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I am male, which got me in loads of trouble as a teenager when those wild oats just needed to be sowed. I really don't know if IBS is really a female ailment by majority, since I wonder if women are more disposed to going to the doctor. I know guys who have not seen a doctor for over 15 years. Guys just don't like seeing doctors very much, but I don't like being sick, so I go. I think the subject matter (bad poo poo's) would make a lot of men, who feel they have to be in control and present a macho image, not ever reveal such a thing to a doctor. I've even had a guy call me a wuss because I told him I have stomach problems. So it is all this macho "Be all you can be Marines/Army recruitment commercial stuff", along with all the macho pretending in all the beer commercials...

 

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I tried to start an IBS support group for MEN at my church. No one would admit having IBS!The church has over 8000 members. Think about it. I am sure I am not the only male with IBS issues. But what does that tell you about the culture that no one else would respond.There are hundreds of groups in the church started by and for women (e.g., PMS issues, how to learn to can fruit, supporting our sons in Iraq, etc.) but hardly any men's clubs. Men just don't seem to be able to connect the way they seemingly did in the old days.

 

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quote:Originally posted by T.P. 923:Healthwise, you make a good point. They're out there. Statistically they have to be, right? But like you said, not many men feel comfortable admitting to something like IBS. It's hardly unusual to hear guys talking frankly about crass topics like bodily functions. When men do discuss the size, smell, or color of their solid waste, they typically do it in the same way they brag about the size of the fish they caught (“You should have SEEN this thing. It was so ...”) But it is rare is to hear men talk openly about their dysfunction in this department. Not even guys who watch Oprah or Dr. Phil are likely to openly admit to what they perceive as weaknesses or inadequacies.On the other hand, three years ago I decided to start telling anybody and everybody who would listen that I have IBS (very liberating, by the way). What astounded me was that four of my closest guy friends turned around and admitted to me that they also had IBS (usually D with a side order of anxiety). I couldn't believe it. We all had the same secret but were too embarrassed to tell each other. Sadly, social taboo is a powerful force.TP

Geez, I wish when I told someone, they'd say "I have it too". I have yet to meet any of those 1 out of 5 people! Most people stare at me blankly, and I realize I have to tell them what IBS stands for, then they don't want to talk about it much because it makes them feel uncomfortable. So I know no one in "real life" that has IBS but me, and the people on the internet. It sure would be nice to have a friend who has this, someone I could share a rice cake with over hot peppermint tea. My pet theory is that everyone with IBS includes alien hybrid blood that makes us more intelligent (in some way) from other people. However, it has the unpleasant side effect of giving us IBS. So if the invasion starts, and the government wants to identify all the human-alien hybrids on earth, say "NO!" if asked if you have IBS, or it might be "up against the wall" time. The preceding was intentionally silly, in case that wasn't obvious. Other times I want to just get really tough - get leather jackets and motorcycles and put pins through our noses and become the tough IBS Boys! Don't mess with their s**t, man! Think of the rap songs we could make up, but what rhymes with Donatel? I can see it now, up against a cop car being frisked and asked about that "white stuff" and answering "Hey, it's Heather's Acacia Tummy Food, man. It ain't mine. I don't know how it got there! And those Peppermint caps ain't mine either."My mind just flashed on the old Michael Jackson video in the subway "I'm Bad". I can see a remake "I'm IBS-D" and the entire video would be shot in a subway rest room with the professional dancers hopping from toilet to toilet, slamming those cubicle doors in time to the beat. Yeah, I better go to bed.

 

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I am glad you enjoyed my posts here. That's why I came back to say goodbye for awhile.My boyfriend (I am gay, if that isn't blatantly obvious!) says I don't give him enough attention, and also thinks my focus on IBS website forums is warping my mind and just strengthening the problem.OK, fine! As if I am going to say no to a guy who anchors the news on one of the local channels and is so handsome (yet a beautiful person inside too) that mosquitos draw lotteries to see who can draw blood from his perfect face. So, I am signing off for awhile to see if his theories are correct. God Bless everyone, and watch the skies! When the mothership comes, we'll all be the first off this dump!OH, by the way, the only straight guy I ever knew who would talk about this subject was obsessed (from an artistic sense) with turds! I lived with him in the dorm in college. He took pictures of his own turds when he felt they were particularly beautiful and then framed them in the guy's rest room, so we'd have something to shoot for. I wonder what ever happened to old Turds THompson.

 

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quote:Originally posted by T.P. 923:Healthwise, Good luck and I hope you don't stay away too long. I always enjoy reading your lively, entertaining posts. My girlfriend (I'm straight) also gets tired of me spending so much time here at this website. Just curious - was it more difficult for you to come out of the closet about being gay or to come out of the water closet about having IBS?

It is much harder to tell your loved ones and the world at large that you are gay because there is so much ancient hatred and scapegoating and myths associated with it, along with good old fashioned illogic (why, for example, does letting 2 guys in love get married "destroy straight marriage"? I never got that one). Let's put it this way: in the San Francisco Castro (a very gay neighborhood), punks from the nearby Mission District would drive around late at night with lead pipes trying to find a lone gay walker to plumet and brutalize to the point of death. I do not think there are bands of psychotic punks driving around trying to beat up IBS patients. For me, telling people I have IBS is no big deal. I just say it is a digestive problem that makes my system run too fast or too slow. That about sums it up without much detail.See ya around, kiddies.