# Just came back from Easter dinner at Outback-argh!



## kellysmom (Jul 8, 2007)

I am in the middle of an IBS flare. My husband wanted to go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. I was hesitant at first, but I looked up their menu online and discovered they have a grilled salmon dinner, so I figured I was safe. I ate a bland breakfast and lunch, and, after two BMs this morning, took Imodium and Lomotil just to be safe. So I didn't have my usual salad and ate just one piece of the pumpernickel bread loaf (usually I eat about five). I ate about 3/4 of the salmon and a baked sweet potato. I cheated and ate some of an ice cream sundae, too. I was a nervous wreck through dinner and we got back home and I realized that I had that need-to-go urge. And I freaked out. How could I possibly have to have another B.M. after all the meds I had taken?? And the more I panicked the more I had to go. So now I am avoiding even looking at the toilet. Is this the way my life is to be from now on? I am so tired of IBS-D. Anyone else have this problem with eating at restaurants? (BTW, the salmon was horrible. Should have gotten the prime rib!)


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## CJ78 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi Kellysmom.Probably not much help at this point, but it does sound like a case of anxiety causing the issue tonight.You obviously thought about it quite a bit before and during being out. Then the same when you got home.I am a true believer that the mind can often be stronger than the body. It can be a positive thing, but sometimes, it an play against you.Try not too worry about the BM after the meds. Try not to think about it too much next time (although easier said than done, I know).


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Kellysmom - there is hope - this is a common component of the brain-gut connection that is such a big part of IBS. I would take imodium, donatel, and not eat anything before having to be at an event, and still have IBS attacks. So I know just what you are going thru. Actually, it isnt the food or what you eat, it is just the act of eating and knowing that you are going out, worrying about if you will have an attack, having to spend time in the bathroom - all of that. I remember spending 45 minutes non-stop in a museum bathroom with an IBS attack while my entire family waited outside. The more times this happens, the brain in the gut sends signals to the brain and it becomes entrenched - and it happens more often. Believe me, I have been there. One way to break this anxiety-stress-IBS symptom-worry cycle is with clinical hypnotherapy. Take a peek at my links below for more info -there is a video on there that explains the very thing you mention.. and yeah, at Outback, you would have been better off with the filet actually! LOL







But that is because it is a steak joint! Anyway, there IS hope - let me know if you have any questions - or you can call 877-898-2539 and get some free conversation and support. Take care and know that there have been many people just like you (including myself) who have been helped.


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## kellysmom (Jul 8, 2007)

Thanks for the advice, guys. I just can't get over the fact that even the Lomotil cannot stop this from happening. It used to be my wonder-drug. Can't get past the fact that this is NOT C. Diff or cancer. I'm seeing my GI doc tomorrow. If he says it's just IBS, I'll believe him.


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## Queensgirl52 (Mar 15, 2012)

I really think there's a lot of "mind over matter" involved here. I'm an IBS-D sufferer (though not nearly as bad as many on this site), and if I can get really engaged in something else, hours go by before I feel the need to use the bathroom. My husband and I were away the week before last, and I made it through two Broadway plays and a Bruce Springsteen concert with absolutely no problem. This past week, I did a lot of yard work with no interruptions. I take 2 or 3 Imodium tablets a day.


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## CJ78 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi Kellysmom.If it helps, I was taking 8 loperamide/immodium a day with no effect!


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## BeeRitt (Jan 21, 2011)

kellysmom said:


> I am in the middle of an IBS flare. My husband wanted to go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. I was hesitant at first, but I looked up their menu online and discovered they have a grilled salmon dinner, so I figured I was safe. I ate a bland breakfast and lunch, and, after two BMs this morning, took Imodium and Lomotil just to be safe. So I didn't have my usual salad and ate just one piece of the pumpernickel bread loaf (usually I eat about five). I ate about 3/4 of the salmon and a baked sweet potato. I cheated and ate some of an ice cream sundae, too. I was a nervous wreck through dinner and we got back home and I realized that I had that need-to-go urge. And I freaked out. How could I possibly have to have another B.M. after all the meds I had taken?? And the more I panicked the more I had to go. So now I am avoiding even looking at the toilet. Is this the way my life is to be from now on? I am so tired of IBS-D. Anyone else have this problem with eating at restaurants? (BTW, the salmon was horrible. Should have gotten the prime rib!)


Actually I have had two of my worst flare ups after eating at Outback and at Longhorn. I ate the bread at both, a salad, steak, sweet potato...got home and was stuck in the bathroom. So it might actually be the food. I know it wasnt my anxiety because I was super calm throughout dinner, obviously feeling confident enough in my gut to order red meat (a no no for me). Restaruants use excess of things like butter and oil, thats my theory, because eating out usually makes my symptoms worse, no matter how healthy I try to order, i.e. fish,chicken.


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## knothappy (Jul 31, 1999)

right there with you..i can take 10 imodium or 5 lomotil during the course of a bad flare up day and still continue to have bad urgent diarreha..that really makes me believe that i have some other conditon than IBS as cancer, colitus, etc i think that many imodium would clog an elephant....not ibs if this will not help at all, but makes sense that if it were cancer, colitus imodium will not help.


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