IBS Tales

men conquering diarrhea - page seven

The tale of...Pete

I no longer have IBS! I had been diagnosed with IBS and had suffered with it for 12 years. My worst symptom was regular explosive diarrhea right after breakfast and right after lunch. As you can guess, it limited my social life and I had some really close embarrassing moments during those 12 years.

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During those 12 years the doctors would listen and said that it was IBS and they always gave me a diarrhea medicine. On 4 January of this year, my daughter said that she had a friend who had the same symptoms and that I should be checked for an allergy to wheat/gluten.

Instead of getting checked out, I cut out all of wheat-based foods - breads, cookies, donuts, cakes, soups, some candies, some sauces and soups, all cereals other than cornflakes, and on and on...within one week of my removal of wheat products from my meals, my diarrhea went away. And I have only had diarrhea twice in eight months! I’m a normal person again. Just think, after 12 years I cured myself with the help of a friend. A wheat, rye, and barley-free diet’s not the most pleasant diet as you eat a lot of corn products, but it’s a god-sent cure for me.

E-mail Pete: petemcdaniel[at]hotmail.com

The tale of...Dutch

My wife had a bottle of liquid aloe vera around the house and I decided to try it for my gerd...the day after I took it my stomach started to feel better. I have been taking it for about two weeks and my IBS is 80% better. I take George's aloe vera. No additives, no water added, two ounces twice a day after a meal. You can take with juice or water or as is. There is no taste. I can't believe how much better I feel...Oh and guess what! The gerd is gone!

E-mail Dutch: olthoffd[at]yahoo.com

The tale of...Jeff

I have had dyspepsia (excess stomach acid) on and off for about 15 years, and it has been worst for the past three years. Several months ago I developed IBS symptoms and my GI doctor confirmed that IBS was probably what I had. My symptoms were less severe than a lot of people and consisted mostly of bloating and constant pain with some diarrhea. Symptoms came and went in three or four-day cycles.

I tried the IBS diet by Heather Van Vorous, and it kind of worked. The best thing about that diet was that I ate healthier (although my IBS was not cured). I then tried the hypnotherapy CDs (IBS Audio Program 100) from Great Britain, and those worked better than the diet. I also used meditation and yoga (which I have practised for years), which worked on my IBS-related stress but not really on the IBS.

However, the breakthrough for me was unexpected. I was on a camping trip about two months after my first symptoms had developed and I stopped at a beautiful overlook (Needles Overlook in Utah, just south of Moab). The sun was coming up, the weather was perfect and nobody was there but me. It was one of those perfect moments after a couple of tough months struggling with IBS.

Suddenly, I had this feeling from who knows where, and I said out loud "I am not going to let this IBS run my life starting right now". I said it right from my heart, and I have never felt stronger about any statement that I have ever made. I felt like that statement was from something larger than myself.

Since that moment, my symptoms have mostly disappeared. The other day, I tried this with the dyspepsia and it has worked, although the experience was not nearly as strong. I guess in the end, I no longer give IBS any attention nor do I feed it any mental energy. I don't follow the IBS diets, although I do eat healthily and avoid certain foods/beverages.

Obviously, it is not so easy for many IBS sufferers, and it is impossible not to give attention to your guts when they are ripping apart. However, I did find that not giving it attention was the best remedy for me. I am fairly convinced that it will not come back in force for me. Don't infer that I think "it is all in your head". I don't - I am just sharing what worked for me. Good luck to everyone.

E-mail Jeff: rnbjrb[at]yahoo.com

The tale of...Peter

My first IBS attack was after a long night of partying five years ago. After this, there was never a social event that didn’t hold some distress for me. The main problems were long journeys and dinners. After dinners I had to run to the toilet, but of course, in the most embarrassing moments I was far away from any nearby convenience. As with other IBS-D people, half of my attention during social events was always on the toilet door. I found myself constantly worrying whether it would be occupied or not, what people will hear when I am inside, etc… It was really exhausting.

