# How i fixed my IBS-D,



## bartek (Aug 8, 2009)

How i fixed my IBS-D, my story, please readTo start off, this is not some miracle cure, this is not a product you buy and this isnt some self help positive thinking mumbo jumbo, this is essentially an autobiography combined with my extensive research into the field for obvious reasons, its a hard disease condition because everyone tells you there is nothing wrong with you and whilst debilitating it will not kill you so you feel abandoned by the medical profession and you resent people who dont understand or care what you are going thru. I am sharing the story of my small success (for now) in beating IBS-D or at least managing it successfully because ive read so many stories (on this site and others over the last 2 years) from so many scared and desperate people and personally seen all the products which prey on our desperateness and it doesnt havent to be like this. Also i consider myself very lucky there are people much worse off than me and to those brave souls i acknowledge your suffering and i hope what i have to say may help you. Ultimately IBS is a personal story but i think i have figured it out based on my own and other testimonies and my drive in not accepting that it cant be solved and wanting so much to be normalThe medical references i make are not my opinions they are the opinions of qualified medical people i have been to sometimes with frustratingly results and sometimes with success. I predominately suffered from IBS-D and urgency but i think the parallels to IBS-C are the same, happy to have some feedback regarding this from IBS-C sufferers. Id also like to note that i have tried every cure under the sun and i make notes where applicable regarding this below.I also make note that i didnt develop any of these ideas, this is a summary of all the IBS information and ideas out there which is peice meal and hard to put together, i do this out of no self interest because i understand and empathise what a shitty disease (excuse the pun) this is and i hope even if i help one other person it will been worth writing this up. I will also endevour to keep trying to help people even if i recover 100% because its important to me to help where so many others have helped me with their stories. I also make note, i am not by any means a doctor or even in the medical profession so please treat my advice as merely that and confirm with specialists as much as you like. OK ill cut to the chase, the most important thing to realise (if you already havent from reading online) is that IBS either fits usually into any of the following 4 categories1. Physiological/Physical (ie a food allergy intolerance etc)2. A gastrological condition (ie bowel cancer, chrohns disease, celiac disease etc look up on wikipedia)3. Psychological (ie thinking about it can cause an attack, being in stressful environments crowds, phobias, panic attacks etc)4. Psychosematic (ie anxiety or depression disorder or a pre-existing tendency towards a mental illness where serotonin levels in your brain and gut are interlinked)First Item 2Most importantly if you have any blood in your stool please insist on seeing a gastroentologist, this is VERY important as you may have one of the serious conditions as noted in item 2 and you need to see a specialist. This is very important. In fact you may want to get a colonoscopy regardless to confirm there is nothing seriously wrong with you. I never had one, but then urgency and diarrhoea is not a symptom of that, but blood is very bad, do not ignore this.And here is the second most important bit which no-one mentions or few people know but is the key, 'it may in fact be a COMBINATION of any of these'. This is the most important thing to remember. There may be no single cure it may actually be a combination of things. So even if you identify your food trigger you may have developed an anxiety disorder and so you need to get help. I saw 6 GPs, 2 Psychiatrist, Psychologists, Naturopaths, Chinese herbal specialist, countless other alternative therapy people, massage, acupuncture etc, i have poured over internet forums and few mention anything regarding the combined nature of the ibs loop. It was only one of the psychiatrists which in combination prescribed me the exact thing i had been begging my GPS to give me, namely tricyclic depressants. I have a pamphlet from my psychiatrist which confirms and explains the development of a disorder, which i am happy to scan and send to anyones email, please contact me on the below email and i will give you a copy. Ultimately what happens is the IBS is co-morbid (linked) to a psychological condition and unless you fix both, you will suffer forever as you are stuck in a horrible loops where one