# Nightmare



## Annon2014 (Mar 27, 2015)

I am 16 years of age, and I'm battling this for the past couple of months as I have never had the symptoms as bad as I have them now, when I was first diagnosed with it I thought well you know at least I know what it is.. Well as it turns out I was an idiot for think that because the overall conclusion there is no cure for it. It has always kind of been there since I was a little younger 14 maybe but never to the stage when I do not dare to leave the house because of the attacks. I'm thrown around from doctor to doctor and nothing seems to be helping me, peppermint tablets, some kind of syrups that I had to take, enzymes or even a lighter diet where most of the food is steamed. Had blood tests for gluten, and pretty much everything else, all negative.

I do try and eat well, as everyone I do have fast food and drink soda from time to time but lately that has also been impossible, during school I mainly drink just water as I dread to think what would happen if drank anything else. My dinners are always freshly made as I do not tend to eat frozen food either.

My morning consists of getting up, going to the toilet multiple times, crying because of the pain that I'm in and then trying to sort myself out enough when there is nothing left in me to get out of the house. This nightmare has caused me to develop anxiety and has affected my way of thinking, my moods and also my family as I personally tend to take this out on them without indenting to do so. On a good day there is just bloating and cramps but I have not had one of those from a long time. When the cramps do come however to me it is the end of the world, the pain is unbearable and I just want to curl into a ball and cry to make it go away.

To make things worse this illness or whatever the heck it is so so embarrassing, I hate going out because of it even if it's something simple. The fear of having an attack and being no where near home is my worst nightmare. School is dreadful, work is dreadful going out with friends is dreadful to me this has ruined my life. Seeing a psychologist has not helped, I also have depression and I comfort eat a lot, so this is all just there.

I am aware of the fact that I'm not majorly ill and that I'm not dying but this is awful, every bit of it. I've been stuck at home for two months with school work piling up and things to do. Most people think that this is just because of stress or it is all in my head and that I just need to be calm and try to control it. That is completely not true. I remember when a couple years ago I had to sit some exams, some where even lasted for two hours.I dreaded it but I managed, however my condition weren't as bad as it is now.

Its ruining everything, I sometimes sit and think why me? Why can't I go out with my friends without having to worry to the point where I'm not having fun any more. Why can't I stay over at my friends house without panicking about attacks? Why can't I go out on day trips or just simply go out happy and not over analyse everything that I have eaten that day.

When I found this website and I thought wow I'm not alone, I've seen some of the stories and some people have suffer for years. To be honest if that is waiting for me as well, then I don't know what I'm going to do.

Please write back and let me know how it is for everyone else, this is my only support at the moment.


----------



## IBS & Surviving (Jun 24, 2014)

You say you are eating well, but are you following the FODMAP diet? You can find it in Resouces on this website. You may be eating foods that although they are healthy, they trigger your IBS. For a lot of people with IBS the main triggers are gluten and dairy. It is stressful at first to change your diet and try to find foods that you can it, but so worth it as you start to feel better. When I do sometimes want/need to eat a fast food, I go to McDonalds as I haven't had any food contamination there. I order a deluxe meal with no cheese and no bun. Their fries are also gluten free (if a fast food place has chicken strips or battered foods that they cook in the same oil, then their fries are not gluten free.)

Try the diet to find your triggers. By religiously reading labels and sticking to your diet, you might find quite a bit of relief.


----------

