# average age for IBS start?



## LoriAnn (Jan 31, 2002)

Hi everyone,I have been told I have IBS-d. I'm a bit confused, I was told the average age for onset of IBS was 20-30. But I had my first upper and lower GI when I was 2 due to this problem, and have continued to get them at various points throughout my life. I am now 37 and the problems grow worse with each passing year. I had also read that for many people, they go into a type of remission or the problem may eventually go away.Has any 2 year old ever been diagnosed with IBS? If stress is a leading factor, how can a two year old be that stressed?Did anyone else here begin to experience symptoms young?Thanks in advance for the responsesLori


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## RSHEPPICK (Jun 24, 2002)

Yes, onset can be very young; mine was 12 years old. My GI doctor ran a DNA test that gave the approx. time of onset for these problems along with that test it found markers for IBD. What were your feelings in your stomach/location, did your family just think you were allergic to milk and gave you Tums or some odd combination?


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## shadow (Nov 30, 2000)

I was 22, but I've seen people post here with all kinds of ages -- from very young to close to middle age I think.


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

there are many kinds of IBS - it's a syndrome, not a disease. But I've never heard of a DNA test for it. Can you give some more information about this, Ronnie?tom


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## RSHEPPICK (Jun 24, 2002)

theres a company in califorina that tests DNA and i dont have the info in front of me, i know there was 5-7 differnt tests for my blood and the whole thin was like 600 dollars. is right 98.2% of the time.when i get home i will forward you the infomation


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## Integrity (Jun 19, 2000)

I was 14. I'm 22 now.My father and brother have Ulcerative Colitis, and the statistics for that show two major age curves, though one can develop the disease outside of those times; either in one's teenage years, or mid-30s. This fits my family, as my brother's started when he was 14 and my father's started when he was 35.


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## RSHEPPICK (Jun 24, 2002)

its horrable... my parents thought i was making it all up that if anything i was allergic to milk... little did they know they were making me suffer.. i am now 21 years old this happened when i was around 10-12


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## vknight 226 (Oct 24, 2002)

I can remember having problems at a very young age. My Mom used to give me enimas all the time. I had to have a GI when I was rather young too. I have always had a problem with C no other symptoms until 2 years ago when I started having D. Now I am a real mess, and no one has an answer yet. I think mine may be inpart to thyroid.


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## hmmmmmmmm (May 4, 1999)

Mine started at 48 when I gave up amoking and my doctor felt it was caused by the stress of ceasing...Anyway thanks to this BB I have it 90% under control from various remedies and suggestions...Just recently I took care of my sister through a terminal illness and her death and it did come back but I am confident after I calm down and go back on my tried and true remedies..caltrate+D, ground flaxseed in acidophilous yogurt and oli of oregano/oregamax I will once again lick it plus I had found the high protein lo carb diet was instrmental in keepong it at bay and I had gone off of that..Of course this was a lot more then you asked for...Anyway I was 48 when it started am 64 now....


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## LoriAnn (Jan 31, 2002)

Thanks for the repliesI don't recall my parents doing anything about it really, I avoided dairy for the most part, but that didn't help much. I don't even recall being given tums. By the time I was 15 I realized everyone in the family had bowel/digestive problems, at some point i decided it was normal and that everyone lived like that. We all just suffered through it, underwent various tests and suffered more. As time went by gastroparesis became a more and more common ailment, resulting in several relatives having their stomach removed. I found at a family reunion 3 years ago that nearly every blood relative suffered some type of bowel problem, next reunion I am sure they will triple the porta-potties they had last time.This condition sucks.Lori


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## haggis_maker (Sep 18, 2002)

i was 24 when this started to me.but i have heard of hitting as young as early teens.


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## freshsandwiches (Jan 22, 2001)

I was 16 when it started to bother me. Bit of a mixed bag really. I find it's stress that brings it on. I'm a bit nervous in general. As I've got older I've became a bit more confident and my symptoms aren't as bad now.Not sure what the guy was on about with his 2yr old and DNA testing however.


