# Question for the Day I



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Hi gang, I apologize if this isn't where this belongs on the BB. I'm trying to reach a better understanding of IBS and I have been getting there with alot of help from you guys. I've decided to come up with ONE question at a time and take my time with it. I hope this is a good strategy, one that will help me avoid brain overload. I thank you all in advance for any help you can extend to me.QUES. For The Day: Does IBS change? (You know sometimes I think figuring out the ques. is harder than digesting the answer!)Let me clarify. Obviously outside factors like stress, food triggers, and other organic problems may make the symptoms of IBS change. But that's not what I mean. Once you have been diagnosed with IBS, does it remain constant? In other words, HT3 & HT4 receptors don't function as they should; or the neurotransmitters aren't transmitting as they should. Do they not function or transmit properly worse at one time than at another? Or, they don't function or transmit right, period.? BQ


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I think it can change beyond just which external triggers are a problem.I'm not the only one who was mild for years before something changed I became severe.Something lik 5-10% of IBSers just get better every year for no apparent reason.So whatever the defects are, it appears that it can change.K.


----------



## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

BQ, it isn't conclusive that anything is wrong with the receptors as they haven't figured that out completely yet or taken some kind of picture of it. It might be more the dysregulation of the neurotransmitters. I have seen it said from a few top sources that faulty neurotransmitters may be responsible. Here is one example. Careful BQ this may give you another headache.







It did me.Also, as for getting better over time, it can for some as they get older I have heard, or it can be cyclic for some.from Havard: faulty neurotransmitters http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1585/9_2....jhtml?term=ibs ------------------ http://www.ibshealth.com/ www.ibsaudioprogram.com


----------



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Ok, so the nerves Can be influenced by many things; "hormones, neurotransmitters(serotonin, right?),and connections to the brain & spinal chord." But can the neurotransmitters be influenced by anything? Or is it not easy to separate the two?Imitrex might come in handy right about now.







Can't seem to shake this headache, beginning to wonder if its from my BP. Oh well, everyday is a new adventure. Thanks again for all the help.







BQ


----------



## lou026 (Jan 3, 2001)

I have found that with IBS that it comes and goes at it pleases!! I will feel really good for maybe a month, I can eat whatever I want and still be fine and then all of a sudden it comes back full force and I can't eat ANYTHING without getting sick! I am not under any more stress than usual either. I find this all so annoying because I think I am getting better and then it comes back to haunt me again...letting me know who is boss!! Does anyone else have this?


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

lou026,Some people have a intermittant pattern of IBS good for awhile, bad for awhile. Others have it more consistantly.You may want to keep a log of when it is bad and when it is good and see what shows up. Generally our memory isn't good enough to see the patterns that we can find when we track things as they happen.I find that my allergies (I have seasonal and year-round) seem to make my IBS worse, so it could be something like that. If your IBS is always flares up in a particular time of the year (and the tracking will eventually show this) it could be something like that.K.


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Neurotransmitter levels can be altered with drugs. Part of the problem is the neurotransmitters aren't in a vacuum there is a whole host of things. Are the nerves releasing the right levels and kinds of them, Are nerves that are responding to them responding correctly. Do the nerves have the appropriate kind a number of receptors. Did an important connecting nerve somewhere die or get cut. Is there a part of the CNS (brain and spinal cord) that is sending bad signals or doing inappropriate things with the incoming signals.We don't really understand how this all goes on in the brain and they've been working on it for years. They've just started trying to figure out the Enteric Nervous System.K.


----------



## Imagica (Jan 14, 2001)

Popping a Maxalt. OUCH!


----------