I could manage long journeys by not eating and taking Imodium before them, but these actions didn’t help with the horrible distress and small panic attacks which awaited me on the bus or in the car. What a loss if I think about how much I could have enjoyed, the nice view or a long and calm sleep as most people do. But I tried not to miss any events because of IBS.

After a couple of embarrassing events, I decided to learn a relaxation technique where I can visualize situations and prepare myself for them. Unfortunately the psychologist who taught me this convinced me of the delusion that it is “all is in your mind, this is not a body thing”. Subsequently the technique helped me a lot to fight the panic attacks, but couldn’t help the body functions heal.

These years were when I became religious. If I only take the psychological benefits from being religious, it helps me understand that not every event, not even within my body, is always in my control. I have to accept that if I was destined to suffer from this syndrome, I have to firmly keep on healing myself, because I can learn a lot from it about my body and soul.

I saw that being in the city and the stress of work caused a lot of suffering from IBS. I decided to get out and move to another country, into the desert. As an engineer, until then I didn’t know what it meant to do physical work on the fields. This decision was part of my thinking that I won’t let IBS have control over me, and I won’t let nice things pass because of it.

A year ago I decided to see a gastro specialist. She diagnosed me with lactose intolerance and IBS, and gave me some medications. But instead of taking them I went to see a doctor who was also an expert in homeopathy. She collected all of the information including my health history and family relations, bodily and psychological reasons for IBS. She gave me argentum nitricum and aloe, and other treatments. Because of them, most of the body symptoms of IBS left me. I still have problems with distress in social events and journeys, but I think it won’t last long.

E-mail Peter: rpsymon[at]gmail.com

The tale of...Ruben

I have had IBS-diarrhea for nine years. I've tried different medicines and remedies and nothing has helped much. I was at my wits' end! Then I read a book called A New IBS Solution. It talks about how fructose, corn syrup and diet sugars can cause havoc within our digestive system.

I started reading labels on everything I ate. Anything that had fructose or corn syrup in it I quit eating. After a couple days I started feeling better and I haven't had diarrhea for a month and a half! I told my doctor and he said I probably have fructose intolerance or fructose malabsorption. All I know is I'm eating better and feeling better than ever.

The tale of...TDL

I began having bouts of uncontrollable diarrhea when I was about 28. Over a period of about two years the length of each bout increased and got worse, until I was 30, when I had a bout that seemed to go on forever. It started at the beginning of the year and still hadn’t finished by three-quarters of the way through the year. Complicating the situation was that I also had bleeding when I would go to the toilet. I didn't have hardly any of the sharp pains or nausea that some people talk about, although a few times I have had a little of both - so little that it is not worth mentioning.

Doctor visits and internet research gave me a lot of information, but I didn’t know how to start or what would work for me. So, I pretty much tried it all - peppermint capsules and tea, calcium carbonate tablets, ginger tea, avoiding lactose, avoiding gluten, trying an exclusion diet.

The calcium carbonate tablets kind of worked, but they left me very thirsty and anaemic due to the fact that they block iron from being absorbed. The peppermint capsules and tea didn’t do anything for me, except slow down any uncontrollable diarrhea. The problem with IBS-D is that there are so many factors of life that can possibly be to blame.

I basically took the approach that my body is a temple, therefore anything that it is ‘rejecting’ so quickly must be a problem for me. You will find some information that seems to show that diet is not that important in controlling IBS-D - I completely disagreed and trusted my own body to find the answer.

The problem with my approach was that I pretty much refused to let a doctor remedy me with drugs, instead preferring to change my lifestyle or habits. This took the best part of a year to eventually work it out, and in the process I lost a lot of weight. I wasn’t sure at the time if it was due to eating less to avoid diarrhea, or due to decreased absorption of my food intake because of it passing through my system quicker.

A colonoscopy and endoscopy diagnosed that I had no problems with my intestinal architecture, and I had some simple haemorrhoids - probably a result of prolonged diarrhea. Importantly, it ruled out celiac disease, which I figured I had because some of my relatives had it.

