Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | This afternoon's visit to my Gastro doc

I am so, so ridiculously excited right now.

I hadn't seen my gastro since October because I'd just been putting it off and putting it off and you know how that goes. Anyway, I was telling him about everything I've been doing for my tummy and he said that there is some new research being done (or was just finished) by a researcher in California on the bacteria in the small bowel. The researcher has been using a non-absorbant antibiotic (meaning it doesn't get absorbed by any of your organs and ends up in your small bowel, where it does it's job there) along with a small dose of Zelnorm to keep the gut clean and has seen dramatic, dramatic improvement in more than 75% of his patients.

Really, at this point, I'd try anything. But my doctor is so enthusiastic at this drug, based on the results he's seen in his own patients... well, I'm just so excited! So, he gave me a prescription for "Xifaxin" and I'm going to give it my best shot. I will absolutely let you all know how it goes.

As for those of you concerned about taking Miralax, don't be. According to my doc, Miralax is an osmotic laxative - meaning it works just like SFS to pull the water into your colon to make the stools softer. Meaning it will not create dependency. He says it's safe to use for the rest of my life.

Also, for those of you concerned with my magnesium intake, don't be about that, either. According to my doc (once again), Magnesium is very hard for the body to absorb, which is why it is a good stool softener - the majority of it gets passed right through your body. He said the only time it could be dangerous is if you had kidney failure... but large amounts of magnesium do not CAUSE kidney failure, it just could be problematic if you had the two together.

And for you, Augie: He said that you should take Milk of Magnesia daily, which works just as well as a SFS. He said it won't cause dependency and should work just as well as miralax (hopefully better than miralax for you) and SFS's.

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Elizabeth

all those years it wasn't IBS - it was celiac!
send me an email: liz@dopple.net

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