Help, please! - Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Message Board

JustMe1021 · 05-27-2005, 10:13 PM

I am a 20 year old female and have had IBS for as long as I can remember. I finally went to a GI doctor when I was about 14. After numerous tests resulting in "there is nothing wrong with you" I was told I have IBS. I had constant diarrhea, but they couldn't tell me why. I was told to increase the amount of fiber I ate and avoid the foods that seemed to trigger the diarrhea. The triggers didn't make sense because sometimes I could have them, tomato sauce and oj, and other times i couldnt. It seemed like no matter what I ate I got diarrhea. With the fiber, the intensity of my symptoms decreased slightly, but still I was far from normal. Embarrassed and scared, it changed my life. Over the past three and a half years, it has gotten much better. I became a vegetarian a little over 2 and a half years ago, I am not sure if it has had any effect. In that time it has gotten far better. In the past 6 or 7 months, I would say I had a miracle cure. Diarrhea is so infrequent, that it seems almost normal. But this relief, came with a problem. TERRIBLE gas! Every day, regardless of what I eat, I have terrible gas. I have tried cutting out diary, certain vegetables, breads, i dont have to worry about cutting out meat being a vegetarian. I have tried all sorts of gas medications, but nothing is working. I can't stand it any more. I pretty much rather have the diarrhea back, that was usually not an all day occurance like this gas. Does anyone have any suggestions? I want to try a holistic approach, but I am unsure of what to try. Accupuncture? Massage? What can I do?

PLEASE HELP!!

JustMe1021 · 05-31-2005, 08:07 AM

So, nobody has any ideas?

6th_sense · 05-31-2005, 12:44 PM

Hi Justme,

You spoke of having a miracle cure in the past 6-7 months. What do you believe helped you -or are you alluding to your conversion to vegetarianism that has created the miracle cure? There are a number of different holistic approaches to help reduce IBS suffering. Have you had any holistic cures that have helped you so far or that you prefer and why?

I ask all these because different people prefer different approaches to handling their situation. Some prefer diet based advice, others prefer western medications they haven't tried while yet others prefer hearing about homeopathic medicines they haven't tried. You did mention acupuncture and massage - something which works along similar lines of visualisation techniques which I've posted in the past. - It would help to know what helped you in the past to discern which holistic approach might be suited to your liking.

If you haven't done so already you might be helped by running a search of the site for mentions of acupuncture and massage - if you are considering the possibility of trying those.

Cheers, Raju.

lizinseattle · 05-31-2005, 01:47 PM

Just Me - I too would like to find out if it's the vegetarian diet you are referring to that was your miracle cure? your symptoms sound just like me at the present time.
I used to be a vegetarian years ago but added meat and fish back into my diet when I found that I had no energy. And to be honest, I didn't have a miracle cure for the ibs (or whatever the heck is going on) but it was nowhere near as bad at that time of my life anyway.... have you tried coal? (or something like that, I forget... but it's in healthfood stores) There is a book called "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" which you can find in any bookstore or most healthfood stores that give great suggestions on dealing with almost any issue through diet. You might find some great suggestions on gas in there.... I just wish there was better info. on how to combat my current situation.... pain after everything I eat, diarreah daily, bloating, etc. Sometimes it feels like the only option is to just stop eating altogether....