I am new to this board & not even sure how or where to begin, but I'll give it a try. I am a 26 year old male with confirmed IBS for almost 4 years now. I have had almost every test done TWICE & tried almost every drug. The drugs don't work & ofcourse, the tests show nothing.

My problem now is that IBS has taken a grip on my life & it decides what I can do & when. I now get chest pains ( no heart trouble, already had that checked) I get sick feelings in my stomach 24/7 when I'm awake & gas all the time. ( very painful at times!!) I'm having a hard time working and I take Immodium on a daily basis. It usually works for the day, but the next day it starts all over. I don't get constapated, only "D". It is usually bad in the mornings ( anywhere from 3 -6 times a day!) so I have to work an afternoon job. I now think I may have GERD, but it may just be the IBS.

My question to anyone on this board is, is this what my life is going to be like or is there help? It's nice to see there are others who suffer this awful condition & I hope someone out there can help!

Thanks for your time & for reading my concerns.

I can imagine you must have tried but nothing like librax or antidepressants like remeron work?

My ibs is d type too and it has gotten a lot better. The crap the doctor always gave me never worked. But ginger tea helped me a lot and remeron. I also took orange peel capsule extract for the heartburn with great success.
You got to address the stress issue. I know mine is closely related to stress. And you know a funny thing whereever I go out of town the ibs entirely cures. Like last week I was going up two times a day (when normally is only one) and went out of town and did not go even once in almost three days. Im trying to work on my stress issue right now. Of course diet is to watch too. Interesting how one guy one time pointed out that salad from the supermarket that has been sprayed made him ill. There is got to be something to it. I refused to believe the doctor attitude like ibs has no cure. I can understand that for some unfortunatetly is but not most ibs cases. Look closely your stress triggers..

You might want to check out the book Breaking The Vicious Cycle. It has info on the Specific Carbohydrate diet. A lot of people have had good luck using it for the IBS and reflux. Good luck!

Thanks Lisa. I actually just bought that book a month ago & I am looking into it. Have you used the diet from the book & does it work for you? Thanks!

I follow a very similar diet and have had a lot of improvement. Chocolate, wheat, too much fiber, nuts, caffeine, raisins are all sometimes triggers for me. If I avoid them I only get attacks every 3 months or so. Good Luck!