Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Hi everyone (another new person, currently bent over in pain)

Hi everyone,

I've only been reading this board since yesterday but it has been SOOOOO helpful that I thought I'd say hi and share my own little IBS story so far. I'm currently in some serious pain with bloating/gas which I have just discovered from these boards is probably from the Metamucil I just took in an attempt to deal with constipation.

I was diagnosed with IBS a few months ago after weeks of horrible, painful and humiliating tests that I'm sure many/most of you have been through... they thought maybe it was gallstones, but it wasn't in the right place, the x-rays and spectrascopy and air contrast enema, all negative. And in the end, the only thing left was IBS (and the symptoms definitely fit).

I think I've had it for a long time--I used to spend HOURS in the bathroom in high school, with alternating diarrhea and constipation, and lately (I'm just out of college and in my first job) mostly constipation. I was diagnosed as lactose intolerant in high school (and I definitely am lactose intolerant) but it was just so frustrating since stopping the dairy didn't stop all of the pain. And lately the pain was getting so bad I had trouble walking and was calling in sick to work way too often... And even when I'm not in serious pain, I just feel awful and bloated and yucky and miserable and my normally loose pants feel tight and I just want to crawl into a corner and hide!

Also, I love food and have a strong appetite but food has become such a miserable thing lately, every time I want to eat I have no idea what to make, how to find time to make it, and I just worry that no matter what I'm going to feel sick. I'm starting the diet today (just did my grocery shopping) but I have to say I'm nervous about sticking to it... the idea of eating white bread instead of whole wheat just sounds scary, but I'll do whatever I have to do to feel better. I worry that I won't get enough vegetables (which I basically already stopped eating because of the awful pain every time I had a salad). I feel like a lot of people I know have been pretty unsympathetic to how big of a deal food and food restrictions can become and I'm embarassed to explain why I can't eat this or that or why I can't drink at a bar, etc.

Anyway, thanks for all the helpful messages... and Heather, thank you so much for the advice in your book (I bought the First Year book), it makes me feel like I'm not doomed to dread every meal and spend half my life in the bathroom.

best
Mikhaela (in Brooklyn, NY)

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