# Treatment recommendations



## daniangel (May 28, 2011)

Hey Everyone!!I'm a 25 year old female, who has had IBS before and now has come back with a vengence!! It came back after I contracted Gastroentritis and now have IBS. Have been to the doctors several times and have been give Meverine in sachet form which is in conjunction with Fybogel. The doctor also recommended Peppermint capsules, which I am also trying. Anyone have any other recommendations what I can try. Most problem I have is the pain and lack of appetite.


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

Hi,That's awful that your IBS has come back. I got IBS after a prolonged stomach bug and now have IBS-C. I can completely understand the lack of appetite - I have that everyday! If your appetite is really poor and you're having problems finishing a meal I would ask your doctor about Domperidone. It works by increasing the contractions in your stomach so you feel less full and its really worked for me. If you're losing weight you could also ask them about Fortisip or Fortijuice. These are nutritional drinks, a bit like Complan that have all the vitamins and minerals you need in them and provide you with more calories if you find eating difficult. I've had this for almost 2 years now and I still haven't found anything that really works for the pain apart from a hot water bottle! I'd give the Fybogel a go but I don't really know anyone it works for! Are you on the diarrhoea side or the constipation side? If you have diarrhoea calcium supplements can help as can Imodium and if you have constipation magnesium can help. As your IBS has flared up due to gastroenteritis it might also be an idea to take a probiotic. Yakult are quite good but acidophilus tablets you can get from health food stores are supposed to be even better. There's one called VSL3 that you can get online which is supposed to be excellent although I haven't tried it yet. All the bestEm xx


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## Gail2011 (May 3, 2011)

The best I have found so far to reduce the pain associated with ibs is a dairy-free probiotic starter kit called Health Start System by Natren. You can find this in the fridge at your health food store. This kit provides three distinct good bacteria that will change your digestion and elimination while feeding your system with what it is missing in the first place. Sorry to hear about you having to live with so much pain. Hopefully you can find this food product in your health food store so that it can restore function to your system. It will help you to more easily digest and eliminate your food. The cost of this probiotic kit is about $35.00 and the directions say to take one of each of the three good bacteria once per day. Money well spent to get you back on the road to health more quickly. Prescription drugs, fibre and laxatives can cause more problems then they solve, often flushing out any of the good bacteria that you did have, as you are finding, this addition of good bacteria is a way to bypass all of that and to give your body what it needs instead of covering things up or dealing with the side effects. Their website is www.natren.com. Best wishes, Gail


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## daniangel (May 28, 2011)

Unforuntely I haven't lost weight (as I need to) however have started to get wind, which makes me bloated. I have boats of diarrhoea and constapation, I now have developed muscus and lots of blood. The doctor gave me Domperidone when I had gastroentritis, but this GP i have seen twice, is not my regular doctor and to be honest I think doesn't understand. She said I need to control my stress levels, but is a bit hard when I have clinical depression and big exams next week!! She said if she gives me painkillers, i may get constapation and then I will be going in a circle. I have started to take activia, but haven't noticed much of a difference. Thanks Gail for the recommendation, I will look it up!!


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

You really have had a rough time of it.Blood in your stool isn't normal though so you should really go back to your GP and get it investigated. It may just be something like haemorrhoids but it could also be a sign of colitis or Crohn's disease. This is only something a doctor or gastroenterologist can diagnose so you should really go back as its not a sign of IBS. Is the blood bright red or dark? If its bright red its usually from haemorrhoids or an anal fissure but if its darker it could be from an ulcer - blood in the stool always needs to be investigated. Since you have alternating IBS (IBS-A) by trying not to get constipated in the first place you may find the cycle of diarrhoea and constipation improves. There is some thinking that having constipation for a few days forces the body into expelling the waste - hence the diarrhoea. There's a really good book called Irritable Bowel Solutions by John Hunter, which I really recommend. He's a gastroenterologist who has treated many IBS patients quite successfully. The stuff about the painkillers in bang on though - they do only make the constipation worse so keep taking your peppermint oil capsules and Mebeverine. If necessary you can take paracetamol for pain but I find its not usually effective enough. If the nausea is still bothersome you can get these really good ginger capsules from Holland and Barrett that you can either take as a capsule or open up and add to boiling water to make ginger tea - it actually works and much nicer than ginger biscuits. Another oldie but a goodie is flat coke - it does really work on nausea. But if you're still having problems then maybe ask about going on Domperidone long term - I've been on it for over a year now with no adverse affects. All the best in your exams!Em xx


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