symptom causes the other, well after you have identified the food problem. Most doctors arent even aware of this or are largely unsympatheticultimately this is how i understand ibs-d evolvesincreased vulnerability to panic/attack stress, personality etc > attack (ibs or panic other) > recurrent attacks (caused physically or mentally > hypochondria (convinced you are physically sick) > phobia (agrophobia, social phobia) > anxiety/depression This is a very very vicous loop and progressionMy IBS-D developed during my first year after moving to london, the stress i think started it, maybe even connected with a stomache bug i was caught in India and it became a manifestation of all 3 categories above which is why it was so dammed hard to beat. I initially thought it was the food, the milk the water all sorts of things. My ongoing successful treatment consists of the following which deals with all 3 categories. Ill also at the end make a summary of all the things ive tried and my feelings on them, obviously this is my opinion and what works for some may not work for others1. Physiological. Keep a diary, not just of what you eat, but what you were doing and how you were feeling everytime you have an attack. This is hard to do because you probably dont want to remember. A pattern will emerge but may be hard to identify. For me it was and still is traditional GI stimulants such as coffee, chocolate and alcohol, and my intolerance of these is linked to my stress and anxiety see following points. Now i love all these things so giving them up has been incredibly hard, because IBS is intermitant it doesnt happen all the time which is the hard part and why the the diary is so important it is why you have to keep exact notes regarding feelings etc. because it may not be purely a certain trigger. THis was in fact the first thing the GP doctors recommended.So you have identified the problem. Some people will be lucky and have not developed the anxiety and fear of attacks and be able to merely avoid this, use regular probiotics (yoghurt - good digestion germs) to stay well. unfortunately most people have progressed further than this and require psychological help as well. Also very important do as i do keep a list of all the treatments you have tried, this is very important as it helps the specialists you are seeing and it helps you remember what you have tried and shows a determination to get better and i find doctors and specialists help you more when you show them the timeline of your illness and all the things you have tried. Also feel free to use imodium and antispasmodic to get thru life whilst u identify the triggers, just be careful u can get ulcers and hammerhoids from overuse and then theres blood and thats scary but not so serious apparently, still worth checking with docs if your worried regarding blood. I only had one incident when i was popping imodium like lollies just be careful please2. see above regarding digestive disease, please see a specialist, this didnt apply to me but yes important you seek expert help3. Doctors referred to me to psychologists, who taught me breathing exercises and recommended meditation. So I started meditation and still do regular self-hypnotherapy (tapes) which acts as meditation in conjunction with cognitive behavioural therapy, basically positive thinking to deal with the psychologial aspect and fear. CBT and hypnotherapy i thoroughly recommend as one of the steps towards managing the problem, the tricky part is that sometimes it is jsut in your head, sometimes its not. I got into this stupid routine of going to the bathroom 4 times before a meeting to make sure i was completely empty or not eating that day jsut to make sure i was empty, this is not sane, this is a psychological problem and you need to understand and accept this. Also doctors and psych recommended lifestyle changes. This also is very important as stress can cause IBS, i know for me certainly it has so sometimes quitting your job, giving up commitments is good. I in fact went part time and then resigned but now am going back to work after this weekend. For me work stress isnt the root cause but it certainly contributes so i have made some adjustements, i avoid crowded or busy places like bars or going to places with strangers where there arent toilets. This isnt rocket science but its part of treatment, it helps you identify the next item. THe linden method which is for phobias works well here although its not strictly perfect as this is for ppl with panic attacks and so the sweating and stuff isnt as bad as shitting yourself which is a very real and frightening aspect for us IBS-D people4. Lastly the psychosematic. If youve been having IBS for a long time you probably have a anxiety or