In the end, it wasn’t specialist or doctor visits that helped me, it was (free) online research of all of the possibilities. I finally realised that some of the things that I thought were healthy, made me have IBS-D – fruits. I figured that fruits were part of man's evolution and were healthy, not realising that the nature of fruit growing has changed since millions of years ago.

Fruits these days are much bigger, and have far more sugar than those found in the past. Also, I had always suspected that fatty and oily foods made me feel sick, but I discounted the effects of seemingly minor amounts of oils in foods. So, I ended up on a wasteful tail-chase, trying to nail down the effects of gluten, lactose and preservatives on my intestines.

I will paint a picture of how I typically slipped into an IBS-D bout: it starts with a bit of stress, probably at the workplace. Stress makes me feel like eating less (some people are the opposite and eat much more), therefore when I do eat I want quick energy. Quick energy is code for junk food - coke, ice creams, burgers, chips.

Soon afterwards, my intestines have trouble converting some of these sugars and fats, which creates gas. Do this often enough, and the stool will get softer and softer and eventually turn to diarrhea. Basically, the body is saying: "Hey, get a grip man! Stop trying to kill me with stuff that I don’t want and can’t get rid of easily. That’s it. I’m chucking this stuff out onto the kerb. How do you like that?"

So the solution, for me, is to eat regularly, food that doesn't ’t include lots of sugars or fats/oils. On top of this, I have a tablespoon of psyllium husks per day and three peppermint capsules. If I only have the psyllium husks my stool is fairly consistent but my bowel movements are more frequent. The peppermint capsules slow down the movements to once per day or so. The other day I had McDonald's coke, fries and a burger - that night and until the next day, mid-morning, I had gas and rumblings.

If you want to check the effects of sugars on your system, drink a coke and see if you have lots of gas about two or so hours afterwards. If you want to check the effects of oils/fats on your system, make a salad and put a fair portion of oil on it and check what it does to you.

Because of my experiences, I believe that stress is the beginning and the end for me - everything seems to stem from that. I never thought I would say that, because it sounds so airy-fairy, but see for yourself, it can lead to bad eating habits, which lead to everything else.

Good luck working out what seems to cause your system issues. I spent ages trying to work it out and I got very unhappy at times and frustrated. I am glad to be posting a happy story on IBS Tales...finally.

E-mail TDL: eternity4032[at]yahoo.com

The tale of...D

As a teenager I did not have the best digestion. However, I do not recall being significantly affected by it. I did however have difficult teenage years socially as I was bullied and, with hindsight, developed a social phobia. Although I went to an all boys school and was having difficulties coming to terms with being gay, the bullying did not take the form of homophobia.

My first relationship started in September 1994 and I started university in October 1995. In early 1997 it was clear that my partner and I were growing apart and so I split up with him. At the end of l997 I met P. I believe P was my first true love and it was when he split up with me in about August 1998 that my IBS symptoms began in full.

I remember a few weeks after splitting up with him I was seeing someone else and I had eaten a bagel and I had the most awful stomach ache the next day. These stomach aches did not go away and I remember trying to eat more fiber to see if that would help but it didn't.

I started my new university (I was to study a PhD) in October 1998. I remember through 1998 and 1999 having an upset stomach and douching, as I thought the pain was constipation, though this did help a bit. Unfortunately I tended to do this before I went out and I tended to have an "accident" just before I got to the pub/club.

I was still pretty messed up over the split with P and on New Year's Eve I did my first E. In 1999 I feel that I was very unhappy and started smoking and doing speed and E. During this period I discovered that taking drugs got rid of the stomach pain. Throughout that year I was still seeing P and we were sleeping together, and eventually we started going out again. However towards the end of the year, I was taking drugs to get rid of the pain so that I would feel like sex.

Unfortunately, although I was doing all that was required for my PhD, I was also required to go to France, which as I did not speak French and was still socially phobic was too difficult for me and so I dropped out at the end of 1999.

