[22950]

What medicines, diet, routine has worked for you? Right now I am having a flare up and it's very hard to stay focused at work. I get bad stomach spasms. I rush to the restroom and I my lower back feels like it's going to explode. My whole back and insides hurt when passing stool. I am not straining but it's is very soft in texture not quite "D". Any advice? I have had a colonoscopy and endoscope and everything check out alright. I had been taking Donnatal for the pain but that is not working anymore. I tried exercising yesterday, took some vitamins and started on Levsin. No symptom last night but this morning was horrible.My symptoms are: stomach spasms in lower area, loose stool, Fatigue, Insomnia, lower back pain and cannot concentrate-short term memory loss. Thanks

 

[masterplan]

Have a go at the Calcium.

 

[20250]

Hi Tony, Sorry you are having a difficult time. Did you just start having the Insomnia and short term memory/confusion since starting the levsin? They are 2 of the listed side effects that I found doing a google search.LinkAs far as what has helped me, although I'm not where I would like, Imodium, Fibercon, and Mike's Hypno tapes.

 

[21682]

Diet was a big help to me. I met with a nutritionist who put me on a reintroduction diet that has been working pretty well. (I'm one of the people that believe diet -- while it may not cause it -- plays a big part).I think our bodies are trying to tell us enough of the bad stuff. I was on a fish, rice, chicken, turkey, pea, diet that I swear by. Everytime I start feeling the gurgling I go back to eating that stuff for a few days, it settles down the guts and I'm good to go. Not to mention I feel better than I ever did when I was eating whatever I felt like.I reccommend meeting with a nutritionist. It really was a big help for me.I can give you more info on the diet if you think it's something you'd be interested in...

 

[18906]

Hi Renfield, I would definitely be interested in hearing more about this diet. It sounds pretty good actually. I'm looking at my diet right now and it could use some tuning. Thanks for any advice and welcome to the group.Rick

 

[21682]

Well, I was in a bad flare. For months I had been eating lunch at this local pizza joint and everything was fine. Then all of a sudden I couldn't eat anything without it bothering my stomach. I thought it was UC flaring but colonoscopy showed everything was clear so my GI believes it's IBS and recommended me to a nutritionist. I can't say enough good things about my GI. They've been great.But, about the diet, the nutrionist told me -- this is still when we believed it was UC -- that basically when your guts start bothering you you need to give it a rest. It's hard to do when it's your gut and you have to eat. The first thing she did was put me on Modulen by Nestle -- it's a powedered drink that has 500 calories per glass and the nutrients are so broken down they are digested before they get to the large intestine. I would mix a banana with it and have one for lunch and one for breakfast. The stuff's actually pretty good but is pricey and can only be oredered online through Nestle.As for food I started on a real basic and simple diet. I could only eat fish -- either haddock, tuna or salmon. Chicken or Turkey without the skin, buffalo -- because it is leaner than beef, apparently people with IBS have a hard time digesting fats so everything we have to eat needs to be lean. The only vegetable I was allowed was peas and lots of rice. Rice pasta, rice cereal, rice bread, rice ice cream, you name it, if it was made with rice I tried it. It makes sense too. If you look at all the countries that are affected with high rates of IBS it's countries whose diets are a mess. Asian countries, that primarily have diets that are high in fish and rice have low, if any, cases of IBS.You shouldn't be eating any condiments or sauces. Everything I cooked was made with olive oil. That's another thing, people with IBS should avoid fried food at all costs. Heating oil past a certain point does certain things to the make up of oil and no one knows what it does to the body, especially people with this DD. Basically, all I could eat for flavoring was olive oil, oregano, basil. I stayed on this diet for about two months. I got my weight back under control -- I was dropping weight at an incredible pace before and all of a sudden it plateaued and stayed there and now has been going back up to a healthy weight.The key to this diet is mixing and matching. Mix chicken with some rice pasta, peas and some olive oil and toast up some rice bread -- you can have probiotic butter sperad. I've actually found some stuff that is great -- like these brownies that are made with potato flour that are better than regular brownies.You also want to keep a journal of what you eat, how you feel and what your BMs were like that day -- including consistency and urgency. When you first start off on this don't mix and match too much because you are trying to figure out what bothers your stomach. If you make this elaborat meal and it bothers your guts you'll never be able to figure out what it was that bothered your gut. For instance, I realized that a big trigger food for me was soy oil.This is getting long so I'll wrap it up and not bore you, but I'll keep checking if you have any questions. I'm not a nutritionist, I'm just trying to relay what I was told so if you can meet with a real nutritionist -- if you can get your HMO to pay for it, bastards.It's tough but it does help. I've been feeling pretty good -- knock on wood -- for a while now...

 

[18906]

Thanks so much for the quick reply! It's interesting that the only veggie you could eat were peas. I've never liked peas much. Do yo think there is an acceptable subsitute like green beans or something. I also would like to check with my health insurance to see if it covers a nutritionist. Also, Did you mix the bannana into the drink you spoke of? Did you have any problems just being on a liquid diet(ie. diarrhea, gas)? Thanks again.Rick

 

[21682]

Yes I mixed the banana in with the drink. I was only doing that twice a day and then eating a meal and picking at things throughout the day. I didn't have an problems. The stuff actually tastes pretty good and it was a good way to get an easy 1,000 cals without straining your guts to much. The only real problem is the cost -- it's about $20 bucks for a can and if you are doing it twice a day that lasts about a week. Also I recently just ordered another batch and found out that the distributor is out because Nestle is out. Apparently, this stuff is like crack for people with IBS.As for a substitute vegetable I'm not sure. The good thing about the peas is that the majority of it is soluable fiber, where most vegetables are insoluable. That puts a strain on your guts. Sweet potatoes and yams were one of the things that I could have so you might try some of those. Beans are tough on the digestive tract when it is irritated, hence the song about them being the magical fruit. The nutritionist said I could have something called Butter Lettuce but I couldn't find it and didn't know what it was so I never actually tried it. Surprisingly she said I should stay away from iceberg lettuce, for some reason it's tough on the guts. Try and stick with -- if at all possible -- to vegetables from your area. Our bodies are more sensative to things like bacteria and are more likely able to handle microbes from our area then something imported.The only liquids I could have were water, rice milk or tea. Everything else was off limits and I switched to the unrefined brown sugar instead of white. Stay away from Wheat and Dairy until you build yourself back up to it.Also I'm IBS with the D so the rice was good for me because it is binding. If you got the C you might not want to go with the rice.I'm also taking the probiotic Ruetieri (sp), fish oil and acidophilus pearls each day and they seem to help as well. IBS is an imbalance in the flora of the guts so theoretically if you boost the good flora back up your gut will be better.My GI is great and I can't say enough about them. When I started flaring again the nurse practioner actually called me at home from her house. I'm not a rligious guy but I thank God for them. They also called my insurance company and made them pay for the nutritionist so that's something you might want to look into.It's tough. There's times where I'd kill for a hamburger and fries or a pizza, but I've found some really good stuff that I like. I hated fish when I started this but I love it now.Anything else I can do let me know...

 

[22950]

Thanks to all of your advices. I will look into them and let you know how they workout for me. Although I must say that this is my 3rd day of taking the levsin every day and I am feeling much better. Before I would take it only when my guts hurted. One of you ask if my imsomnia and memomory loss started after the Levin, I don't think so cause again I would only take it on a needed basis, maybe only 7 times in the past year.