depression disorder. now i was very very skeptical of AntiDepressants s because i have been on them before and they do make you a little bit of a zombie, the wacky thing is they work. Sometimes you need to get out of your head. Most important things is you have to find the right one for you. my idiot doctor gave me zooloft a new SSRI antidepressant whose chief side effect is diarrhoa. i dont get what idiot would prescribe that side effect to a IBS-D sufferer, anyway new psychiatrist has given me tricyclic AD whose chief side effect is constipation (yay!) so now instead of being constipated i am normal and relaxed. Now my antidepressants are for my anxious personality and my resultant anxiety disorder, for people with constipation the comorbidity is depression, which also is fixed by other types of antidepressants, info regarding ADs is on wikipedia, in fact all the things i mention CBT meditation etc youll find on wikipedia. Please stay open minded regarding Antidepressants it may not be your first call but when u have tried everything i have its not a bad angle, a lot of people have tried them and they workSo in conclusion the antidepressants have been the trick, which i decided to try as a last resort and it worked but it wasnt easy and it was in conjunction with the identification of the food trigger, the identification and management of stress and in conjunction with AD medication i am getting better. As my psych said i have ibs-d and anxiety and together they make it much much worse. I still manage my stress and phobia i still avoid my food triggers or only have them when know i can handle it, mostly chocolate isnt too bad, its mainly coffee and alcohol. I think having good friends, exercising eating well etc is very important to help with the process, mostly ive dealt with this alone, because its an embarrasing illness but if you can talk about it it really helps and you realise its actually a fairly common thing for a lot of people. please note i still carry imodium in my wallet and avoid certain things, but fingers crossed i stay better and my psych has told me as has my research to take it easy and take one step at a time. obviously there are more complicated illness disease i have noted in item 2, there may be more again please see a specialistLastly very happy to answer questions email and i welcome any feedback, on errors or omissionsI can also point people to other sources of info etcI again note i am not a doctor or medical person so please more technical questions should be directed to the appropriate specialistsBestBAppendicesAs promised i have also made a list of everything i have tried and i include it below for reference they are all in chronological orderMy treatmentProblem: Anxiety, Depression & IBS ??? Cause: Stomach Flu (India) Stress / Personality / Upbringing Vitamin B deficiency Lifestyle? Triggers: Stress in combination with any of the below Posture GI Stimulants – Caffeine, Chocolate, Alcohol, Lactose, Overeating Travel Crowds, Confine spaces. Feeling trapped. Emotions, Fear, Anger, Apprehension, Dread Symptoms (in order of prevalence) 1. Chronic Back/Neck Pain 2. Shortness of Breath 3. Cramping, IBS-D & Urgency + associated Social Phobia 4. Chest pain / tightness 5. Low attention span, restlessness Treatment: Side Effects: Outcome: Peppermint Oil/Calcium None NonePeppermint Tea None Some relief Cammomile Tea None Some reliefProbiotics None NoneChinese Herbal Treatment None NoneMebeverine (anti-spasmodic) Gas Some reliefLoperamide (imodium) capsules	Mild Constipation, Some relief Loperamide (imodium) melts	Mild Constipation	Fast relief for IBS-DMinimax – beta blockers Breathlessness, Some reliefPsychology – CBT – Breathing techniques Some reliefMeditation None Some reliefYoga & Stretching Some reliefPsychiatry – Life planning None Some reliefLifestyle changes None Some reliefNo crowds, no alcohol, no travelling, reduced job stress Setraline Zoloft Altered Perception, Diarrhoea	Reduced symptoms Chronic Headache Nausea, Dizziness, Rescue Remedy: Flower essences	None Reduced symptoms (placebo)Proxan (5HTP & SAMe) Naturopath	Elevated heartrate Minor reduction in anxiety Chest pain when exercising	Saint John's Wort None Some reliefVitamin B & Fish Oil None Unable to tellExercise None Some reliefHypnotherapy None Good relief, de-programmeTricyclic Amphitrline Dry Mouth, some dizziness	IBS and anxiousness fixed Other notes 1. I would like my life back as I don't think lifestyles changes equal management but avoidance 2. Separate fact from fiction with regard to what is physical and mental 3. Find underlying physical cause if there is one, digestive or neural 4. Can accept I need help and am willing to do anything reasonable within my power to achieve normalcy


