IBS challenges

I had errands to do today but I don't dare leave the house. I wanted to go to the Rx and get some Immodium and also some sort of pad to wear during this flareup of IBS-D.
Please, anyone have any suggestions at all for me ..... usually I have it a constipation, but since I moved - very high stress - when I get it, it's in the form of diahrrhea.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
abby

This has nothing to do with mental health - well, not directly - but I can't seem to get anyone to answer at digestive conversations, so I'm coming here. I told you all I'm getting ready to move. When I get stressed I usually have a flare-up of IBS with constipation. Well, this time it's gone the other way ..... I have IBS with diahrrhea. I need to get to the drug store to get some Immodium (the only thing I know to take) and something to wear when it hits .... I cannot always make it to the toilet.
Please, any advice would be appreciated.
abby

Hello! I’ve been have some stomach problems since the end of January. About an hour or so after I eat (anything) I get gas pains and (usually) diarrhea. I will sometimes feel constipated instead, or feel constipated right after having diarrhea [i know that sounds strange]. Lately I have been noticing orangey red “blobs” in my stool. Today it was just all bright orange specs. I am go to a GI as soon as work and school simmer down a bit. But wondering if anyone had advice on possibly relieving some of the symptoms, or what it could potentially be? The orange/red “blobs” just started appearing within the last week or so but the diarrhea/constipation has been since the end of January. Thank you and I look forward to hearing back!

Hi @blaizie1296,

I hope you are feeling better? You may notice that I moved your discussion and combined it with this existing discussion on IBS. I did this as I thought it would be beneficial for you to be introduced to other members who have discussed much of what you are experiencing.
If you click on VIEW & REPLY in your email notification, you will see the whole discussion and can join in, meet, and participate with other members talking about their or their loved ones' experiences.

I'd like to invite @gingerm @maureercria @wendyw @jakesheart @shortshot80 @kellye5 @richannc @cherriann @slong to join this conversation too; perhaps they may have more insights to share with you.
@blaizie1296, have you found any relief or consulted with your doctor to get a diagnosis?

I've had IBS-D since I was a teenager. Since this is a syndrome and not a disease there is no "cure" - you just have to find the foods that work for you.But, having said that, the food that is okay to eat yesterday, may aggravate the condition today. and, even though it is not a mental illness thing, your state of being is a very real trigger! So, I know that if I eat fried foods I will always have diarrhea. If I eat leafy green veggies, I will have diarrhea and really awful gas. Raw apples cause cramping. Ice cream, it's bad too but I love ice cream so I eat it at home. I guess because I've dealt with this for so long I've developed the ability to hold my bowels fairly well so I can't get to a restroom. My gastroenterologist recommended the FODMAP diet. Google it. It lists the foods that you should stay away from, the foods you can have in moderation and the foods that you can eat. But keep in mind, the food that you tolerated today, may not be okay tomorrow. You just have to pay attention to what you eat and how your body reacted to it and how severe that reaction was.

I still have IBS-D but have now been diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis. My gastroenteriologist has me on Budesonide 3mg 2 caps a day. Lymphocytic Colitis causes watery diarrhea multiple times a day(10-15) and is difficult to treat. The Budesonide is a synthetic steroid that does not metabolize in the liver so it is not as bad to take it for long periods of time. Bottom line, it has put me back to my new normal of 2-3 movements a day of soft to medium formed stools. I also tried Lialda but it didn't work as well as Budesonide. Talk to your doctor and see if he is willing to try either of these drugs.

Good luck. I know your frustration.

GingerM

Thanks gingerM for your post. I'll look up that diet you mentioned. Since I have moved from Harrisonburg, VA to Staunton, VA, another disruption in many ways, I've had several bouts of it. I'm afraid to mention that when I have this, I don't go away, or if I simply must, I wear those Depend panties, and carry several in my purse. Thank you so very much to think of me and I'll look up that diet.
abby

I understand the way digestion can be in charge of your schedule. I had IBS symptoms and asked to see a registered dietitian. She explained the FODMAP diet to me. This diet has helped me a lot. I can now leave my house with confidence. The diet isn’t hard to follow, but it is a medical diet so you need medical advice to do it. A registered dietitian from Mayo was very helpful to me. I hope you can find answers here that are helpful to you.

