# 20 years with IBS, what I know and what I don't



## lulugirl765 (Oct 31, 2012)

I'm 47, female and have had IBS for almost 20 years. I was diagnosed at age 18. After making a life change at that time, I started experienced intense painful cramping and toothpaste-like runny stools in episodes that generally started first thing in the morning, at least 2 days a month. At that time, the doctor prescribed dicyclomine which I never found helpful because taking something in the middle of an episode doesn't prevent it from happening and once the episode starts, the pain is inevitable and the stools have to be passed until over and done with.

At that time, I was able to find a management regimen of taking soluble fiber powder every night in either water or a hot glass of valerian tea. This seemed to stabilize my bowels and I continued doing this until around age 23. The episodes returned again, however, in my 30s and have to this day.

In my early 40s, I noticed a pattern. I'm female, and I noticed that I get an episode on day 17 or day 18 of my cycle, like clockwork every month. My theory is that as uterine contractions start before my period, which I cannot feel yet, these irritate my already sensitive bowels which also start contracting.

Now, I still get episodes at other times of the month, but looking back I've wondered if that 17th or 18th day was always at least one small part of the pattern. Soon I'll find out as I reach menopause.

I would classify my IBS as a D/C mix, I get both diarrhea and constipation, soft stools, then can't go, you name it. The constants are the pain, cramping, gas, leaky gas. And the fact that sometimes it's so bad I'm in bed for half the day.

I've tried the FODMAPS and my experience is no one food causes a problem, and no one food is curative. I've gone from foods that cause me problems to those same foods not causing problems later on. I don't believe, in my case, that any food is the problem. My irritable bowels are the problem no matter what I put in my body. I've tried vegan and macrobiotic diets for years at a time, to no better result.

I've tried antidepressants and even benzodiazepines (muscle relaxers), and nothing works as a regular regimen to PREVENT attacks. I'm gonna get the attacks 1-2 times a month no matter what I do. Yeast suppositories help if I get gas/rumbling for more than a couple of days, indicating yeast overgrowth.

One theory I'm a believer in about IBS is the new one that IBS sufferers have a higher amount of bacteria in the bowels than normal, and the diarrhea is related to that. I believe this because I've tried Ciprofloxacin after a bad series of days with gurgling and episodes and the spectrum antibiotic stops it all. The problem is that no doctor is going to prescribe Cipro for regular IBS, it's a med reserved for last resorts. I can get it in Mexico, but even though it helps I do believe it will just cause a resistance to it eventually so that's not a cure in the end. I think bacteria is the problem, as well as the mind/gut connection.

My focus in recent years has been simply relief on the bad days. All I can share is what helps on the bad days.

1. Immodium or Pambrom (ingredient in PMS tablets which reduces muscle cramping).
2. Hot peppermint tea.
3. Hot water bottle or bath (not always practical if you're on the loo a lot!).
4. Bad day foods: oatmeal, chicken breast pieces in chicken broth (nothing else in the soup), banana, white rice, white bread, potato.
5. Worst case 250-500 mg Hydrocodone (codeine/Tylenol), a lifesaver if I simply must get out of bed.

I have found that insoluble fibers like brans, whole grains, etc. are hard on my bowels and make my problems worse. Soluble, gentle fiber like the powered psyllium husk (Metamucil) or potatoes are far better. Yes, white noodles or bread are easier for me than anything whole grain. I'm just talking about bad day management here, not a daily diet. I normally don't eat much bread.

That's my story. I'm still living with it. My story for me is that there is no cure, there is just helping myself on the bad days and enjoying the good ones.

As I will always say to anybody about IBS...Take what works and leave the rest...


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## spanglish (Mar 2, 2012)

lulugirl765 said:


> I'm 47, female and have had IBS for almost 20 years. I was diagnosed at age 18. After making a life change at that time, I started experienced intense painful cramping and toothpaste-like runny stools in episodes that generally started first thing in the morning, at least 2 days a month. At that time, the doctor prescribed dicyclomine which I never found helpful because taking something in the middle of an episode doesn't prevent it from happening and once the episode starts, the pain is inevitable and the stools have to be passed until over and done with.
> 
> At that time, I was able to find a management regimen of taking soluble fiber powder every night in either water or a hot glass of valerian tea. This seemed to stabilize my bowels and I continued doing this until around age 23. The episodes returned again, however, in my 30s and have to this day.
> 
> ...


Hi Lulu girl,
I am a 68 year old male and have had IBS on and off all of my life and agree with every thing you say,have tried most of the meds and nothing works also the benzos all they did was give me an addiction that took me 2 years to give up with very bad side effects which still cause me problems.
Have posted very little on this site but your story prompted me to post as am going through a very bad dose of IBS at this moment and ran out of things to try,thanks for the reminder of peppermint tea I had forgot about that.
best regards Terry.


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## BrandonJ280 (Oct 15, 2012)

If you have ibs then there's a good chance you may have leaky gut syndrome also. I started feeling alot better once i started treating leaky gut after i did my research on it online. There's an amino acid called l-glutamine thats great for leaky gut and ibs it repairs your gut lining.


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