IBS-C

@livefully OMG. I’m dying!!! This is one of the funniest endorsements for a product I’ve ever seen! I read it out loud to my visiting family members and we applauded your writing and creativity and obviously happy colon!

Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I hope we see more of you here. Do you have IBS-C (irritable bowel syndrome with constitution for those not ‘in the know’…or ‘in the go’)?

What brought you to Mayo Clinic Connect? Were you searching for a particular subject?
There are over 70 Groups in our wonderful community. We’re not medical professionals but people just like you who Connect with others. We share our stories, experiences and journeys to provide answers, encouragement or support for each other.

Here’s a link to some good tips for getting starting using the forum. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/get-started-on-connect/
Do you have any questions or concerns? Don’t hesitate to pop back in.
With great enjoyment, Lori

While I'm dealing with AFib I need to join a conversation on Uncontrollable bowels every morning. It's been going on for months. I seem to lose about 8oz a day. I thought I needed more fiber so added Psyllium Husk. Eating high fiber foods. Added magnesium but that seemed to make it worse. At least it's still light brown in color. I'm happy about the weight loss, but I feel like it's an unhealthy way. Can anyone guide me? Grandmajan

@livefully OMG. I’m dying!!! This is one of the funniest endorsements for a product I’ve ever seen! I read it out loud to my visiting family members and we applauded your writing and creativity and obviously happy colon!

Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I hope we see more of you here. Do you have IBS-C (irritable bowel syndrome with constitution for those not ‘in the know’…or ‘in the go’)?

What brought you to Mayo Clinic Connect? Were you searching for a particular subject?
There are over 70 Groups in our wonderful community. We’re not medical professionals but people just like you who Connect with others. We share our stories, experiences and journeys to provide answers, encouragement or support for each other.

Here’s a link to some good tips for getting starting using the forum. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/get-started-on-connect/
Do you have any questions or concerns? Don’t hesitate to pop back in.
With great enjoyment, Lori

Hello @livefully, I do agree with Lori, @loribmt, about your laugh-out-loud post about the squatty potty. It was really delightful!

I went to a pelvic floor therapist and heard about it from her. I didn't have the courage to go buy it. Maybe I'll do the online order.

Here is a link where you can find other discussion groups on Connect, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/groups. I hope you can find some other discussions to be a participant in.

Thanks again for joining Connect. If you care to share: what brought you to Connect?

Hi Lori,

So glad you enjoyed it. I figure laughter is the best medicine and if I can laugh about things, then I'll just keep getting better and better. Gracious, Ive had enough poop trauma and all other sorts of challenges that at some point you just have to laugh about it all.. its too unreal and your like "nobodys gonna believe this" so you at some point just have to laugh. Yeah, IBS is one of my diagnoses.. I got that diagnosis at age 17 which has been eons ago. (yikes!). Over the years, Ive been diagnosed and misdiagnosed with a lot of stuff. It's been a trip! Mayo is my 3rd research hospital and light-years different from anything I've experienced so far. Its been a great experience so far. It feels like my life has been one long process of physical challenges.. Ive experienced lots of bad medical care along the way but also some really great medical folks and care for which Im grateful. In the meantime, Ive also done everything I can think of to support health - you name it, I feel Ive done it. Clay baths, supplements, detox whatever, vegan, vegetarian, Paleo, grass-fed meats, sweat baths, etc etc. When your told over and over that you are "complicated" and "hard to figure out the medical" you tend to try anything you can on the side to help. When you also collect a gazillion diagnoses its like "forget it, I'll figure it out myself" (which is a joke). It was my stepbrother and physical therapist who encouraged me to give the medical field one more go of it and they suggested Mayo. So, my sister and I packed up the car and I called Mayo and was like "here I come ready or not". 🙂 For my upcoming third trip to them, I have a muscle biospy and in the meantime, after seeing 4 other departments there, Im working with the Integrative department. My challenge is gaining and keeping on weight. Mayo did figure out I have EILO (exercise-induced laryngospasm) and working with the speech therapist at Mayo, Ive got that more under control now which has been life-changing. Apparently my left vocal cord is smaller than my right which is quite the fun... The muscle biospy will tell us if there is a neuro component going on and if not, then the issue lies in the gut field. In the meantime, theyve had me start on the elemental diet and from there I'll transition to the SCD diet. Thats to get my SIBO under control. I keep struggling with SIBO which keeps me in a constant state of malnutrition. The bright side out of it is that Ive learned to become a really, really great alternative cook. I can make some mean mouth-watering meals. I will do anything to keep weight on.
I found Mayo Connect through the Mayo website. I tend to get crusty when folks try to tell me the latest "cure" or thing I should do. Im like "um, no way. Unless youve dealt wtih it yourself and are completely legit you just take your crazy ideas and head back the way you came". I figured people who post on Mayo connect are real patients who actually deal with the stuff so that was a plus. And I figured they were legit with it being Mayo and all. That was a huge draw. So here I am, pouring through the different forums and posts and gleaning info.
In the meantime, I enjoy writing. If I can write something from my experiences that makes me laugh and others laugh, then I figure the holy heck of whatever that experience was had some silver lining to it...
Cheers to you and thanks for the welcome. 🙂