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

Nice story BT.The thing that has totally made a life changer for me was , going on the digestive enzyme : Pancrease MT-20It has totally eliminated My IBS-D. Haven't had "D" in months.Everything is normal now. Will this continue ? I sure hope so.Everyone needs to share their storys , it really may benefit alot of people.


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## petra (Feb 2, 2009)

Found this whilst researching Glenda's pancrease MT 20. Was wondering if it was available OTC anywhere. I don't think GPs would be aware of this.John S Leeds, MB ChB (Hons), MRCP, and Dr David S. Sanders, MD, FRCP, FACGDr John Leeds is a doctor and researcher in the Gastroenterology and Liver Unit at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield ([email protected]). His main areas of interest and research are diseases of the pancreas and liver, and coeliac disease. His current medical research is looking at the implications of coeliac disease in Type 1 diabetes mellitus.He is also investigating pancreatic function in a number of different patient groups, which has lead to the finding that some patients with diagnosed Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) have pancreatic exocrine insufficiency.He presented results at the 2007 annual scientific meeting of the British Society of Gastroenterology which showed that 6% of the diarrhoea-predominant IBS patients seen in hospital clinics had a severe lack of digestive enzymes. When treated with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, 95% of these patients benefited from a big reduction in the number of times they passed stools each day.


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## Hester (Jul 5, 2009)

I appreciate your story. I was initially diagnosed with IBS-D. I had horrible gas, rumblings after any meal or drink, flatulence, and yellow urgent diarrhea with a horrible smell from 2 to 10 times a day. This was combined with weight loss, a continued progression of a complete loss of appetite, mucle wasting, near complete hairloss, profuse night sweats, daytime clammy feeling and profound weakness. I had every, and I mean every, test on the planet - blood, liver, counts, kidney, IGA, IGg, ANA, sed rate, thyroid, HIV, enzymes, stool cultures, Celiac, infections, upper and lower GI with biopsies, CT scans, small bowel scan, and an MRI - nothing was found. Yet I continued to get worse. I could barely get out bed. The reason I say this is I am a clinical person and work in the medical field. I read and read because I refused to believe I could BE so debilitated by IBS and I had NO PAIN. (Well, except a sore anus.) What I found in the clinical literature of peer reviewed journals was that as high as 40 PERCENT OF IBS-D sufferers are really SIBO/SBBO sufferers and DO NOT HAVE IBS! In other words, the medical commuinity is missing the diagnosis of small intestine bacterial overgrowth. I was placed on Tetracycline (I am allergic to many antibiotics) and my symptoms literally improved dramatically within FOUR HOURS! On the meds, I am symptom free and my strength and hair are returning. Now, the bad news: my syptoms return slowly after stopping the Tetracycline so I am probably going to taking antibiotics on and off indefinitely. However, I get fair warning because the fatigue and gas are the first to return. Hence, IBS-D does not always have ANY gut/mind connection or root in anxiety or depression but is instead SIBO. We have too much bacteria in the wrong place. Can this be caused by motility or obstruction issues like chronic constipation, crohn's or damage to the nerves in bowel/brain/spine? Yes. Can it also be caused by an infection that some how alters the small bowel? Absolutely. As you will tell by reading, many people had contolled IBS until a bout with food poisoning or an infection. Then all Hell broke loose (no pun intended). What we need are more people on here who have cleared up their SIBO to tell us how they did it. We also need more people with IBS-D to give antibiotics a try especially if their condition is accompied by malabsorption of an unknown cause. Chronic yellow diarrhea with a horrible odor is also a common symptom of SIBO with sweating and weakness. Hester


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

After using and trying all kinds of different meds, natural, herbal I finally can get out of my house with the combo I have finally found that works for me. Librium 1 25mg a day and 2 lomotils in the morning. This so far has been the best combo for me, nothing else has worked. I do try to rememeber to take a probiotic everyday and 1tsp of konsyl fiber at night.


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## keycat (Apr 6, 2009)

Hester - that's interesting that you have found relief with antibiotics (and good, of course), given that they have the opposite effect on me. I've never been prescribed antibiotics for IBS, but the times that I've taken antibiotics for infections my D has been ten times worse. I guess I don't have SIBO, although it sounds as though you do.My mother has suggested that perhaps I have too LITTLE bacteria in my intestinal tract. Some people with IBS-D seem to improve when they eat yogurt with cultures of live bacteria in it - this replenishes the good bacteria in your gut. I've tried it and have seen little or no difference, however. So who knows?


