# Finally 'cured' after 40 years of IBS?



## Bet Sobon (Jul 2, 2013)

Hi All, I can't believe it took me this long to find this forum. Here is my history. I am a 55 year old female.

As a kid, I was always constipated. I also had some type of anemia. I was always feeling poorly and my mom used to think I was just faking to get out of school. Well one day I got sick and it didn't stop. I wound up having my appendix out right before it burst. I was eleven. My first IBS flare I remember vividly. I was 16, getting ready for school and was spraying my hair with hair spray (yes, it was that long ago when we still used aerosol hair spray!). I immediately got a cramp in my stomach which got worse and worse and I had to run to the bathroom. I thought perhaps it was triggered by the hair spray.

A few years later, I was working in the city (New York). I would commute by subway, which could be over an hour. I started having what I would call colitis attacks. Pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea. I actually went to the hospital once because I was in so much pain and so bloated, I couldn't zip up my pants. They told me I had gas and gave me some drugs. At least once a week I would have an attack on the subway on my way to work. I would have to hold it in until I got to work. A couple of times, I couldn't, so I went straight home. I started not eating in the morning in hopes that I wouldn't have an attack. That seemed to help somewhat. I started to get really thin and really tired. I finally went to see a Gastroenterologist. He was not a nice man. Granted, this was in the early 80s. He asked me a bunch of questions, then I had a lot of tests. The worst one was the barium xray. I could not swallow that stuff. I tried as best I could, but I couldn't do it. Then he was frustrated with me because he said the barium wasn't moving along quickly enough (well DUH, shouldn't that tell you something!!!). He made me walk around the block and come back and finally took x-rays. His diagnosis was that I was 'too anxious and that was affecting my digestion'. He gave me librium. It made me so dopey I couldn't take it. This experience was so traumatic that I didn't see a doctor for my stomach issues for another 30 years.

Over the years, I had good and bad times. The 'attacks' would wax and wane. Definitely were worse when I was stressed or not eating right. Exercise seemed to help keep things 'regular'. Over this time, I also had some instances of GERD. Except I didn't know what GERD was. This was before it became very well known and advertised. If I drank a lot of liquid, I would feel like I had to burp and all of the liquid would come spurting out. No warning. It was very scary.

Fast forward to about 10 years ago. New job, lots of stress, peri menopause, things were getting hairy. Around this time, I was also diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The thyroid meds did help a bit, I do believe I was hypo my whole life, but never diagnosed. At this time, the GERD became unbearable. I was under a lot of pressure at work and while I was on vacation, I was miserable the whole time with reflux. My husband insisted I go to the doctor. I was dreading it, but I did like my GP. She started me on a prescription of Tagament. And it worked. In a few weeks, I felt fine. If I only knew.

About 3 years ago, while starting another new job and under stress again, my IBS started acting up. I tried all the old remedies, fiber, exercise. I went on a whole grain kick thinking that was healthy. I exercised a lot, but then tore my post tibular tendon, so had to cut back. My stomach issues continued. After every meal, I would be bloated, burping, reflux. Then alternating diarrhea/constipation. I actually began having leakage from my rectum, gross. I had bad hemmorhoids and probably and anal fissure. I would buy the 150 pack of Preparation H suppositories in Costco and carried them with me, it was that bad. I was back on the acid reducers, first just Pepcid when it was bad, then I started taking Prevacid regularly. I was told that I had a B12 deficiency and did some research. I found that I probably wasn't digesting food properly because of the acid reducers. I stopped taking them and started taking HCL (hydrocloric acid, stomach acid) and that did help somewhat. But for some reason I stopped doing that and all the GERD symptoms returned.

Then one day my husband, who is blessed with a perfect digestive system, said he wanted to try a gluten free diet. A radio host that he listened to was pushing the Wheat Belly book. I had over time considered that I had Celiac, but dismissed it because it sounded really bad and I didn't think I was that sick. So we tried it. Well, let me tell you, 100% turn around the first day! As I said, I went on a whole grain kick. I would start my morning off with a bowl of either hot or cold whole grain cereal, followed shortly by a frantic trip to the bathroom....The first day gluten free, that didn't happen. Or the second, or the third. The burping and bloating were diminished. I could not belive the difference. My husband said he felt less bloated too, but that's about it for him.

