Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Haven't heard of it, but

Hi - Try Benefiber, Citrucel, Equalactin, and/or Fibercon. You might have to try all of them to find the one that is most tolerable for you. What gave your mom gas won't necessarily do that to you. There is a LOT of individual variation here, unfortunately - makes it very hard to just give one recommendation to everyone. Do avoid anything with psyllium and artificial sweeteners.

Soluble fiber supplements normalize both d and c, and keep you normal. There's detailed info here web page If you hang on till tomorrow I'll have the acacia info up and you can read that too - I'm hoping that it is more tolerable than any of the other supplements on the market. Clinical studies point to that, and I've had terrific results from it...but again, that individual variation is always the wild card.

Also - the Chinese tea your mom is using is probably an herbal laxative - bad idea. Her bowel can get dependent on it just like a drug, and stop working on its own. She should really try to wean herself off of that and onto a soluble fiber supplement. If she has ulcerative colitis (just "colitis" is an old-fashioned term for IBS) then she needs to see a doc, because she definitely should not be using herbal laxatives. If she really has IBS instead, she'll have to try Benefiber, Equalactin, etc. and see what type works best for her (might not be what works best for you). Citrucel is usually pretty well tolerated, but she may have used the artificially sweetened kind (which can cause huge problems). Also, she should be carefully incorporating insoluble fiber foods into her diet by cooking/blending/pureeing and combining them with soluble fiber. Fresh fruit smoothies, blended veggie soups, etc.

- 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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