# New here - suppository addict :(



## horridguts (Apr 30, 2013)

Hi,

I've lurked here for a while but have just signed up as I am at my wit's end with my ibs lately and feel like I need to reach out to people who understand!

I'm 39 this year and I have had ibs since I was 15. It boggles my mind that I have managed to put up with this #### (no pun intended) for so long.

I was diagnosed by my gp years ago merely on the basis of my symptoms but I have never had any formal tests, although I think it's time I maybe had some tests as my issues have gotten worse/changed over the years and at this stage I'm not sure what's going on.

It all started for me with an eating disorder and laxative abuse in my teens. I got over that but was left with the ibs. One of the things I find hardest to deal with is that I have done this to myself. On good days I feel okay, but on my bad days my mind drifts back to this fact and it really gets me down in the dumps. I feel like I have ruined my life.

Back then I most suffered with horrendous attacks of cramping and diarreah. These days that rarely happens, and gradually over the years I have swung the other way, and mostly deal with constipation.

I used to rely on coffee to help me go, but I had to quit that as it caused me terrible, all day cramping. Coffee pain is a really specific pain for me... I will sometimes get this pain without coffee, but with coffee it's a more likely thing. It's a pain/bloating high up, kind of under the ribs. When I get it it tends to hang around all day and I just HATE it, it is (after my constipation) my most despised symptom.

Without coffee I might go every few days. My issue is if I don't go every day I feel absolutely terrible. I get bloated, have no appetite, and have worse cramping. So I force myself to go every day by any means necessary. These days I use glycerine suppositories. They really do help, and make me feel almost normal on most days. I might use two or even three on some mornings, one after the other. But I REALLY worry that they are going to quit working, and then I will be left with nothing.

Other things I do... I take magnesium and vitamin B supplements. These things do help, but my problem is that even when the poo is soft and wet, it doesn't want to come out... well, it will eventually, after a few days, but I don't want to wait that long... because as I said, I feel terrible. It's sitting there at the end of my colon but it doesn't want to move until it builds up to a certain volume and the process of getting to that required volume for me to feel the urge is too long and too uncomfortable.

My diet is okay. I have the odd splurge on crappy food just because I get so tired of restricting. Mostly I eat lean white meats and vegetables. I try to avoid starchy stuff, but I do eat corn as my only grain. I instinctively stay away from fodmappy foods... I didn't even know they were fodmaps before I knew to stay away from them. Fruits and dairy are no-nos and while I won't have an immediate reaction to wheat, if I keep eating it for day after day it will stop me up.

I have experimented with fibre, mainly rice bran and linseed. For a long while rice bran really helped, but eventually I couldn't move it out on my own so it just made me feel worse. I'm never really sure if I should be eating fibre or not. Sometimes it helps, but if it doesn't it just sits there which is the worst feeling.

Well, that's my story... just wanted to introduce myself and also ask, are there any other suppository users out there? Do you think they cause dependency or are they relatively harmless? I'm going to make an appointment with a GI and get his or her "permission"... I do what I need to do to feel comfortable, but I do worry, as I said, that they will quit working... or that I am training myself to not feel the urge without them. But - I wouldn't need them at all if I felt that urge on my own, but I don't (or not often enough)...

Thanks for reading!


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## Dianaearnshaw (Feb 22, 2013)

You may have something akin to megacolon - where the colon has lost some of its elasticity and become slack. Your doctor may be able to test for that.

Meanwhile, I think you should have live sauerkraut every day. Start with one teaspoon daily then increase up to 2-3 tablespoons. This might put things right. Worth a try.

You can buy fresh sauerkraut online (or at least I imagine you can over there as we can get it in the UK) or make it yourself! Dead easy and cheap! Sooo good for you!
Recipe here:
http://bit.ly/IVWpvl

Good luck!


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## horridguts (Apr 30, 2013)

Hi Diana,

I hope I don't have that... its possible I guess but what puzzles me is I have periods of fairly normal function... I feel like I've been in a flare since last September but last winter I was very regular. My guts really hate hot weather too. I've been doing a lot better last few days with a few changes to my diet and haven't needed suppositories, but whatever I change with my diet I seem to adjust to and then I need to switch things up again.

Thanks for the recipe, I will try that. Do you know if it works as well with red cabbage as green? I much prefer the red variety.


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## wigglesmom (Dec 12, 2002)

Hi Horrid-It seems our stories are pretty similar. I also used laxatives as a teenager and rely on coffee and suppositories daily.

