[mistyriver]

hi i am also suffering from ibs-d. i have made a lot of lifestyle changes , as in quitting smoking... eating better and healthier.. i am having less flare-ups but not as less as i would like . i get sooooooo crampy and then a few hours later it is like nothing happened... its wierd the way it flares up , i have a lot of stress in my life also ... i am a cna also and i worry about missing so much work..... dr told me to increase my fiber which i will do .... hope it helps... any tips or pointers on how to manage ibs-d would be appreciated..... this is my first time in this forum... thanks for your reply

 

[overitnow]

I can tell you that smoking caused my GI problems, along with cardio difficulties. Congratulations on quitting. How long did you smoke? The reason I ask is because there are strong linkages between smoking, damage to the lining of the vascular system, and "patching" from cholesterol laden plaque. The longer you smoked, the more likely that will have happened. Plaque deposits will then alter blood platelet behavior--which gets exacerbated from adrenaline released during periods of stress--which increases those deposits. It turns out that there is a similar behavior of the blood platelets in the colon (this was discovered by the London Hospital some years ago) which leads to inflammation.Almost 12 years ago I began taking a supplement designed to control that platelet motion and it stopped my indigestion and a developing case of reflux within a couple of months, stopped my D in about a year, and helped lower my heart attack risk from 50% (in 10 years) to 2%, where it currently sits. If you are a meat/dairy eater with a history of smoking and IBS-D, I really think this is a path worth following. Mark

 

[mistyriver]

I had been smoking for 27 years , which is a long time, i was also diagnosed with gerd.. i am not a dairy product person though i don't like milk not much into ice cream either... even though i would love to try some activa yogurt which i might at some point. what kind of supplement do you take??? i am thinking of trying the vitamin d pill i have vitamins but they have d3 vitamin.. not sure if that is the same or not...

 

[overitnow]

D3 is the one. Currently I take 1000 mg a day supplementary to what is in my multi. As I understand it, up to 2000 mg a day is safe. (It will also protect against colon cancer, according to a statistic study out of Canada a couple of years ago.) I enquired about meat and dairy to make sure you had a dietary source of cholesterol, as that may play a role in the platelet behavior. I use Provex CV for both conditions. As you can probably tell, I consider it something of a miracle. http://www.melaleuca.com/ProductStore/Product.aspx?sku=2000Here are some comments from the head researcher and a reference to the London Hospital study:http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=109970Mark

 

[BQ]

Misty please read the "Linda's Calcium" Thread thumbtacked to the top of the page on main page of this Forum. Many have found taking Calcium Carbonate can help firm up their BM's.

 

[overitnow]

Yes, take Caltrate. That should lower your bowel problem. But we know smoking causes digestive problems and we know that smoking causes heart problems. Further, after smoking for so long--and I did for 30 years, so this is just one of us talking to another--12 years ago I was expecting to die of a heart attack, presumably found with a load in my pants. This is an opportunity to actually sidestep both of those problems and get at the source of your problem. Everybody agrees that masking the symptoms should only be the first step; but, for some reason, those bandaids to be where the discussion usually ends.Mark

 

[BQ]

Everybody agrees that masking the symptoms should only be the first step; but, for some reason, that bandaids to be where the discussion usually ends.

Well the discussion, IMHO, should end there with everyone here maybe as that is not the function or purpose of this board. But you can rest assure that there ARE experts in various GI centers researching causes etc on our behalf as I type.