In 2000, P started going a bit crazy and I was feeling trapped and so we split up. Although I split up with him, I was devastated. In March 2000, my life began to improve as I got a good graduate job and bought my own flat. I also started to go to the doctor to talk about my stomach aches and was diagnosed with IBS and prescribed Colofac (mebeverine hydrochloride) and a soluble fibre. These did little to ease my symptoms and I remember drinking too much to ease the symptoms.

I started a relationship with S sometime in 2001. I do not think I was particularly fond of him but I was very lonely. I changed jobs in 2002 and he moved with me. I really hated the new place I was working and my IBS was progressively getting worse. I was also beginning to seriously dislike S as he never seemed to do anything except lie about the house (he did not work or do house work) but felt that no-one else would have me because of my stomach aches.

In 2003, I finally took control of my life and split up with S. I also began to look on the internet to try to work out how I could improve my symptoms. I cut out gluten and things started to improve. I was also running and going to the gym. I was however extremely lonely and was finding it very hard to make new friends. I also changed jobs to try to improve my happiness at work.

At the beginning of 2004, I met someone very special on the internet. We talked for weeks both online and on the phone and both became obsessed with each other. He lived quite a long way away and it would have been difficult for us to meet. We first met in February 2004 and he moved in with me soon after (and we are still together). Although my feelings for him were not as intense as those for P, they are much deeper and broader and I feel that he is my soul mate.

Unfortunately I began to be bullied by my line manager in June 2004 and in 2005, although I was still looking for my IBS triggers, my symptoms were getting a lot worse. Fortunately I found out that not only was I sensitive to foods but also to certain chemicals (things like some detergents, fabric conditioners and varnishes) and once I avoided those my health improved.

So all in all I have discovered that cutting out the following helps my IBS symptoms:

I again changed sections at work but continued to be bullied. I resigned in 2007 and started a new job in a great place.

So overall, cutting out the above has helped significantly. That is not to say I do not get stomach aches, but they are manageable. I would guess that having a loving partner and a reasonably stress-free job also helps.

The tale of...Matthew

I am a 26 year-old who was diagnosed with IBS after numerous intensive tests and visits to my gastroenterologist about four years ago. During the first year of IBS, I couldn't bear the pain and suffering. By the grace of God, after about a year, this so called flare-up had ended and I was pain-free for nearly two and a half years. Basically, during those years, I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

Well, this was fine and dandy until about four months ago. This time, the flare-up was back with a vengeance. I studied, using the internet and this website as a guide, and found what I call a great solution to ease the suffering and/or pain. My solution...I'm on Bentyl 10mg three times a day. I wake up in the morning, and take my Bentyl an hour or so before I eat something with 8-16oz water. Fifteen minutes before I eat, I take an acidophilus caplet with 8-16oz water. You can get these at any pharmacy or Trader Joe's store.

For breakfast, I usually eat something light such as two plain toasted pieces of white bread and a banana. Stick to Heather Van Vorous' IBS cheat sheet. Then, 15 minutes before I eat lunch, I take another acidophilus. Today it was grilled chicken, rice and steamed green beans, no butter on anything, but the chicken was marinated in a delicious non-spicy Hawaiian marinade. An hour or so after lunch, I drink a cup of decaffeinated green tea. Two hours after that, it's time for my second dose of Bentyl with 8-16oz water. I try to take this every seven or eight hours as directed.

After work, I head to the gym and run/workout on the treadmill. When I get home, I take my third acidophilus 15 minutes before dinner. This time for dinner I incorporate a little more insoluble fiber into my diet. Lastly, before bed I take my last and final Bentyl of the day with 8-16oz water.

The other factor to consider is that I drink room temperature water frequently all day. Again, this is not a cure but simply a solution that I found is working well and I am greatly satisfied. My pain is very mild, sometimes even faint, and my gas, bloating, etc has pretty much dissipated. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being extreme pain, I'm about 1-2 now. My intent and my hope is that this would work for someone else as well...

E-mail Matthew: matt[at]skelleytech.com

The tale of...William

I have tried a few different meds and diet alterations lately - calcium citrate stopped me going so often which was a start. I read on this site about Pau D'arco, and I really have to say it's unbelievable (touch wood). I noticed effects within a few hours of taking my first pill. My bloating is virtually all gone, and I feel human again. I don't have to run to the toilet first thing in the morning anymore.

