Abdominal pain and diet/acacia
#291692 - 11/28/06 05:50 PM
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Sufie
Reged: 10/14/06
Posts: 148
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Hello all, I suffer mainly from abdominal pain. The pain has calmed down so, so much since my change of diet and daily use of acacia. I still have hours of dull pain almost daily ( I was diagnosed about 1.5 months ago). Does it just take a lot of time for this to go away or is this going to be a continuous problem? I still need to increase my Acacia fiber intake (I take 2.5 teaspoons a day and assume that I need more). Those of you out there with a similar history please advise. I would love to hear that this will resolve eventually (I pray!) Thank you.
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I'm not pain-predominant, but I thought I'd chime in anyway. I'm not sure how long you've been following the diet... it does, unfortunately, sometimes take a good bit of time to really stabilize and feel "normal" again. It seriously took me over a year and a lot of tinkering with diet to fully stabilize, but you know, all that trial-and-error was SO worth it!
Keep increasing your acacia and following the diet... you've already had so much improvement, and you're on the right track.  Hang in there!
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I was pain predominant (IBS-C) and it took me 5 months to stabilize. Pain is gone now. I also had periods (while stabilizing) when I still had dull pain, but was celebrating that as a success, as before that it was hardly bearable. I am not eating much different than when I had the dull pain, so I guess my body was just adjusting slowlier.
Hang in there, the worst is over it will only feel better from now on Knowledge IS power, yay! Thank the Lord for Heather and her making this website and posting so much info. And thanks to everyone on this board with their suggestions, clarifications and advice, they are great!
So, bottom line -- hang in there. You are on the right track. Let your body do what it needs to do and adjust.
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Jeio,
It is so good to know that there is someone out there that can relate to this pain problem I have been having. Great to know you were able to eventually resolve it...thank you so much for the encouraging words and reassurance.
I have not been on the IBS diet for long (only about 2 months). I started it even b/f I saw the GI specialist b/c my primary doctor told me he thought I had IBS. When the antispasmodics my primary doctor gave me did nothing to help me I found this website. Heather's knowledge and the support of many amazing and wonderful people on this board has helped me through this. I swear that people on this board have been more supportive and helpful than friends I have had for years!
Yes, knowledge IS definitly power and I feel like I finally have some control over my life b/c of all the information I get from Heather and all my friends on the boards.
I am really looking forward to resolving the pain and I think I maybe adjusting slowly just like you. Since you have experienced this any other advice you can offer will be great. Thank you and have good week!
Sufie
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Thank you for sharing your story. I have been on the IBS diet for about 2 months (not long). The results have been amazing. There was a time about 3 months ago when I could barely move and had to move in with my mother so she could drive me to my doctor's appointments. Like many of the people on these boards IBS literally knocked me off of my feet! I felt like an alien had taken over my body! I finally feel more normal but the pain has not fully resolved. I think I need to be more patient with my body.
You are right, I am on the right path and I just need to stick to you. Great to know that you are doing well and that all of your efforts paid off.
Thank you so much for your help.
Sufie
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Well, I've pretty much been super religeous with the diet. Thank God I have time to cook, because I had to stop bying any prepared food (like, no more mixes, that help you fix dinner quickly), and went back to staples and making everything from scratch. I had to learn to cook (I didn't really know before) but that was good. By now I am quicker without the packages and we eat much much healthier altogether. The only "package" I get now is mashed potatoes (the generic brand in our store is safe, but many brand names are not so check ingredients).
I also started taking magnesium citrate (initially I was on Miralax, but it caused gas for me, and I was not gassy before) to make me go. The problem with the diet is to get stable you have to stay away from IF and in my case that meant too little IF to be able to normally have BMs,. Magnesium citrate is really mild, though, I love it! (I don't even need it every evening any more, btw, but initially, I did take it every evening).
I know for a fact that some IBS-C people need laxatives to stabilize, and some do not... I am not advocating either side, just pointing out -- I was one of those who needed laxatives (and hardly ever take any more... I think last time I took mag citrate was more than 2 weeks ago and I've been good with BMs)
In general, just make sure you wait for your body -- don't try to introduce bad foods too soon, wait for it to get used to the routine of not being in pain over food.
