# Army Boot Camp



## RRBreak

I am a senior in high school and I really want a career as an officer in the United States Army. The problem is that I don't know if I could make it through boot camp with my IBS. I know it would act up at the worst times and get me in trouble. I wanted to know if anybody else on here either has gone or knows someone with IBS who has gone to boot camp and made it through and how they managed to do it. Is there any type of medecine that would work for 9 weeks just to get me through boot camp. I have tried an OTC medecine called Equalactin- I don't think I took it correctly and I might try it again- I took the reccommended dosage for one day but it didn't seem to do anything, I might try it for two days in a row. Nobody I know seems to understand my problem and I am sure a drill sargeant would not want to deal with it. I REALLY want to be an officer in the army and the main thing stopping me is IBS. It seems that anytime that I cannot get to a bathroom than that is when I have to go. Especially if I am stressed out. Most times it is not diarrea, mostly I get constipated or I just have to go regular but I cannot hold it because it hurts like hell and it bothers me and I worry about it a lot and the more I worry about it the more it bothers me. If I could just take my mind off of it then I think it wouldn't be as bad because during the weekends if I eat right then sometimes it doesn't bother me at all. I always try to eat right for it and stay away from foods that have bothered me in the past. I also eat right because I am into bodybuilding. The mornings is when it bothers me the most I don't know why. Such as during class at school-mainly in the mornings, I have missed my first bell class at least 10 times this year because of it. It is aggrivating me and I am getting ready to cut my intestines out if I don't find something to stop it very soon. So if anybody has any information about anything that would help me to get through boot camp please tell me. Thanks.


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## Nikki

I know what you mean. I would really like to join the British army, being English, but don't wanna go through basics with IBS. It'd be awful. I'd do everything except the expeditions for 3 days in a row having to constipate yourself with buiscuits brown and what id i had an episode? Sorry i have no advice. I justy know what yiou mean.


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## RRBreak

I'm glad there are other people who know what I am talking about. Nobody I know understands, my friends ask me why I have to #### all the time, my doctor told me that IBS is not a real diagnosis, and my mother says it is all in my head.


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## linesse

Hi,I'm really just peeking in here(I'm 30 years old)but I saw your post on the other side and hesitated to answer because people were being kind of negative, even condescending.IMO, don't give up! Never give up your dream! Join ROTC, if you can. You may get better, just don't get discouraged! Hell, Army food may be constipating! A little change can make all the difference...


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## EntyEnt

I too actually wanted to join the military (Air Force as an Officer for the C.I.D.) but one of the things that held me back was my IBS. I too, like you (and many others actually), usually have things flare of when I worry about the bathroom situation. When I am at home usually I have problems. However when I am out and, say, ready to stand in line for an hour to go on a ride at Disneyland.. That is when I start thinking about "Well what if I get through 3/4 of the line and have to goto the bathroom".. How annoying is that? Anyway I don't have any advice (sorry to say) but I can totally relate and I wish you luck! Try taking calcium (more info in the general forum) as it has REALLY helped me become a bit more regular these past couple months. Maybe it can help you?Kyle


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## Guest

hi , military service is a dream of many people ,in your case , you know how to manage the ibs and you do so times - as you say then i think if you are in a good physique by your body building and activities , you SHOULD NOT LET IBS RIDE YOUR LIFE , JUST BECAUSE OF IT IS THERE WITH YOU , DO NOT BREAK YOUR DREAM YOURSELF, what may happen ? the biggest is you will have problems in boot camp and others might look to you in a strange manner , but if you have a good physical strength in body to let you become a soldier , i think if you pass it , when you will be with your ultimate ambition , you will have a declinning ibs symptom , i have felt it in my life ,but please do not keep the condition of " to be or not to be ? " it is bad , especiaaly for ibs ...good luck...


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## Guest

All right, here's the deal. I've had IBS since I was 15 (althought I didn't know what it was at the time) and I spent three years as a paratrooper in Panama with the Army. Did I ever have an IBS attack? Just once. Here's what I think: if you really want to be an officer, go to college. You can take things at your own pace, make some convenient excuses (like we all do) if you don't want to go anywhere that day, and TAKE YOUR TIME figuring out what makes you sick. If, by the time college is over, you feel up to it, go for it. You can't be an officer without a bachelor's degree, anyway, despite what anyone tells you.


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## PreMedSax

I had to attend a basic training camp with the Marine Corps at Fort Jackson the summer before entering the Naval ROTC unit at my college. This was back before I had IBS to the severity I have now, but I have found that consistent exercise actually HELPS the IBS. I had one attack while at camp. In the morning during breakfast, and before PT. The instructors saw I was in poor shape. I was fatigued, in pain, and felt like ####. However I perservered, and astonished them all with the way I performed at my worst. Never had a problem the rest of the time while I was there. Of course, I've left the BN since then. Something about going to medical school and too many Marines in the chain of command for it to function properly.


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## PreMedSax

And yes, Fort Jackson is primarily an Army base, but there is a Marine Corps reserve station there.


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## atp

What is the BN?


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