My story with ibs
#26982 - 11/13/03 05:06 PM
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Tim D
Reged: 11/13/03
Posts: 8
Loc: Orlando, Florida USA
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I have 2 of Heather's books and I have IBS-C. This all started innocently around July of 2001 when I started getting this weird pain on my left side. I had a colonoscopy and it showed spasms and I tried the anti-spasmodics but they make you so tired and spaced out I notice along with dry mouth. I had no idea what ibs was until all of this. I live in Florida and it's humid here but I don't think I could stand living up north with all of the cold and ice now since I've been here since 1989. Anyways, about a few months later I also started getting acid reflux and was vomiting a lot and at the same time was trying to maintain the ibs with metamucil or anything I could. In the meantime I had a part-time job talking on the phone booking vacation reservations and thought things were under control or at least bareable until February when my voice started mysteriously going and I couldn't get it back. Come to find out about a year later when I changed gastro doctors that I indeed had acid reflux at night and the pills were not working. I had to have a nissen fundoplication done September 2, 2003. My stomach was in the wrong place and had to be moved a little. During all this time my colon continued to spasm and I have a history of anxiety and depression that now I am on Lexapro 10mg and Klonopin 0.5mg along with Prevacid once a day in the morning 30mg, Zelnorm 6mg twice a day which I just started, Zantac at night. Right now I've been taking ground flaxseed and coloncare from Vitamin Shoppe which has both soluble and insoluble fiber and mix it in V8 splash smoothie. I tried taking the fennel tea and I'm still bloated. I'm also taking 3 capsules I got for the colon that contains slippery elm and amylase. I also take a multi enzyme after I eat. No matter what I can't seem to go like I would like. I have been on disability for about 10 years now for depression and anxiety and have had a few jobs but they never last. I see a psychiatrist and a therapist right now and have seen one for most of my life. I am so confused right now on what to eat. Should I be just dumping cooked veggies in a blender and put it on top of rice with chicken? I just would like to have some help please and support as I'm turning 30 next week and it takes time to recover from this surgery.
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Hi and welcome to the boards! Hopefully we can help you out! 
Are you on any restrictions diet wise right now from your surgery? I know you have to watch some things because of your acid reflux too.
Are you taking the colocare as your soluble fiber supplement? I'm not too familiar with that one, but I'm wondering if it could be causing you more bloating. Have you thought about switching to a different fiber supplement? Metamucil is the worst for bloating, so definitely don't try that one.
Do you feel like you need to Break the Cycle? Are you in the midst of attacks?
Have you considered hynotherapy? That may be something you want to look into. It really helped me.
If you browse the recipe exchange boards/index and read Heather's Eating for IBS, they are all safe recipes for you to eat. Of course, watch for your triggers for acid reflux like citrus, tomatoes, peppermint, chocolate, etc.
Hope this helps get you started. 
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Right now it's hard to say what's going on. I'm still trying to recover from that surgery. Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses I don't do hypnotherapy because of my beliefs but thanks for the advice. I know I've eaten granola bars and whole wheat bread and whole wheat pita bread with I can't believe it's not butter light which may produce triggers but I don't know for constipation and gas. Let's put it this way I've been through a lot. Having both recovering from severe acid reflux and ibs-c at the same time along with anxiety and depression is mind boggling for me. I'm concerned about the veggies I should be having. For instance for dinner I had white chicken, couscous, and carrots along with a few slices of light wheat bread made with wheat flour and not whole wheat flour. This morning I had Kashi Go Lean cereal along with Lactaid milk. For lunch I had various vegetables including broccholi, snap peas, cauliflower, and so forth over chow mein and that might have caused a problem. Tonight I had some applesauce and some fennel tea. Is it ok to have jello? It's very hard to do a lot of exercising because of the surgery but I do walk but probably need to excercise more. Also, I've been having the sugar free version of Citrucel and not sure if that's a problem. The thing is my dad is diabetic and I'm not. Oatmeal I need to be careful with but I can try it again as long as I make it watery. I just feel lost as the bloating is terrible no matter what. I tried colonic irrigation and felt better for a little bit but it didn't last long. I'm wondering if Zoloft is better to take as I've heard it can cause diarrhea. Right now I'm on the Lexapro 10mg but because of all this stuff I'm going through I'm just so confused that it's hard to know which way to turn.
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Hi and welcome to the board. Being a Witness does n't mean you can't meditate, I use the power of prayer everynight and I use self scriptured sayings to help me be a stronger person. I also do breathing relaxation and image. Example of self sayings like "I'm in control of my life" I'm in control of my feelings" There is nothing that I need to be anxious about" I'm healing inside out and will continue to be healthy" " Today is a good day and I'll make the best of it". During breathing I imagine Positive breaths in and negative breaths out. Try It I do this very night before bed 20-30 minutes. sometimes I fall alseep, before I'm through. Remember no milk products, try soy or rice milks,
I have reflux too, no peppermint or ginger tea. Chamomile and fennel will work. I don't do oats very well it bothers my tummy. Try rice cereal. Have you ordered any of Heather's books? Jello is high in fructose leave it. I believe if your worried about sugar in your fiber supplements, benefiber may be a choice. Talk with your doc about your meds, some antidepressents can cause constipation, but others can cause diahhrea. Fennel tea make take a few days before you notice it's effects, drink more than one cup a day and watch your diet. Good luck and hope you get some relief soon. 
