# After all these years



## ABBY215 (Jan 8, 2009)

Hi Everyone,I saw an old post of mine back from years ago. In some ways I have learned a lot, in others I feel just as confused now as when I first got this. I am a 45 year old woman, was 19 when I first started having sympotoms of IBS, which at that time they classified as spastic colon. I had just had my daughter two weeks prior. I have tried everything, high fiber, exercise, and honestly the list goes on. One thing I found while in a health food store one day is a woman who turned me on to a book called eat right for your blood type. So, I picked that up and realized that wheat and dairy in fact did kill me(which 0 blood types are not supposed to have) and brought on my near death experiences with IBS. I say near death because it gets so bad I end up on the floor wishing to end it all. Drinking lactose free milk, eating lactose free ice cream and going to Nature's Own breads has really helped. I did do the Ezekial breads for quite some time but my gosh they are expensive and sometimes I can go weeks without eating bread so it would waste. This way at least my son and husband can still eat the bread. But, here was my biggest help. I was talking to my OB/GYN one day about 2 years ago and he asked me if I had tried hydrocodone for my cramping. I thought...um,no. So I go to my doctor that I have had since I was 19 and at first he was upset because with all the bad rap hydro gets, well he doesn't like to prescribe it. I have a very longstanding relationship with him but he was still careful prescribing at first. Now mind you I suffer from chronic headaches and yes, migraines, and depression, all of which go hand in hand with low seratonin levels including IBS. I talk 1/2 to one full hydrocodone daily, 7.5/500. My bouts have dropped but yes, after 26 years I didn't expect a miracle in that they would just stop. However, when I feel the initial cramps of those bad ones coming on I can usually take 1 to 1-1/2 pills and it will 80% of the time subside before I have to hit the floor. That is a major improvement for me and saved thousands since I don't have to go to the ER anymore. Hydrocodone stops the internal cramping, hence people who take it for pain meds usually get constipation. Go figure. It's a battle..daily. I still take miralax daily (unless my gut is sore from a bad bout). That has helped me stay more regular than anything I have ever tried. Still eat fruit, still exercise but with work and weather not as often as I'd like. Most recently I started drinking Almased. It's a fermented soy, yogurt powder that you mix with soy milk (how I prefer) or other drinks. Some like it with water and cinnimon (yuck). One shake is a meal. It is dairy free, gluten free (yes stay away from gluten) and tolerated by diabetics just fine. It is supposedly a drink that increases metabolism and can help with weight reduction but for me when I have to go days with no solid food it is a life saver. It will make your urine a florescent yellow but that's normal. I'd love to think that one day IBS would not be a part of my vocabulary, but I'm no longer delusional. I've had two colonoscopies, both times they found one small polyp and that was it, no obstructions, no tears, no nothing else and sadly no explanation why I have been like this for 26 years. I hope something I have stumbled across may help you here. I email with many people who have this and have actually made a few good friends. You can email me at [email protected] if you would like since I do not get to this website often enough. Please put in the subject IBS chat room so I will know it is not spam. God Bless to all.


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