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## freshsandwiches (Jan 22, 2001)

edit: 12yr old


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## Tinkerhell (Dec 25, 2002)

Im 21 now, it all started in elementary school somewhere around 9-12 years old.


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## sabriel (May 27, 2002)

As far as I know there really isn't an age 'standard' for development of IBS. Most commonly it seems to start in the teens or early 20's but children and older people can and do get it too.I think they only worry if you start to get sudden symptoms after age 40 as it is possible it can be due to something worse than IBS.However, if you have tests to rule out other things then I think it can start at just about from 2 to 102.For me I think it started in my early teens.I also have a family history of digestive problems including ulcers, reflux and gallbladder all of which I have or have had too.I think, maybe if your are genetically prone to digestive problems you have an increased chance of IBS too. (my gallbladder surgeon also said that if you develop one type of digestive problem you are more likely to develop others).My mother thinks my grandfather (her father) may have had IBS too, but of course way back then (he died in the 1950's) there probably was not as much available in the way of diagnosis and treatment so he probably never had an official diagnosis of it.Cheers, hope you are doing ok.


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## StressedOut (Nov 14, 2001)

I was 20 when mine just started one day and never stopped.


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## Rowe2 (Sep 26, 2002)

My first experience I can recall is around the age of 7. My mother said I cried a lot as an infant, and the doctor told her I had colic, so I figure basically I







was born with it. I am now 50. I suffered for years with IBS C&D. Miserable all the time. In 1996, I was put on an anti-depressant and the IBS symptons/pain lessened dramatically. I also come from a family that has suffered with stomach disorders on my father's side.


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## LML (Jul 17, 2001)

Mine started when I was 60. There go the "golden years!"


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## alongtin (Jul 30, 2002)

I was 13, I'm 24 now. It really kicked into high gear, though when I was 22.Amy


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## Bewitched (Jul 24, 2002)

I have had problems since birth,but was not diagnosed until age 11 when the onset of puberty made things much worse.I am now 33 and mostly homebound due to IBS.I though it would get better with age


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## LoriAnn (Jan 31, 2002)

I've been pretty much homebound for 3 years now. I tried going camping last summer but it was such a disaster, the D struck so bad I had to leave and ended up in the hospital. It was a very depressing event.I don't know how much stress I had as a very small child but I do recall having nightmares about the vietnam war, and there was probably talk around the kitchen table about the relatives who were over there. I know I was a very shy child, and that was stressful. I had problems during exams, first dates, proms, first day on the job etc. But I guess it hit me fullforce when I was pregnant with my second child, and the last 3 years have been a daily struggle & torment. I don't want to think its a fluke of birth or a simple disfunction, because it offers no hope of a "cure", I can't imagine the rest of my life within these 4 walls and at 37 I don't want to believe that all my best days are behind me. But all the evidence points to the truth of this.Lori


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

For some people there is a possibility that IBS is a congenetial birth defect when the gut brain and the brain form together at the embryonic state, or at least they are researching that aspect for those born with IBS.For many they seem to get it after gut trauma of some sort.The History of functional disorders. http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/hist...aldisorders.htm


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## Tlyon (Feb 20, 2001)

I have had it since I was a teenager. I am now 40. I must have had several "remissions" over the years, because I have huge spaces of time where I honestly do not remember feeling bad. I was offically dignosed 2 years ago, and probably would not have done anything about it except it was very different that time. Painful!!!!! I was sick for about 3 months before anyone figured it all out. I was very glad to have IBS, and not something much worse. I have been lucky since I have been diganosed, I am managing it pretty well with my meds and diet, and I did have to change my way of looking at things.