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sherr1 had lots of good advice. The only other thing I wanted to add was I think some people have had problems with Kashi cereals. That may be causing a problem for you, especially with the lactaid. Although lacataid contains no lactose, it does still have casein & whey which can cause you problems.
Also for your lunch - you said you had broccoli, snap peas & cauliflower. Although it's fine for you to have these, you just have to do it carefully. How did you cook the veggies? The more well-cooked they are, the easier they are to digest. Also, broccoli & cauliflower cause more gas & bloating the other veggies. But, DON'T give them up. Maybe just have one or the other at a time, or just not so much of each. Also, you may want to try Beano. It can help with the gas & bloating from them. Once you start to feel better as you're eating these, you can slowly add more in, so don't be discouraged! 
I think there have been past posts on Zoloft. Try doing a search with no time limits.
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Hello and Welcome. I am also IBS C. I was on zoloft, than Wellbutri and this spring I switched to Lexapro. I prefer the Lexapro over the others and it doesn't make me more constipated. I have had acid reflux since having my gall bladder out 3 years ago, I control that by taking one prevacid before bed. I agree with the others about the dairy, I have been tested and am NOT lactose intolerate but anything dairy makes me more gassey and the constipation worse. I prefer the ricedream "milk" over the soy milk, just my personnel taste. I eat oatmeal evey day for breakfast, its a great source of fiber and seems to settle my tummy, maybe give it another try. Exercise and water are crucial for IBS C. Magnesium supplements might help as well. Someone had a good idea about switching to bebefiber and be sure to take the maxium dose. Hope you start feeling better.
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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Quote:
.... I've eaten granola bars and whole wheat bread and whole wheat pita bread with I can't believe it's not butter light which may produce triggers but I don't know for constipation and gas. ....a few slices of light wheat bread made with wheat flour and not whole wheat flour. This morning I had Kashi Go Lean cereal ....
Tim, it looks like from what you mentioned, that you may be eating wheat foods fairly regularly. You might want to consider a gluten-free diet (after consulting with your doctor) to see if that helps. You could even get the blood test for gliadin antibodies first if you like. But I would try the GF diet even if the test is negative. It can't hurt (if the remaining diet is well-balanced) and it could help. Even better than only avoiding gluten and dairy would be a planned, systematic elimination diet (with oversight from your doctor) that removes common intolerance and allergy trigger foods and then cautiously reintroduces them one at a time, to find out what if any are causing problems.
I also had...
- IBS-C
- intestinal spasms
- intermittent pains in the abdomen, lower and upper back, and groin
- acid reflux, with occasional night vomiting
- occasional hoarseness and loss of voice
- anxiety
- depression
- bloating
- etc., etc., etc.
I also tried...
- flaxseed oil tablets, flaxseed liquid and ground flaxseed powder
- "IBS Support I and II"
- Metamucil, Citrucel, Milk of Magnesia, etc.
- various herbal teas
- slippery elm
- Prilosec
- etc., etc., etc.
I also saw a psychiatrist and doctors was prescribed Lorazepam, Paxil, prescription strength Famotidine, Lexapro and other medications (and directions to take Metamucil, eat cooked vegetables and whole grains for fiber, drink lots of water, etc.). I saw a nutritionist who recommended even more fiber, including adding more soy foods and powders to the whole grain foods I was eating (mostly whole wheat), as well as beans, corn chips, lentils, limit animal protein, take fish oil tablets, etc. None of this stuff helped much, if at all, and I continued to get gradually worse. Over the decades of illness and getting poked and prodded, time and time again I was told to eat more whole grains by doctors, a nutritionist and many articles I read and news items I saw on tv or heard on the radio. Little did I know that it was the grains (especially wheat) that were triggering my illness to begin with and making it gradually worse and worse.
At the time I was prescribed Lexapro (with my 40th birthday approaching) I also asked my doctor if I should get tested for lactose and gluten intolerance (I had read about them on the Net), as a last-ditch attempt at trying to figure out what was causing my health issues, or at least rule out some possibilities. This Web site helped spur my interest in the gluten direction, in that one of my symptoms (floating stools) didn't seem to be reported by anyone in this IBS forum (or other IBS fora and articles). When I searched the net for the illnesses related to that symptom, gluten intolerance and celiac disease (a.k.a. celiac sprue) came up frequently. My doctor said the test he recommends his patients try is to eliminate dairy and then gluten for 2 week periods and see if there is any improvement.
So after taking Lexapro for a couple of weeks and only seeing mild improvement, I decided to try the dairy and gluten elimination tests. Eliminating dairy seemed to help a little bit, but not much. Then I eliminated the gluten, and quickly saw some gradual improvements that were better than with Lexapro and dairy elimination. Within 3 and a half weeks I saw dramatic improvements. It seems that gluten is the biggest culprit in my health problems, and the combination of a gluten-free and dairy-free diet with Lexapro has allowed my system to begin the healing process. I definitely recommend looking into gluten intolerance in particular.
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There are a few other folks on board with both IBS and celiac, so you're not alone here. Check for posts by Kandee (eyebser) on the recipe board as she has lots of great info for cooking for both IBS and gluten intolerance.
Glad you finally got your diagnosis! I think this board has seen quite a few people who were told they had IBS for many years, but had never even been tested for celiac.
- Heather
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Heather is the Administrator of the IBS Message Boards. She is the author of Eating for IBS and The First Year: IBS, and the CEO of Heather's Tummy Care. Join her IBS Newsletter. Meet Heather on Facebook!
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