It would really be helpful for me to hear from others about what they're going through and how they cope with their IBS issues. I've never had this problem and could always pretty much eat what I wanted without any ill effect. Now if I accidentally eat even the smallest amount of gluten or anything with dairy I am sick for 2 to 5 days and I feel totally exhausted the entire time. First starts belching, then painful bloating and cramping and I become constipated. My upper abdomen hurts as if I had been hit with something hard, my gut feels raw inside and often unremitting nausea also sometimes happens. Once the bloating calms back down, out of the blue I experience urgent diarrhea that can come even if I eat even a few bites of "approved" food. (I've been on FODMAP since Feb). My appetite has gone away and I've lost 19 lbs since I started eliminating foods on the list. The diarrhea can last the entire day and by the time it stops my body is weak, i'm very tired and my abdomen feels tender for the next few days. I've become hesitant to eat, although I'm falling woefully short of calories nearly every single day. Food has lost it's appeal to me and feels more trouble than it's worth. My social life has been totally impacted by these problems and I pass up on fun activities that have been a part of my life forever. Going out to a restaurant is mostly a nightmare now. My GI dr prescribed Bentyl and Omeprozole, which didn't help much, and basically sent me on my way telling me that I need to work on reducing my stress levels. I have dealt with major depression and an anxiety disorder for going on 25 years, which is currently well managed with the exception of the anxiety that being this ill can trigger. I'm getting acupuncture twice a week and that does seem to help. The D.O. that is doing this for me also has me on a regime of Digestive Enzymes. He's also given me a recipe for a "gut healing smoothie" that contains several holistic ingredients, including probiotics with acidophilus/bifidus. I'm currently waiting for these things to come in the mail so I can't speak to its effectiveness yet. At this point I'm willing to try just about anything to get my life back. I feel that I am constantly complaining to my friends and family when they ask how things are going, The only thing that I can point to as what brought this all on, although my GI dr wouldn't agree, is that I had two colonoscopies within 6 months (March and August of last year) as a result of numerous polyps, one of which was difficult to fully remove in one session. None were cancerous but all were of the type that will eventually turn into cancer. Because of this she now wants to start doing colonoscopies every 3 years, which I totally dread just it case it triggers my IBS to become worse. If its not related to those procedures and their prep, can and did your IBS just come on suddenly with no warning and nothing particularly prompting it? Do you feel, or have you been told that this illness will be something that you have to live around forever? Have you ever heard of it going into remission and/or going away entirely? I've done a lot of reading on this subject but really need to hear from those of you who understand and can relate to what I am talking about. I feel alone in this and am afraid that this is my new normal. Thank you for reading this and for hopefully sharing a bit about your experience with IBS.

I can totally empathize with your situation. I also have IBS and looking back, I believe that it began more than one year ago although not diagnosed until later on. No real idea where it came from except possibly after many years of living in Mexico off and on, having numerous intestinal problems there and taking many antibiotics. To further complicate my digestive situation, I also have a serious GERD condition. I have been on the low Fodmap diet for about six months and have lost 25+ lbs.—some of which I needed to lose. But now I am trying to stabilize or even gain. Sometimes even “allowed” foods cause symptoms. I have not had much success in reintroducing forbidden foods—all that I have tried have caused problems. My understanding is that IBS is a permanent condition and I am resigned to, as you said, “the new normal.” I will probably have to have some type of surgery for my GERD since none of the medications are controlling those symptoms. After that at least I hope to be able to add some foods from the Fodmap “NO” list back into my diet—e.g tomatoes and maybe real coffee. Have you considered seeing a dietician?
I saw one who was actually quite helpful at least within the constraints of the restrictive low Fodmap diet. I am not inclined to try any of the meds like Viberzi after my GI went over possible side effects. He has recommended a probiotic called VSL3 which has been tested for IBS. Just started a week ago but so far so good with the bathroom activity—almost normal and no emergencies or constipation. Ask your doctor before you take it. Very expensive. I had heard that Align was also good for IBS and once tried that on my own. It seemed to help at first, but then aggravated my GERD so I quit taking it.
I have heard if some people having success with integrative or functional medicine doctors. You mentioned a DO and maybe that’s is what he or she is trained in. I am considering seeing an MD in integrative medicine later on for IBS but not until after I have the GERD situation under control. I have found that most GI docs are not real good at coordinating care for multiple conditions. Anyway, you still need a GI doctor so if you don’t trust the one you have, research the options and find someone else. I should have done that a year ago! Anyway, good luck!

I'm fairly new to this whole ball of wax, so it's likely what I say here won't help much, or could even be incorrect. But I have written elsewhere on these forums about the benefits of functional medicine (I thiiiink if you click my username, it'll take you to those posts). And after about 9 months on all kinds of probiotics and enzymes (including the world's strictest GI elimination diet and $400+/mo in supplements), I read somewhere that probiotics and enzymes can actually worsen a 'leaky gut' if it isn't healed enough to handle them. So I stopped taking them about a month ago, and started seeing a(nother) functional MD who confirmed that they can worsen things. Some enzymes can have egg whites in them, which can exacerbate problems for some folks with egg (esp white) sensitivity. @jackiem95 mentions a VSL3 probiotic, so she likely knows more than I do, and I'm adding that to my list to investigate and ask my functional MD about. He did some very fancy bloodwork to test for intestinal permeability at a higher level than what others have tested, awaiting results. (Jury's still out on whether or not he's going to help heal me, I'll give his name if so!) A naturopath requested bloodwork to check IA2 levels, which came back slightly elevated, but she didn't suggested any diet changes for those. Functional MD was the first to suggest that it's possible I'm having IA2 cross-reactivity (meaning, even on the world's strictest GI elimination diet, I'm allowed to eat things that would be cross-reactive with antibodies and keep making me sick). Also, in case this helps anyone else out there, I haven't had gluten in 10yrs, so my IgA keeps coming back 'normal' (seronegative) (Mayo said it was 'normal' and dismissed me ...), but a gastroenterology NP training in functional medicine recently asked why no one has tested for the Celiac gene -- and I'll get that test tomorrow. I'm off gluten, so that isn't a huge piece of the puzzle, but there's this molecular mimicry thing I'm learning about, where your body attacks what it THINKS is gluten, exacerbating food immune reactivities and autoimmunity.