I have tried everything that was allowed.I even approached the natural way.High fiber,natural laxatives,fruit,juiceses and other things but to no avail.I am looking for other treatments that might work.But due vto no insurance and not working I am limited.My wife is also disabled and the only one receiving a check and we live off of what she gets.Plus my doctor is of no help.I need help.
Everything I read said "high fiber diet", so I kept eating more and more foods with fiber in them, but my problems just kept getting worse. I thought there was something seriously wrong with me because of the increase in symptoms. On the other hand, it seemed that fiber supplements helped, so I thought it was one of the inactive ingredients in the supplements that was helping. I went to a doctor and he said it sounds like IBS, and "eat a high fiber diet". Not too helpful.
Then I ate a big bowl of Raisin Bran on an empty stomach one night, and woke up in the morning in awful pain. "WTF is wrong with me? I'm eating lots of fiber and it's not helping!"
Turns out Raisin Bran is 100% INSOLUBLE fiber, while the fiber supplements are 100% SOLUBLE fiber. All the "high fiber" foods I was eating are made with insoluble fiber. Guess what Wikipedia says? "Insoluble fiber (e.g., bran) has not been found to be effective for IBS. In some people, insoluble fiber supplementation may aggravate symptoms. ... An uncontrolled study noted increased symptoms with insoluble fibers."
So I've cut out all the "high fiber" foods like bran cereals and granola, and started eating things like GoLean Crisp that have more soluble than insoluble (unfortunately most cereals don't list them separately). I've stopped eating whole wheat bread and started eating Italian bread instead. I haven't had any problems since.
amaragold I was having frequent, loose stools, mostly in the morning (would feel better in the evening), and sometimes would have cramping and diarrhea shortly after eating. I ate frosting that was mostly palm oil and sugar, and had horrible cramping and diarrhea right after. I eliminated all palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil from my diet and my symptoms are almost completely gone! It's amazing not to feel sick all the time! It's hard to avoid - it's in most processed foods, but just read the labels. It's hard to go out to eat, but some restaurants post their ingredients online, and I've had good experiences with asking the owners of non-chain or local restaurants about their ingredients.
john.smith.millions Helminthic Therapy is showing great promise at treating GI problems. It didn't work for me, but the science is there, and so is the healing potential. See http://autoimmunetherapies.com/ Honorable people.
blimpboy Re: Fecal Transplant — I sincerely believe that the flora in my stomach is the cause of all my bloating (40-50 farts a day). I performed a fecal transplant at home using a close relative's stool for seven consecutive days. My fart count on those days for was less than five. Having lived my entire life bloated, I was so happy when I realized I found a cure. However, as soon as I stopped using the donated stool, the bloating returned. You could just imagine my disappointment. My theory now is if I can just make this cure (the donor's stool) to "stick" in my large intestine, then I'll be all right.
Re: Codein/papaverin — It is ver effective, but it creates addiction
Re: Mucus/liquid in stool — There are times I feel like passing gas, and I end up pushing Mucus out instead, or when I do something strainous.
Re: Flatulence — Unsure if it was going to produce a leaking liquid clear stool
Re: Urgency to get to the bathroom — Flatulence that was unsure going to produce a liquid stool.
mattkim Re: Fiber supplements (Metamucil etc) — Worked extremely well when taken with foods known to cause inflammation.
Re: Amitriptyline (Elavil) — It gave me no improvement, nor did it make me feel worse. Honestly, did not see the point in taking it.
Re: Probiotics — I just started Super Shield, can't tell yet. I also tried Great Taste No Pain and helped somewhat, I still need to cut out coffee and sugar.
Re: Elimination diet — Two changes to diet eliminated my problems completely, and they were frequent and sometimes severe before that: 1) Getting rid of dairy, despite tests showing no allergy or lactose intolerance. 2) Learning what food stufs could cause cross-allergy reactions (mainly due to a number of diagnosed pollen allergies) and then avoiding them. Bowel reactions would be delayed so it took a long time to figure that one out.
If one cuts dairy one needs supplement of calcium. Make sure it also gives you vitamin d if you don't live in sunny areas. Also magnesium might help generally, especially if allergies are involved. At least that's my experience.
