[oceantracks]

I've had IBS since I was 18 and I'm 58 now. I'm sure it was made worse back then as I hadn't discovered I was lactose intolerant yet!So, through the years, I've managed to keep it fairly under control by staying away from dairy.Of late, maybe the last couple years, I've had more flare ups. I see with me they are triggered by:1 Coffee2 Any high fat meal3 Not eating much all day and then having a big dinner.I also found out something. I was eating SOY Yogurt for months. I was also have way more IBS problems. On a hunch, I stopped eating it. IBS improved greatly.I'm also finding that if I have cereal with SOY Milk (SILK) before bed, I will wake up in the middle of the night with gas and cramps. So I guess SOY isn't for me.Imodium does help me, but it also blocks me up for days after taking it. Sometimes I do better just trying to "get everything out" but there's a lot of pain over the hour or two I have the attack. I have heard good things about Levsin (sp?) so I may check that out.In short, it's a frustrating life with IBS. It seems like there are weeks when I can't eat ANYTHING without it bothering me. Maybe some rice and chicken, but just barely Other times, I can go out to dinner and have something REALLY bad, like a steak or ribs, and not much happens. It's very unpredictable.I've done searches on "What is good IBS diet?" and all I come up with is suggestions to add fibre to my diet. Yeah, right. I can LOOK at the word fibre and have to run to the bathroom. I'd like to eat several small meals a day but really don't anymore what is safe. Everything seems to cause gas and bloating, and at worse, the big D. Once the IBS attacks ease up a bit, I can go for weeks without having crazy problems. It's quite a lifeThoughts?thanksTom

 

[MrBumwe]

Hey tom,,I dont really have any suggestions i too am at a bit of a loss with everything and what i should and shouldnt be eating.. When you mentioned upping your fibre intake...... When that was suggested to me, my immediate response was wouldnt that me s*&% even more, but there are soluble and insoluble fibre types which have differing effects relating to stool consistincy. So worth having a read up and seeing which food types are best for your ibs type,

 

[crstar]

for those who don't know, soy is loaded with estrogen like stuff......well, estrogen suppresses thyroid hormones...........no matter what anyone says, soy is not good for anyone........the thyroid hormones do alot of good for the whole body........the one thing that comes to mind when i read ur post, is that it is so unpredictable, which sounds so much like what i had to deal with.........there is a couple of things u might want to look up........1st is adrenal fatigue.........the adrenal hormones have alot to do with my ibs-d in the past..............in fact, i am being treated for adrenal fatigue, among others & when i have a bout of d & i take some hydrocortisone, it stops.........stress is such a fleeting thing.........even when the stress affects us, we may not always know that that's what's going on.........hydrocortisone is one of the adrenal hormones that help us to deal with the effect of the stress on our bodies........these days, when i get d, i try the hydrocortisone 1st & most times it does the trick.........2nd, there is a book called fiber menace........check the net: fibermenace.com & read what he has to say........his book, by the same name, is what put me on the road to getting a grip on the horrible thing that really can make ur life miserable..........& the 3rd is candida........these things have opened my eyes to this thing & after 7yrs, i hardly ever have flare ups & i no longer take d meds.........by the way, they can b part of the problem..........

 

[Kathleen M.]

Fiber helps some does not help others. Just depends on how your body responds and the type of fiber matters as well. Some people may do well adding soluble fiber, but do worse with insoluble.You might try a lower carb diet if you have issues with gas and diarrhea, and it may be worth trying probiotics as well (friendly bacteria).A recent study with the Atkins diet in people with IBS-D found it did help some people to go quite low carb with the diet.Also some times IBS has a good day/bad day sort of thing and people often react to the ACT of eating rather than the specific food. So that on a bad day every single meal always bothers me and on a good day I can eat anything is fairly common.You might also check out the Calcium thread. It maybe less constipating than the Imodium but may be enough. Also sometimes the problem with Imodium is the diarrhea would end soon anyway, so you end up with most of the constipating effect happening when you don't actually need it. So people with unpredictable diarrhea sometimes have more problems with that than people who have diarrhea pretty much every day so they need something most of the time anyway.

 

[blondeoverblue24]

It fits that you have issues with coffee, high fat meals and not eating much all day and then having a big dinner. A lot of people with IBS have issues with caffeine and high fat contents, and usually find it better to eat small more frequent meals than spaced out large ones. Interesting that you have difficulty with soy products. Research has shown that soy contains isoflavones that have some estrogen activity, however, unless you were eating large amounts, the estrogen should not have effect. Too much estrogen can lead to thyroid problems, but once again, unless you're taking excessive soy, it should not be an issue.I would avoid use of hydrocortisone, etc unless you have a specific diagnosis from your doctor. An antispasmodic like levsin or bentyl may be worth a shot, but keep in mind that some IBS patients feel it leads to more cramping. Personally, I've been on both of them (at different times) and had no side effects on them, but everyone is different. If imodium works for you but constipates, you might want to play around with the dosage/timing. How much had you been taking? Some people find it useful to take it every other day, etc, till they find a pattern that works for them. I tend to take it if I feel symptoms coming on, or I have an important event that day (vacation, family dinners, birthday parties, etc).Studies seem to indicate that a well balanced diet is the best thing you can do for IBS. Be very wary of any doctor who tries you on fiber and leaves it at that, because current medical guidelines do not support that practice. There has been some evidence that fiber can actually increase cramping, however, many patients find it a godsend. While things like Fiber Menace and other "non-traditional" therapies have been helpful to some, take the recommendations with a grain of salt because many of these things are run by people without medical training and may contain substances that have not been regulated and may not necessarily contain what they say they do.I hope you find something that helps you out!

 

[overitnow]

40 years, Tom. I tip my hat to you. I had it for 10 years, and while it was the worst thing ever to happen to me, in the end it did encourage me to take responsibility for my own health, which turned out all to the good. Given the deadly problems I was smoking my way into, apparently D and GERD were what was necessary to get my attention. The advice you are getting here should give you some more avenues to try, other than just limiting dairy and soy. IBS is so individualized that you really do need to turn yourself into your own test tube if you want to find something to normalize you. (In my case I backed into an effective treatment for my IBS by trying to treat a cholesterol condition. If I had gone the standard route of Lipitor/aspirin, this result wouldn't have happened.) You just never know.Good luck to you. Mark