# How I've controlled my D.



## IBStinks (Sep 25, 2010)

Hi, everyone.

I remember reading a post here a long time ago that pointed out that many people find "cures" and don't report back. So I'm reporting back in the hopes that this helps someone.Like many of you, I struggled with IBS-D for a long time. I still technically struggle with it, though I've found a very solid (ha!) way to control it. When I say control, I mean I haven't had D since I began this routine.

A quick side note here. Since the age of 10 (as far as I can remember), I've had D in response to anxiety. My usual trigger is being stuck somewhere without access to a bathroom, which is probably a familiar fear to many of you. Elevators, cars driven by other people, cars driven by me with passengers I don't know well, crowded areas with minimal toilets, planes, etc. all trigger the feeling that I'll have D. This conditioning has had more than a decade to reinforce itself, so it's still there. I still fear I'll have D when I'm in those situations, though the difference is simple: the D doesn't materialize. Before, I would fear I'd have D, convince myself I'd have D, then I'd have D. I'm not saying it will never happen, but this routine has kept me from actually experiencing the D. A big part of it is that I feel much more steady. There are no more sudden rushes. I digress.

On to what worked for me. Every day, I take:

3 doses of coarse original Metamucil*
1 dose of probiotic (Pearl brand)
10,000 IUs vitamin D

I started with the orange-flavored Metamucil, which I vastly prefer on a taste scale, but I found it was ineffective for me. It helped, but not enough. One day when my store didn't have any more of the orange flavor, I had to buy the coarse. It was a vast improvement. It really is more coarse--the dosage is only 1/3 the orange kind--and it tastes like... cardboard. But if I can control my D by drinking liquid cardboard 3 times a day, you bet your bowels I will. Anyone who truly suffers from D will agree. I take the Metamucil at 7am, 3pm, and 11pm. Every 8 hrs. There's a constant, consistent amount of it going in, and that makes a big difference, I think, compared to taking it once a day. You can only take one dose at a time. Taking too much at a time or taking it with too little water will constipate you very badly. Amazon doesn't have a good price on this, but they sell it at most grocery stores and at Wal-Mart. http://www.amazon.co...oarse metamucil

The probiotic I get from Amazon at a much lower price than I can find locally. I don't know how much these help because I was taking them when I was not having as much success with the orange Metamucil. For a while I was convinced I had a small intestine bacterial overgrowth, but I didn't have the money to pay for the antibiotics. Well, of course I have the money, but I didn't want to spend the money on something that might not work. So I decided to introduce good bacteria instead. These do the trick. They don't seem to hurt. Then again, I have no idea how they work. It might have just taken a while for them to start working. I don't know. I keep taking them though, so I consider them part of the magic bullet. http://www.amazon.co...earls probiotic

Finally, 10,000 IUs of vitamin D. I don't whether this helps my D, or whether it makes a difference one way or the other. I know that vitamin D is good for overall health, so I take them. I'll probably scale down to 5000 IUs after winter. I use this kind: http://www.amazon.co...tamin d 5000 iu

The schedule is important, at least for me. The doses of Metamucil have to be at those times to maintain the 8hr interval.

*Also, Metamucil will prevent certain medications from working if taken too close together. I guess the pills get caught in the fiber mass and never are absorbed. So if you're on some other medications, be sure to consider this. For this reason, I take my probiotic pill and vitamin D around 7-8pm. They recommend 2 hrs between medication and Metamucil.

I take no other medications except the occasional OTC pain relief. I eat absolute trash. Pizza Hut pan pizza, cinnamon rolls, popcorn, omelets cooked in butter and stuffed with cheese, spinach, and black olives. Greasy burgers. Taco Bell. Fried pork chops. Whatever kind of junk food you can think of, I'm probably eating it sometime this month. Not the best plan for longevity, I know, but it's nice to eat these things again without having to plan the next few days around the effects. I suspect roughage also didn't do me any favors in the past, but never did an elimination diet to find out. Sometimes after I eat a "regular" meal, like tilapia and spinach, for example, I will have to go after. But I won't have D.

Now the worst symptom I get is something I call the 2 minute warning. It's the feeling that I'm going to have to go in about 2 minutes. Could I hold it? Yes. But I'd prefer not to. This is not the same thing as urgency. I don't get the urgency anymore, which is a great relief. Aside from the miniature panic attacks I get when there's no bathroom around, I feel like a new person. I can walk around, go places without needing hours to prep and try to go, do things in the spur of the moment. I feel much better. My bowels feel considerably more solid than they did in the past. Before, I'd often feel gurgling, swooshing, and liquid rushing around in my bowels. Not anymore. Now I feel like my bowels are steady. It is a great feeling.

It's probably mostly because of the strict regimen of Metamucil every 8hrs, so if you try anything, try that.

I hope this helps someone.

(Edited for spacing.)


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## knothappy (Jul 31, 1999)

if i took metamusil or any kind of fiber i woul;d be on toliet 24 hrs!!!!!


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## IBStinks (Sep 25, 2010)

knothappy said:


> if i took metamusil or any kind of fiber i woul;d be on toliet 24 hrs!!!!!


Long before I started on the Metamucil, one of my old friends, who knew I was having a bad D day, said, "Hey, maybe you shouldn't eat so much fiber." So you're not the only one who thinks that. I was only eating incidental fiber at that point--not taking any supplements and not seeking out any high-fiber foods. I read somewhere that Metamucil was originally developed to treat diarrhea. Of course, people have been using this kind of fiber for a long time. The bulk really helps steady my bowels.


