How do you manage daily life with IBS-D?

Posted by pjss48 @pjss48, Dec 11, 2018

I have IBS with diarrhea. I'm taking med for it. Had several bowel movements already today. How do you get things done in house and go out on errands and going to Dr appointments? Driving me crazy!

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Jealous you're in Canada

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Appreciate your experiences & ideas. Lentils not allowed in my diet. Had not thought of Beano at the start of meals. Please keep helpers coming. Learned a relative has similar ISB-D, though milder than me. Do genetics play a role?

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Profile picture for wdywms @wdywms

Appreciate your experiences & ideas. Lentils not allowed in my diet. Had not thought of Beano at the start of meals. Please keep helpers coming. Learned a relative has similar ISB-D, though milder than me. Do genetics play a role?

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@wdywms - here's a Mayo Clinic article about IBS you may want to check out:

- Irritable bowel syndrome https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20360016

A key sentence in this article that relates to your question directly says one risk factor for IBS is:

- Have a family history of IBS. Genes may play a role, as may shared factors in a family's environment or a combination of genes and environment.

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Profile picture for gussie @gussie

I have had IBS-D for over 40 years and for me any beans are the worse thing I can eat. I have also been gluten free for 14 years and that has helped a lot. I am going to be 84 next month and I have just discovered that if I take a Beano before any meal I am not running to the bathroom. In fact it has made me a little constipated. I used to take one before a meal heavy in fiber but now I take it before anything I eat. IBS effects everyone differently you just have to see what works for you.

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I have been followed for IBS-D for 3+ years. Read in a health watch magazine exercises for pelvic floor & core areas helps those with urinary incontinence, which I do not have. Have exercises helped those with IBS-D?

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My husband has suffered from watery diarrhea for 11 years following intestinal surgery for appendix cancer. It is severe, multiple times a day (understatement), and life-altering! No suggestions but I do understand.

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Profile picture for dboesten @dboesten

My husband has suffered from watery diarrhea for 11 years following intestinal surgery for appendix cancer. It is severe, multiple times a day (understatement), and life-altering! No suggestions but I do understand.

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Hi, @dboesten - having watery diarrhea for 11 years sounds really tough for your husband. Is he considered to have IBS-D at this time?

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Profile picture for dboesten @dboesten

My husband has suffered from watery diarrhea for 11 years following intestinal surgery for appendix cancer. It is severe, multiple times a day (understatement), and life-altering! No suggestions but I do understand.

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Yes, it is challenging to live with. I was told IBS-D is difficult to treat. Keep being told to try different GI meds "to bind me" but they do not. At least we can support one another.

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Profile picture for wdywms @wdywms

Yes, it is challenging to live with. I was told IBS-D is difficult to treat. Keep being told to try different GI meds "to bind me" but they do not. At least we can support one another.

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IBS is nothing but a name they put on diarrhea or consitpation when they don't know what else to call it. After gallbladder removed I had issues with diarrhea for two years now. Never went the meds route but took the supplements route and food elimination route, still nothing was standing out for correction of it. Went to a GI doc and she immediately threw drugs at me to bind up the bile and said here try these for 8 weeks see if these work claiming I had classic symptoms of Bile Acid Malabsorption. She refused to take the two tests that definitely define that BAM is the cause of the diarrhea after gallbladder surgery. So will not go back to her. Right now I am 1 week with no sugar and low fat (75 grams a day or less) along with increased fiber. And guess what....no diarrhea. I believe it is the sugar that has been aggravating my system. Will stick to it. Sugar is not good anyway.

IBS is difficult to treat because they won't do testing for things such as low stomach acid, or bile malabsorption, or so many other things that can cause the problems. Also hard to treat because there is no one single thing that is the cause for everyone. Each person is unique and each person will have foods that can irritate it....it's a process that is unique to each. Thus making it harder to treat.

As for pelvic floor weakness....yes it helps, it's not just for urinary incontinence--it's all connected in there and if we have weak pelvic floor muscles (men have it too) we can't hold our poop or pee very well.

A GI mapping will look at any gut dysbiosis where there are bacterias that shouldn't be at certain levels are taking over causing diarrhea and such. Surgeries of any kind along with cancer and it's treatment I believe cause create havoc. Antibiotics are known to mess with the gut which is why diarrhea is the first side effect. It kills off or wards off not only the bad bacteria but the good and throws our system out of balance causing diarrhea. I have no doubt in my mind that cancer drugs do the same thing.

Everything starts in our gut. And when it out of balance we suffer all over.
Find a functional medicine doctor who is more knowledgable about this as a regular medical doctor isn't. Work together with both functional and regular medicine to find what will help you. I believe there is a place and need for both.

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I am 73 and have dealt with this since I was 4. At age 10 I knew where every bathroom was in Disneyland. I plotted out rest stops when I traveled. I made lifestyle changes for travel.
Hormones made it worse, stress made it worse….
Exercise made it better… probably because it reduced stress. Best wishes that you find something that works for you .

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Profile picture for Lisa Lucier, Moderator @lisalucier

Hi, @dboesten - having watery diarrhea for 11 years sounds really tough for your husband. Is he considered to have IBS-D at this time?

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No, he hasn't gotten a clear diagnosis. No diet or med has helped much at all. Hopefully, the referral to Mayo is going to pay off!

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