. I am now very irritable and easily upset since this all started and i feel like its because of how awful i feel all the time. There are some days where I cannot eat or drink anything because my stomach is too upset to handle it and even when i can and do eat it seems like I pay the price for it later. I hve lost in excess of ten pounds in the last three weeks and cant afford to lose more. Additionally it just seems like things are getting worse instead of better even with medication. I know that my family and friends are putting up with alot because of my illness and i know that i take things out on them however as much as i try not to it seems like i just cant control it. i also find that stress and anxiety play a HUGE roll in affecting how much my IBS "acts up". its getting to the point where anything that distresses me even the slightest bit can have me running for the bathroom or enduring horrible stomach pain. For someone who was very rarely sick for most of their life (I'm 23 now) this is extremely hard and frustrating for me to deal with and i just needed to write something to people who understand (my mother and boyfriend seem to get that something is wrong but not the degree to which it affects me). I am also wondering if maybe i should try to get some psychological help to try to ease the stress and anxiety that makes things worse as well as the general unhappiness that has crept into my life since this started. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!Thanks for reading,Gemma611P.S. sorry that this was so long i just had to get some "stuff" out there rather than keeping it in


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## Clairebear (Dec 10, 2008)

HiyaI'm 22 and have also just been diagnosed with IBS and I can totally relate to what you are going through and how people react, my family were sympathetic at the beginning, they have tried to understand but how can they? I feel lonely, tired and just really low at the mo.My problems all started when I went on holiday to Egypt in April this year, I was really ill whilst I was there and this carried on when I got home, if anything it seemed to get worse. I was given the usual antibiotics, stool samples and blood tests and it seemed to ease off but less than a month later the diarrhoea returned and I have been suffering ever since. I am constantly nauseous, my doctor gave me some anti-sickness pills but they just make me sleepy.I have tried the dairy and yeast elimination diets with no success. I take Boscopan for the cramping which I find helps quite a lot. I have also started taking pro-biotics and peppermint oil capsules so we will see how they go. I have also tried aloe vera capsules but they just seemed to make me go to the toilet more often. I have been told I could have IBS for 6 months or 60 years, doctors just don't know. My doctor has recently given me anti-depressants to help, but I am wary of taking them, does this mean I'll be on them forever?Hypnotherapy has also be recommended to me as I am almost always anxious and tense because of what is happening and this makes my symptoms worse, has anyone tried hypnotherapy?Like Gemma611 Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated!Thanks x


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## baz22p (Dec 1, 2008)

Hi all, and a big welcome to the new members. I, too, am a relative newbie having been 'here' for only a week and a half. However, one thing that I will say is that the help and advice the members give is fantastic, plus you will meet new friends who understand exactly what you are going through - please do not feel isolated any more!There are no definitive answers with IBS, and no 2 sufferers necessarily have IBS in the same way. Because of the 'unknowns', the aim is to find an improvement to the quality of life you have. The way of doing this is to identify the individual 'triggers' to your IBS symtoms. To help you with this I would advise reading the wealth of information that is now available on the subect; be it in books, on the internet, in the media, or on this site!There is no quick-fix to this, and please remember the aim is to live with the symptoms. One of the problems with IBS is that other people come to reagard it as an 'invisable' illness; that is, there are no outward signs that they can see for them understand what it is we are going through. My advice to address this problem is to find good written material on IBS and either: 1) leave it available for them to read at their leisure; or 2), go through it with them - preferably both, as most people will want to understand but may feel embarrassed to ask. Remember that if you want empathy from them, you need to give them the knowledge first.I hope that this gives you an adequate start, and please feel free to ask for any help you may need.


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## KtV (Dec 21, 2008)

Hi,I know how you feel. I'm almost 21 now and I've lived with IBS for the past 6 and a half years. And it's not gotten better, but you learn to deal with it. Sad thing is that, like with you, I started avoiding going to places which give my cramps, which is now almost everywhere. I really need to push myself to get out of the house. Recently however I've been on a pretty strict dieet (which has made me loose 5 more pounds, and only being 100 pounds before it's not good, but the results I've had with my IBS are worth it).I was advised to go on a no wheat, no porc, no sugar, no potatoes, no tomatoes, no dairy, no egg whites,... dieet. And it has helped, now when I sin (which only happens very rarely, because it gives me cramps) I can feel that my body has a harder time digesting these products. As soon as I eat wheat or sugar I can feel my intestines protesting. I went to a homeopathic doctor who made this dieet for me, so maybe if you know a good homeopath close to were you live it might be worth a visit, they have an entirely different view on the body as more traditional doctors.As for the anxiety and stress (i have more than my fair share of that aswell) I'm sort of against taking drugs for that, I find that taking bachblosems (rescue) and valerian drops in a glass of water can go a long way in calming me down.Being a bit of a seasoned IBS-er I would be more than happy to help if you have any more questions


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