# New member: really in need of help



## 22334 (Jan 23, 2007)

Hi everyone,This is my first post and I am real glad I have found a website where people are going through the same things as I am!!I was diagnosed with IBS about 8 months ago and since my life has been hell. I have type D and when i have a bad spell I have never been through so much pain in my life and the worst part is as all of you will know is when your in a public place. So now I go out less and less because i get so worked up about going out with my friends i have panic attacks and real bad anxiety which makes the symptoms a whole lot worse.If any of you know the best way to cope with anxiety and any of the symptoms then please, please let me know. The worst is that my friends and family try to understand but really they have know idea whats going on with me.Please if any of you have any advice let me know if you want to talk in private my hotmail address is eddieparker109###hotmail.com. Thank you for taking the time to read thisEd


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## 18438 (Dec 14, 2006)

We definantly all can relate to your story. And Im sorry you have to go through all of that!Fo anxiety try the managing anxiety and depression board, there is a lot of feedback on medications and techniques to help, plus you can look into the cognitive behavioural therapy/hypnotherapy board as thats a non-medicated way to help.As for your friends and family, maybe it would help if they read some of the stories or articles that have been printed about IBS? Im sure there is one somewhere that is for people who dont have it to help them understand, maybe someone else can point out where.Take care, try to relax (I know its hard!)


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## 19391 (Jan 11, 2007)

Hey, I understand how you feel, I've had IBS-D for four years and it really sucks. Until last week the doctors I went to see just told me that I needed to learn to live with it. My advice is to go to www....com/diet/cheatsheet.asp and try downloading the cheatsheet. I've only been trying for a week but so far it has really helped. Before I was eating all the wrong things (whole wheat, lots of fruits and veggies, dairy, red meat) because I thought I was eating healthy, but apparently lots of what I was eating was making it worse. Also, a new doctor prescribed something called Iberogast. The combination of the new diet and the medication are helping a lot. Hope this helps


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## 23611 (Oct 11, 2006)

You will quickly find any of us with IBS-D know exactly what you're going through and that friends and family can sympathize, but it's hard for them to understand.For me, Nexium has helped tremendously. A "recent" article (Nov 19, 2006) in Parade (Sunday paper) by Dr Isadore Rosenfeld reported that rifaximin, an antibiotic to prevent traveller's diarrhea helped control IBS-D in some cases for a period of 10 weeks. This suggests IBS is bacterial related. You might inquire of your doctor about it. With any luck, this might be the first step towards a better understanding and even a cure of it.I totally stress about travel and end up in agony for a few days, so I definitely understand. Look into some calming techniques--meditation, martial arts, or painting. Physical activity helps. I usually just tyr to stop and tell myself to stop being silly, what's the worst that can happen? I have a double whammy of Sphincter of Oddi issues so my diet is limited to starches, any skinless veggie (i.e. no beans, corn), skinned fruit and not too greasy meat (lean beef, grilled chicken, broiled fish). And cheese. Which I probably shouldn't have. I also avoid high fiber (though I'm okay with white bread a few times a week, and Quaker Oatmeal breakfast cookies a few times a week) and try to intake some yogurt with good bacteria a few times a week. Mine current condition is not in remission, but its much milder than it used to be and I don't totally freak if a restroom is more than an hour away (unless I've just eaten!). Drink lots of water and you might try a fiber additive like Konsul. I use it briefly when I'm having a bad bout and it seems to help me get back to milder conditions.Hang in there and know that most of us manage to lead pretty darn normal lives. We just have bathroom fixations <grin>. Good luck!


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## 16963 (Dec 5, 2006)

I'm sorry. A few months ago I was barely living - didn't go to school, didn't go out, the only people I saw were my parents, and my boyfriend only when he would come visit me at my house!Now only a month or two later, I'm going to school every day and I even spent the whole weekend at my BF's apartment - something that would never have happened a while ago! I'm still working up to spending a lot of time with my friends, but it's getting better.What helped me was going to see a psychiatrist. In only two visits, my life has turned around. We talked about my anxiety, why I have it, blah blah blah, and basically he said that if I kept being a hermit, I'd eventually be too afraid to leave the house even to go see him or to see my doctor. I really took that to heart. He said it would be work, but that I had to get out and do things because putting myself in that situation a lot is the only way to start feeling comfortable in it. Now when I don't feel like it, I try to remind myself that, if I'm having a good day, I owe it to myself and my friends for me to go out and do things with them. If I accept it as "work" or an "assignment," I just do it.I started out just going out with a few close friends. My mom knew about my IBS, as did my boyfriend and my best friend at home (I was home for Christmas when I did all of this and saw a psychiatrist). I told them hey, I'm working on this, you have to deal with it for a while, but I need you to go along with it. And they did. And once I was comfortable going out with my boyfriend, best friend, and mom, I opened up to a few more friends. I'm going to tell a few more. Not all of them, but the ones I'm closest to, see most often, etc. It helps my anxiety a ton just knowing that they know I have IBS. My anxiety was linked to needing to rush off quickly and have what might be a long, noisy, and smelly attack in the loo. But since they already half expect that, I don't have anxiety about it anymore because they'll know what's up. It's embarassing, but in the end it helps a ton. I do the same thing with my professors - I told them I have a digestive issue, and no one asks for more details than that! I just said that sometimes I'll leave class suddenly, and may be gone for 15 minutes at a time, but that I'll come back, and I'm doing it because of a health reason and not a personal disrespect to the class. Now going to school is a lot easier because I know that I can leave my classes at any moment if I need to. I have a lot less anxiety about needing to run to the toilet if I know that it won't be a big deal at all and that I have ready access to it. I keep a "IBS kit" in my purse and backpack at all times, with extra immodium, underwear, some other meds, and matches (to try a feeble attempt at burning the smell away if I have a bad spell in someone's bathroom. I don't know how well that works yet, but I keep them in just in case!). Of course it's a little easier for me to walk out with a little purse thing, being a woman, but I'm sure you could figure something outPart of my new confidence is the fact that I've finally found what seems to be a good "cocktail" of drugs for me. When I miss just one for a day or two, I can totally tell the difference. So I can't pretend that's not part of it. I take Immodium every day. But just me facing with my anxiety, dealing with it, and accepting that it will be work has done wonders for me.Conclusion: If you can, I suggest going to see a psychiatrist. I only went twice (although I do plan to go again for a followup visit or two... but mine is 2 hours away so that's hard to do!), and it really changed my life completely. He gave me the courage to go out, and the courage to accept that maybe I'll run into the bathroom, make a lot of noise and smell, and be completely embarassed. And that will definitely suck. But it sucks more to stay completely alone and at home all the time, just because I'm afraid that the situation _might_ come up. Maybe you could start on anti-anxiety meds and slowly wean yourself off as you gain more confidence. But maybe that's the push you need to get you out in the first place.


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## 22334 (Jan 23, 2007)

Thanks everyone for your responses! its a real help to know that there are other people that have been or going through what I am at the moment. I think its going to take a while for me to come to terms with it because it is a major thing in my life now but I'm also so sure with help I can get through it.thanksEd


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