Thanks Teresa for the welcome and the link! Do try the squatty potty. Ive never gone to a pelvic floor therapist but good to know they recommend it to. Lori was really swell and welcomed me also.. I replied to her telling her what brought me to Mayo connect. I'll let you read that versus me retelling it all. Glad to be here and thanks again for the welcome. 🙂

@livefully You’ve certainly been through the wringer over your lifetime with ‘belly wankers’ as our family calls anything to do with guts and entrails…

Thank you for sharing your journey with us!! Your experiences, diverse diagnoses and the way you’ve handled all of the life challenges with such aplomb shows a testimony to your strength and resilience. You truly deserve a gold star for your wonderful sense of humor through all of this.

I’m so happy you found the Mayo Clinic. It really is a medical organization unlike anything else and sets the standard of health care. It’s a shame not every medical experience is as positive. The collaborative medicine and integrated medicine approach to treatment and patient well being is the pinnacle of care. I call it being Mayo-naised. ☺️
Every time I return to ‘the mother ship’ the calming, quiet sense of assuredness from my doctors and the entire medical staff lets me know I’m in the best possible hands and there is hope.

I’m also happy, as are others, that you’ve found Mayo Clinic Connect. Yes, most of us are patients or caregivers looking for answers, a shoulder to lean on, encouragement and that all important word again, HOPE.
It’s great you’re perusing all the groups because the experiences and insights from your life journey, are of great value across the forum, along with your great sense of humor and positive attitude.

Which campus is your Mayo provider?

I go to the Flordia campus. I can't speak highly enough of the sleep, neuro, integrative, ENT, and speech therapy departments there. They are hands down amazing. On my first visit, during the last meeting of the last specialist (I saw all 5 departments on my first visit there..), at the end of the meeting with him, he ended it by giving me a really beautiful pep talk then putting a rock in my hand. When I turned it over it had the word "believe" etched into it. He said that on the days that are rough, and I struggle to believe things will physically get better, know that he and all of my care team at Mayo will believe for me. I about cried. That's when I knew that Id found really great care. That and the fact they all listened to me and worked collaboratively to problem solve was stunning. It really was a beautiful experience that gave me hope. It felt so great to feel hope. Yeah, I've carried that rock in my pocket every day since.
I'd like to claim I'm strong and resilient but truth is, it's my Mom and Sister and my physical therapists who I've worked with for 27 years that have carried me. If it weren't for them, I'd have given up a long, long time ago. I could write a book about all of the stories and in each story, you would see that it's those folks that have pushed me on. I can see my Grandmother smiling and whispering to me "It was Providence my dear. He knew what you needed.". Id have to agree and its at those moments that I have to whisper a thanks to God.

Speaking of Florida, its fun to go there cause its like a mini-vacation in a way. If you go to the Mayo there, do you have particular places you recommend staying at? We've tried some VRBOs so far and enjoyed one of them a lot. Is there a thread/posts on places to stay for the FL one? I have looked but havent found one so far.

I go to the Flordia campus. I can't speak highly enough of the sleep, neuro, integrative, ENT, and speech therapy departments there. They are hands down amazing. On my first visit, during the last meeting of the last specialist (I saw all 5 departments on my first visit there..), at the end of the meeting with him, he ended it by giving me a really beautiful pep talk then putting a rock in my hand. When I turned it over it had the word "believe" etched into it. He said that on the days that are rough, and I struggle to believe things will physically get better, know that he and all of my care team at Mayo will believe for me. I about cried. That's when I knew that Id found really great care. That and the fact they all listened to me and worked collaboratively to problem solve was stunning. It really was a beautiful experience that gave me hope. It felt so great to feel hope. Yeah, I've carried that rock in my pocket every day since.
I'd like to claim I'm strong and resilient but truth is, it's my Mom and Sister and my physical therapists who I've worked with for 27 years that have carried me. If it weren't for them, I'd have given up a long, long time ago. I could write a book about all of the stories and in each story, you would see that it's those folks that have pushed me on. I can see my Grandmother smiling and whispering to me "It was Providence my dear. He knew what you needed.". Id have to agree and its at those moments that I have to whisper a thanks to God.

Speaking of Florida, its fun to go there cause its like a mini-vacation in a way. If you go to the Mayo there, do you have particular places you recommend staying at? We've tried some VRBOs so far and enjoyed one of them a lot. Is there a thread/posts on places to stay for the FL one? I have looked but havent found one so far.