# help a sista out!



## betsy126 (Feb 7, 2005)

well i remember the first instance i got this problem. and it would always be in the morning. before id start each grade, me, my mom and my teacher would have to talk about it saying, "i have to use the bathroom in the morning, and you have to let me go"this was a serious issue because oddly enough my 2nd grade teacher wouldnt let me go at all! id have to wait or go before hand, and knowing me i was not finished. (but besides this...) now im in college, ive had to deal with it and not deal with it all through out school, work or if i was somewhere special....lately, ive been afraid to eat a lot before school. its been the third or fourth week, and usually i have about 4 glasses of water, yogurt or oatmeal and thats it! if i want lunch i wait till after some of classes to have maybe something small from the snack machine if i can make it that long, or i wait till i get home. its screwed around with my appetite. cause if im at home i dont know when im truly hungry or not....(does that make sense). im not a big girl. im 5'9, about 150 pounds...which is average! ive always been fairly fit, i do yoga, walk my dog and work out at my gym at school sometimes. i will admit to smoking off and on, still trying to get rid of that. ive gone from regular 100s to cloves. (yeah i know what your all thinking, i dont know what i was!) and smoking was to me relaxing, something to get my mind off of, "where is the closest bathroom??!!" i really need some guidance from people my age, not people with constipation, because if i had constipation i might be singing a different tune. help me yo!


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## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

Yeah i know what you mean.I smoke for similar reasons (if im honest with myself). It started off an innocent taste of one, and now i smoke regularly. But not like 20 a day or anything.It can be really hard to deal with D while being at college. But i find, once i get things over and done with, so to speak. Im ok. Sometimes i have problems afterwards, but not too often. I hate going out if i know im not done. lol. I have an odd routine, so i tend to be a night owl!I take imodium as and when needed- normally thats it. It is ok to take imodium every day.I also did the IBS audio program (Mikes tapes) www.ibsaudioprogram.com, which is the single most useful thing ive ever done for my IBS. It seems expeinsive at first, but it was worth every penny for me. Im not saying its a cure, but its a start! if you want more info check out the CBT and Hypno forum!Nikki


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## betsy126 (Feb 7, 2005)

i took imodium all through out high school. one and the another one if it didnt help right away. then when i was in my first year of college i wanted something stronger, and my doctor gave me what i think what is called a spasmatic or something like that. i threw out the pills cause i wasnt taking them all that often, what a waste, but i seriously didnt need them. things got better again, and then one day it all started back up. ill check out the tapes. thank you so much nikki!


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## z_girl802 (Mar 3, 2004)

my doc gave me some medicine called NuLev. its for diarrhea, cramping, gas pains with IBS. it really helps ton!! my doc gave me it b/c i have ulcerative colitis and i have a lot of the same problems with diarrhea, etc, but i have other symptoms too that suck!!... but at any point if i have diarrhea, i can pop one and it stops. sometimes i have to take 2, but it works. it helps with gas pains as well. what's better, is they dissolve on your tongue and have this really nice minty flavor!! i too am in college(graduating in may thank the lord!!) and i always make a point at the first of the semester to let my prof's know that i may be leaving class or missing class quite often b/c of my disease,and everyone of them has always understood!! best wishes!!


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## Loopy (Feb 20, 2005)

I do the not eating in case it makes me feel bad thing. I get really worried I'm going to lose weight, and I do sometimes get dizzy due to being so hungry, but it is better than missing loads of lectures, work etc.


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## autobunny (Feb 23, 2005)

Sigh....unfortunetly I also had problems. I first started dealing with IBS in about the 10th grade. I got hit at the beginning very severely. I stopped eating, lost a lot of weight, and even started to lose my hair, all because no one could figure out what was wrong with me. It took the doctor forever and I finally got an answer after about a yaer of suffering. I had IBS compounded by food allergies. With the help of my food allergist and a dietician I got my life back on track but it's a lot of work and, even if u eat perfectly and stuff, life comes with a lot of stress and IBS will just hit u. I find that sleep, stress, and food are big factors. Also, heat packs and immodium really help me out...Im sure the long term effects of immodium aren't positive, but for now thats all i've got :S


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## Loopy (Feb 20, 2005)

Go to the bulletin board about calcium pills, http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php...2597;p=1#000013 there is a lady in there called 'LNAPE' has lots of advice about them, they helped her d a lot and other people say she knows what she is talking about. Lucy.


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## KayWill (Feb 15, 2005)

Wow, I am pretty new to these forums and cannot get over how many other people have the same concerns I've always had. I'm 24 graduated with my BA just over a year ago, and college was a constant game to make sure I didn't have to go in the public restrooms in the classroom bldgs. One thing that helped me a lot was to take a really bland snack or two, like two graham crackers or a bag of cereal in my backpack. That way, I could still eat in between classes without having to get #### out of a vending machine (which usually sets my stomach off), but I didn't have to starve myself all day. I used to skip dinner or eat it at like three in the afternoon if I had an early morning class becasue if I go to bed without fully digesting my dinner I inevitably wake up in the morning having to go, and you all know that doesn't work well when you're tryign to hurry off to school. One little problem with starving yourself: Before I discovered the backpack snack thing I used to just wait to eat until I got home. But I used to swim in the mornings with my boyfriend at the gym and one day I got so nervous that I was going to get D there and I hadn't been eating enough to begin with, so the sheer panic ended up making me pass out. That was much more embarrassing than having D in public because everyone had to help me, etc. So be careful if you're too active and not eating at all during the daytime.


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