Seems like, no matter what I do to try to get my IBS under control, my body finds a way around it and the IBS persists, and even gets worse. I've seen my doctor again and again, I've seen the gastro my doctor recommended (and he doesn't think I need to have a colonoscopy yet), I've had blood work done (all tests normal), I'm in counseling for stress, I'm taking supplements, I'm rotating medications, yet I continue to get stuck in this trap we all know as the vicious circle. I keep missing work, and it's hard to get out and enjoy life when you can't count on feeling halfway decent. Now, I can't even get a decent night's sleep when my IBS flares up.Times like this, I just want to cry. I feel like hell, and I can't seem to do anything about it. Can anyone else identify with my frustration? Is there something else I need to do or try that I've missed?Thanks for listening... I really needed to vent. I hope and pray for relief for all of us.
I'm so sick of this, I could just scream.
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oh yes, I can totally identify with your frustration. you're exactly right--my body also manages to adapt to everything I've tried that's initially worked--and then it doesn't work and yes, that's driving me crazy. I try something (like zelnorm for example) it works, I'm overjoyed, feel I've got my life back and then it doesn't work anymore and I'm back to square one, more miserable and frustrated than ever. and that's good advice about rotating meds etc, which I do, but still there are the gaps in between. and right, no sleep and work! I have a stressful customer service job and when my c is bad (practically always now) the last thing I want to do is be around people. other employees say I'm "quiet". If I say I'm not feeling well, I often get the "you don't look sick" response. I've told my very closest friends the basics of my problem but even they don't really get it ("oh, you still have that??" etc)thanks for venting. I'm so grateful we have this board here, where we can trade information and know that we're not alone, even though it may seem that way in our daily lives. and yes, I'm also praying for relief for all of us.
I can really relate to you! I was diagonosed as a young girl and now at 49 I'm still struggling. I have to say that over the years there have been stretches of time that my IBS wasn't a big deal although I can't say why. My struggle has been with prolonged periods of constipation followed by painful elimination/diarreah. Over the last few weeks I have been going through a rough patch for reasons I can't explain. I have also found that doctors are not always knowledgable and medication is often the cause of side effects and further health issues. Not to mention that they frequently don't work! I have decided to try to learn as much as I can about my own body and not rely on doctors who are not often concerned with prevention or natural approaches, but focus on treatment and pharmaceuticals. They all say eat more fiber and drink a lot of water, but there is so much more to healthy digestive functioning! I am no longer relying on my doctor's level of knowledge or willingness to share! I recently was given a great book called "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" by Phyllis Balch. It's a fabulous book for learning about your body, nutrition, disorders, natural remedies and alternatives, suppliments, all the things most doctors rarely talk about and often don't know that much about! It has really good information about IBS, Constipation and lots of other related topics, explaining what's happening and why, not just pushing drugs, like so many doctors do. It helps me be far better informed when I go to the doctor and feel like I have a real say in my own treatment. If you have a good health food store in your area, with trained professional staff, they can be enourmously helpful as well, but compare the opinions of more than one "expert". For example, it was suggested to me that I not take Milk of Magnesia, but istead take 400 mg. of Magnesium each day, which is a supplement our body requires anyway. This is working well for me. After 2 days of trying this, my 4 day stretch of total constipation ended today with a comfortable, soft bowel movement. Halleluia!I don't mean to ramble on, but my point is that information is power and we are our own best advocates! Don't rely on doctors and conventional medicine to have all the answers. IBS is not well understood and as far as I know there is no cure, but this is my body and I want take part in deciding what's right for me. As a note of caution, I think it's very important to find a doctor who is open-minded and will discuss alternatives with you. It's dangerous to try a lot of things without feedback and oversight from a reasonable doctor. I talk with my doctor about everything I take or consume to make sure I'm not doing anything foolish. I hope something in here has been helpful to you. Just getting informed about my own body has given a greater feeling of hope and personal power. My best to you,Lori J.
Thanks so much for your replies! I'm beginning to feel better, and I'm glad to know I'm not alone in the frustration department. I just get so discouraged when I can't seem to recover from one flare-up when another one sets in.I've not tried magnesium supplements, so I think I might give those a go, and see what happens.
Another one along the same line as magnesium supplements is GoLytely which I know most of us are familliar with. A friend who has chronic-C gets it prescribed to take 1/2 a teaspoon of the powder in a large glass of water (as opposed to the whole gallon at once) It seems to work well for him.
I can realyy relate to your frustration. I just found this site and am thrilled to know that I am not alone. I have been suffering with this in a severe state now for about a year and a half. It is now causing problems with my back, my bladder, and making my problems with my stomach much worse. I feel horrible most of the time without really being "sick" so I don't get much sympothy from my husband and my kids just don't understand why I don't feel good a lot. I will definately be on this boerd more often.
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·you say you could just scream? have you tried it yet? i have. it works. screaming in conjunction with loud metal/hardcore music can be a very effective combination for relieving anger and pain. just thought i would share that. i am in a constant struggle for control over myself now, not necessarily from just ibs but the almost chronic depression that goes with it. but yeah, if you ever just wanna scream DO IT haha.oh and if you need good music to scream to i have a nice list to suggest. also have a nice little dent in my wall too
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oh yes, Railfan, you should definitely give magnesium a try. I took it--mag citrate, up to 750 mg a day-- and it helped for quite a while and then it stopped working but I know some people have achieved permanent success with it so it's worth a try. and even if it does stop working, you can always put it in your rotation. I started taking it back in 2000 when there were some real good threads on this board about it. also good threads in 2001 and more recently too. do a magnesium search on the board for lots of info. good luck!
