# IBS-D



## rikkunn (Dec 2, 2013)

Hi, I am new here and figure I will share my story. I've had IBS now for about 7 years or so. And as I have gotten older, the ibs has gotten worse. I recently went to the gastroenterologist here in my city and had both an upper gi and a colonoscopy done. They found nothing wrong with either test. They basically told me I have chronic acid reflux and chronic ibs. 
Tonight I had a horrible flare up and had to take two immodiums just to be able to get off the toilet.

Is it normal to have this much pain to the point I feel like I'm going to vomit? Mind you, I'm only 22 right now.


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## rmiller1985 (Sep 13, 2011)

Hi Rikkunn,

Nope, it's definitely not normal! But you're not alone. Everyone here understands.

I've had a lot of success with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Others have success with the low-FODMAP diet. Others focus on various different classes of medications. There are many different roots to IBS, and many different approaches to manage the symptoms (and hopefully discover the root cause(s) for you, and figure out how to eliminate them).

Read up on it all here, and ask questions.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Rich


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## rikkunn (Dec 2, 2013)

I'm not sure how exactly to pinpoint what kind of diet I should be on. They ruled out Celiac's at the doctors and a lactose intolerant reaction as well. It seems to happen whenever I eat anything, not anything in particular.
It's just getting frustrating for both my personal life and my job. I can't keep running to the bathroom all the time and spend so much time in there.
Last night I was stuck in there for over an hour before my medicine kicked in.
I have a follow up appointment with the gastroenterologist next Monday... hopefully she will have something helpful to say.


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## rmiller1985 (Sep 13, 2011)

Hi rikkunn,

If you have some sort of gut dysbiosis going on -- where your gut flora is out of whack for some reason, e.g., a SIBO situation -- then pretty much any food will set off symptoms until you fix the underlying problem. That's the idea behind something like the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. It's easy to think, "Well, I stopped eating bread (or fruit, or chicken, or whatever) for a few days and nothing happened, so it can't be that," but that's not necessarily how it could be working for you. That's not to say that gut dysbiosis is your specific problem, I just wanted to mention that in response to your comment about all foods causing your symptoms.

Unfortunately, if your gastroenterologist is like 98% of the gastrodocs out there, you won't get any helpful information. It is important to get all of the standard low-impact tests done -- stool tests for infections and parasites, maybe a colonoscopy to check for IBDs (though this one is a bit more controversial if you don't have typical IBD symptoms like bloody diarrhea), a blood test for celiac, maybe breath tests for SIBO and fructose malabsorption -- but beyond that, most GI docs will tell you to eat more fiber, reduce your stress, and learn to live with it.

The sooner you realize that it's up to you to learn everything you need to to figure out a way to get your gut working properly again, the sooner you can get to work on it. At least that's my view of the medical community in this area at this point.

Cheers,

Rich


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## cjal813 (Dec 14, 2013)

HI, you sound just like me. I am 23 and my IBS has gotten bad. It has been seven months since I have been able to do anything. I am pretty much a prisoner in my house. Even a trip to the grocery store is a hassle because sometimes I end up spending an hour in the bathroom. Two GI doctors told me there was nothing wrong with me (don't even bother going to one because they have no clue about IBS). I had every test done and everything came back completely normal. I mean I had everything from gallbladder function test to a colonoscopy and endoscopy and everything came back normal but I felt like I was dying because everything I ate went right through me and the pain and discomfort was horrendous. I am like you that when I had an "episode" which i like to to call it. I would have to run to the bathroom and the pain was so bad I felt like vomiting. My hands got clammy and I had to take all my clothes off because I couldn't have anything touching me. I had explained all these symptoms to both GI doctors and the second GI doctor offered to give me an antidepressant (that made me so angry so I stopped seeing him).

I ended up going to a Naturopathic doctor. Please research if there is one in your area because everything that the GI doctors ignored she highlighted. Turns out I had two vitamin deficiencies (vitamin D and vitamin B1) and one was very rare (vitamin B1). The naturopath tested me for SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and did a comprehensive stool test, both were ordered from Genova Diagnostics and physicians can easily order those tests. The SIBO test for me was negative for me but the stool test revealed that I had no growth of an entire beneficial species of bacteria (Lactobacillus species). This told my naturopath that my gut flora was out of whack so I am starting VSL #3 but VERY slowly because I am super sensitive. I would definitely look into meeting with a naturopath because they know what to do to actually treat IBS and they won't just dismiss you and tell you to deal with it.

You said you tested negative for lactose intolerance and Celiac disease but that doesn't mean anything. You could very well be "gluten intolerant" and or have an allergy to dairy. Medical testing is not sensitive enough to test for these things. If you think that gluten and or dairy may be a problem then doing a two week elimination of those food items may be beneficial. My naturopath recommended I buy a book called The Inside Tract: Your Good Gut Guide to Great Digestive Health by Gerard E. Mullin and Kathie Madonna Swift. It is very interesting. Although I never actually did the elimination diet because I kept losing weight it is an interesting read and will give you some guidelines if you were to try an elimination diet.

I am not sure how much research you have done on IBS but I came across an article that really gave me hope when the GI doctors were telling me nothing was wrong with me. The article is "5 Simple Steps to Cure IBS without Drugs" by Dr. Mark Hyman. Dr. Hyman makes it VERY clear that IBS is not idiopathic which made me feel ten times better.

I hope this helps. I definitely feel like I am slowly, VERY slowly starting to get better. I hope you can meet with a naturopathic doctor and get some actual help


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