[chrissy456]

I really am ready to just give up. I have nothing in my life besides this stupid problem. I hardly make enough money to pay my bills due to the fact that I spend 3-4 hours every single day trying to go and no matter what some days I don't. The days I don't go are the worst. I would rather go 12 times a day (like I do on my the days I go the most) then not go or go once. How do I handle going through like knowing it will never get better for me? (I have no insurance and no money to try anything to fix me)How can I ever be happy knowing my life will never amount to anything because I can't poop normal?Also how do I stop getting so angry when I know 90% of the population doesn't have to deal with this and they can have a life and be happy?It is just so unfair and I really don't know how to stop getting so upset over this.

 

[werwer]

IBS is a hard thing to live with, all right. I'm not working and don't have insurance, either. We don't know it's not going to get any better. There are lots of things to try (but maybe you've tried a lot already). And I heard somewhere that it gets better as you get older. I don't know if that's really true, but in my case, from having IBS a lot when I was in my 20s, I haven't been afflicted in many years, until now.Another thought: I don't know much about your situation, but if you're trying to go for 4 hours--that may not be good for you. IIf you're trying to force it out, that may be bad for your colon. The usual advice about constipation is to wait until "nature calls" and then answer that call immediately. But sorry if this doesn't apply to you.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Having a chronic illness and it can be a lot like grieving for the life you think you had if it hadn't happened.If you cannot move through the normal anger to a better place you may need counseling just like someone who lost a leg may need help getting through the anger over what they have lost or someone who lost a loved one may need help getting through the anger.Just trying to not be angry and bottle it up somewhere won't work, and some people need help to work through it and that is a good skill to learn and most of us are never taught how.Even with no insurance most counties have low cost health care and low cost mental health care. It is worth checking the phone book or getting in touch with a social worker who can help you find care if you need it. Also a lot of teaching hospitals and other places do take patients as charity if there is no way they could pay for it and have no insurance, there are ways to get help. If there is a school near you that has a graduate school in psychology they often have group sessions run by the students (and supervised by the professors) that are very low cost.Do you use any osmotic laxatives to help you go? And if you have to strain for hours seeing if you can find someone to test the pelvic floor may help.

 

[Ralph9898]

I also have felt sorry for myself recently for my IBS. But then I think about a friend of mine who went through breast cancer last year, had a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, and will continue to have treatments to try and keep it from returning. She never complains, but I am sure she feels like complaining sometimes. There are way worse ailments out there. And for me I think my problem gets worse the more I think about it. I know my IBS is not as bad as yours, but when I first started going through this I also sat on the can for many hours and wound up having many small BMs per day or none at all. That made it worse, b/c my colon lost its natural timing. If I go more than once or twice a day I know the next morning it is going to be hard for me to go. Now I give it one shot a day at the same time in the morning and it has been working again most days. I ignore any feelings later in the day to go again--I purposely wait until the next day if at all possible. I try to do something to keep my mind off of it. This has forced some regularity for me once again. I do not take any laxatives or stool softeners--I am trying to let my colon readjust naturally by eating the best I can possibly eat at all times (although I think the 2 day fast and laxatives prepping for the colonoscopy helped my colon reset itself and clean itself out). I now eat activia yogurt once a day every afternoon. I eat a salad every single day now. I also eat a fiber based cereal for breakfast every day. I avoid eating anything with too much fat content. If I feel pain in my left side I drink some peppermint tea or take a peppermint capsule, do some yoga/stretching, or ride my bike, which seems to help a little. I can honestly say that for me it is getting better after about 3 months of difficulty with this. It is still not back to what I consider normal yet, but I hold out hope! Although I get a little depressed about it sometimes, I also consider this a blessing in disguise. If I didn't change my eating habits to eat healthier and add fiber to my diet, I may have been looking at colon cancer in 20 years.