It's funny you should mention actually screaming. Just reminded me of something. When I was in undergrad college, the university I attended (Northwestern University, Evanston, IL) actually had a tradition called Primal Scream. Around 9:00 the night before the start of final exam week, the entire campus would open its dorm windows (or go outside) and start screaming bloody murder. It was the creepiest thing I'd ever heard! The first time I heard it, it was actually quite scary... it sounded like people were being murdered and/or tortured. (I guess, in a sense, we were!) It caught me off guard, because no one had told us freshmen about that tradition. My final primal scream at NU was June 1989, and I actually tape-recorded it. Now, I have to go find that tape and play it! I tell you what... I think my neighbors might object if I start screaming my head off, but, next time I feel like screaming, I'll throw stuff around my apartment. I've done that before, and that's very therapeutic! Also, snapping pencils in two works wonders. Thanks for the pick-me-up!quote:Originally posted by dc2002:you say you could just scream? have you tried it yet? i have. it works. screaming in conjunction with loud metal/hardcore music can be a very effective combination for relieving anger and pain. just thought i would share that. i am in a constant struggle for control over myself now, not necessarily from just ibs but the almost chronic depression that goes with it. but yeah, if you ever just wanna scream DO IT haha.oh and if you need good music to scream to i have a nice list to suggest. also have a nice little dent in my wall too![]()
Speaking of magnesium, I found a good link to information on high magnesium foods and symptoms of being low.: http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/fa...s/magnesium.asp
I feel exactly the same as you do. I just found this site like two weeks ago. To me every day is worse than the day before. I envy people that can use the bathroom regularily. You should really envy people with nice cars, or boat, or furniture, not using the bathroom. I go once a day if some how I incorporate either carrots or corn into my diet every single day. If I don't I won't go for days. I have been known to gain or lose 10 to 15 pounds in two days by either going to the bathroom or not. When I am really C, I sometimes don't pee regularily because that does not seem to passing through either. The only time I ever felt great was with MOM or Laxatives, then everyone I knew said that is the worse thing you can do. So now I have to eat corn or carrots everyday. What happens if I get sick of corn or carrots?? That will be the day when I scream. I am so sick of this. I now am 5' 9" and weigh like 210. I am very muscular everywhere on my body but my stomach because of always being full. I can't work out on my abs because it hurts to work out my stomach because of the fullness. This is soooo embarrassing. I can only suck it in so much then that hurts. I look like a muscular guy with a beach ball in the middle. I show people my stomach when I am empty and then after being C and people have never seen anything like it. It's like night and day. I'm sick of this.
Yeah, that's me, too. I swear, this whole thing is getting worse! I'm debating whether or not to go back to the doctor. I don't want to get in the habit of running to the doctor every time I have a flare-up, but, man, I gotta do something! I want to ask him if there is some other anti-spasmodic I can try besides Hyoscyamine. I just had an episode at work and had to leave. I have been locked up for days, and, suddenly, I had to go running for the bathroom because my system opened up rather suddenly. (And spastically, I might add!) How can I be on a public desk having this kind of stuff going on?I'm with you... I'm totally sick of this.
I'm taking 400mg.of Magnesium oxide, although I don't think the benefits are any different than citrate. Maybe someone else reading this is more expert on that...Yes I have heard slippery elm is good. I'm taking a variety of suplements and herbs including bifidus, evening primrose, garlic along with the magnesium, multivitamin, extra C and B complex and calcium with D. I also drink lots of water, iced peppermint and chamomile tea ( sooths the stomach), and of course eat lots of fruits, vegetables, yogurt and whole grain stuff. Cutting down on empty carbs/sugar seems to be helping. Also limiting my intake of fat/ meat has helped. Eating smaller amounts more frequently has been good advice as well. I'm not endorsing any of this as a cure, but as some ideas to consider...as far as the slippery elm, I recntly bought a supplement that includes slippery elm that I've been told is getting great feedback from IBS sufferers. I want to stick with what I'm doing for now as I've just been following this routine a couple of weeks with recent improvement. I may try to add it down the road. It's called BWL-Tone I.B.S. from Crystal Star. I got it from my local health food store and it was highly recommended. It's an herbal combination of things like slippery elm, aloe vera juice etc. that are thought to aid digestion. Might be worth checking out.I have a message therapist friend who wants me to try water message therapy in a heated therapeutic pool that includes visualization. Might help..can't hurt! Anybody tried message?Best wishes - Lori J
LoriJ,Try reading the book Understanding Our Epidemic. It is free on line as a Pdf at:http://www.fixourfood.comSincerely,Sylvia
Thank you Sylvia. I would like to buy your book and wonder how I can do so and provide you with the most income from the sale! Is Amazon the best way or can I buy it from you directly? I'm also intersted in your artwork, as I am an artist and art teacher...LoriJ
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