men suffering diarrhea - page eight
The tale of...Ethan
I am 28 years old. I have been suffering from what the doctors think is IBS, and after reading some of the stories here I believe they are right. It all started about four years ago...I would use the restroom every now and then and be in there for about 20 minutes, but I would feel fine after I was done. Slowly, day by day it became worse. I now wake up in the morning and I am in the restroom for at least an hour and a half. I have to go back no less than four times a day.
I never have relief and I always look for a restroom whenever I go anywhere (which is hardly ever). I have horrible pains and I feel like I am going crazy after being on the toilet for so long. I am late to everything or don't even make it half the time and my wife (poor thing) has to call and cancel our plans. I feel so bad for my wife because this is all she knows of me. I can't plan anything special for her because I don't know if I'll be around to enjoy it.
I am trapped on a toilet more than half of my day. When my wife says "Go say hi to Daddy" my children know to go look in the restroom. I have tried almost everything and nothing works for me. I thank you for listening and want to let others know they are not alone. If anyone has any advice...please send it my way. Good luck to you all and God Bless!
E-mail Ethan: EMAJBlair9[at]aol.com
The tale of...Kostantinos
I am 23 years old and I've suffered from IBS since I was 16 years old. A stressful incident at school before the exams triggered my condition and since then my life is ruined. The first few months I spent my whole summer sitting on a damn toilet while other kids went for sunbathing and swimming and making relationships and having a great time...I felt terrible.
I went to a doctor after a while, had painful examinations of all kinds, and was given some pills which didn't work. My last session with that doctor was when he told me "You should go to a shrink, I know someone to introduce you to..." and I felt terrible. I found out that there was no cure so I said to myself you should live with it.
I missed school many times, yet I managed to get into university. Sometimes I cried because of this problem, I missed many pleasures and said "Why can't I do what other people of my age do, I want to go out and have fun, return home as late as I want" but NO, I must think of where the toilet is every time my belly hurts or how long it takes me to get home.
Friends were telling me "Hey let's go out for a beer" and I always found numerous excuses instead, cause if you always say "No man, I got a gut-load waiting and I can't go out" no matter what friends you have they will never fully understand that it hurts and it ruins your life. Now they don't tell me to get out often.
I rarely go out for a dinner or a picnic, and when I do I eat nothing for 24 hours. In the morning I prepare myself one hour before I go somewhere just to empty my bowel and feel better. Same thing goes when going out for a drink. I feel terrible when telling my girlfriend that we can't go out because my belly hurts.
I hope the next time I tell my story will be when I tell you that the previous day I had a huge meal in a restaurant with all the goodies of the world and that afterwards I went out partying all night...I also wish the "big guys" of the world would do something about IBS and find a cure for it as with so many other diseases, because right now we are prisoners of our own bodies.
Although not as many men as women suffer from IBS this doesn't mean they suffer less...I am from Greece and I didn't know much about IBS as many people here don't, so thanks for the internet for that reason and letting me know I am not alone! I don't take drugs often since they do nothing, yet I am optimistic about the future, we will make it!
E-mail Kostantinos: god_warrax[at]hotmail.com
The tale of...Josh
Wow, I (Josh, 28) just stumbled on this page doing my typical searches for diarrhea. I saw Peter's story first, and as I read it, it sounded WORD FOR WORD what I have been going through. The whole not eating out, the timing of attacks after eating, etc. Everything is exactly the same so I won't bother repeating it. I am glad I found this page. It's hard to explain how comforting it is to read some of these stories and feel "Wow, that's just like me".
Mine started in 2000. I do have one embarrassing story which I'll write on another day - it's funny now, but wasn't so funny then LOL. At any rate, I went through blood tests, stool tests, CT scans, biopsies, the barium thing, upper GI, lower GI, flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, etc. I don't think there is anything I haven't done. I did gluten-free diets, lactose-free diets, and exclusion diets even to the point of crossing out ingredients with a sharpie and adding one at a time. I've tried anti-spasmodics, and that digestive advantage stuff. Basically I'm left with IBS as the only diagnosis.
In 2004 my sister started taking Lexapro 10mg for some anxiety before she would start teaching again in the fall. I looked it up for her to read about it and found that some people with IBS were given serotonin reuptake inhibitors to help with IBS symptoms. So I asked my GI specialist what he thought. He said "Well, Josh, you know, if it doesn't make you feel better, you'll be happier about being sick".
So I tried it. It did help tremendously when coupled with 2 to 4mg of Loperamide every day. I've been able to eat out sometimes although I still get a little anxious. I teach as well and keep a bottle of Loperamide in my closet. I was able to travel back to France for the first time last summer since all this started.
Occasionally I still have attacks, but the combination of the two keep them farther between. The awareness I feel of my mid-section has diminished; however, I'm still on the hunt to find that special something that can ensure that I won't have to rush home after eating.
I've decided to try and go to medical school in 2008 to be a gastroenterologist. I figure, I've read so much about it and everything else having to do with GI - I should put it to some good use. I sure as hell know I will be able to sympathise. Thank you Sophie for this site and to everyone else who has shared their stories!
E-mail Josh: hoffa23[at]att.net