# Feeling desperate



## Marie Msb (Jun 8, 2014)

Ive been diagnosed with IBS in 2011.. At first, i would react to specific foods. Now, I don't know anything anymore ! I've been sick every week for the past three months. Doctors have been telling me its stress related, although i'm not feeling stressed.. They dont take me seriously i think... Now its just turning into a vicious circle... I'm afraid of going to events and parties, iget anxious the minute that i start having cramps.. It's actually ruining my life right now. I cry constantly and feel nausea all the time. Before you ask, no, i'm not pregnant! Haha... If only I had that excuse... As I live in Quebec (Canada), I dont have the same medication and the health system is quite different... Can anyone give me tips on how to deal with this?? I'm feeling desperate...


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## IndianRopeTrick (Jul 25, 2013)

Welcome. Do you think any events were related to the onset of your problems - food poisoning, difficult exams, stressful situation like death of family/friend, too much alcohol etc. ? Have you had any tests for this ?


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## Marie Msb (Jun 8, 2014)

Thank you for your reply!
I can't think of anything that caused this much activity in my bowels... I'm a teacher and i'm having the best year of my career so far! I have no stress coming from my job. I've been following a diet, avoiding all things that trigger (coffee, wine, raw vedgies, sodas, "junk foods", etc). I've had a colonoscopy in 2011, thats when the specialist confirmed it was IBS. I've been living with it since 2009. At that time, I was in university and drinking rhum&cokes a few times... You can imagine the rest! I've been seeing an ostheopath since september, would help a lot at first! But now, i'm not so sure... I've started Yoga and meditation, yet I can't seem to get rid of those frequent episodes. I have tried Align this winter and it helped for about three months. Hence the start of my 2-3 months of hell. I'm a bit nervous when I think that the only way i can 'function' is with immodium. On the other hand, the pain is almost unbearable... I've lost at least 12 pounds since end of april. Recently, i've been having my episodes on the weekends. As if my body did not tolerate the change in my routine! Would that cause all of this?


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## IndianRopeTrick (Jul 25, 2013)

Marie Msb said:


> Thank you for your reply!
> I can't think of anything that caused this much activity in my bowels... I'm a teacher and i'm having the best year of my career so far! I have no stress coming from my job. I've been following a diet, avoiding all things that trigger (coffee, wine, raw vedgies, sodas, "junk foods", etc). I've had a colonoscopy in 2011, thats when the specialist confirmed it was IBS. I've been living with it since 2009. At that time, I was in university and drinking rhum&cokes a few times... You can imagine the rest! I've been seeing an ostheopath since september, would help a lot at first! But now, i'm not so sure... I've started Yoga and meditation, yet I can't seem to get rid of those frequent episodes. I have tried Align this winter and it helped for about three months. Hence the start of my 2-3 months of hell. I'm a bit nervous when I think that the only way i can 'function' is with immodium. On the other hand, the pain is almost unbearable... I've lost at least 12 pounds since end of april. Recently, i've been having my episodes on the weekends. As if my body did not tolerate the change in my routine! Would that cause all of this?


Hi Marie, I have not had as much IBS experience as the others in the forum and I am not qualified to give medical advice. It would be helpful if you could provide more information so that we can suggest something for you. Can you tell
us more about your IBS (constipation, diarrhea or alternating). Do you tend to get diarrhea when you are nervous ? etc.


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## PajamaKitty (Jun 12, 2014)

Sometimes flare ups can last a while... and we don't know why. That's part of the suckiness of IBS. I have had a few flare ups like this... last summer was really bad for me. I was constantly and pain and backed up and it had me so depressed and hopeless. I was trying everything possible to try and make it better. Nothing was working. However... after about 3 months I was able to FINALLY get my symptoms under control. I still dont know why I had such a bad flare up... probably will never know.

So dont give up hope. You can do this. You can get through this.

Like IndianRopeTrick said, could you give us some more details about your symptoms? What you currently take for managing symptoms (prescription or OTC).


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## Marie Msb (Jun 8, 2014)

Hi! Ok sorry, I thought I had mentionned it! I have IBS-D. When I get nervous, it's automatic. I have to rush to the toilet. I went to the emergency on tuesday and the doctor gave me Protylol. Honestly, it's helped me a lot since tuesday! Thing is, I still can't seem to have normal stool... I tried Librax (was way too strong for me, had massive second effects), Gravols+ Immodium and Bentylol a long time ago. I went to see a naturopath on wednesday... Sweet lord! I was told not to touch my white bread, nor my mashed potatoes! Aka, basically the only things that my body can take when I have my flare ups. What about you? What do you try to eat??


