Anyone here suffer from IBS ?

My girlfriend suffered from IBS quite badly for the last 2-3 years, and that's constant suffering. Numerous trips to the doctors, hospital and countless different medicines didn't make a single bit of difference. Then she went to a Chinese medicine Dr where she signed up for a course of acupuncture. After the first acupuncture session she also bought some herbal tablets and Chinese tea which the Dr said would help with the IBS. Within 5 days the IBS had completely gone :D!! She was shocked, but incredibly relieved to say the least!
She has finished the course of acupuncture (12 weeks) and stopped taking the tablets (took them for about 4 weeks) and drinking the tea and the IBS has not returned once in that time.

Chinese medicine may not be for everyone, my girlfriend was quite sceptical before she went but thought it was worth a try as she was in quite a bit of pain, but you never know, it could just work.
 
I've been tempted to try Chinese med's in the past as I've had IBS for getting on 9 years now. Sorry to ask, but how much was the course of acupuncture/tea etc?

For the OP, can't offer any more advice than what's been said already. Personally, I've found my recent change of diet has helped as well as pro-biotic drinks though I've heard they can actually make people feel worse.
 
All you folks with IBS are lucky you dont have something more serious.

Get it sorted through good diet, excersise, and relaxation, you'll be good as new.

Diet is at least 70% of it, stress the rest.
 
there is a fair bit of crap being talked here :)

please don't confuse IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) with

IBD (inflammatory bowel DISEASE) - UC ulcerative colitis / CD crohn's disease
this is a different disease entity with profound life changing implications as some of the sufferers here have posted. i wouldn't wish crohns on anyone

your GP will [should] use the Rome critieria to diagnose IBS - here is a copy of them http://www.ibsgroup.org/main/diagnosis.shtml

the problem with UC/CD is that quite often there is a delay in definitive diagnosis - many folks have symptoms dating back a couple of years before a histological diagnosis is made, and the symptoms often are attributed merely to IBS.....

don't forget coeliac disease can present with the symptoms of 'IBS' as well

i disagree with the original poster. this is a medical thread.
 
Pulse said:
thats true, but can i ask... are you speaking out of experience?
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Yes, had UC and a bag. See previous posts.

Theres no way IBS is as bad as UC or Crohns.

Not that I wish to trivialise IBS, its serious, and needs to be treated/dealt with.
 
My doctor diagnosed me with IBS 6 months ago, but was still getting the cramps etc even after changing my diet.

Turns out now i have coeliacs, anyone else suffering with this ?
 
i had test after test for 2.5 years they couldnt pin point what it was so said it is a server case of IBS (didnt help i was getting cross with the consultant so think i was told that to shut me up really) was due for further investigation before i got pregnant, since having a baby it isnt as bad atm.

As for controlling with diet i tried that and many different types of medicines (none of which really helped). The only thing that has worked for me is the hormones caused by having a baby.

Believe me i am thankful that it is nothing more serious (although they did say they will re check for uc or crohns is a few years is the symptoms persist)

Other than the time off work i haven't let it wreck my life, as i said earlier i just deal with it.

i think the guy that started the thread just wants someone to talk to as it can be somewhat embrassing to talk to friends or people that know you, as they dont understand what its like :)
 
I have a mild form of IBS, but it did cause me to spend a lot of year 11 off school. I have been living with it for 4 years now and for the first year or so I was forever going to london to a paedeactrics specialist. Now I don't go and as long as I don't eat wheat I don't have many problems.

It is pretty much a part of my life now and the only time I really think about it is if I end up going to Pizza hut or something (with people who don't realise I can't eat anything there). Then I feel a little down. I still get the occasional issues and have issues with my stomach some days and whenever I do lots of excercise (which is rather annoying).

I think after a while you get used to it, and give up trying to fight it and just go with the flow, although if you have severe symptoms I realise this isn't as easy.

It is quite embarresing and a lot of my friends don't know the full reasons why I don't eat wheat. It took a couple of weeks before I told my parents. (Wierdly I can remember the exact time and day it started. :eek: ).
 
Cliffy has ibs and has been managing his by changing his diet. He now rarely eats wheat, has fruit and fibre for breakfast and usually some sort of salad for lunch. If he varies too much from that it gets worse again. My mum also has it and what she eats makes a difference to her too.
 
i have a lot or respect for all of the people in this thread and all other suffers of incureable diseases, theres no way i would have been able to go through what some of you people have. specially Bledd. that sounds like one hell of a situation to be in and i know i prob wouldnt have survived. but as they say what doesnt kill you can only make you stronger, and i think that applies to a lot of the people in here.
 
Pulse said:
i have a lot or respect for all of the people in this thread and all other suffers of incureable diseases, theres no way i would have been able to go through what some of you people have. specially Bledd. that sounds like one hell of a situation to be in and i know i prob wouldnt have survived. but as they say what doesnt kill you can only make you stronger, and i think that applies to a lot of the people in here.
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"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.

"But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. "
 
Thread Revival time :p


Update Basically.

I went to the docs and he gave me some more meds..

One called Buscopan - It basically calms down the smooth muscle of your gut to try and make the stomach cramps go away if i eat something that causes an attack.. Well it doesn't do the job so I no Longer take it.


he also Prescribed me Fybogel which sets as a gel in the gut to make you feel more comfortable and keep things moving ( I don't need things moving though ), I think this makes me go to the loo more so I've stopped taking it :p

I finally got my appointment with the " Special Gut Man " as the doctor called him... and guess what.. He told me I've got IBS.. :rolleyes:


I'm off to the doctors on Monday to ask for some new medicines, I've read some very promising things about using small amounts of Anti-Depressants to mimick the brains link to the gut.