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## Trudyg (Aug 16, 2002)

Metamucil is fiber. But, there are 2 kinds- soluble and insoluble. Insoluble is like celery, acts like a scouring pad and good if you tend to polys (scrapes them off on the way through). Soluble is kind of like gelatin, it soaks up moisture. This kind gets into your bloodstream and can remove cholesterol, it can absorb excess fluid in the intestines (and any medications, so they aren't absorbed). This is very gentle to your system. When you eat an apple, the peel is insoluble and the flesh is soluble--that's why they say applesauce for tummy trouble (but here the added sugar causes problems). A small container of metamucil is fairly cheap ( you can get generic) and is worth it as a test. Start out with a small dose, as you see that it doesn't cause problems you can increase it. It really does work. I would also agree that the coarse, unflavored is better--it doesn't have the additional sweeteners/flavorings that can cause trouble. I use the generic, orange flavored and I watch to not get the artificial sweetener as it causes migraines for me. Good luck.


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## primstar (Mar 8, 2014)

This worked very well for me. It stopped the d and gave me back my life. Thank you for sharing . It was such a wonderful idea. I hope others have such great luck if they try it.


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

Very cool.

They say take 1000ius of Vit D for every 25lbs you weigh.

If you start getting too much Vit D you will get a metallic taste in your mouth. Also you can just have your blood levels checked.


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## Colt (May 5, 2011)

PD85 said:


> Very cool.
> 
> They say take 1000ius of Vit D for every 25lbs you weigh.
> 
> If you start getting too much Vit D you will get a metallic taste in your mouth. Also you can just have your blood levels checked.


PD, I have been taking vitamin D for the past two weeks. Started with 1000 and moved to 2000 per day. I always ease into any new treatment. My concern with Vitamin D is that it is fat soluble and I worry about it building up in my system too much. Based on your math, I would be taking about 8000 iu per day. That to me seems way too much. Your thoughts?


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## Lucid One (Mar 10, 2014)

That's a great success story. My d has been so out of control lately, and of course it's a vicious cycle - more d = more anxiety, more anxiety = more d. I was told by the surgeon who did my colonoscopy last year that I should be getting 30g of fibre/day. He forgot to mention to gradually work my way up to it. I went way overboard & got so freaking sick, omg, I thought I was going to die, my stomach was killing me! After that, I was really turned off fibre supplements, but, I think I should give it another go, but, gradually. I really hate taking loperamide, I think these kinds of pills might be wreaking havoc as much as they are helping.


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## Colt (May 5, 2011)

Lucid One said:


> That's a great success story. My d has been so out of control lately, and of course it's a vicious cycle - more d = more anxiety, more anxiety = more d. I was told by the surgeon who did my colonoscopy last year that I should be getting 30g of fibre/day. He forgot to mention to gradually work my way up to it. I went way overboard & got so freaking sick, omg, I thought I was going to die, my stomach was killing me! After that, I was really turned off fibre supplements, but, I think I should give it another go, but, gradually. I really hate taking loperamide, I think these kinds of pills might be wreaking havoc as much as they are helping.


Loperamide is not a bad thing....my gastro, a very, very experienced gastro has no issues with any of his patients taking large amounts for many years. Several people on this board have taken lots for years without issues. For me, it is piece of mind and helps me survive the day and still be productive.


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

Colt said:


> PD, I have been taking vitamin D for the past two weeks. Started with 1000 and moved to 2000 per day. I always ease into any new treatment. My concern with Vitamin D is that it is fat soluble and I worry about it building up in my system too much. Based on your math, I would be taking about 8000 iu per day. That to me seems way too much. Your thoughts?


That's probably fine. Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins for the human body and almost the entire population is deficient in it. Remember we were outside the entire day as an evolving human species. You can most definitely take 8000iu during the winter. But if you have health insurance, have your blood levels tested after a month or two.

A lot of recommendations say to just take 5000iu every day, and especially as summer rolls around you need less. But I took 5000iu every day for months during the summer (I weighed 190lbs and spent many hours outside) and got my Vitamin D levels checked and they were right in the middle of the "normal" range. So this is what I take, 5000iu every day.

Also, there is some evidence that Vitamin D can temporarily suppress melatonin production, so take it in the morning if you aren't already.


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## Colt (May 5, 2011)

PD85 said:


> That's probably fine. Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins for the human body and almost the entire population is deficient in it. Remember we were outside the entire day as an evolving human species. You can most definitely take 8000iu during the winter. But if you have health insurance, have your blood levels tested after a month or two.
> 
> A lot of recommendations say to just take 5000iu every day, and especially as summer rolls around you need less. But I took 5000iu every day for months during the summer (I weighed 190lbs and spent many hours outside) and got my Vitamin D levels checked and they were right in the middle of the "normal" range. So this is what I take, 5000iu every day.
> 
> Also, there is some evidence that Vitamin D can temporarily suppress melatonin production, so take it in the morning if you aren't already.


Thanks PD.....I increased to 2000 iu as of today and will increase by another 1000 in 3 weeks. I will look into the melatonin issue, but I do take it in the morning. Between Imodium , psyllium and now Vit D, I seem to be taking a lot of pills!!


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