[katyd1d]

I've had problems with diarrhea since the start of the year. They grew worse as I gradually reduced by intake of antidepressants (after being declared sane by the shrink), and when I got a little stomach bug and quit the meds entirely, it all went crazy. Even after the bug passed, I couldn't eat anything rich. Rich food bad. Salad bad. Almost everything is bad, with the exception of a white bread peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So I'm living off them now. Also popping hyascyamine like noone's business, and back on the antidepressants in case they were the reason it started. I eat very little, and I'm losing weight like crazy (which would be nice if it wasn't so scary). Biggest problem is pain, then diarrhea, and then constipation when I've been too successful at treating diarrhea. I've got a colonoscopy this week, and then what? I'm expecting a result of IBS because it's so common, and less severe than some other options.So where do I go from there?

 

[Kathleen M.]

I might start with what other lean protein can you eat (like lean chicken or fish) and what cooked vegetables you can tolerate.You might try low fructose/sorbitol fruits (although if you tolerate jelly you may not have a lot of fructose issues, but some raw fruits and their juices do have a lot of sorbitol...which can loosen stools but that isn't always a good thing and can increase gas).Berries, white grapes and bananas tend to be good. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries may need to be cooked or canned.Some IBS-D types do better on a low carb type of diet, so see if less starch (so a protein and cooked veggies for a meal) sometimes works well. Other people need more fiber to bind things up so you have to play with it to see which way that goes.Even though you seem OK with wheat (from the bread) it wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure you've been screened for celiac disease.I don't know if antidepressants will cause IBS to start, but if it starts while you are on them (from a GI bug, for example) they may control the symptoms. They are commonly used to treat IBS symptoms.

 

[katyd1d]

Thanks! Funny enough, months later, I can see the pb&j wasn't the best thing. Still waiting on some test results, but although negative for celiac, I feel much better since I went gluten free! Not cured, but improved. Every little improvement helps.