[omgone]

Hi all.A little background - I'm a 31 year old male. I've had IBS-D for years ... maybe 5-7 years or so. I've tried a lot of things to bring some sort of normalcy back to my life and put my mind at ease, but nothing has really worked 100% ... I take Metamucil twice a day, and that keeps me pretty regularly. I also eat 6oz of plain yogurt per day.I've been prescribed Levin by my GI -- but that stuff simply doesn't work for me. I pop two at the first sign of discomfort hoping it would head-off the cramping and IBS-D, but no go. I end up taking Imodium after the first IBS-D BM, then have to take another .. then things normally settle down a bit.When my body decides that IBS-D is the acronym of the day, it hits heavy, fast, and hard. To me, the ridiculous urgency is bad, but the burning is worse. I can deal with cramps and "walk them off" for the most part, but the burning is horrible. I'm 31 years old ... I'm married with two young kids. This IBS-D is handicapping our family life and our social night life is completely non-existent. 95% of the time my problems occur in the evening, between 9-midnight, for whatever reason. That makes any sort of nighttime activity very uneasy for me, because even though during a normal month I'll only have 1 to 2 IBS-D days, who knows when those will be.My mother has had digestive issues for as long as I can imagine, and she is a colon cancer survivor. Growing up, we never went out to dinner because my Mother always feared that she'd need to use that bathroom and would be stuck somewhere (in the car, for instance) where that wouldn't be possible. I do NOT want to lead that life. Because of the family history with digestion problems, my GI ordered a colonoscopy a couple years ago and the only issue that he found were diverticula.I'm interested to hear what real people are doing out there to cope with IBS-D. What is working, what isn't, and ... is the burning normal? God I hate the burning.Edit: I forgot to mention, I'm in a PPI for GERD. Currently the drug of choice is Omeprazole (generic Priolsec), but in the past I've taken Nexium (until my insurance company decided to no longer cover it), Aciphex, etc. I have to wonder if PPIs have something to do with my IBS-D.

 

[Kathleen M.]

While the PPI's can have some side effects it is likely you'd have diarrhea with or without them and risking esophageal cancer from the constant reflux may not be the best option (and being up all night with reflux pain isn't good for family life or work, either).Have you looked at the Calcium Thread at the top of the diarrhea forum? Sometimes that helps and sometimes the burning is from people who make a bit more bile than they can recycle as well as some people who had their gall bladder removed. Metamucil binds bile to some extent (why it is used for cholesterol lowering) but it may not be enough by itself. You might also look at how much fat you eat as more fat means more bile production.Sometimes they use Questran (a cholesterol lowering resin that stays in the gut) for bile issues and also for IBS-D even when there isn't bile issues (it is constipating for a lot of people who take it for cholesterol, much like Calcium supplements can be constipating and either can normalize stool). So that may be something to talk to the doctor about if you can't control it on your own.Sometimes Levsin is more effective if you take it before the first sign of trouble (assuming you can predict when things will be bad). 20-30 minutes before a meal is usually more effective than waiting to see if the colon activity after the meal will be a problem. It does take awhile to have an effect. Some people will also do Imodium before meals to prevent the post eating reaction.