Newbie from winnipeg

Hi! A good place to start for food (and they also have active boards where people discuss restaurant meals and choices or you can ask them) is ... Alternatively when you go out tell the chef (or waiter/waitress) you have food allergies and it's important that you don't have .....Yep, lot's of us understand about feeling like we hold our significant other back (there's a thread on here titled something along those lines). My view on that is that the person who is with us loves us. If they didn't then they'd certainly break up with us but they don't, so they are in for the long haul. And while my DH does miss out on things because of me I like to think that if (god forbid) anything goes wrong for him in the future that I will be here for him then (after all marriage vows state, in sickness and in health, not in health alone).Okay, some tips. Have you tried taking something like buscopan before you go out. It's an over the counter anti spasmodic you can get at the chemist and can be great (doesn't work for everyone). Another brand to try is Donnatel (this one upset my tum though some people say it's great). Some people find a lot of relief with fibre supplements like metamucil and benefibre. If anxiety about going out is your main problem you can also see your doctor about some anti anxiety medication which may help you get over those going out nerves that set your belly off. Other than that I could maybe help more if I knew if you suffered diarreah or constipation? Hope this has helped a bit. Just know that you are definately not alone in feeling this way. Good luck

Some people find that their IBS is very food related. Mine is not at all (well a tiny bit). Take a look at the site I gave you above. It's helped a lot of people. You can also try keeping a food diary to see if there is any particular food that makes you feel sicker. It sucks and can be hard to pinpoint anything but some people find it helpful.For the D you can try the calcium info (sticky post at the top of the diarreah board), or some people just take minimal amounts of immodium every day to prevent the d in the first place. I too had it when I was at school and it was awful! I've found for me, the greatest help to my diarreah has been slippery elm powder. You get it at the health food store (it's not super cheap though) and take a heaped teaspoon 20 minutes before each meal. Don't take anything else 2 hours before or after though as it tends to absorb other meds. It basically bulks up the stool but it does take a month or 2 to kick in. Another thing some find helpful is acidopholous capsules which you can get from the chemist although I never found they did anything for my D. Again some people swear by a fibre supplement. The worst thing about IBS is we're all very different and what works for some might not work for others.Oh and one more thing. For anxiety and stress related symptoms if you can afford it is the hypnosis for IBS cd's. If you have a look at the hypno forum or do a search it will bring up the link.