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## bartek (Aug 8, 2009)

yes wasnt aware of SIBO, and its crazy they dont test for it, i got a real bad stomache flu in india and it has been since then that ive had problem, mainly actually with beer, so my feeling was that somehow the chem composition of my stomache has changedinterestingly like others i get bad diarrhoea from antibiotics which is a known side effect and lots of probiotics do nothing or yeah too much lactase can be the problem too, the yakults are better i guesbasically my problem is im young but not as tough foodwise as i wasi think the yeast in beer sets off a reaction with some new evil bacteria inside me courtesy of india and because i drank beer in a crowded environment while i am drunk the fear and stress does the restanyway i have noted many times that this is my best attempt at diagnosis and understanding because most doctors know bugger all or just dont actually carelots of this was learnt by reading from othersinterestingly i remember having ibs-c in my childhood, go figure...and i am guess youd say a prime canditate for anxiety and depression so im convinced its part serotonin, part stomache flu and part work stress, hence the whole combinatoin angle to my storyi was a fairly young energetic ambiotious work hard play hard young man and it was hard to crawl back home with my tail between my legs, i literally for a number of reasons couldnt take the pace and it is the stress which exarcebates a cause or root of the ibs-d im not actually sure but i suspect stomache flu or sibo, but my sibo goes away without beer, again they cant test for this so its all in my head...?and i guess yeah i gave up on finding a wonder pill, i have just found a few things that work in combination, and yeah ADs dry and clog me up so its not ideal but its a hell of lot better than the whole toilet planning exercise on trips some of teh places ive managed to find loos at the wrost of times amaze methanks for all commentsi wish eveyone bowel peacebestb


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## chemist (Mar 16, 2009)

BartekThanks for the write-up, glad your quality of life has improved.I have taken a similar scientific approach and have also come to the realisation that there is no magic pill (actually, there was one - Lotronex - but it was banned due to some ****** doctors prescribing it to IBS-C suffers).Anyway, I too am on Amitriptyline, taking 50mg/day. They have helped with the background D but do not help with more severe episodes. How much are you taking per day?Cheers


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Lotronex was re-released but the doctors do have to fill out extra paperwork to prove to the FDA the understand how to prescribe it before they can get the stickers they have to attach to the prescription so the pharmacy will fill it.http://www.lotronex.com/Physicians/Prescribing/


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## chemist (Mar 16, 2009)

True Kathleen - but that's no good for a man living in the UK!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I don't think the UK ever approved it. I think everyone watched to see what happened in the US then got scared off.Unfortunately Lotronex is one of those drugs that has a lot of gender specificity so there are only a few men percentage-wise that seem to respond to the drug the same way a typical woman does (I'm sure a few women do not respond to it at all as no drug every seems to do something in 100% of all people)Hopefully as time goes on as we've finally started to acknowledge that things are different (pre 1990 all drugs were only shown to work in men and assumed to also work in women without any testing) we will figure out what the differences is and can work to make more drugs that work for more people.


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## bartek (Aug 8, 2009)

ive been prescribed 150mg but told to build upso i took 50 for 3 days then 100 for 3 days then 150 once but had like some weird side effects including a hallucination? and some random muscular pain and tremors in the right hand side of body, which psych said was ok but to ease offso at present im on 100mg and that seems to work 50 does not do enough i still get panic attacks for no reason like reading a book or driving on 50 but not on 100?, and yeah only been fine for 2 weeks and ive been on holidays and not working so who knows, basically all 100mg does is side effect of slowing down your gut and also i just dont think anymore about it, i dont obsess its like the AD just makes me not care at all which i think is part of it, but im still very much focused on cbt and hypnotherapy because exaclty there is no magic pill and each person unfortunately responds very differently to different treatments which as everyone knows is what is so frustratingironically if you read any over the counter or prescribed medicine usually the side effect listed is d or digestive disruption making the whole process of trial and error self-medicating so much more difficultthe only way out i can see is mental and physical trial and error and isolation so turn your life off completely and introduce new things and try to work out whats wrongi basically gave up everything, i was sitting at home for 2 weeks doing nothing eating well and i noticed id get real worked up over nothing, like say a bad tv commercial get a pain in my stomache and need to go to the bathroom and i was like yeah its definately emotional or mental which is when i decided to go try psych again so yeah 'lifestyle changes' are an important part of the process, if i start working FT again and it comes back itll very obvious its time for a career change, we will see