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## LoriAnn (Jan 31, 2002)

I've made so many changes I have parctically turned myself inside out. I gave up dairy, alcohol, chocolate, caffeine, pickled foods, smoked foods, processed foods, MSG, gluten, citrus foods, peanuts, cabbage, fried foods, beef and more. At one point I was basically down to filtered water, white rice and chicken. Absolutely nothing worked. I learned to reduce stress, meditate and use chrystals. I've tried at least a dozen meds. My doctor says I have done everything possible to try to improve my situation and yet things just get worse, my only excursions out of the house in the past 12 months have been my admissions to the hospital, in Feb, June, July, August and the last week in Sept/first week Oct. Where they give me fluids and dope me up until it settles down enough for me to eat Jello and broth. Now I am able to get the help I need at home so I haven't had to go back.It seems there is little left that I can do but accept the things I cannot change, try to live with it and pray for remission in my old age. .My GI doc said he doesn't believe that eliminating things has benefited me, and I have lost about 35 pounds this year. He encouraged me to go back to eating normally and not to eliminate anything unless I absolutely had to. So I went back to eating breads and my beloved chocolate, but left everything else as it was. Sorry to be such a downer, its just been a long, long year.Lori


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Loriann, have you tried gut directed Hypnotherapy? It does work for most people and usally used last, although I think it should be used more often from the begining. It can be way more effective then drugs or otc's.Its not just for relaxation, that is a side effect of it? Its easy to do and enjoyable. Most people think they can't be and can be hypnotized and this is not like stage hypnosis, more imagery and gut directed clinical hypnosis.with permission.The Effects of Hypnosison Gastrointestinal ProblemsOlafur S. Palsson, Psy. D.Research Associate, UNC-CHAPEL HillDepartment of MedicinesHypnosis is a treatment method, which still carries an aura of mystery,that unfortunately continues to be promoted by misrepresentations in movies and stage shows for entertainment. In reality, there is little mysterious about hypnosis anymore. It is a well-researched clinical technique which was formally accepted as a treatment method by the American Medical Association and the American psychological Association over thirty years ago. Clinical hypnosis is currently used by thousands of clinicians in the U.S. to treat both psychological and medical problems.Until recently, the possibilities of using hypnosis to treat gastrointestinal problems had received little attention. In the last 15 years, however, research has shown that hypnosis can influence gastrointestinal functioning in powerful ways, and that in particular, it is effective in helping patients with irritable bowel syndrome and to control nausea and vomiting.How Hypnosis Works:Hypnosis is a special mental state in which a person's focus of attention becomes narrow and intense like the beam of a bright flashlight in a dark room. This state is usually created with the aid of a hypnotist,who guides the person systematically to relax, focus only on one thing, and to allow things to happen by themselves.Whatever the mind focuses on while in this special mental state of hypnosis holds the entire attention. Therefore, people tend to experience things they think of, imagine or remember, more vividly and clearly than under usual circumstances. This is why people can sometimes recall things from their distant past under hypnosis even though unable to do so in the normal waking state (research has shown, however, that such hypnotically enhanced recall can be highly contaminated by the person's imagination). The narrow hyperfocus of this mental state is also why therapists using hypnosis are frequently able to help people make strong positive changes in their emotions and physical functioning. Hypnosis can work like a magnifying glass on the mind's effects on the body and emotion.Clinical hypnosis relies on suggestions, imagery, and relaxation to produce its therapeutic effects. Hypnotic suggestions are things that the hypnotist verbally suggests may happen while the person is under hypnosis. Due to the focused and receptive state of the hypnotized person, these suggestions happen almost automatically and without conscious decision or effort. If you, for example, receive the suggestion under hypnosis that your arm may be getting heavy, you will very likely feel it becoming heavy, without trying to do anything to make it happen. This "automaticity", the feeling of things happening by