Re: Whole bowel irrigation — I was given CoLyte or something for preparation for a colonoscopy. Afterward, I began taking large amounts of fresh probiotics (Bio-K). While the colonoscopy showed nothing, this combination of cleaning and replacing good intestinal flora was a major improvement. (It is possible that antibiotics treating me for a parasite a year before killed the good flora and caused the imbalance.)
gd779 Re: Wheat — What was initially diagnosed as IBS turned out to be (or at least to be complicated by) celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disorder triggered by eating gluten, found in wheat and some other grains.
zmed Re: Diarrhea — I have tested negative for Celiac Disease. NutraSafe probiotics have made a difference after my surgery.
Bugbear Re: Avoiding foods that cause flare-ups — wheat and oats exposed to wheat contamination. it works! i miss good bread, but digestive pain is not worth it.
Bugbear Re: Fish oil — I take fish oil for other reasons.
Bugbear Re: Cramping — I is hard to have a life when you are running from one bathroom to another. I have quit wheat--and oats contaminated with wheat. That has helped a lot--and wheat is all over as a cheap filler in many foods. I now read a lot of labels and talk to servers when eating out. I also use a sub lingual to slow motility before eating. I heard a famous rheumatologist who has written many books on Sjogren's say
that motility is now a sub specialty. The testing is expensive and usually available at a teaching medical school. I'm thinking about it.
zallers Re: Citric Acid — Additive found in many processed foods, restaurants, and even naturally in some foods. Specifically the additive versions flare up my IBS. But better probiotics have helped dramatically (possibly allowing for better digestion, diffusing allergic-type reactions)
zallers Re: Tomato sauce — Only tomato sauces that contain citric acid and calcium chloride. Straight tomato sauce without additives is fine, but every time I've had the more deluxe brands with herbs already added as well as citric acid and CaCl, it gets me on pizza or spaghetti. I'm not sure if it's a bad combination with those elements or if it's the elements themselves causing inflammation, but I finally narrowed down exactly which ones do it through 100's of tests/experiments and verifying foods.
zallers Re: Probiotics — Since I've been taking high quality and high dosage probiotics, even the triggers that normally cause bad IBS have ceased.
Magenta Re: Eggs — The one exception to eggs being fine is if they are fried, this causes my stomach to act up, probably the oils used are the problem.
Magenta Re: Digestive enzymes — I have had good luck with Digestive Advantage for Lactose Intolerance & mixed results with Bromelain (enzyme found in pineapples) - sometimes it seems helpful, sometimes not.
Magenta Re: Peppermint oil — The peppermint oil capsules I tried were enteric-coated to avoid irritation, and they seemed good for my stomach BUT I had burning when I urinated. Is there a brand that is best to try, which doesn't do this?
zallers Re: Cooking 100% at home — Once I stopped going out to eat, and cooking at home 100%, my chronic IBS that I lived with my WHOLE life went 80% away. The remaining 15-20% of the time became very easy to distinguish what foods were causing it. And then there's still the random 5% that just occurs without understanding yet. So in essence, I live wtih IBS about 5% or less of the time as opposed to almost constantly before. Must try cooking at home with NO exceptions for at least one month before noticing a difference- it is so worth it. Even one cheat can reset the whole system all over again.... just pure foods.. nothing processed with many artificial ingredients.
zallers Re: Chocolate — First two consecutive days eating chocoloate causes moderate IBS; the 3rd time onward consecutively no longer causes ANY discomfort. Somehow my body adjusts (either to acidity, or bacteria builds up, or other?). But if I stop and start, the process starts all over.
zallers Re: Low fiber diet — Eating fiber regularly helps, but starting and stopping causes problems.
zallers Re: Feta cheese — First two consecutive days eating feta causes severe IBS; the 3rd time onward consecutively no longer causes ANY discomfort. Somehow my body adjusts (either to acidity, or bacteria builds up, or other?). But if I stop and start, the process starts all over.
zallers Re: Stress — Only under severe stress and/or in combination with other factors.
zallers Re: Eggs — Usually only noticeable if more than 1 egg per day.
zallers Re: Coffee — First three consecutive days drinking coffee causes severe IBS; the 4th time onward consecutively no longer causes ANY discomfort. Somehow my body adjusts (either to acidity, or bacteria builds up, or other?). Also the amount is directly proportional to the pain-- if I only have a little, the pain is less severe and lasts less time.