Fingers crossed this works because I'm running out of options :(


I've just started to try and remove milk from my diet as I've found I can be rather Ill just after.. or a few hours later drinking some.


Last ramble.. Work definately makes it worse.. The stress puts my gut into a super sensitive mode and things I eat during work will make me Ill, Whereas if I ate them at home they will be fine.

I've also been going to Hypnotherapy sessions each week / fortnight.. They are quite good for relaxation and cutting down the nervous side of things, But the lady I've seen hasn't realy helped my gut.


Please don't turn this into a medical thread !

Feel free to add me to msn for a chat :)
 
I had something simliar to this a few years back, Constipation/unable to go for a number1, Bed stricken for days unable to move cause i was in that much pain, basically had a lot of time off work. It got to the point where i was really dieing for a number1 but no matter what i did it just wouldn't happen, which resulted in me being in hospital for a week to be drained. This happened for about 4 years in total around abouts anyways.

I still have the problem of being unable to go to the toliet in certian places. I still don't know the exact reasoning behind it all the doctors/nurses etc didn't have a clue as to what was wrong with me. But they did hint at Crohn's Disease at one point & another called hershman's disease, but never heard anything back about it. It seems to have cleared up now, i only get unsettling feelings after doing a lot of heavy lifting so i try to keep that to a minimum.

Hope you manage to work your way around it, it isn't a nice thing to have at all :(

All the best :)
 
TaKeN said:
Irritable Bowel Syndrome,

The doctor diagnosed me with it when i was 15 i think, and i'm now 19.


Its gradually got worse, and basically i'm after someone to talk to on MSN about it.


Its ruining my life and i want to know how people cope with it :)
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If you need someone to talk to about it give me a shout, i was diagnosed when I was about 19/20 and im now almost 25 had allot of ups and downs with it but I am now trying very hard to get my life back on track.
It effects me just about every single day but I have learnt how to cope with it as the years have passed.
I take lomotil everyday to deal with the diarrhea and painful cramps and recently have been put on low dose anti depressants to try and alleviate the anxiety assosiated with it.
Currently waiting to see someone about cognitive behavioral therapy, so anti depressants are short term solution only.
My diets not been to restricted to much but excess alcohol, caffeine, spicey food and other stimulants are cut right down. Also find I have to eat smaller meals more often during the day rather then large meals.

Like i say you can chat to me on MSN if you want
 
One thing I've noticed (well, a hypothesis that seems to hold reasonably true) is that eating Chicken can quite often set me off, especially something like a roast chicken, chicken&bacon lattice, birds eye crispy chicken + chips etc. Fatty fish too, sometimes.

Of course it's not just the actual condition which can be annoying, but the 'social' side of things too - it's kinda embarrassing at work if I have to go to the toilet 3 times before lunch, all for say 10mins at a time.

Things like having 'inconsistent' stools don't really worry me - sometimes it's a big lump, sometimes it sounds like I'm having a wee, sometimes the inside of the loo looks like it's been sprayed with a sprinkler - big deal. It's the pain and losing conciousness which troubles me most which thankfully isn't a problem all that often.
 
HangTime said:
One thing I've noticed (well, a hypothesis that seems to hold reasonably true) is that eating Chicken can quite often set me off, especially something like a roast chicken, chicken&bacon lattice, birds eye crispy chicken + chips etc. Fatty fish too, sometimes.

Of course it's not just the actual condition which can be annoying, but the 'social' side of things too - it's kinda embarrassing at work if I have to go to the toilet 3 times before lunch, all for say 10mins at a time.

Things like having 'inconsistent' stools don't really worry me - sometimes it's a big lump, sometimes it sounds like I'm having a wee, sometimes the inside of the loo looks like it's been sprayed with a sprinkler - big deal. It's the pain and losing conciousness which troubles me most which thankfully isn't a problem all that often.
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Funny you should say that ( Not actually funny :S )

But after a sunday dinner consisting of chicken I usualy have what I refer to as an " Attack " where I have to rush to the loo with cramps.

The toilet side of things realy annoys me :(

I'm going to jack my job in soon because sometimes I'm getting put in situations where there are NO loo's near.. The boss knows what I suffer from but he claims I'm just a moaner I suppose :(
 
I have Crohn's so not too different. It's been 4 years and I have learnt when I flare up - lack of sleep, stress, spicy hot/oily/greay food. I suppose I have learnt to control it (and the bowel) over time although there are always the days when I feel like giving up and staying in bed (or a dark dark hole) all day.

THe hardest sacrifices have been trips/holidays (+ sharing rooms with people) which could mean being away from the loo, although with experience, I am a bit more keen to travel now.

WHat I am grateful for is that I like to think that it doesn't affect the relationship with my gf too much, which before we met, used to be my fear.
 
** Thread Revival **

I quit my Job, the one that stressed me out bigstyle.. and put me in situations where there were no loo's sometimes :p

I'm now MUCH happier and getting on with my IBS better, I now work at home on my mum and dads dairy farm, I've been doing a food diary since January and I'm beggining to get to grips with what is making me ILL, one day soon I hope to crack it :D

I'm also taking 25mg of Amitriptyline ( anti-depressants ) at night which have helped to calm my cut down :)

** I will post more.. But I have to go and scrape up some cow poo !! **
 
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