# My thoughts



## seals (Aug 20, 2002)

I know that everyone is different, but it is helpful to hear different theories and ideas.I really resisted the idea of registering myself on this site, but I decided to become a part of it. I am grateful there is a place to turn to when life gets rough with IBS.I have had IBS-C for 10 years. I survived for 7 years drinking prune juice and then downing 3 -16 oz glasses of water. Then another glass every 30 minutes for a couple of hours. This worked pretty well but then after 2 kids and breastfeeding, my body couldn't digest food without a lot of water during the day after each meal. I had been to many doctors and had a sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, barium enema, baloon tests to gauge the function of the muscles down there, etc. I do not have an anatomical or physiological problem, so I went to an herbalist, who gave me cascara sagrada and a bunch of other herbs. The cascara helped my body to be able to go without prune juice. Now I get up at 5:30 a.m. or so. I drink 4 glasses of water. Then another two over the course of the next 2 hours or so. This pretty much cleans me out, and I can function the rest of the day. I now have 3 kids, and life can't stand still for me. With much prayer, and a restricted diet, I lead an almost normal life. I cannot eat high fiber foods, or a lot of red meat. I can eat some vegetables, and if I avoid eating after 6:30 pm then I seem to have an easier time going in the morning. I really believe drinking water right after eating helps the body digest food. I wouldn't say that drinking as much water as I do is necessarily healthy, but after so much trial and error, this is the best I can do. For a long time I had an extremely sensitive intestinal tract, no one could touch or get too close to my gut. I wore only exercise pants with elastic waists that were 2 sizes too big, so that nothing hardly touched or put pressure on my gut. But after my last baby 7 months ago, that sensitivity is just about gone, I'm really happy about that.Somehow, I believe that a lot of women with IBS suffer because they probably have a hormonal imbalance, because I noticed that my problem with constipation gets worse when my hormones have changed with periods or having babies.I still can't do anything close to a situp because that definitely messes me up. But I try to go to the gym and work out and this helps to keep things going.Thanks for letting me share, good luck to everyone.


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