[S_LIne]

I was reading some ones post and I think Kathleen had mention that IBS-PI can sort itself out in 2 to 5 years. Now I realize that might not be the case for all but what makes IBS-PI so different that it can sort itself? If you were to get another infection would it come back every time? If you were to get an infection or the Flu would/could it make your IBS worse permanently? Anyone have any answers/clues or is this what doctors are trying to figure out yet?

 

[blondeoverblue24]

A lot of your questions are valid and unfortunately, a lot of them do not have answers. IBS itself is difficult to know - whether it will always be around, whether you'll always need medications to control symptoms, whether it may come back when presented with a trigger - and I think PI-IBS is similar in this. Studies have been varied, but I seem to recall one where patients said they were still symptomatic with IBS up to 10 years out from their initial infection. Granted, I don't know if this study clarified how the subjects were defining their IBS. For instance, I still consider myself to have IBS, but my symptoms are under control for the majority of the time.It's my understanding that when the body is presented with anything that may alter the bacteria in the GI tract can lead to problems. So if you get an infection or take antibiotics or have bacterial overgrowth in your small intestine, your symptoms could potentially increase. This goes for people who do not currently have IBS as well - It's possible that certain individuals have the potential to develop IBS and infection is the thing that throws them over the edge. Out of curiousity, did your IBS develop after an infection?

 

[Kathleen M.]

All IBS can go away on its own.It seems that the IBS that follows a GI infection when they can pinpoint that seems to be good amount of those taht go away on its own.Trying to figure out exactly why you cannot possibly be one of the majority will make the IBS much more likely to stick around.Some of who gets better vs who doesn't has to do with psycho-social issues. People with a traumatic past don't seem to be able to heal in a way that helps the IBS go away. Anxiety and depression don't help even if there is no trauma.Another GI infection could trigger it back up, but I've had GI infections since the IBS went into remission and none of them has ever started it back up again. If every single GI infection always caused IBS then every human would have it. Some do, some don't and you can't easily predict which one is the one that sets if off. Now some people do relapse after a GI infection, but that is why public safety efforts to keep salmonella out of the food supply, washing your hands before you eat, making sure you have safe food prep at home are all good things to do.

 

[IPPO]

Can a prolonged use of antibiotics for an infection that is not GI related be a potential cause for IBS, by upsetting the good bacteria in the gut?

 

[BQ]

Well it can cause an upset of the gut bacterial balance. Whether that in and of itself is enough for an IBS diagnosis.. I don't know.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Antibiotics always throw off the balance of the GI flora in the gut. If the infection was in the torso there could be enough collateral damage on the GI tract even if it wasn't the main one being attacked, I would think. That it wasn't a GI infection may be why your symptoms are on the mild end of what IBSers go through. (If I remember IPPO's symptoms fairly well).Anxiety over symptoms will make mild symptoms moderate and moderate symptoms severe. It always ramps everything like that up. Trying to be in a mind set that it will go away and as much as possible ignoring the symptoms and focusing on other things will help to ramp them down. The more you train yourself to focus on the GI symptoms the more your mind will do nothing else. Coping with illness is something most people do not do well. Learning strategies that work for you to ramp down symptoms can transfer to any other illness you get later on. Sometimes there is only so much you can do with your mind to make things better, but you can always do something with your mind to make it worse than it has to be. That old pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional saying comes to mind here.

 

[S_LIne]

Hmm good reading form all of your post's. I think I will ask questions on here rather than try to look them up on-line.

I am starting to think that maybe I have IBS-PI as I stated developing symptoms a month or so after having a really bad episode of the flu. I am extremely happy as it seems like it is fading and almost gone. I really wish I knew what I did or how I did it so I could share it with you lot.