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## Hester (Jul 5, 2009)

BARTEK - Docs can test for SBBO/SIBO via the hydrogen breath test and also extraction of fluid from the small bowel during an endoscopy. The problem is the tests are not that specific and have issues. I heard the only true test is a through and through biopsy from the middle of the small bowel which can only be achieved with major surgery. Obviously, it is easier to just see if antibiotics provide relief. I think the comments are spot on, in that some of us have too much bacteria while others have not enough. You can also have the wrong kind of bacteria or even fungus. I read both bad bacteria and fungus can embed themselves into the small bowel and be very difficult to kill. Another issue is if you have a bug of some kind. A small bug actually takes several serial stool samples to detect rather than the typical one which is all that is usually tested. Could I even have a bug? Sure, but it would have to be one that can be killed by Tetracycline since that is what makes me feel better. The Flagyl did nothing for me and actually made me worse. Probotics seem to also make me feel worse. Right now I am going to avoid them since my problem seems to be too much bacteria.


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## bartek (Aug 8, 2009)

ps ive read about lotronex seems like the magic pill, except we dont get it in australia!only imodium and ive heard imodium is ok long term even large doses but yeah its technically an opiate and ive also read you can get addicted to imodium and its not that great for youbut its a means to an end and pretty much the only thing available that definately works, but its expensive and yeah im hesitant to use it everydayespecially if problem is psychological your fighting your own body and mind with drugs which is long term i believe going to cause harmmy 5 cents anyway re imodiumre: bacteria and sibogod GPs annoy me, you ask them and they say no you cant test for this, anyway thats good to know, yeah maybe its time to do an endoscopy and go see a gastroentologists, i tell doc i get IBS-D when i drink coffee or beer and their response is....'dont drink it'i tell them i get IBS-D when im stressed they say, dont get stressed, change your job, and i say thats great except i have a massive uni debt and ive been training for 10 years i cant just do something else ...annoying! but i digressAustralian doctors are a pain, unless your dying they dont care, anyway will insist on some more tests in the future, for now im going to just relax and see how it goes


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Well the addicted to Imodium (like you have to go through detox with methadone to get off of it) only really happens at extreme doses. One case study in the medical lit (from someone that was addicted to opiates to begin with) was someone that needed something like 160 pills at a time. That is pretty unusual. One of the reasons Imodium is Over the Counter rather than prescription like Lomotil is that it is very difficult to get addicted.Now it doesn't fix why you have diarrhea in the first place (and neither does Lotronex, but there are some people it works for when nothing else did, but it doesn't work for everyone just like every other treatment for IBS. Lotronex seems to work for about the same percentage of people as anything else. Just when it works it can work really well for some people) so when you stop taking it the diarrhea comes back, but that isn't addiction. That is an indication the disease is chronic (long-lasting)In clincal trials for months on end with IBSers there doesn't seem to be a problem with Imodium.If you think you have some mind-body issues then things like hypnotherapy and Cog. Behav. Therapy may be worth while (and work even if you aren't depressed or anxious as everyone's mind talks to the nerves in the gut).


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## Matt M (Aug 11, 2009)

I got taken down a peg or two due to IBS after food poisoning three years ago, I had seriously no idea what the hellwas going on, things just were not getting any better and in the end it was up around 30+ ( I kid you not ) toilet visits a day and constant nausea (butterflies).I convinced myself I was dieing as I was losing so much weight, which sent me in to a vicious cycle and downward spiral.I woke up in absolute agony with hot poker pains under my armpits and back one morning at 5am which led to an emergency roomvisit and a hospital stay of a week, where I was diagnosed with IBS as they could not find anything wrong with me and theTremadol that was prescribed did not seem to touch the sides of the pain.So it was back to the GP on and off, Fiber and Colese with meals which didn't seem to do much, but it was when he put me on Endep (Amitriptyline hydrochloride) and Paxam for anxiety which seemed to nail this thing on the head over night. I have been all well up until 3 months ago when I decided I'd try to come off my medication, well wasn't that a silly move. My symptoms returned within a week and I was losing approximately a kilo a week for 10 weeks (yep 10 kilograms)I'm now back on my medication feeling great and slowly gaining weight again.So in a nutshell I believe whatever the hell is wrong with me is to do with my stomach not agreeing to much with what my brain has to say (nerve damage?). So I guess it's medication for me for life, Amitriptyline sure works for me too.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

