# IBS can be debilitating



## Mandabear (Aug 28, 2013)

Let's start from the beginning, when I was 13. I started to get occasional bouts of nausea here and there, then it became more frequent. It felt like I was coming down with the stomach virus, but I never threw up. Then my appetite took a dive, and I went from a healthy 100 pounds to 85. The only thing that my stomach would allow me to choke down was fried eggs and crackers. The first thing in my diet that caused me to flare was vegetable oil. After several doctor's visits, x-rays, blood tests, and fecal samples, my pediatrician sent me to a Dartmouth children's hospital. I finally got a colonoscopy and an endoscopy, and they found Eosinophilic colitis. Eosinophilic colitis is especially rare, and the cause of it is not understood, but it is basically like having asthma in my colon. I was treated with allergy medications that slowly managed the inflammation.

Several years later, after a short period of remission, I thought I felt it coming back. I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy again, but my intestines showed nothing. They did find that I had developed GERD, which is as nasty as the name sounds. My GERD is very manageable with prilosec, and I hardly ever burp up a meal or get heartburn anymore. But that still didn't explain my nausea, loss of appetite, slight weight loss, and gut cramps. My GI doctor quickly threw out the all-blanketing term "IBS". Yes, I have IBS, great, but there's very little they can do to manage it.

During the next years, I found out that I also have endometriosis. My IBS could directly be angered by the lesions and damage in my pelvic cavity. At "that time of the month," I had a tendency to become very sick, and often fainted from the extreme nausea and pain. After removing the lesions, I found I felt alot better than before. I was able to move on to college and take a few classes at a time. But my period of relief did not last very long, my IBS really began to flare again in my 2nd year. I began to have malapsorbtion problems, which caused gas that smelled like a leaking propane tank, and oil in my stools. I found out that I was suffering from SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). I was put on antibiotics, and forced myself on the low-FODMAP diet. To help with absorption, I began to take VSL#3, which is a milk-free probiotic. This helped me make it through my third year, to right now.

After doing some research, I classify myself in the IBS-U category. Which means I neither get constipation or diarrhea (not to say that I don't get the occasional constipation or diarrhea). IBS-U is a bit of a mystery to most people, I am usually regular, and still really feel like garbage. I do know that I get cramps and gurgling alot, and at least a small amount of nausea each day. I currently am suffering from extreme fatigue for whatever reason, so I am going to have some sleep-studies done.

Listening to other stories, I find that IBS affects everyone in different ways. So it is refreshing to see other people like me, and know that my struggle is understood.


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