# New to Group,IBS in 16 year old daughter



## Windy Auston Mastro (Aug 22, 2014)

HI All,

Thanks so much for being here as a resource! My daughter is 16 years old and was diagnosed with IBS at age 12. Up to this point, we had followed doctor's orders in terms of diet modifications, stress management, otc meds. She started school this week and was miserable this morning, so I decided I'd had enough of her daily suffering with the intestinal spasms, diarrhea, constipation, bloating and general malaise---we marched into the doctor's office asking for medication this time. Today we learned about the FODMAP diet and my daughter was started on nortiptyline (I asked for bentyl given my limited research). My major questions are: 1) Should we be asking for a referral to a GI MD, or do most of you parents feel that your primary care MD is capable of treating IBS? 2) I've read about tricyclic antidepressants helping with IBS, but should we ask for any other meds straight off the bat? Thank you so much for your feedback and insight!


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## KCS30 (Apr 30, 2014)

Hi,

I'm 17 and have been suffering from bowel problems for a few months, and it is very miserable at times, so it must be very hard for your daughter, especially having it since 12. I know I'm not a parent, but I understand you must be desperate for some sort of remedy to help your daughter, and yes, I would try and see if it is possible to get any meds and possibly see a GI MD, because they do specialize in areas such as these and you may find they are more helpful. There are even certain foods and drinks that can either make IBS better or worse for some people. For me, caffeine is the worst, like regular tea and coffee, but I found that peppermint tea, which is known to help aid healthy digestion, really helps and soothed my tummy at times when I had a sort of flare and had it at the worst.

Best wishes and hope your daughter feels better x


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## ibssisters (Sep 2, 2014)

You are not alone! Check out ibssisters.com, a site for women to come together to learn to live better with IBS!


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