away from home issues?

I find that sometimes I end up a bit C when I am away. HOWever.. not all the time so I know and understand your concern.HEY!!! By The Way Girl!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! On making All State and being the 3rd best flute player in all of Ohio! You should be right proud of yourself! Now...let's see if we can get ya more comfortable with this event so you can actually enjoy it!So.. STOP dreading this instant! Let's think GOOD & Positive thoughts about it from here on out. Bring safe snack foods with you... Try to stay away from known triggers. Bring some water bottles with you to have to drink and skip the soda. When eating out.. they usually give a person waaay too much food for one meal... so don't feel compelled to eat it all. Take a doggie bag home to the room if need be. (Ask about getting a refrigerator for your room. They usually are only an additional couple bucks and it may be way worth it! Then you can bring other things to eat with you too!)When ordering out... do NOT be afraid to ask about certain dishes.. like what is in them.. how they are prepared. I always ask for any sauces or gravies to be "on the side". I order low fat and I take imodium before each meal as prevention.As for friends or others wondering why you may ask for all sauces & gravies on the side while eating out.. or why you may want to hang close to the hotel room now & then.. Just tell them you have some "stomach trouble" sometimes and that's it... They need to know about as much as you want them to know and no more!Hon it is all how you choose to think about it now. You can sit there feeling afraid and dreading it or you can chooseto think about how much fun you will have! You can with a heavy heart just expect problems and to have an awful time OR>>> You can plan to avoid or head off problems instead! Your choice. But I really hope you decide to plan as opposed to projecting fear about your trip.C'mon you have worked hard to achieve this accomplishment! Now.. you deserve to enjoy it! So start planning ways to make the trip as easy as possible on you & your gut!Let us know how you do!All the very best

((((Hugs)))) You are most welcome hon!Now try not to be too hard on Mom... us Moms.. weeeellllll sometimes it can seem that we kinda come down hard on you kids... but the truth is.. we have a hard time seeing you kids struggle or hurting... So be patient with us Moms if ya can. Mom is right in one way... but not another. No.. you cannot cause IBS by worrying. BUT you can aggravate your symptoms by worrying. So keep an eye on your inner engine and try real hard to keep it at an even idle. As far as 'getting over it'.. LOL If only it was that easy & we could...huh?BUT again.. through much trial & error we can find symptom management. So good reasons to think positively!How about some more help with that thinking positively & feeling better???Have you read this by our Dr. Bolen?? It is a great article about Healthy Thinking for IBS'ers. Just click here to read it:http://www.ibsgroup.org/node/515On the imodium (I also only use off brand and I find it works just fine) unfortunately I can't answer that question... Only you can after.... you try it. We are all different so only you can tell what is too much (or not enough) for you. I would suggest you try taking it with dinner on a Friday night. (Which would probably be a good night to go out with friends since you already have the imodium on board... not likely you will have too much D that night! ) Then see how Saturday morning goes. If you have lots of D... try taking another half with either Sat breakfast or lunch or brunch if that's what you eat. Then see how you feel. Try another at 1/2 at dinner OR wait til Sunday morning comes and see how you do then before taking 3 halves in one day.What works for me (Usually....) is taking a half with my biggest meal of the day. There are times when that isn't enough though and I must either take more.... like with other meals OR by using a whole tabe at dinner.Just depends & for you?? You will just have to try it and see what works best for you. (Also be advised that you might see a bit more loose BM's during your period & you may need to adjust the dose accordingly.)IF you find yourself constipated... Don't Panic! Just get a plain old stool softener.. not one with a laxative in it. Just a plain one without a laxative agent. That should get things moving for you again ..gently.Keep us posted on how you are doing!