# Hello, new to forums, in need of support!



## rachel007 (Aug 10, 2012)

Hello all, my name is Rachel. I'm 21 years oldI have had IBS and GERD for nearly 4 years now. Both seemed to literally pop up out of the blue, a few months after I was recovering from a particularly bad bout of mononucleosis. I have had a few periods of symptom "remission", but had a hard time pinpointing the reason why. And they never lasted for long. I have been suffering particularly severely for the past few months, and am trying to not give up hope. It is getting especially difficult because I just started another semester of school, and am about to work some long hours at a job that I really have a hard time with due to all of my symptoms. No one around me understands, and I'm sick of everyone pretty much saying it's in my head. (Due to stress, anxiety, etc.) I mostly wanted to join these forums to hear other's stories, and to maybe get a few words of support from others, knowing that I'm not alone. I really want something like a "pen pal", and I hope to find one because I really want to be able to help someone else, as well as receive support. Anyways, any recommendations for therapies, from conventional medications/etc. to alternative therapies are always welcome.My symptoms are mostly stomach pain (nearly every day) alternating constipation/diarrhea, and terrible acid reflux (nearly 24/7). Any comments, personal stories, or advice is appreciated greatly!


----------



## Arcade (Jun 29, 2012)

rachel007 said:


> Hello all, my name is Rachel. I'm 21 years oldI have had IBS and GERD for nearly 4 years now. Both seemed to literally pop up out of the blue, a few months after I was recovering from a particularly bad bout of mononucleosis. I have had a few periods of symptom "remission", but had a hard time pinpointing the reason why. And they never lasted for long. I have been suffering particularly severely for the past few months, and am trying to not give up hope. It is getting especially difficult because I just started another semester of school, and am about to work some long hours at a job that I really have a hard time with due to all of my symptoms. No one around me understands, and I'm sick of everyone pretty much saying it's in my head. (Due to stress, anxiety, etc.) I mostly wanted to join these forums to hear other's stories, and to maybe get a few words of support from others, knowing that I'm not alone. I really want something like a "pen pal", and I hope to find one because I really want to be able to help someone else, as well as receive support. Anyways, any recommendations for therapies, from conventional medications/etc. to alternative therapies are always welcome.My symptoms are mostly stomach pain (nearly every day) alternating constipation/diarrhea, and terrible acid reflux (nearly 24/7). Any comments, personal stories, or advice is appreciated greatly!


Hi rachel!First of all, I hope I'm not too late in replying, it always frustrates me when a topic hasn't had any replies! Everyone deserves at least someone to write back and try and share and advise on feelings.Anyway, I know that feeling of everyone around you telling you its in your head. It's horrible, the first doctor I went to kept saying 'it's only self-propergating'.. prescribed me nothing and only gave me a leaflet about IBS. So much for that, it set me back a good two months. Luckily I found another doctor who has prescribed me 'Mebeverine' for the stomach and 'Loparimide' for the diarrhea. Mebeverine acts to calm the stomach down and Loparimide basically acts to block the diarrhea. I'm not sure if these are different brand names in the US, but here anyway I've been very lucky to have found them. I've had a lots of success with these two so far - there's no doubt in my mind that had my Doctor not prescribed me these I wouldn't have been able to make it through my Summer exams. As it was I got the grades I needed for University!I wish you the best of luck. Never, ever give up in something you want, no matter how hard it is! I think it is so nice to know that your not the only one suffering and that, even at your lowest moments there is someone out there to help.


----------



## TabbyRenee (Sep 19, 2012)

rachel007 said:


> Hello all, my name is Rachel. I'm 21 years oldI have had IBS and GERD for nearly 4 years now. Both seemed to literally pop up out of the blue, a few months after I was recovering from a particularly bad bout of mononucleosis. I have had a few periods of symptom "remission", but had a hard time pinpointing the reason why. And they never lasted for long. I have been suffering particularly severely for the past few months, and am trying to not give up hope. It is getting especially difficult because I just started another semester of school, and am about to work some long hours at a job that I really have a hard time with due to all of my symptoms. No one around me understands, and I'm sick of everyone pretty much saying it's in my head. (Due to stress, anxiety, etc.) I mostly wanted to join these forums to hear other's stories, and to maybe get a few words of support from others, knowing that I'm not alone. I really want something like a "pen pal", and I hope to find one because I really want to be able to help someone else, as well as receive support. Anyways, any recommendations for therapies, from conventional medications/etc. to alternative therapies are always welcome.My symptoms are mostly stomach pain (nearly every day) alternating constipation/diarrhea, and terrible acid reflux (nearly 24/7). Any comments, personal stories, or advice is appreciated greatly!


Hi Rachel I am also new to forums and would love to be your pen pale. I am 23 years old and was diagnosed with IBS in Feb. of this year after being sick and in pain for 2 years. I'm still struggling with everything and also had many people around me telling me it is all in my head. During the 2 years before i was diagnosed I lost a crazy amount of weight due to never eating because that always made everything worse, that made people think I was on meth, which is absolutely preposterous.And I'm still struggling to gain weight back, due to my low fat diet. When I received the diagnosis I went out and bought books about the condition and after changing my diet i found a small amount of relief,I refuse to take handfuls of medications to cope so the one thing I have found that has never let me down is marijuana. It not only helps me with my symptoms but also helps with my appetite, anxiety, and most importantly my depression. I really hope we can help each other, because i am so tired of feeling alone and like no one understands.


----------



## Princess76 (Jul 8, 2012)

Hi my name is Nicki my Ibs too just seemed to come out of nowhere I've been dealing with it for 3 years now. No one around me seems to understand either. It would be wonderful to have someone to talk to some days are just so unbearable having people to talk to makes it easier to cope somehow.


----------



## Kricle (Oct 7, 2012)

Hi Rachel, I too am in the same situation and looking for the same kind of help! My name is Kristina,I am 28 years old and live in the UK.I have been suffering from IBS for the last 7 years or so. Would love to chat to you and maybe we can discuss and help each other?I have only just joined today so this is all new to me but reading through everyone's stories we all feel the same which as much as it is horrible it is also good to know we are not alone and there are people who understand what it is we are going through.If anyone would like to chat to me, please feel free to contact me


----------