themselves, is by some considered the hallmark of hypnosis, and is often surprising to people experiencing hypnosis for the first time.Hypnotic imagery consists of picturing mentally events or situation or place in a way that has a desired positive physical or mental effect. For example, patients undergoing surgical or dental procedures are sometimes taught to enter a hypnotic state and go to a pleasant place in their mind. When successfully applied, the person gets completely engrossed in the vivid enjoyable imagery and is therefore happily unaware of the unpleasantness of the procedure.The hypnotic state is naturally accompanied by relaxation, and the physical relaxing effects are often deliberately strengthened further by clinicians through suggestions and relaxing imagery. Some of the benefits that come from hypnosis treatment are likely to result partly or entirely from the fact that hypnosis is a powerful relaxation method.Over decades of research and clinical experience, hypnosis has proven to have many valuable therapeutic uses. In psychotherapy, hypnotic techniques can speed the therapy process in various ways - for example by facilitating patients' self-understanding, extinguishing unfortunate habits, uncovering repressed or forgotten memories, reducing anxiety and phobias, and helping people to adopt a new and more adaptive outlook. In medicine and health psychology, hypnosis is used to reduce pain and discomfort associated with medical procedures such as childbirth, treatment of burns, and surgery where chemical anesthesia cannot be used effectively. It is also used to treat chronic pain and psychosomatic problems and counter unhealthy habits that contribute to illness. In dentistry, hypnotic analgesia is an effective needle-less alternative to topical anesthetic drugs, reduces bleeding and discomfort in oral surgery, and is used to treat teeth grinding and temporomandibular disorder. In recent years, the effects of gastrointestinal functioning and GI symptoms have been studied extensively.The Effects of Hypnosis on Gastrointestinal Functioning:The hypnotic state itself, without any particular suggestions, seems to slow down the gut, and clear-cut and specific changes in GI functioning can be induced in individuals by directing thinking or inducing specific emotional states under hypnosis.For example, one study(1) found that when healthy volunteers were hypnotized and simply instructed to relax, the orocaecal transit time (the time it takes material to pass through the GI tract from the mouth to the first part of the colon) was lengthened from 93 to 133 minutes. Another study(2) found that being in a hypnotic state decreases muscle movements in the stomach. The same study demonstrated that the emotional state of happiness, created under hypnosis, suppresses gastric muscle activity but anger and excitement increase muscle movement in the stomach . A pair of other studies(3) showed that when volunteers were guided to use imagery of eating a delicious meal while they were under hypnosis, gastric acid secretion was increased by 89%, and that acid production of the stomach could also be deliberately decreased during hypnosis using hypnotic instructions.Close to fifty published studies have reported on the therapeutic effects of hypnosis on nausea and vomiting problems related to chemotherapy, after surgery, and during pregnancy. Overall, this substantial body of literature indicates that hypnosis can be a powerful aid in controlling nausea and vomiting.Hypnosis may also be helpful in preventing gastrointestinal problems from recurring after they have been treated with medication: One study(4) of thirty patients with relapsing duodenal ulcers who had been successfully treated with a course of medication, found that only 53% of the patients who received preventive hypnosis treatment had a relapse within one year. In contrast everybody (100%) in a comparison group receiving no hypnosis relapsed in the same period of time.In 1984, researchers in Manchester in England published a study(5 )report in the journal Lancet, showing that hypnosis treatment dramatically improved the symptoms of IBS patients who had failed to benefit from other treatment. The researchers had randomly divided patients with severe IBS problems into two groups. Fifteen patients were treated with seven hypnosis sessions. Fifteen comparison patients were treated with seven sessions of psychotherapy, and those patients also received placebo pills (pills with no medically active ingredients) which they were told were a new research medication for IBS symptoms. Every patient in the hypnosis group improved, and that group showed substantial improvement in all central symptoms of IBS. The control group showed only very modest improvement in symptoms.Partly due to