[YorickJenkins]

Bizarre that no one has mentioned coffee as a trigger, every gastroenterologist or dietitian has asked me if I'm drinking coffee. You don't give any details about what treatment or dietary changes you're following to help with your symptoms so it's hard to respond but here's the standard advice:

Soluble fibre supplements like psyllium husk can help slow things down by forming a gel and keeping the stool together. Remember to drink a lot of water.
Imodium, and OTC anti diarrhea medication is often used by people with IBS D to control bowel movement when travelling.
Have you looked at the low FODMAP diet from Monash University? FODMAPs are a variety of sugars found in various foods that could irritate your small intestine, cause excess water to be produced and speed things along.
Though this is usually associated with lots of gas. Have a look at the main FODMAP culprits like garlic, onions, wheat, dairy (lactose).
But DO NOT follow a low FODMAP diet without the supervision of a dietitian or you might ruin your microbiome over the long term. So find one that knows about the FODMAP diet first.

Lastly, some probiotic supplements might help as well. Personally I've used products from the brand Intoleran, which is available in the EU and UK and I found their one a day probiotic to reduce my gas symptoms and improve stool consistency, but that's anecdotal.

Thank you very much for your comments and tips but to be frank, the standard advice is something anyone who has had IBS for thirty years is almost sure to know about, and I am very familiar with it.

Perhaps I was unclear about coffee. Yes, indeed many people mention coffee but nobody had ever mentioned to me that coffee has a stronger effect in the morning than in the afternoon.
That was an eye opener. That is my point. I was frequently drinking coffee in the afternoon and not suffering any after effects whatsoever and I was therefore puzzled.

I know well about all your other points -FODMAP many times-helps a bit and have tried it all in all kinds of ways also with expert advice. The only thing which you mention that I have not done is pro biotics.

I am distrustful of following any procedure in consultation with an expensive (they are never cheap) expert. Caution about diets etc can be found for free on the internet. In my experience, unfortunately, going to an expert actually makes things worse, not just ineffectual but worse. This is the experience of many many years and why I have given up on them. I believe there are good reasons for this. Here they are:
1) There is always stress involved in consulting experts, especially in the case of IBS-D- the stress and hazards of travelling (in Germany there is the added stress factor that the public transport system is extremely unreliable and using it may involve long waiting periods possibly with no toilet nearby) and waiting anywhere in another place not home for a long time. Anyone who suffers from IBS-D will know all too well what I am talking about.
2) Experts tend to raise hope with some recommendation or other. When that hope is dashed ,the disappointment triggers more negative emotions
3) The costs (they always send in their bills regardless of their inability to help) is yet another stress trigger
4) Consulting an expert necessarily greatly increases one's preoccupation with the issue, to a great degree. Now, in my experience not worrying (so far as possible) about what one suffers from is better than obsessing; making appointmemnts with doctors, gurus, dieticians, health practitioners of every kind, hugely increased my tendency to obssess about my IBS. That is incidentally the reason that I shall not be using this forum very much. IBS can easily take over too much of a person's life if they don't watch out.


All the useful information about IBS which I have garnered has come from the internet and not from discussions with health practitioners, unless one includes the coloscopies which do serve a useful role in telling an IBS sufferer what he/she does not have

What I hope to find here is not to hear again of the usual procedures FODMAP and the like but unusual or not often mentioned tips and stories-for example what I had to say about coffee in the morning versus the afternoon. To my knowledge, that is not very often mentioned and it would be great if that helped someone else to understand what is going on with them.

I can definitely say that my symptoms have significantly calmed since I stopped rushing around seeking "professional help".

 

[YorickJenkins]

It’s tough dealing with chronic IBS and SIBO trust your own research and experiences, and consider connecting with others who share similar struggles for practical tips and support.

Absolutely my view. My first tip to people is that coffee causes more motility issues in the morning
than in the afternoon, something I only recently learned about but mirrors my experience.

 

[YorickJenkins]

Thank you for the very well written post as i guess you have to figure that unless there is a red flag that shows up on testing, you are pretty much your own advocate. Since there are so many different variations of this illness it is almost impossible for anyone but yourself to know what is and is not working and after a while you just hear the same information over and over again. Sadly this HAS taken over my life and has quite frankly ruined any enjoyment i try to have so i will take your advice and try to chill out a little and see if the extra time away from doctors help me out. A smart man once told me you have to participate in your own rescue so i will try to calm down and do the best i can. Thank you, stay well.

Thank you for your response and I very much hope (not just for altruistic reasons but also because it makes me feel good!) that you do indeed chill out a bit and that it helps you. I'd be so happy if my advice helped someone! It would make me feel useful for a change
In my opinion the entire medical world is over stressing the concern, the fight, the intense dislike of
illness. Illnesses from serious to minor are all regarded with intense hostility and the fight against them is described in military terms-"fight against cancer", "we'll beat this" "this will clear it up" "this will stop it" "we'll erradicate it" and then extermination style warfare is employed, chemical, anti-biotic etc. To be sure, I am not suggesting that one shouldn't take illnesses seriously, but I prefer to think of something like SIBO as a very difficult fellow lodger in my house who behaves in a rather anti-social way. My feeling is that people should be talking more in terms of living with and compromising with and calming down sickness instead of always delaraing war on it, fighting it to the bitter end, wanting to "put an end to it forever" and altogether committing themselves to all out war.
If you declare war on anything and that absolutely includes illness it is sure to try and fight back.

My SIBO is something I can live with now. To be sure, it causes a lot of suffering but if I play safe keep calm and dont obssess about it it is definitely better than it was ten years ago, when I was fighting it wildly and consequently in despair because SIBO is bigger than me and I was losing. Nowadays, much more often than in the past, my SIBO "lodger" behaves well and there are days when I am almost normal. I stress again-since I stopped going to doctors etc it has got better and I dont think that's a coincidence.

Last point controls that are definitely helpful-eg food diary which I am sure you keep- see if you can turn them into something positive. Even fun.
A food diary fun? Well yes, actually.
I am truly puzzled by what I can eat or drink without ensuing issues and what I cannot. Like everyone else I have a detailed food diary but I make it fun by making a subject of learning and study. Being positive about the food diary helps, not an obessession but a sort of hobby.
I leant last week that almond-oats milk knocks me for six. Disastrous. Why? Instead of moaning about that-I am intrigued. My lodger is extremely sensitive. Flies off the handle if I drink almond oat milk..

Hope that helps-chin up and dont let your lodger dominate your life!