I found this site in May 2004, a little before I actually registered. At the time, my IBS was so bad that I literally could not eat a thing. I was living on crackers and Coke (hey, I didn't know any better!), and I was drastically underweight, with my doctor threatening to hospitalize me. For the record, it was low-carb dieting that triggered the IBS flare that made me this sick... it set me into a downward spiral that I just could not get out of. I got sicker and sicker, and a few people close to me actually thought I was dying.
But then I found Heather and this site. I read through EVERY WORD of the site and it made a lot of sense to me. I started right away with the "what to eat when you can't eat anything" list, and registered on the boards a month later, when I saw how supportive and good about answering questions people were.
I won't lie - it was TOUGH. Fortunately, I didn't go through any real food-craving problems, because at that point I was literally not eating anything, but since it was so difficult for me to eat, it took a LONG time for even the slightest improvements. (One of the keys to the diet working is that you do actually eat, hehe.) I also had some long-standing anxiety problems to work through, as those were contributing to my IBS problems too, and that's something else that Heather recommends. This isn't just a "diet", it's a whole-lifestyle change. With all the emphasis on SF vs. IF here on the boards, I think sometimes people forget that part.
Anyway, so progress was kind of slow, but it happened. I guess I was about 4 months or so on the diet (my memory is pretty bad) before I started to see improvements. A little more than a year after I started, I considered myself "stable". I was no longer afraid to leave the house, a prisoner of my bathroom, or constantly worried about attacks.
And now I've been stable for going on 2 years!  I've had IBS since I was a child, and I can honestly say that this is the longest period of stability I've ever had. It's fantastic! Heather gave me my life back!  And the people here on the boards who've helped me over the years - many of whom, sadly, don't post here anymore (but that's the way the internet goes) - really helped change my attitude about IBS, so that even when the occasional bad days do happen, it's no longer the soul-crushing, panic-attack-inducing experience that it used to be.
I'm so glad you're going at this with a renewed sense of commitment!  I hope you have the same success that a lot of us have had, and I think you know that if you have any questions - or even just need moral support - we're here for ya.
Oh yeah, one more thing: peppermint and reflux do NOT mix!
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Success story (kinda long)
