# frustrated mom of college student



## DBell (Feb 20, 2002)

Can any of you give me some suggestions about what you eat? My daughter has IBS (with diarrhea, no constipation). She lives in a dorm and her class schedule doesnt really allow for regular meals. Her doctor had told her to eat more natural foods, and to use a fiber supplement...(cant remember the name,but its a white powder and is tasteless when mixed with foods). She hasnt really done what the doctor said to do...its quite frustrating. With her schedule, she misses meals and then ends up eating plain pasta or mashed potatoes. She says those dont hurt her stomach, yet she has had episodes every day for the last couple of weeks. She takes Levsin (the long acting) but only when she feels the pain starting. Can anyone give me any clues as to how you all deal with this? Are there any foods that you could carry with you? I know a visit to her GI doc is imminent, but she wont miss classes! It may have to wait til spring break. Thank you so much!


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## slammjamminlammy (Sep 10, 2001)

why no regular meals? At my school, there are no classes scheduled during meal times. A lot of her problem may be that hectic schedule. I know she might not want to hear this, but the solution may be to slow (and calm) down. this doesn't mean stop taking the classes that she wants to take - just take them over two semesters instead of one. I go to an extremely rigerous school, but sometimes you just have to chill and listen to your body.Things that help me:1) eating REGULAR meals everyday. And I mean breakfast, too.2) no desert, and nothing goopy3)a 45 minute walk every day - no excuses4)sleep (not the 20 minute power-nap variety, either)I take a course load of 4.5 classes (normal load is 4), read a thousand pages a week, and I still have time to do this stuff. If your daughter doesn't she may need to figure out how to budget her time. And last semester, when I was particularly sick, I took 3.5 classes, and took a lot of time for me. Is she a freshman? If so, someone should tell her that missing the occational class is OK if you have a legitimate excuse, like a doctor's appt. I know, I love my classes too, and I wouldn't miss them for the world - but if you're sick, you're sick. period.if I'm totally off on my read of the situation, ignore this, but routine has really helped me.S


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## slammjamminlammy (Sep 10, 2001)

by the way, the most common foods recommended for diarrhea are BRAT (banannas, rice, applesauce, toast)stay away from junk food and red meat. I eat a lot of veggies and rice, soup, and chicken.The thing about IBS is that everyone has different triggers. Your daughter should keep a food diary to figure out which foods get her and which foods are ok


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## bethy_3 (Jan 22, 2002)

I am so sorry to hear about your daughter but the first thing I have to say is that she is going to have to figure this out by herself. You can give her all the support you can possibly give but her own eating patterns and trigger foods are for her to figure out. I have been a college student for 6 years now and am finishing up my masters degree. I know all about the meal times and irregularity. I just know from experience that she needs to sit down and really think about what she eats that makes here sick, when, and how she cooks it, and in what combinations. Another thing that is a big trigger besides food is stress! She could not eat anything for days and have stress and feel sicker than sick. College and stress goes hand in hand so until she figures out also how to deal with it she probably will not have IBS under control.I hope I have helped.


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