Please feel free to ask anything specific I'd be glad to be able to help.
Good luck!
Jerry, IBS-C
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Hi Sufie. Like you, I am pain-predominant and have been following the EFI diet and taking Acacia since I discovered this wonderful website two months ago. I have had pain-predominant IBS for 30 years, but over the last year, the attacks and intensity of the pain became so severe that I went back to my doctor, who eventually referred me to a GI specialist at the hospital. I started the diet and Acacia while waiting to see the GI doctor, and there was an immediate improvement. Like you, I still have hours of dull pain and occasionally more intense pain, but the intense pain tends to go quickly (unlike before, when it would last for days)and seems to be related to the quantity of IF that I have eaten.
I saw the GI doctor last week and am waiting for the results of his tests. Although I still have this dull pain some of the time, generally I am feeling much better. At first, I kept thinking that the bad pains I had all spring and summer would come back, but as yet they haven't. I always have really bad bowel pains in the week before my period, but although the pain is more noticeable at this time, it's nothing like as crippling as it was. I find it hard to believe at times, but I am hopeful that, after all these years, having tried all kinds of diets, at last I have found one that will actually help me to be free from pain most of the time. And I'm actually enjoying food again!
It has been such a help to find other people on these boards with similar problems. Like Heather, I used to think I was the only person who felt like this, especially as I am pain-predominant.
I hope you find my success so far encouraging. You have certainly encouraged me!
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Hi Rio, WOW--I am so glad that you responded to my post because I really needed to hear from someone just like you. You and I are so similar in our history--except I have only been suffering for about 3.5 months or so. NOTHING compared to you 30 years! I don't know how you could bare the pain for so long. It is very good that you are getting wonderful results from the dietary changes. I too am doing great on the diet and enjoy cooking so much! I have really had to learn to cook these past few months and I find it very therapeutic and empowering. Food use to scare me so much!
Keep me posted on your progress. I would like to know how you are doing on the diet and if you pain is improving, etc. Thanks again for sharing your story and I hope to keep up with you on the boards.
Best,
Sufie
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I have had to learn to cook too! I enjoy it very much but I use to eat anything ready made from Trader Joe's or just a simple salad all the time. Once IBS hit and I finally had some kind of diagnoses I found this website and ordered Heather's cook book, which is my savior. I don't know what I would have done if it were not for Heather and everything she has done to help us IBS folks.
I look forward to stabilizing and know I can do it. Thanks again for your support and leaving me an open door to ask questions--I will definitly contact you again.
By the way, did you ever keep a food journal to figure out what bothered you, etc? Thanks again.
Sufie
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Hi again, question: how did you keep track of what bothered you food wise, etc.? Did you keep a food journal? How did you learn what the cuplrit was if you had an attack? Thanks again.
Sufie
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No, I did not keep a journal, but keeping track of what I eat is really easy and I do not need a journal. I eat only a small set of foods...
Well, about cookbooks, I find Heather's recipes too weird for my taste for the most part. Of course, I come from Eastern Europe, so that might be one reason (I am just used to different food). There is still no recipe I have liked from that book, but the information in it is AMAZING, it empowers you to modify your own recipes and know what's going to be good/bad for you.
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Hi Sufie,
I will certainly keep you posted on my progress with the diet and follow yours, too.
My problems with abdominal pain are complicated because I was born with a large extra loop of colon and without the large bowel being attached to the stomach wall, hence the years of pain. I have had some surgery which has inevitably resulted in adhesions, which I think has worsened the pain. My doctors have always thought that IBS featured quite strongly as a major source of pain. Logically, if my gut is calmer, there won't be so much twisting and pulling inside - therefore less pain. So I hope that I continue to stabilise and enjoy more pain-free times.
And I am doing lots more cooking now - batch baking and freezing supplies of Heather's zucchini bread and maple oat bread to take as snacks to work.
Hope you continue to enjoy your cooking - have a good day.
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Oh, I see. Sorry to learn about your surgery. That definitly poses a little more of a challenge for you but seems like you are strong enough to overcome it. I will look forward to hearing from you!
Sufie
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