So I went whole hog. I bought about every gluten free product that existed. I thought I was doing great. I felt free at last!. Then we went to the movies. I had some butterfingers. The next morning I woke up, I had a 'normal' BM. Then right after, I started having a pain in my upper abdomen. Hmm, I usually get pain in the lower or middle. The pain did not stop. I did not have more bowel movements or gas. Just pain. The pain was so bad, I began vomiting. AFter an hour my husband took me to the ER. I was projectile vomiting bile by this point.

Had a bunch of tests, sonogram, CT scan, Xrays, Got some great drugs (dilaudid, I love you!). The doctor and nurses were betting on gall bladder. Nope. Kidney stone, well I do have one, but it wasn't coming down. Luckily they said I didn't have an obstruction or cancer or pancreatis. All I had was an area of inflammation in my upper left abdomen. At this point I was stabilized, given some meds and sent home. I was supposed to try to eat some toast and tea (of course I had gluten free bread!). I couldn't do it. A few hours later, same thing, intense pain and spasms and more vomiting, so back to the ER. This time different doctor and he wanted to do a CT with contrast (the did a plain one the first time). I told him there was no way I could swallow that stuff. He then had the nurse give me something that he said would help with the spasms. Voila - no more pain. Where exactly was this drug the first time. The second CT didn't show anything different, except the doctor was worried about the inflammation. So he admitted me.

Bottom line, I was there for 4 days, nothing by mouth, and they found nothing. I finally passed whatever was in my system on Tuesday. The doctor said it could have been food poisoning, but with no diarrhea?

After that I had a follow up with a Gastro, this time I got a nice one. He had done my coloscopy a few years before (it was normal). He also found stomach inflammation and prescribed, you got it, Prilosec. He also tested me for Celiac, but it was negative (of course I hadn't had any wheat for months, so it wouldn't show anything...).

I wasn't happy with this prognosis. I wanted to find out what was wrong with me and how to fix it, not just cover up symptoms. I began researching. I fould the SCD Diet. I read their articles on HCL and stomach acid and became even more convinced that I needed more, not less stomach acid. I wasn't digesting my food properly, it wasn't moving through my system fast enough which is why I had reflux and when it got to my colon, it just needed to get out.

I did their beginning regimine which is basically just chicken stock (homemade) then add in some pureed carrots and some chicken. Since I really couldn't eat anything after getting out of the hospital, I didn't feel deprived. I still had a lot of pain in my stomach and could only manage a few sips of food every hour or so. After about two weeks, I started adding in other foods. I was also still researching. Through the SCD site, I found Chris Kresser. He also had a lot of info on diet and how it related to every issue I had, Thyroid issues, anxeity issues, IBD, etc. I felt like I found the magic bullett. In addition to being gluten free, I also went completely grain free, and I use no vegetable oils. I eat no processed foods. I eat grass fed beef and pasture eggs and milk. I avoid fruit and FodMaps (which were a huge factor in my IBS, I found I could not tolerate broccoli, onions, garlic and many other types of vegetables, and BTW, gluten is a FODMAP). I had lost about 14 lbs when in the hospital and afterwards, and I was able to gain some of that back (maybe too much, HAHA). I began taking HCL, Probiotics, sublingual B12, Vitimin K, B6 and B6 among others. After a few weeks, I actually became horribly constipated (which was almost a miracle!!!!) Went to Chris' page, looked up constipation and added Magnesium Glycinate and prebiotics. Relief in two days. I did not want to resort to fiber, because I have also found out that fiber is bad for IBS and doesn't really help with constipation.

It's been a few months, I still have that pain in my stomach sometimes (most likely SIBO and I probably had a SIBO flare when I was in the hospital). My IBS has only flared up when I test a new food (avacados are still out, damn!). I feel SO much better. I don't have to plan my life around my bathroom trips. I am not the one smelling up the bathroom at work. I don't have gas constantly. I don't have GERD anymore and no Prilosec!!!! No bloating or burping either. I can drink coffee, red wine and chocolate, on the same day and not get any heartburn. I am more mentally alert and am sleeping much better.

I don't know what the future holds. It's been a long road. I wish I had done this years ago. But I wanted to give some of you hope. You can control this monster. You have the power. What you put in your mouth results in what comes out the other end and how it comes out. Make changes today if you already haven't.


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## storyofmylife (Jan 26, 2013)

Will read this later. Wow 40 years...at least it happened. I can't wait that long.


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