[SiboNoMore]

My story (yours may be different!):

ibs-D (with GERD) most of my life (over 65)---

Summer 2014 went off of ranitidine (Zantac) and went on "Fast Tract" diet....GERD at night gone in one week. Haven't needed an antacid since then, but still had ibs.

Because of these results got suspicious of SIBO (small intestinal overgrowth). Went to GI doctor and got tested....very positive SIBO....treated with antibiotics, probiotics and citrucelle....This helped a bunch, but did not control ibs-D completely....Had been taking enteric coated peppermint oil which helped only a small amount.

December 1, 2015 started taking ib-gard trying different schedules....Since January 1st, I have found something that works for me.

Briefly:

At least 30 min before solid food: 2 citrucelle tablets, 1 ib-gard, 1 VSL#3.. with circa 10 oz of water or tea...1-2 hours later (may have breakfast in between) I take a second ib-gard. I swear that I can feel its calming effect very quickly (within 1-3 hrs).

Through the day, I eat mindfully usually smaller meals....relatively lactose free & nothing deep-fried....Will take Beano and/or Lacto just before consuming if eating beans, cabbage family, a lot of carbohydrates, or dairy. Although not celiac, large amounts of cookies, brownies, ice cream, or cake cause issues.

30 mins before dinner I take 1 NOW brand enteric coated peppermint oil capsule.

At bedtime, I take one Gas-X (simethicone) and one Align tablet, and cranberry extract.

This is the best I've been in many years..

NOTES: Lotronex, lomotil, Levsin, Imodium and Pepto-bismol...all either made me feel lousy from side effects and/or did not work. Imodium and Zantac may have actually have contributed to my SIBO. I feel that I could not have gotten rid of the SIBO without the one course of antibiotics a year ago.

 

[Sierrafoxxtrott]

I have been trying the ibguard. While taking this I was extremely bloated and had a feeling of having rock hard impacting in my intestines. I could not even button my pants. I could feel air moving around caused a lot of pain. I stopped taking it and the very next day had the symptoms of A_ibs. The smell was awful. Smelled like gut rot. I don't recommend this.

 

[jaumeb]

I have been trying the ibguard. While taking this I was extremely bloated and had a feeling of having rock hard impacting in my intestines. I could not even button my pants. I could feel air moving around caused a lot of pain. I stopped taking it and the very next day had the symptoms of A_ibs. The smell was awful. Smelled like gut rot. I don't recommend this.

Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[APR]

IBGuard certainly didn't eliminate my IBS symptoms, but it definitely made a difference. It reduced the severity of the pain and in some cases, somewhat improved stool consistency (still mushy, but some of the time was at least somewhat formed).

The question I have for people is what difference did you notice between IBGuard and other brands of peppermint pills? A while ago, I switched to a different brand of peppermint pills because of the tremendous price difference. But since switching, my IBS seems to have gotten worse. I am uncertain whether this is just a coincidence or if for some reason, the current peppermint pills I'm using are less effective than IBGuard. Any ideas?

At this point, I am tempted to buy a box of the IBGuard to see if they work better than my current peppermint pills. If I weren't taking peppermint pills, my IBS symptoms would be even worse, but at this point, the symptoms are problematic anyway. Virtually everyday, I get pain and diarrhea to varying degrees. Oftentimes, I will get just a small amount of diarrhea at a time, but it will be very frequent. The majority of the time, it is not liquidy, but is the consistency of pudding (sorry for the graphic description!). Needless to say, it's a pain to clean up and the act of cleaning up seems to actually trigger more diarrhea, even if just the tinniest bit more. Even if it is not as often or as much, it comes with continuous discomfort that can make it hard to sleep--and you don't exactly feel like going out and doing anything then.

I'm just not sure whether my IBS has gotten worse or if these peppermint pills just don't help as much as the IBGuard did. -APR

 

[jaumeb]

I don't know, APR.

 

[Dorothy8]

Funny, it doesn't work total 100% but several years ago I started buying Altoids and keeping them in the car mostly. I found in the morning when I had to leave the house for whatever soon as I got in the car I had a few Altoids and they so quiet down my spasm and discomfort. I never am without them. And now recently I am hearing about peppermint oils and such. It really does help me a lot.

 

[Militia99]

I have been using IBGard now for 4 months. I take 1 capsule every morning with LOTS of water (recommended is at least 8oz) to start my day. I've found that it has helped with my IBS flares significantly!! I have noticed that if I do not drink enough water or eat too soon (recommended eating at least 30 mins before or after) after taking the capsule that I get heartburn. I have my good and bad days, but since taking IBGard I've noticed that my GI is much calmer. I still get some flares from time to time but overall I think this is the only thing I've found to help in the general day-to-day. Its much less harsh then taking other antispasmodics and less side effects.

My only negative thought about this is that while reading the ingredients I noticed that the capsule itself contains artificial dyes. I'm wondering if this could cause any problems in the long run? Has anyone tried any other peppermint oil supplements or has recommendations of things to try in the US?

 

[Prodgirl]

My GI dr just told me yesterday I've most likely got IBS. He said to try the IBSGard and an antibiotic Xifaxin (sp?). I'm waiting to have my insurance approve the antibiotic, in the meantime, he gave me 14 capsules of the IBSGard. I've only taken three of them and feel better than I have in months!