these dramatic results with treatment-refractory patients, a dozen other studies have followed, including three U.S. studies. The general conclusions from most of these studies are that hypnosis seems to improve the symptoms of 80% or more of all treated patients who have well-defined "classic" IBS problems, especially if they do not have complicating factors such as psychiatric disorders. The improvement is in many cases maintained at least for a year after the end of treatment. What is particularly remarkable is that this high rate of positive treatment response is seen even in studies where the participating patients all have failed to improve from regular medical care.The dramatic response of IBS patients to hypnosis treatment raises the question of exactly how this kind of treatment influences the symptoms in such a beneficial way.Four studies to date, two in England and two in the U.S., have tried to discover how hypnosis treatment affects the body of IBS patients. Since it is well known that many people with IBS have unusual pain sensitivity in their intestines, which is thought to be related to the clinical pain they experience, much of the focus of these studies has been on assessing the impact of this kind of treatment on intestinal pain thresholds. The two English studies both measured intestinal pain sensitivity with balloon inflation tests. The second study also measured muscle tone, to see if hypnosis relaxes the smooth muscles of the GI tract. No overall changes in pain sensitivity were detected, and gut muscle tension was also unchanged after treatment (except a subgroup of unusually pain-sensitive patients had lessened pain sensitivity in the second study(7).. In 1995-1996, during my post-doctoral fellowship in the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition at UNC-Chapel Hill, we conducted the first U.S. study(8) on hypnosis for IBS under the direction of Dr. Whitehead. We evaluated the effects of a highly standardized treatment protocol, delivered verbatim following written scripts, on rectal pain thresholds and muscle tone. Seventeen out of the 18 patients we treated with hypnosis showed significant improvement in their clinical symptoms. However, we found, like the English researchers, that gut pain thresholds and muscle tension were unchanged after treatment. In a second study(9,) which I conducted with co-investigators at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, we used the same treatment protocol but this time measured autonomic nervous system functioning and blood levels of a gut hormone called vasoactive intestinal peptide. These are regulators of GI functioning in the human body, and the aim was to see if they would change due to treatment. Again, we found no changes in our physical measures after treatment (with the exception of reduction in sweat gland reactivity) even though 21 out of 24 treated patients were clinically improved. It should be noted, though, that in both our studies, we found clear improvement in the psychological well-being of our patients after treatment.In summary, it is clear from our work and other research that hypnosis treatment substantially improves all the central symptoms of IBS in the majority of patients who receive such treatment (see the effects of our two studies on clinical symptoms in the Figure). What happens in the body of these patients to cause such improvement, however, remains a mystery.Future prospects:In light of the many studies which have shown hypnosis treatment to be effective for such problems as IBS and nausea and vomiting, the question may be raised why this kind of treatment is not more widely available or generally offered to patients with such GI problems.One limitation is the fact that not everybody is equally hypnotizable. Research has consistently shown that at least 15% of people are practically non-hypnotizable, and even those who are able to enter a hypnotic state vary greatly in how well they respond. Interestingly, the ability to be hypnotized is a stable mental trait. In other word, if you are highly hypnotizable now, you will most likely be so also in thirty years. Fortunately, the majority of people are sufficiently hypnotizable to have a potential for enjoying at least some of the medical and psychological benefits of clinical hypnosis.Furthermore, the idea of being hypnotized does not agree with all people. Even individuals who are sufficiently hypnotizable, may not like the idea of "letting go", may have difficulty trusting a therapist to guide them in hypnosis, or may have other concerns about the hypnosis experience. Fortunately, other forms of psychological treatment for gastrointestinal problems - in the case of IBS especially cognitive-behavioral therapy -- have also been found to be effective and are