[marc]

I moved to Hawaii when I was 18 to focus all my time and energy to become a pro surfer. I always knew I wanted to be a surfer but not living close to the ocean made it difficult to progress to a level where I could compete. While living in Hawaii, I began to notice my bathroom routine was no longer " one and done " in the mornings. This is the point in my life that I call "the begining of the end". A combination of dealing with the squirts, not owning a car, depending on public transportation quickly derailed any plans I had for living on the island and persuing my dreams. The cycle of anxiety, panic attacks and frequent bathroom visits was too much for me to deal with and I moved back to the east coast.When I returned, my parents did everthing they could for me and spent lots of coin trying to find out what was wrong with me.As far as treatment is concerned, I'll list a few that I can remember. Colonoscopy, endoscopy, CT ScanDrugs - Lots of different antidepressants, antidiarrheals, anti-inflamatory drugs, panic(klono,xanax), antispsamodics Pretty much a lot of the drugs listed on this board except Lotro, Remeron and a few others I don't recall off hand.None of these drugs worked for more than a couple of months. It seemed like my body realized it was being tricked and would always find its way back to square one.I've gone as far as eating one meal everyother day. Yeah, that didn't last too long. I had no energy and lost so much weight I looked like Skeletor.Diets - I went gluten free back in 05 which seemed to help but soon after even safe foods were having the same old effect on my bowels. The worst trigger foods = gluten, dairy, high fructose cs, coffee, fried stuff, beer ( wine and liquor in moderation seems to be ok). It seems a though anything I eat can trigger the squirts, even gf breads, gf cereals, gf cookies.....I give up, I just don't get it. In a nutshell, I haven't dropped a normal deuce in over 20 years. 21 years later, I'm married with a two years old, a nine year old stepdaughter and a wonderful wife who's a nurse.Family life is good, but work and social areas in my life leave much to be desired. I was never able to finish college and I never got the job I wanted. Like so many here, I feel as though I've had my freedom taked from me and many times I've considered ending it all. My passion for surfing kept me alive through the roughest patches of my life, and now my family is the most important of all and I cannot abandom them.This past week I decided to change my diet a little and ate mostly protein with my carbs coming from bananas, white rice, red lentels, yuca, pineapples, black beans, collard greens.No gas, no runs, no stomach discomfort or pain. This week had been a nice departure from the usual bathroom visits which felt like I was depositing lava, which btw I avoid spicey food at all costs.I'm starting to wonder if maybe I have SIBO. Just looking for some advice on books or diet.Truthfully, it's nice to get this off my chest and talk about this with people that understand. I find it difficult to talk about and for the most part try not to think about the past and how much this disease destroyed every aspect of my life.My family and a couple of close friends are aware of my problems. To everyone else, I'm just a man of mystery. I've become quite the liar and always have excuses as to why I can't go or do certain things.I also want to thank everyone that posts ideas, treatments and all their personal experiences. This board is a god send.

 

[Kathleen M.]

AFAIK low starch/lower carb diets work for IBS and you do not need to have SIBO before they do good.The Functional GI clinic here had a study (I think it is complete) looking at standard low carb diets for people with IBS-D. I thought they published it and it does seem to work for enough people to make it worth trying.Let me see if I can find it.http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/b/2009/07/03...table-bowel.htm has the info and a link to the paper published about it.When low carb diets got popular we did have quite a few people who tried them for weight loss say they helped them. Some people do better on a higher carb/higher soluble fiber diet so it can vary alot, but some people do pretty good with less starch in the diet and if it works for you, then go for it.

 

[crstar]

look on the net for "FIBER MENACE"...........he wrote a book by the same title......it's an eye opener..........helped me..........also, the low carb thing does help.........high protein does help the firm things up.........try taking MSM or N-Acetyl Cystein right b 4 eating, it helps u to digest ur protein, this helps, too..........stay away from high glucose fruits & starches........they raise glucose levels, which raise insulin levels & then a whole host of things take place.........excess insulin cause inflammation..this can cause D all by it's self...........some potassium, in the form of a pill or capsule might help..........potassium helps the intestines to b come more porous, which lets the liquid get thru the walls & makes the bm's more firm.........some potassium, not too much...u need to find out what works for u...........on the other side of it all, sodium, in the form of sea salt might help, too......it helps adrenal hormones get produced..........they r important for intestinal integrity.........hope anything i may have mentioned might help...........chris........

 

[TimeToGo]

I have a long history of IBS D and all the horrible things that go with it! Having tried almost everything and spent a lot of money trying to sort it out too, I am coming ( at a reasonably late stage in my life) to a firm opinion that dietary management is possibly the best way for the moment of controlling the 'D'. Low fat, low or no salt is helping me enormously. Medication has too many side effects for me.The frustrating fact about IBS is that you think you have found the answer, and then, some time soon after, it comes back to annoy and upset you again.Anyway, for me at this time I'll continiue to give the 'no fat,low salt' option a chance.As I said on a previous post, someone soon will sort this out. But until they do, it is possible with commitment to manage IBS D and live a decent lifestyle.

 

[marc]

Kathleen- thanks, Interesting how many people improved with low carb/starch diet.Chris- I'm going to add potasium supps to my diet. I just started doing injections of b12 twice monthly. I just started so I haven't noticed anything yet. I'm also going to look into that book you suggested along with a book by Dr. Mark Pimental.TTG- Ive also concluded that there is no magic pill and that diet is the best way of controling symptoms. I think the drugs I need to take are those that help with anxiety and panic. I think my brain is fried and over the years has been rewired. So many bad things have happaned that I don't think it's possible to ever be "normal" without the help of meds, but i'm ok with that. I just need to salvage what's left of my life so my girls don't end up with a dad who,s stuck in the house all the time.Thanks everyone for the help and ideas.

 

[petra]

Timetogo-I'm very interested in the salt connection-can you say a bit more about how a low salt diet has helped please?