# Having issues with bowels on road trips?



## Biff24 (Apr 25, 2016)

This has been happening for probably the last 5 years.. And it ONLY happens on road trips that exceed 2-3 hours. Usually around the hour mark I'll start to feel discomfort.. Aka diarrhea. And the thing is, is that this wouldn't happen if I was at the office or at my house. It literally only happens on road trips. For example, last year instead of stopping and eating a meal with everyone I said I wasn't that hungry (I really was hungry but was simply in fear of having to go) and had nothing more then a couple of fries and a powerade.. The next thing I know is boom, diarrhea and we have to stop somewhere. And I had already done my business the night before. It gets so bad that I can hardly hold it and quite frankly it's embarrassing and extremely annoying as hell to be the only guy that has to do this. I've tried adjusting the ways I sit and taking Imodium (which does seem to help) but it still occurs. It's almost as if it's just gas turning into liquid. Does anyone else have anything like this happen? I'm not sure if I have IBS because I never have issues anywhere except for long car rides. I'm not effected on planes.


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## susie419 (Jul 14, 2009)

All the time. I don't think it's the car alone, I think it's the anticipatory anxiety because it has happened in the car. I bring along a portable toilet, check online. Mine was $12 a few years ago. It looks like a pail and has a toilet seat and you just line it with a garbage bag. I sit in the back seat if I am a passenger. Heaven knows how I would use it...haven't had too far but just knowing it's there helps. I am afraid to go on a bus or train and have to wear Depends on trips which won't help much with explosive diarrhea running down legs, etc. IBS is hard for a dr. to diagnose. When I was a chile, they just called it "spastic bowel" or "nervous stomach". Imodium helps me a bit but then a few days later, it all comes out. I hope you find a way but check out the toilet online.


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## _tatianaxx (Apr 26, 2016)

Traveling in an urban area i deal with traffic jams on a daily basis. I have found that mapping my trip beforehand and identifying bathrooms on my route puts my mind more at ease. Also during symptoms, cold air helps along with slightly reclining my seat. As a precaution i always travel with bags in case of an emergency along with wipes.


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## Billy Spear (May 11, 2016)

Please thoroughly research Habba Syndrome. I posted about it today. He may have the answers. Dont rely on your doctors, most likely they will dismiss him and you. Do the research like your the doctor. Read everything you can find about it.


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## letsgo (May 26, 2016)

I travel a lot for work and have the same problem as you. If I am having a normal day then I never have IBS, but as soon as I know that it will be awkward and embarrassing to go to the toilet (ie during a road trip, on a plane, in a taxi etc...) my bowels start rumbling and it can quickly turn into an IBS attack. I created a thread here to try and help people in the same situation:

http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/291001-dealing-with-ibs/

Good luck.


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## bhots23 (May 13, 2016)

This happens to me as well sometimes. To me, this is where IBS and anxiety go together. I think that it is the fear that you are going to be driving and not be able to find somewhere to stop and thus have an accident that makes it worse. When I was in the Air Force, I was stationed in South Korea on an Army base. We had to travel about 40 minutes to the AF base if we wanted to do a lot of things. I got a ride back in a huge van, I was in the very back by the window...and as soon as we got on the road, I started to feel the rumbling in my stomach and knew I had to go but couldnt. You could stop along the way but it was hard to find a restroom bc of the language barrier and a lot of the toilets where holes in the floor (not fun). The people I was riding with knew I had to go but tried to make it back. I was struggling noticeably. I made it back to my dorm and as soon as I had the chance to run upstairs and finally go to the bathroom, the feeling of having to go went away. Thats when I really realized how much the mind has to do with it. Now, that hasnt helped me much since, but its an interesting story.


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## Shawna-one (Jan 30, 2011)

I have had issues with travel for years now. I remember in my twenties we were traveling, and I suddenly got severe cramps and when I do that sometimes I have to go right then, but most times I lie in bed with a heating pad on my abdomen and take 2 extra strength Tylenol and just wait until it happens, usually I have false alarms and run to the stool, and nothing happens. The pain is horrific, that is how I finally thought to take 2 of the Tylenol as soon as an attack came on. But on the road trips, usually eating in strange places is part of it too, because I don't know what is in the food. Certain spices will trigger me off. One tiny piece of jalapeno will cause me cramps. Other times I don't know what sets it off. It is a strange and unpredictable disease, and I have also discovered if I don't rest well I will have colon cramps and diarrhea the next day. I also get trapped gas, and bloating sometimes. Today I had a Dr. appt., I had my morning BM, then ate a light breakfast of oatmeal and banana. Within 90 minutes I started to cramp so hard I barely made it to the bathroom. I took and Immodium and a 500 mg. of Tylenol, and a small dosage of Hydrocodone 3.25. I was so frightened all the time I was with the doctor. I am still uneasy in my left side, and tomorrow I may be constipated from mixing the Immodium and the other meds. I just never know and it is so frustrating. How do we live with this? It is so hard on me and my husband too.


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