Here's what helps me. I use "help" lightly as it still takes me at least an hour to go to the bathroom each morning.

magnesium pills

triphala

ground flax daily

probiotics

Yes to Beans! enzyme when eating gassy foods

This tea-it's the best thing ever! http://www.elitegroup1628.com/US-Brand-Ultra-Slim-Tea-20bags_p_774.html

Magnesium citrate (the liquid) when things get really bad

I think that you might want to explore megacolon as well. I've been told that I have it. I also have anismus, which is why it takes SO LONG to go to the bathroom.


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## horridguts (Apr 30, 2013)

Hi wiggles,

Yes it does sound like our stories are similar... hmmm. I don't want to have megacolon... I just keep thinking that's what Elvis Presley died of! (indirectly)

I take magnesium pills, probiotics and currently I am doing the flax seeds with mixed results. Today wasn't so good, I was very bloated. For some reason everything gets worse when I go back to work on Mondays.

I've tried Triphala... did not work for me.

That tea looks good but I googled the ingredients and it said it had senna in it? I'm trying to avoid stimulants... I was taking senna for a while when things got really bad, but hey - it stopped working and I wasn't willing to up the dose, as that is what got me in this mess to start with 

Thanks for the tips... its hard dealing with this every day...


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## ebolus101 (Feb 23, 2013)

I can relate to getting IBS after an eating disorder. I Had anorexia for a year when I was 19-20 and was diagnoised with IBS right after. I am using suppositories too (glycerine) but when I do I get a bloating just on my right hand side. How do you guys deal with bloat?


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## Dr. Dani (Jan 18, 2013)

Hi,

That is unfortunately a common story, that you suffer for pretty much your whole adult life without relief b/c conventional medicine just doesn't have any good drugs for IBS.

And yes, after an eating disorder and recovery, often the bowel motility and gut special nervous system pathways have been affected and often need to be 'reset' to avoid chronic long term problems, the number one being constipation.

The first thing is to have your doc run some standard tests, for celiac disease, and some imaging to rule out other things that can mimick IBS. Most of the time, these are all normal and you are left with the diagnosis of IBS.

Then, starting to heal the gut from the root causes, repairing the gut's nervous system and reversing damage caused by chronic stress are both key. To start doing this, doing a simple mindbody practice every day, just for 10-20 minutes is a great way to start, and anyone can do it, it just takes a few minutes to learn

You can start with a really simple one called the Benson Technique:

Find a quiet spot, sit comfortably and pick a word: if you are not religious or don't already meditate, you can use the word 'one.' If you have a short prayer or meditation phrase you can use this too

Ok, so breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, making your exhale LONGER than your inhale. On the exhale, repeat your word over in your head. Sit comfortably and do this for at least 10 minutes each day. This simple technique will help you to turn on your Relaxation Response and start to help soothe your gut via the brain belly connection that is so important but often overlooked in IBS.

Hope this helps you!

Dr Dani



horridguts said:


> Hi,
> 
> I've lurked here for a while but have just signed up as I am at my wit's end with my ibs lately and feel like I need to reach out to people who understand!
> 
> ...


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## wigglesmom (Dec 12, 2002)

Horrid-The tea that I take does not have senna. I avoid senna entirely. Interesting. It's not listed with the other ingredients on the label.

I completely understand what you mean about returning to work. I recently resigned from my job as a teacher after 7 years and took a huge pay cut. The job was stressful, and I had to be at work very early. It really did a number on my digestive system. Things have improved drastically now that I am working a lower stress job that starts a little later in the morning.

I used to have terrible bloating, but it's improved a lot. I assume that's due to digestive enzymes, probiotics and sometimes drinking the digestif Fernet Branca. Also, getting my bowel as empty as I can is key. When I need to, I use enema bags.

Danielle-I meditate. While I can say that it's had benefits it has not yet directly impacted my gut in any way. I'll keep at it though as I think it's a beneficial practice.


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## horridguts (Apr 30, 2013)

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Ebolus - I have read so many stories on the internet of people getting IBS after eating disorders. It wasn't known back in the day that that could be an outcome... ahhhh if I had known where I would end up - I would have just put up with being fat!

I don't get the exact bloating you describe after suppositories. Sometimes a generalised bloating, but that just means it hasn't worked that well, and I need to do another one  I use a few in a row and leave them in long enough to get the urge. If you are bloating maybe you still have poo in your rectum/sigmoid, but it puzzles me because you say its on the right - which is the other side.

Wiggles - I googled the tea on the internet and senna came up in the ingredients, but maybe that's the wrong list or a different tea... its a pretty generic name, maybe there's more than one out there.


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## wigglesmom (Dec 12, 2002)

Horrid-Yes, generic name-and there is another diet tea with the same name that contains senna.

Mine is this one http://www.elitegroup1628.com/US-Brand-Ultra-Slim-Tea-20bags_p_774.html

-definitely no senna. I get it in a local Asian market.


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