[jelo]

I made the appointment, because I've had it! I did see him 20 years ago and the testing I had at that time didn't come up with anything. I've always had the diarrhea right after I eat, sometimes not even finishing the meal...he said a meal takes 12-24 hours to digest and evauate. I partially believed it was some sort of IBS, even though I don't really have enough of the symptoms.I spent some time researching online last week and found lots of info of Habba syndrome, I match all of the symptoms perfectly. I tried taking the calcium before each meal and it worked great, except instead of being in the bathroom all day with diarrhea, now it's constipation. So I reduced the amt./day and the diarrhea returned, made the Dr's app't thinking the prescription meds might bea better choice.My Dr. had never heard of Habba and I think was a little annoyed that I was diagnosing myself. He said he wasn't going to put me on the prescription meds because they can cause more trouble like gallstones. I was to play around with the amount of calcium until I get what works for me...then I was basically dismissed.I really wanted to get a grip on this before May, we are taking our family to Disney. I can't see me avoiding to eat all day to avoid the diarrhea! Really makes me mad at my Dr. too, I only go see him whan something is actually wrong, maybe 1/2 times per year, and he never takes me seriously and I have to either deal with it, or heal myself!

 

[Kathleen M.]

Diarrhea right after a meal is very common in IBS because it usually acts up when the colon is most active and it is supposed to be more active because you ate.Have you tried Imodium 20-30 minutes before a meal? You might need the kids liquid to get a small enough dose to not overly constipate yourself. But some peopld do better with that than the calcium.I don't know why they'd have a problem with Questran, it is fairly harmless and can work for diarrhea of any cause.A lot of doctors don't believe in the Habba thing as only one doctor has ever published something in the medical journals and usually it takes a few papers by a few different people before people believe the data. One paper by one guy has more often than not ends up being wrong in the end, not the revolutionary breakthrough. Once in awhile it is, but most people take a wait and see before changing how they treat patients.You might also try some peppermint tea 20-30 minutes before the meal and see if you need the calcium with the meal or not. Peppermint calms down the smooth muscle contractions so can also calm down the after eating thing. It isn't as constipating as the prescription antispasmodics so may help you find that balance of stopping the diarrhea without plugging up too much.I'd also check to see if you do better with 6 mini meals rather than 2-3 big meals a day. Starving as long as possible before eating usually means a much more active colon when you finally do eat than when you have frequent small meals.

 

[Pamlyn]

I strain all the time too and have the same problem.