# Just need to know...



## Marmite (May 17, 2002)

OK, I have read loads and I am pretty sure of the answer to thins question but I still want someone to answer it, please!IBS is a genetic thing that you have full stop, right? If it develops at age 5 or 55 you have it, you canï¿½t avoid it so nur, right?What i mean is please donï¿½t tell me I brought this on myself or that this is going to be a lasting reminder of my trip to South America just coz I ate the wrong stuff and drank the tapwater, this is not like being drunk and getting a tattoo of Bugs Bunny is it? I would have had it if I stayed at home wouldnï¿½t I? Please wouldnï¿½t I ???


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

IBS appears to be combination of two things: Genetics and Environment.Some of the environmental factors do include stuff like getting a GI infection (can get those at home just as well as abroad).Generally Post-Infectious IBS does tend to be more likely to go into remission, but for some people it can be a life-long problem even when an infection triggers it.Now MOST people with IBS do with some work and experimentation find things that help control the symptoms so it is often most disruptive at the begining and gets less so over time.ALSO if you got a GI infection it does sometimes take awhile to recover from that, so it is normal for people to have symptoms a month or two afterwards before everything goes back to normal.Everyone should be careful about GI infections (use good food preparation techniques, wash your hands frequently, be careful of water/unpeeled produce in other countries) because the chance of getting IBS symptoms is 10X greater following an infection than someone similar who has not had a GI infection recently.K.


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## Maverick (May 16, 2002)

Hello Marmite!I have got Post infective IBS after a trip to Tenerife -It was my own fault! but good news is 82% of post infective ibs sufferers are symptom free after 3-5 years.I look at it like this - I had a healthy digestive system for 20 years so my digestive system is capable of working very well - it's just a little strained at the moMy GI tells me that the first year after infection is always a tough time but after that symptoms will go away providing you eat the right diet etc.Ive had mine for almost exactly a year now and my digestive system is feeling more normal everday!!So be thankfull you've got the best form of ibs!!


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## Marmite (May 17, 2002)

Hmmm, Iï¿½m not sure if Iï¿½ve got post-infective or normal IBS, I was feeling unwell for a few months last year and my GP eventually put it down to a liver infection, then I came away to South America where i was more or less OK for the first 2 months then got sick, stayed sick and got diagnosed with IBS, so what does all that mean?


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## buttburn (Nov 17, 1999)

I developed symptoms right after quitting smoking. Initially thought it was just something to do with nicotine withdrawal, but the cravings went away, the trips to bathroom didn't. Weird huh? I also know someone who suffered from a ruptured appendix and had to go through a whole lot of unfun with that, when they recovered they had IBS-C. Neither of us know for sure if these things had anything to do with the onset of IBS or if it wsa just weird timing, but it's always something I think about "if I hadn't quit smoking would I still poop like a normal person? would I have lung-cancer yet? which is worse? Cancer: you either get better or die; IBS: you don't get better and you're stuck with it for the rest of your long damn life."Stupid thoughts, but hey got nothing else to think of while on the toilet.


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## Marmite (May 17, 2002)

So true! You have just made me wet my pants (not literally, thats a Brit term for lol!) So thanks for that. I am readng more and more and it seems we are all mutants...thereï¿½s some new research out that IBS is a thing to do with mutated genes, so there we go, spoiled goods, defects! Ah well, you gotta play with the hand you were delt right?


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