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## IndianRopeTrick (Jul 25, 2013)

Marie Msb said:


> Hi! Ok sorry, I thought I had mentionned it! I have IBS-D. When I get nervous, it's automatic. I have to rush to the toilet. I went to the emergency on tuesday and the doctor gave me Protylol. Honestly, it's helped me a lot since tuesday! Thing is, I still can't seem to have normal stool... I tried Librax (was way too strong for me, had massive second effects), Gravols+ Immodium and Bentylol a long time ago. I went to see a naturopath on wednesday... Sweet lord! I was told not to touch my white bread, nor my mashed potatoes! Aka, basically the only things that my body can take when I have my flare ups. What about you? What do you try to eat??


Marie, I don't really know if naturopathy is an evidence based approach. So, I suggest that you look deeper into that. I almost stopped eating bread of any kind, especially white bread. I have no proof, but people advised me to avoid it, given my frequent constipation problems. I eat oats, whole wheat pancakes, veggies etc. This has alleviated the symptoms to a great extent. Perhaps, avoiding bread could help you too. As an aside, I suggest that we all should be careful when we

make associations between food and symptoms. We must try to be sure that the symptoms indeed have a connection with the foods we eat and are not just concocted by our head.

In the book "making sense of IBS", I had read a case of a girl who took some time to realize that her problems with food were all in the head and were not really food allergies/intolerances. Slowly, she reintroduced items into her diet and became normal again. So, look into this aspect to be sure that its not just in the mind.


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## Marie Msb (Jun 8, 2014)

Thing is, for me it's the complete opposite... When I eat fiber, thats when my body acts up. I'm rarely constipated... It's more like I go ten times a day. Thats why, when I take my white bread, it soothes my bowels. I know that my head has a lot to do with my problem. I've started meditation, I think it's going to help!


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## IBS & Surviving (Jun 24, 2014)

Gluten makes me feel like that, not just white bread. I only eat gluten free bread (it took forever to find one that tastes almost right). I am totally gluten free and feeling pretty balanced with my constipation and diarrhea cycle. Instead of gluten, I eat rice, quinoa, potatoes, corn meal, corn tortillas, almond or rice flour. If I have a flair up, I take ibuprofen and allergy meds for a few days and it seems to calm things down again. I also take a mild anti-depressant with these, but have not needed this in months as I have been able to control it with a strict non-dairy, non-gluten diet and very limited of other triggers.


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## Marie Msb (Jun 8, 2014)

Oh, okay! Did you do a blood test to see if you were allergic to gluten before doing this?


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## IBS & Surviving (Jun 24, 2014)

I am not allergic to gluten and I do not have celiac. Gluten definitely gives me stomach cramps and diarrhea though. Even the amount in gravy. It's worth a try for a couple of weeks maybe.


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## IBS & Surviving (Jun 24, 2014)

But I'm weird, dairy constipates me which is the opposite of most people.


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## Marie Msb (Jun 8, 2014)

I don't eat much dairy, and when I do, it's in really small portions. Basically, I don't really know how it affects me. I will try the FODMAP diet though! I just have to read a bit on it and i'll give it a go!


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## watsoncenter (Jun 21, 2014)

Hi Marie, I totally felt like that before too, like I had no idea what foods triggered me and as though there was no rhyme or reason for my symptoms. I couldn't eat any high fiber foods either and lived on Cream of Wheat and white bread when I was sick. I know you were asking about the FODMAP diet on a post I made, and I really do encourage you to try that. It changed my life and my relationship with food. Or you may want to try cutting out dairy and gluten first. I'm similar to IBS & Surviving above in that I'm not allergic to gluten (I do not have celiac) but I found that gluten definitely causes me stomach pain. It was very hard to give up wheat cause I so love bread and pizza and so many other things! But the gluten free foods have come a long way and taste much better than they used to! And it was worth giving it up to be free of stomach pain. I have found that I can eat lactose free dairy in small portions (so lactose free yogurt, cheeses like cheddar, brie, mozzarella) but the lactose seems to be a problem for me. I just read a study in which 38% of people with IBS are lactose intolerant (I'm a dietitian). So that's definitely worth exploring too. Food has a lot to do with IBS but doctors don't always talk about the diet part and push meds instead! If you haven't been on the dietitian Patsy Catso's website, http://www.ibsfree.net, I'd highly recommend it. Also, Kate Scarlata is another RD and her blog is wonderful: http://blog.katescarlata.com/ Both of these dietitian's books and resources helped me on my journey and inspire me in my own work! Here's to feeling better!! And yay for you for taking up meditation and yoga. - Kate W


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## Marie Msb (Jun 8, 2014)

Thank you so much Kate for taking the time to reply! I will be seriously looking into this! I've noticed that I have been feeling a lot better recently! School ended on June 23rd... Haha! Might have something to do with stress also! I'm just so glad that my bowels have calmed down. This has been the longest episode so far. Two full months!


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## watsoncenter (Jun 21, 2014)

Wow, yes that tells you something now that school is out! Maybe you will have some time this summer to work on learning some stress management tools and experimenting with your diet. So glad you are feeling better though!


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