It's natural, relatively cheap (£11 for 100 capsules - they say you can take up to three a day) and it just works. My bowel movements aren't 100% but they are getting better every day. I just hope it lasts. I really owe you a huge debt having brought this thing to my attention. It's changed my life. I can't believe it.

The tale of...William

My IBS is diarrhea-predominant and I suffer on a daily basis. I am 27 and I have suffered since I was 20 years old. It began at a stressful point in my life - my long-term partner had just given birth to my lovely baby daughter, I had a highly stressful job as a chef, and I was working long hours. It just tweaked at work one day and ever since it has maintained itself to the same standard.

Since it began I have lost my job as my employers didn't understand, and my long-term relationship managed only another two years before ending too. I went into a big lull, and I had lots of tests etc to no avail.

But I never let it take total control of my life. I had parents who didn't really bother with me and I was in the big wide world at 16 with no help from them. In the last year I have really started to get to grips with the limit to which I can actually do things when I am suffering, and I have gone on to have a fairly normal life.

I started university and made the mistake of telling someone in my flat about the IBS. The phrase used by him a few weeks after was "Don't take him, he's like a dog, needs to go to the toilet all the time". This was said in front of a large group and it deflated me a little. I have since abandoned him as a friend and decided to keep it to myself again.

I have just completed my first year of university with good grades and my life is fairly happy in between attacks. My IBS is treated with codeine phosphate and loperamide and I am still seeking the perfect balance to at least give me a couple of days off the pain.

E-mail William: w.j.burton[at]dundee.ac.uk

The tale of...Steve

When I was about 17, I visited a gastroenterologist because I was having a lot of gut problems, mostly constipation. Everyone told me it was all in my head, and since the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with me through a series of rather uncomfortable tests, I was diagnosed with IBS. He told me to take fiber supplements and probiotics.

While these helped, when I was 19 I had a sudden swing to diarrhea, and it was terrible. My insurance wouldn't cover me to see the gastroenterologist again unless I went through another series of tests from my primary care physician. The diarrhea was getting worse, and I was getting to the point where I couldn't concentrate because I was so afraid I'd have to run out to the bathroom while I was taking a final in college. I was taking Imodium from time to time, but I was afraid of taking too much of a drug.

I decided to do a little searching, and found this website. When I saw a lot of diarrhea sufferers were taking Caltrate calcium, I decided to try it. Boy, that was a lifesaver! I can't be more thankful for finding this website and listening to that advice. The Caltrate makes me feel a little constipated, but I feel MUCH better than I have in the past six months! Now, I'm applying for MD/PhD programs (keeping my fingers crossed) in hopes that I will be able to help bring IBS the attention it deserves. I hope everyone can have success in dealing with their symptoms. As I've discovered, there's no harm in trying things every once in a while!

The tale...of Alicia's husband

This is a story of finding a cure for my husband's IBS. My husband suffered from a 'weak stomach' from the time he was a child. He was never positive for allergy for a single food. His problem got worse and worse as he got older. Six years ago, he was at the point where he was in the bathroom with cramps and diarrhea every two or three nights, with two or three episodes each night. One doctor tried a liquid diet, followed by saltine crackers, which seemed to nearly kill him. Finally he decided to use an elimination diet to find out what the problem was.

We decided to cut out all forms of the food items that cause most allergies, wheat (and all gluten, even hidden gluten like 'natural flavors') and dairy. According to what I read, it could take 10 days to make a difference. After four days of this diet, he was symptom-free. After 10 days, we tried putting dairy back into his diet, and discovered that his problem was only wheat and gluten.

He has remained symptom-free, except when he has accidentally or purposely ingested gluten. He no longer has a 'weak stomach'. He can eat the greasiest, spiciest stuff you can imagine, as long as it does not contain gluten. The exception is that he also has a problem with oatmeal.

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