good alternatives.Finally, an obstacle which has barred many patients from receiving help for gastrointestinal disorders with hypnosis is the fact that in the U.S. the technique is more commonly used by psychologists and other mental health professionals than by physicians. Many mental health professionals who use hypnosis are not accustomed to treating gastrointestinal disorders, and therefore reluctant to take on treatment of such problems.As the reliably beneficial effects of hypnosis on gastrointestinal functioning become better known both to health professionals and the general public, this benign and comfortable form of treatment will hopefully become a more popular treatment option for GI patients - especially for those who have not received much relief from standard medical management. As far as IBS is concerned, we have been making an effort in the last two years to encourage clinicians across the country who have adequate training in hypnosis to provide such treatment for IBS. We have done this by providing them, free of charge, with the complete standardized treatment protocol which has proven effective in our research. To date, more than eighty licensed health professionals, practicing in almost all states, are started using our protocol, making it a little bit easier for patients in many geographical locations to receive help with hypnosis. References 1. Beaugerie, L., Burger A.J, Cadranel J.F, Lamy, P., Gendre J.P., & Le Quintrec, F. 1991. Modulation of orocaecal transit time by hypnosis. Gut, 32, 393-394. 2. Whorwell PJ; Houghton LA; Taylor EE; Maxton DG. Physiological effects of emotion: assessment via hypnosis. 1992. Lancet, 340, 69-72 3. Klein K.B., & Spiegel, D. 1989. Modulation of gastric acid secretion by hypnosis. Gastroenterology, 96, 1383-1387. 4. Colgan, S. M. , Faragher, E. B. , & Whorwell, P. J. 1988. Controlled Trial of Hypnotherapy in Relapse Prevention of Duodenal Ulceration. The Lancet, 18598, 1299-300. 5. Whorwell, P.J., Prior, A., & Faragher, E.B. 1984. Controlled trial of hypnotherapy in the treatment of severe refractory irritable bowel syndrome. Lancet, 2, 1232-1234. 6. Prior A., Colgan, S.M., Whorwell P.J. 1990. Changes in rectal sensitivity after hypnotherapy in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Gut, 31, 896-898. 7. Houghton, L.A., Larder, S., Lee, R., Gonsalkorale, W.M., Whelan, V, Randles, J., Cooper, P., Cruikshanks, P., Miller, V., & Whorwell, P.J. 1999 Gut focused hypnotherapy normalizes rectal hypersensitivity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome IBS. Gastroenterology,116: A1009. 8. Palsson, O.S., Burnett, C.K., Meyer, K., and Whitehead, W.E. 1997. Hypnosis treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. Effects on symptoms, pain threshold and muscle tone. Gastroenterology, 112, A803. 9. Palsson, O.S., Turner, M.J., & Johnson, D.A. 2000. Hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome: Symptom improvement and autonomic nervous system effects. Gastroenterology, 118,4 A174FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HYPNOSIS AND IBS, VISIT: http://www.ibshypnosis.com/


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## LoriAnn (Jan 31, 2002)

Thank you so much Eric for providing this information for me. I have not tried this approach, but I am willing to try just about anything.How would I find someone who provides this service? I have no idea where to start. I live in a tiny community, in the middle of no where, in a small province. Can this be done online or with tapes? Or does it have to be done by a professional?Thanks for the information.Lori


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Hi Loriann, there is quite a bit of info on HT for IBS.Many of us have done it at home with these. http://www.ibsaudioprogram.com/ Here are some users and thiis is what has helped me personally the most of anything with my IBS. http://www.ibsgroup.org/cgi-local/ubbcgi/u...c;f=11;t=000017 It is important to find a hypnotherapist who uses HT for IBS and not just a hypnotherapist. So to see one in person in your case maybe rough.If I can help let me know and if you want more info on this let me know.This is also an excellent website on it.www.ibshypnosis.com


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## Homebound (Jan 27, 2000)

I was 20 when mine got bad. I can remember having it here and there (having D right after dinner for like a few weeks in a row) starting when I was 18. But once I was 20 it never went away. I agree that there probably isn't any set age range. I've seen people on this board that started having it in grade school, all the way up to in their 60's+. As long as tests rule out other problems then I think it can happen at any given time.


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