I would like to thank everyone for their support on this site,
Have any of you found a particular correspondence between the eating of a particular food and the onset of an attack.
Does it matter how much food is in your system?
Do the system attacks occur immeidately after or several hours after injestion of food?
I found that if I cut out eating dairy produce a lot of my symptoms were better. Also, diet Pepsi and other sodas made my stomach bad, so I cut them out altogether and my stomach has been a lot better since.
At my worse, I found that within half an hour of eating I would have severe stomach pain and would have to sit on the toilet for a BM. That was when my syptoms were severe though, I have them well controlled now with Metamucil, Acidophilis caps and homeopathic remedies.
In most material found as well as my Doc it is recomended to eat small amounts of food through the day. It seems to put less stress on the digestive process. I try to stay away from heavy animal fats, it is also recomended to back off on sugar intake and sugar from unsuspecting sources such as oranges are harder to digest than say sugar from ice-cream, read up on succrose, fructose,and glucose. Hope this helps.
It seems that my response is about the same. I have had attacks that range from 1/2 to a couple of hours, The longer it takes, the more difficult it is to determine the source.
The consideration of eating smaller meals is intriguing. It wouild be only allowing a smaller amount for the system to digest and not overstress the digestive tract.
How intense can the attacks get? Can you have repeated attacks?
It depends whether stress plays a large part in your symptoms, as stress can make it all worse.
Sometimes my pains and diarrhea would last a few hours and wear off, but a few months ago now, I had a lot of stress and I had severe pains in my belly that lasted for nearly three days. These pains were so bad that I could hardly move and only did so when I needed to sit on the toilet. I was then stuck on the toilet for at least 30 to 40 mins when I did go. Luckily, I have a really good doc and I called him and he came to see me and after examining my belly fully had to give me an anti-inflammatory injection to get my pain under control again. I went to his office the next day and again underwent the full barrage of blood tests and ultrasound scans of my belly.
Hopefully, you will never experience an attack that bad, but I still manage to control my pain well, by taking Metamucil twice daily and taking acidophilis caps. I also use homeopathic remedies and stay away from spicy and fatty food and dairy products. I don't drink soda anymore and try not eat eat too much in one go so that my stomach can digest properly. Taking other digestive enzymes can also be a good idea.
Hi <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif"> The act of eating sets the digestive system in motion for everyone. This is why attacks often happen following a meal. For some, it's a specific food or foods, for others it's just the simple act of eating anything.
For some the attacks orrur right after or even during a meal. For others it may be later.
Thanks for the response, I think possibly smaller meals would help so that the system is not so stressed. But, can IBS cause diaherra and constipation?
Well yes, rotating between diarrhea and constipation is a symptom of IBS.
The diagnostic criteria of Irritable Bowel Syndrome always presumes the absence of a structural or biochemical explanation for the symptoms and is made ONLY by your health care professional. So going to the doctor to rule out other possibly serious conditions is a must.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome can be diagnosed based on at least 12 weeks, which need not be consecutive, in the preceding 12 months of abdominal discomfort or pain that has two out of three features:
1. Relieved with defecation; and/or
2. Onset associated with a change in frequency of stool; and/or
3. Onset associated with a change in form (appearance) of stool.
