[aphex]

I've read a lot of posts on this boards where people say a certain option (Calcium, Hypnotherapy and so on) hasn't taken away their IBS (as we know) but has made it 'manageable'I was wondering what you mean by this? To me, it being manageable would mean that I can do all of the things that I want to do. Travel, meet new people, have relationships, have new experiences, not worry about where the nearest toilet is, providing I do whatever is needed to maintain this.Do you mean this, or mean that you can simply leave the house and survive work?It would be interesting to hear stories of what you all mean by manageable.

 

[peaches41]

It means to me that I can go for longer periods without having to dash to the toilet, it means that the pain is much less, it means that the diarrhoea is not so watery, but it doesn't mean I can live a NORMAL life, where I could eat anything I wanted or walk on the moors or go to the seaside for the day. My thoughts are constantly on what's going on internally, being normal is having a bowel movement in the morning after breakfast and forgetting about my guts for the rest of the day.

 

[Kathleen M.]

For me:Remission = do not need to do anything, take any supplements, eat special diet.Managable = quality of life restored but must keep taking the supplements, take medication, or eat the diet or whatever it is that reduces the symptoms to the point they are a minor inconvenience (even regularly) or happen only on occasion.Now what is an "inconvenience" or disruption to your quality of life may vary. Some people are very anxious so may have huge disruptions from the anxiety over mild/minor symptoms. So basically to me managed means that for most days (may have an occasional bad day but then healthy people have occasional constipation and diarrhea) you can go to work, go to play and eat well. If someone is fructose or lactose intolerant or reacts to greasy foods they may have to control the diet, but then most people for health reasons should eat differently than a lot of us do and bacon double cheeseburgers really aren't good for anyone, even if a lot of people eat them regularly.I've been through several stages.Somewhat managed. Medications made it so I could at least go to work and do most things but I wasn't symptom free, just symptoms reduced to where I could function.Completely Managed. After CBT I took much less medication than the above stage and had zero symptoms as long as I stayed on the medication. So no pain, no disruptions, like I didn't have IBS, but if I stopped the meds the pain would creep back but only about 1/10th of what I had when the IBS was at it's worst.Remission. What I am in now. No meds, no supplements (other than I take probiotics to fart less, but I farted a lot before IBS) and I have symptoms at the rate you expect in healthy controls.Even when people do not have IBS they can have GI infections, or eat poorly, or drink too much, or get too little sleep, and have a rough hour or day of things being a bit off. However if that is 2-5 days out of a year, that isn't IBS. Usually the cut off is about 7 days with symptoms per month, and it continues for months on end.

 

[Ginge...:)]

People describe it as managable because its something that will never go away. When my IBS is being managable i would say it means that i am not in pain, the rumbling is not too bad and i can actually eat food.Sometimes when my IBS is manageable i can even go out for meals etc, just have to watch what i eat i think it does just mean that you can live a normal life, it means not letting it control you. in a way it is how you describe it as 'Surviving'. For me it means that i can 'survive' college without feeling nervous and rumbly horrible.

 

[overitnow]

For me, I usually have to make an allowance for 1 or 2 movements in the morning--usually between 9 & 10. If something arises that causes undo anxiety during the day, I may need a third movement. Other than that, I have no problems and no dietary restrictions. This has been going on for over 10 years, after a preceeding 10 years of daily IBS D Hell, with two capsules of a flavonoid supplement which I take primarily to keep my cholesterol blockages under control. This is pretty well the same bowel pattern I had before the D began. While I know this is "just" control rather than a cure, it is also a reasonable assumption that had this supplement been available and had I began taking it before the D developed, the IBS would never have happened. Mark