# My IBS-D and a semi-solution



## negtummy (May 16, 2013)

Hello,

I'll tell my story just in case anyone may benefit from some of my experiences with IBS-D

Back when I was 16 I noticed that I was getting D quite often and also a lot of gas. Found out later that I had both lactose intolerance and IBS-D. I then went and did many self-tests to see what was going on and how I could minimize any "bad stomach" days. I'm sure everyone's body is different but these were the odd idiosyncrasies with me.

All these items caused my IBS to be more apparent:

Eating pork, chicken, pasta, fruits, vegetables, dairy, any soda with high fructose corn syrup, anything even remotely spicy.

Because of this my diet consisted of:

Beef, fish, rice, diet sodas, water.

After going to many doctors and specialists, it was discovered that if I stayed on these meds, I would be much better. There were many other meds that I tried but none of them worked.

Colestid (1 packet daily)

½ tablet of Imodium (daily)

With my very boring diet and medication regimin, I was mostly stable most of the time, but yeah if I ate anything different in terms of food, everything would fall apart.

Fast forward 14 years

One evening I started having major mains near the right side of my stomach and had to go to the ER for the first time in my life. Turns out it was an appendicitis and I had to get my appendix removed. After the healing process was finished from the surgery, I noticed several things:

I started to gain weight pretty quickly (metabolism)

I got sick more often (immune system)

More acne on my arms (no idea)

But the big positive was that many of my IBS trigger foods and IBS sensitivity lessened by probably 70%. I can now eat an apple and not have to rush to go to the bathroom or have a chicken dinner or have a non-diet soda. I went from going to the bathroom 7-10 times a day down to 2. (Yay!!)

If I don't take my Imodium tablet, this effects the time needed for me to reach a bathroom. So for example if I take a tablet, my body will give me 1 hour to reach a bathroom while if I didn't I would only have about 20 minutes. Before my appendectomy it would be more like 5-8 minutes.

If I don't take my colestid packet, it will affect the consistency of the stool. Without the packet is less solid and with it = solid. Before the appendectomy it was more like watery vs semi-solid.

I'm still not in the clear though&#8230;spicy foods will still turn everything into D as well as if I ate a whole container of strawberries or something, but for me having my appendix removed greatly assisted in the unpredictable IBS attacks that plagued my life for over a decade. I am still lactose intolerant but to a lesser extent. I can have some cheeses and be a bit gassy but it will not effect stool, whileas pure milk will effect both. I lived with IBS without medication for around 7 years before I discovered Colestid so that greatly helped with stool consistency and some of the panic visits. That is the main thing I would recommend seeing in your doctor will let you test out.


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