 

[overitnow]

I was D type for 10 years until I found something to control and eliminate it. While I don't have to be as rigorous as Ralph, I have become much more aware of what I stuff in my mouth. I have no particular advise for C-types, other than to know that this can get better. The 10 years I have had since getting over the D have been amongst the best years of my life, and I now have plans for extended bike/camping trips with my son and trips along the Danube and hiking in the Alps and none of this would have been possible with IBS. It was my problem for 10 long years. It is now yours. No one will make it go away. It is up to you. Take the challenge: you will be a happier person for it.Good luck.Mark

 

[screeb]

Maybe you should try to get on Disability to pay your bills. Sometimes there is no point to life, but this disease will not kill you. Remember, time is on your side and medicine is making strides every day. Someday there might be a cure,you just have to wait. Also, the pain of the disease makes the patient more depressed. I am on Wellbutrin for this and panic attacks. When I was 26, I also was diagnosed with IBS and I thought I couldn't make it through college and I stopped going. I was so depressed (I also had schizophrenia) that I was suicidal, but my parents loved me and helped me through this. I have been working on a cure for delayed gastric emptying for the past 17 years and I am going to Grad school to get it published to help other victims cope.Keep plugging along Chrissy,Robert

 

[johcof]

If you are just about at the "give up stage" can I suggest you go to the library and take out Carol Sinclair's book titled " The IBS Low-Starch Diet". Carol explains what the real cause of IBS is and how to manage it effectively. You don't need to spend any money. You might want to buy the book after you've read it and applied the diet (like me), or you might just keep renewing your loan of the book from the library (at no cost).The only real cost incurred is buying everyday food that we all have to do anyway. If your library doesn't have the book get them to order it in the ISBN is 0-9582529-0-4.I have suffered from IBS for 30 years and am now following this diet. I have only been on it for 2 weeks and already I am feeling fantastic. I'd love to be able to say I've been on the diet longer so that I could give you a real sense that this is the answer to your problems. All I can say is that it's working for me.Carol Sinclair also talks about her book and her experience with IBS on "You Tube" in a 15 minute or so video. I've never met Carol or even corresponded with her, but in my mind Carol's blood is worth bottling.Carol's diet is worth trying and like I said there's no additional cost other than buying everyday food.Good Luck.

 

[prabax]

So!Whats the point?

 

[Epona]

Hi there Chrissy. I've had IBS-D most all my life, and family members with colitis and ulcerative colitis. So I sure can relate.I am about to the giving up stage myself, I've lost every single job due to my IBS (and also my spinal problems). I filed for social security disability last year, and got myself a disability lawyer immediately. I am sort of in the same boat..... have no money and so had to apply for rental assistance thru my county, etc. No meds and nothing has ever helped my IBS-D, and believe me I have tried it all.....diet, meds, etc. It's nerve-wracking and real tough. Maybe you should apply for SSI disability? Talk to a disability attorney, and your doctor. Most disability attorneys do not charge a consultation fee at all, and they only take a percentage if you win your disability (and that is capped).And you can always come here to talk to us for support.

 

[chrissy456]

I've tried different types of diets. It is just really hard for me to afford most foods since my job hardly pays me enough to cover my bills. I can't get a new job since I haven't been able to go to college due to my problem. Also most jobs won't understand if I have to leave to go home for a little bit due to stomach trouble.The only good thing about my job is if I have one of those stomach days where I have gone 15 times and I am still having to go more, I can show up late or call in without fear of being fired. There is no way I could do something like that at a different job.I also looked into disability but from what I read I would be making even less doing that then I am making now. I just can't do that since I have bills to pay.I try to stay away from laxatives since I don't won't to become addicted. Although when I really feel like I need to go I will use a fleet enima to help me feel better.I just don't know how to stop being so depressed. I have missed out on so much of my life because of this. I really just don't know if I can take this knowing I will never be able to do anything more with my life then try to poop. Sorry for whining so much, but I am just so jealous of people that don't have this problem and so depressed that my life is like this. I just wish I knew what I did to desreve this.