While IBS is chronic (and sometimes permanent) I think an occasional test to see if the medication is still needed can be useful. Sometimes the damage to the Enteric Nervous system and Gut-Brain axis does heal up, but sometimes it doesn't.Unfortunately sometimes IBS lasts for a really long time. While it is fairly common for it to fade in the 2-5 years after the GI infection that triggered it (a common way for it to start) you don't know if you are one of the lucky or not until after time has passed.I'm glad you found something that works for you, and thanks for sharing. Too often people only share what didn't work and it is good to hear from someone that is doing well on their medications.


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## Borrellifan (May 5, 2009)

Hester said:


> I appreciate your story. I was initially diagnosed with IBS-D. I had horrible gas, rumblings after any meal or drink, flatulence, and yellow urgent diarrhea with a horrible smell from 2 to 10 times a day. This was combined with weight loss, a continued progression of a complete loss of appetite, mucle wasting, near complete hairloss, profuse night sweats, daytime clammy feeling and profound weakness. I had every, and I mean every, test on the planet - blood, liver, counts, kidney, IGA, IGg, ANA, sed rate, thyroid, HIV, enzymes, stool cultures, Celiac, infections, upper and lower GI with biopsies, CT scans, small bowel scan, and an MRI - nothing was found. Yet I continued to get worse. I could barely get out bed. The reason I say this is I am a clinical person and work in the medical field. I read and read because I refused to believe I could BE so debilitated by IBS and I had NO PAIN. (Well, except a sore anus.) What I found in the clinical literature of peer reviewed journals was that as high as 40 PERCENT OF IBS-D sufferers are really SIBO/SBBO sufferers and DO NOT HAVE IBS! In other words, the medical commuinity is missing the diagnosis of small intestine bacterial overgrowth. I was placed on Tetracycline (I am allergic to many antibiotics) and my symptoms literally improved dramatically within FOUR HOURS! On the meds, I am symptom free and my strength and hair are returning. Now, the bad news: my syptoms return slowly after stopping the Tetracycline so I am probably going to taking antibiotics on and off indefinitely. However, I get fair warning because the fatigue and gas are the first to return. Hence, IBS-D does not always have ANY gut/mind connection or root in anxiety or depression but is instead SIBO. We have too much bacteria in the wrong place. Can this be caused by motility or obstruction issues like chronic constipation, crohn's or damage to the nerves in bowel/brain/spine? Yes. Can it also be caused by an infection that some how alters the small bowel? Absolutely. As you will tell by reading, many people had contolled IBS until a bout with food poisoning or an infection. Then all Hell broke loose (no pun intended). What we need are more people on here who have cleared up their SIBO to tell us how they did it. We also need more people with IBS-D to give antibiotics a try especially if their condition is accompied by malabsorption of an unknown cause. Chronic yellow diarrhea with a horrible odor is also a common symptom of SIBO with sweating and weakness. Hester


Out of all the supplements and self help #### that i have tried, to this day the only thing that has had any immediate reliefe was anti-biotics (Metronidazol and flagyl). Unfortunetly after the second or third treatment there effect wore off and since i no-longer have health insurance i haven't been able to retest this theory.


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## Hester (Jul 5, 2009)

Well, four days off Tetracycline and the yellow diarrhea is back with the constant gurgling and gas. I guess it is time for round two and maybe Xifaxan. This sucks. I was so happy to have relief. Heck, I even got constipated for a while. LOL What a bummer. I am puzzled why SIBO is so hard to get rid of.


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## FelixTheCat2012 (Feb 19, 2012)

Bartek, can I ask what dose of Endep you were taking at the time?? I've just been put on 10mg 1hr before bed.


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## FelixTheCat2012 (Feb 19, 2012)

Hester, what test did your specialist conduct in order to find the BO in your small intestine. What bacteria was it?


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