Before ordering these, has anyone else tried them and had success?

And if so, are you still taking them everyday or just during a flare, I'd prefer to avoid flares... Not sure how many I should order since I'm not certain this is a rest of my life fix.

 

[Uniqueangel]

It works bought it last night and I took it this morning and omg the best.. I'm glad I got it thou..

 

[D22]

This is the first time I've ever written a review for any product. I have not had chronic IB as many of you do. About six weeks ago I started having for the first time an attack of diverticulitis. I had no idea how difficult and painful that would be. The actual diverticulitis infection, after a lot of antibiotics, resolved after about 2 1/2 weeks. It then became (according to my doctors) a matter of postinfection irritable bowel syndrome. For over three weeks I had severe daily pain, diarrhea and loss of appetite. I lost a great deal of weight in the past six weeks.
Somewhere, I read about IBGuard and asked my gastroenterologist if he was familiar with it. He said that it may help and that it would be fine to take. I had been taking prescription anti-spasmodics which really didn't help much. I tried the IBGuard off and on for several days and thought I was having some success, but still having frequent pain. So I finally decided to take it as directed three times a day every day. Within 48 hours there was substantial improvement. It's only been less than a week at this point, but I credit the IBGuard with completely stopping the pain I was having in the center of my stomach and also greatly reducing the diarrhea so that I can get on with my recovery. My appetite has also significantly improved. The only other change I made within this time was to switch from a general probiotic to Align, which is supposed to be specifically researched and good for IBS.
I am convinced that the IBguard, and probably the Align, have dramatically improved my situation and I recommend them. Yes, as everyone says, the Ibguard is expensive. But, to me, definitely worth it, And with no side effects.

 

[Pink Queen]

I use this and have had good results.

 

[JRandolphTX]

Hi everyone, I'm new here but have tried both IB Gard and FD Gard. I was diagnosed with gastritis/ulcers/IBS back in February and have taken IB Gard off and on. It seemed to help, but is pretty expensive. I believe it was around $25 for 48 pills. I had a follow-up appointment with the gastro and he recommended FD (Functional Dyspepsia) Gard because the discomfort was occurring above my navel. That one is around $25 for 24 pills. Two pills is the recommended dosage, so it can get a little pricey. I just started the FD Gard, but when I have taken it I have noticed it has helped.

 

[Akn1965]

I heard peppermint oil capsules lower blood pressure.A low BP Patient should not take that supplement.Is that so?

Thanks.

 

[ormaman333]

Good to see some positive results

 

[Dutch3ss]

Hi I just started IBgard and FDgard. My IBS pain usually centers in the epigastric area, but i experience bloating as well. The GI doc gave me some samples as an alternative to Levsin/ hyoscyamine. The Levsin caused loads of side effects. Nausea, diarrhea, higher BP in combination with amitriptyline. Third day on no levsin (second day was tough with cramping), first day on FDgard and IBgard. So far its a pretty good day. Tolerable levels of cramping.

I am excited to have less meds on my list, because I was using Zofran for the nausea caused by the Levsin. Too many jars of pills!

Do wonder about the Caraway in FDgard, since I want to try a fodmap diet. caraway is fennel, which is in the limit food category.

Ill keep you posted!

 

[APR]

I never heard of FDgard. It's for "functional dyspepsia".

I was reading the symptoms of functional dyspepsia, and I was wondering: once in a while after I eat, I will burp and a little bit of food will actually come up--is that a symptom of functional dyspepsia? And by "after I eat", I mean any time within the first couple of hours or so after eating.

It doesn't happen enough to worry about, but I just wondered what this was about.

 

[waldo955]

Here's what I really think about IBgard : since more than 10 years, I need to take ibuprofen, weekly at the beginning, and years after years, I need more and more ibuprofen, until almost daily lately months. There's exactly 1 month today, I've tried the very expensive IBgard, for excactly 21 consecutive days. I've followed prescription exactly like it supposed to be, between 30 and 90 minutes before meals. While these 21 days, only 1 time I take ibuprofen. No Migraines and less Abdominal Pain. I have to say that It had been several years that it had not happened.

To make sure and for saving money, I've stopped the treatment after 21 days, and after about 3-4 days, headhache has been back and ibuprofen too. I've just reexperiencing treatment last monday and it's ok for now. I don't kwon what happen for next week, but now, it works very well for me.

I try to save money again, so I've found Pepogest on Amazon. Pepogest is cheaper and seems to be equivalent. Maybe I could talk about Pepogest when I got it.

 

[GBFreek]

Have Pi-IBS (supposedly) and started IBGard two days ago to see if it would knock out some of my intestinal unease - will report back. Taking one in morning and one in evening.

 

[dholland01]

Hi I have had this problem for quite a while. It is not diaherra but i have at least 5 bowel movements a day. Sometimes very urgent bm. I went for colonoscopy it was all good. Dr said i have a touch of ibs. Could anyone help me what to do. I take 2 imodiums every otherday which helps. But im worried its to much immodium. I also tried ibguard and didnt help. Please help

 

[shadytree]

I use a different kind of peppermint oil capsule and it works very well.