# Food Reaction Time?



## TWhite (Jun 1, 2010)

New to the forum but a 25 year IBS-D sufferer. Mostly I believe from stress, but have recently decided to see if I should be cutting out any reactive foods to help. I've never tracked my food before. Crazy, I know, but I've been blessed with the ability to 'forget' the IBS unless I'm actually having an attack and my IBS has never stopped me from doing something (although it's been quite interesting at times, lucky for me I have a family with a sense of humor and patience). Over forty now and just getting tired of it. I have attacks (pain and no pain) at least weekly, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week.My question is this.... most of my attacks are in the am, mostly on weekdays (although not 100% on both).* If I do have food issues, could an attack in the morning be from something I had eated the day/night before. Or is a IBS-D attack from food usually soon after eating the offending food?*I hate the medicine from the doctor (used to be donatol, but now prescribed levbid but I just won't take it because it makes be feel awful all day instead of just the 20 minutes or so I'm having an attack). I just a few days ago started the calcium pills that were discussed in another thread and am quite hopeful. *Does anyone also have a suggestion of a food to start with in elimination - dairy maybe?* I know every one is different, but I'm looking to start with a likely source? Thanks for any answers/advice in my quest to finally give this thing a decent battle and show it who's boss!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I'd try limiting starches in general rather than just milk (and keep things lower in fat for protien). There is a small study where low carb diets (which are low in starchy and sugary foods) helped with IBS-D. Starches are more likely to make it to the colon and cause gas.A lot of times the first thing when you get up has NOTHING to do with food. The colon is most active around the time you get up.IBS-D can be either when you eat (because things like fat trigger more colon activity) or when it hits the colon a few hours later which increases gas (which is why limiting starch sometimes helps) but not so much 12 or 24 hours later.


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## TWhite (Jun 1, 2010)

Thank you, that's just what I needed -a place to start. I also didn't know that about the colon in the morning. I will do some searching on the internet about that study.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Looks like the whole paper is free online, here is the link.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P...79/?tool=pubmedIf the link doesn't work go to pubmed and here is the titleA Very Low-carbohydrate Diet Improves Symptoms and Quality of Life in Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome


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## Dbr (May 31, 2010)

my attacks, like yours, are almost always in the am. is this common ?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Morning really is a common IBS diarrhea time.Every human's colon has a cycle of higher and lower activity times. The biggest burst of activity is around wake up time. Just part of the normal 24 hour rhythm the body has. So if you over-react just a bit to the "wakey wakey" signal the colon gets you can go from having one normal BM to having a few rounds of diarrhea.


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## grandmadeb (Jun 3, 2010)

Ok first day on this site...family dr believes i have ibs-d....appt for specialist is 6 months from now...yup...seriously...I have had bouts for years...where I will be fine...then all of a sudden i get a some cramping out of nowhere..then desperation for a bathroom closes in on me...it gets scary when we are travelling the highway frequently to visit family..that we live 3 hr drive from...approx 5 1/2 weeks ago i awoke in the middle of the night with cramping and severe diarhhea...which continued in to the next day...i took pepto bismal...and hoped for the best...no help at all..started on immodium...that didnt help either...eventually after a few weeks got in to my dr....who tested for parasites..and c-difficile...and had xrays taken...nothing showed up ....but symptoms persist....little background...i am being treated for depression for over a year now...was on citalopram now on zoloft...been on it for a few months....extreme amount of stress in life for last few months..with family....and yes i realize that is not helping things in me at all....for the last 5 1/2 weeks it has not mattered what i have eaten...it has shot right through me...sometimes without being digested in any form...sometimes i can eat something and within minutes...the cramping starts...then watch out make a path to the bathroom...last night we went out for anniversary dinner...had steak baked potato mushrooms...salad bread and couple glasses of wine...yeah i know i was pushing it...then the waitress brings out this desert on the house....you all know how my night went after that...i was cramping after we got home...i went to bed in pain...no diarheea yet...but felt like i was needing to go really bad...at 4 am...after a bad night of pain the bathroom was my sanctity...and on it went....all morning...severe pain...diarheea..and i am dog tired....for the last 5 1/2 weeks ...my days have revolved around running to the bathroom...between 3 - 9 times a day...i am scared to leave the house...even to take my dog to the park down the street...because if i have to go...its immediately...barely make it sometimes...how am i supposed to live like this ....how can a person function...please tell me how i can do it...i am seriously tired of the pain...doubling over with it....and the severe diarhhea that ends up like water......please help......


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Have you tried Imodium?Usually it is a first good over the counter med to try. Blocks things up a lot more and faster than Pepto for most people.Start off with 1 pill 2X a day (morning and early evening as close to 12 hours apart that works for you). If that isn't enough, bump up to 2 pills 2X a day.See if eating fewer starchy foods helps. A lot of the time we go all bland starch, but a small study showed most of those IBS-D types did better on less carbs, especially starch, not an all starch diet.You might talk to the doctor about the antidepressant. Zoloft tends to be the most likely to increase diarrhea. You might be better off on an SNRI or Remeron (a tetracyclic chemically related to a prescripton IBS-D medication) and see how that goes.


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## MEF (May 29, 2010)

My problems are worse in the mornings and I do notice if I had eaten spicy food the day before, it definitely makes things worse the next morning.


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## Hester (Jul 5, 2009)

My symptoms are worse in the morning. Grandma: I sympathize with you. However, if I ate what you did and not so much the specifics but what was ON the stuff - mushrooms and baked potato usually have butter, cream or sour cream - killers for me. Desert would have put me over the edge not to mention wine. Bread and butter does not sit well with me either. That alone would make me sick for more than a week. Please do a search for some of my other and more recent posts in this section where I list a number of products that really help with severe diarrhea. However, if you are losing weight and it is very watery and uncontrollable, it sounds a lot like SIBO. Any antacid will make SIBO worse. You may need an antibiotic to control it. Floragen is a great probotic that can help control diarrhea. There is a chinese herb that a few have had success with. However, I get a sense for those diagnosed as IBS-D that is antibiotic responsive, we seem to do best with an Rx for longterm antibiotic therapy. I take two or three imodium and avoid ALL diary. I also eat all organic and mostly fruit and veges with clean whole unprocessed grains and grass-fed livestock. It may not sound exciting, but it works enough to allow me to get out of the house which is a big deal.


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