acc Re: Elimination diet — I did an elimination diet as part of discovering what foods upset my nursing baby, and it helped me too - dairy was the big culprit.
zallers Re: Elimination diet — I tried it for a month, and I just couldn't find any sensativities specifically related to anything.
zallers Re: Whole/Natural foods diet — Eating 100% at home took my IBS away 95% of the time which was huge since I'd been suffering with it most of my life badly. I don't know what they put in all that food, but it was as simple as eating wholesomely. What a miracle.
zallers Re: SSRIs — My gynocologist put me on it for vulvodynia. It didn't work for V, but it inadvertently took away all my IBS. It was really weird, but I was thankful. One side effect was said to make it difficult to orgasm, and that did affect me some.
I have tried everything that was allowed.I even approached the natural way.High fiber,natural laxatives,fruit,juiceses and other things but to no avail.I am looking for other treatments that might work.But due vto no insurance and not working I am limited.My wife is also disabled and the only one receiving a check and we live off of what she gets.Plus my doctor is of no help.I need help.
Everything I read said "high fiber diet", so I kept eating more and more foods with fiber in them, but my problems just kept getting worse. I thought there was something seriously wrong with me because of the increase in symptoms. On the other hand, it seemed that fiber supplements helped, so I thought it was one of the inactive ingredients in the supplements that was helping. I went to a doctor and he said it sounds like IBS, and "eat a high fiber diet". Not too helpful.
Then I ate a big bowl of Raisin Bran on an empty stomach one night, and woke up in the morning in awful pain. "WTF is wrong with me? I'm eating lots of fiber and it's not helping!"
Turns out Raisin Bran is 100% INSOLUBLE fiber, while the fiber supplements are 100% SOLUBLE fiber. All the "high fiber" foods I was eating are made with insoluble fiber. Guess what Wikipedia says? "Insoluble fiber (e.g., bran) has not been found to be effective for IBS. In some people, insoluble fiber supplementation may aggravate symptoms. ... An uncontrolled study noted increased symptoms with insoluble fibers."
So I've cut out all the "high fiber" foods like bran cereals and granola, and started eating things like GoLean Crisp that have more soluble than insoluble (unfortunately most cereals don't list them separately). I've stopped eating whole wheat bread and started eating Italian bread instead. I haven't had any problems since.
amaragold
I was having frequent, loose stools, mostly in the morning (would feel better in the evening), and sometimes would have cramping and diarrhea shortly after eating. I ate frosting that was mostly palm oil and sugar, and had horrible cramping and diarrhea right after. I eliminated all palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil from my diet and my symptoms are almost completely gone! It's amazing not to feel sick all the time! It's hard to avoid - it's in most processed foods, but just read the labels. It's hard to go out to eat, but some restaurants post their ingredients online, and I've had good experiences with asking the owners of non-chain or local restaurants about their ingredients.
john.smith.millions
Helminthic Therapy is showing great promise at treating GI problems. It didn't work for me, but the science is there, and so is the healing potential. See http://autoimmunetherapies.com/
Honorable people.
blimpboy
Re: Fecal Transplant — I sincerely believe that the flora in my stomach is the cause of all my bloating (40-50 farts a day). I performed a fecal transplant at home using a close relative's stool for seven consecutive days. My fart count on those days for was less than five. Having lived my entire life bloated, I was so happy when I realized I found a cure. However, as soon as I stopped using the donated stool, the bloating returned. You could just imagine my disappointment. My theory now is if I can just make this cure (the donor's stool) to "stick" in my large intestine, then I'll be all right.
Re: Codein/papaverin — It is ver effective, but it creates addiction
Re: Mucus/liquid in stool — There are times I feel like passing gas, and I end up pushing Mucus out instead, or when I do something strainous.
Re: Low -carb gluten-free diet — improved energy, no nausea, improved bowel movements.
Re: Soft stool — Always soft stool.
Re: Flatulence — Unsure if it was going to produce a leaking liquid clear stool
Re: Urgency to get to the bathroom — Flatulence that was unsure going to produce a liquid stool.
mattkim
Re: Fiber supplements (Metamucil etc) — Worked extremely well when taken with foods known to cause inflammation.
Re: Amitriptyline (Elavil) — It gave me no improvement, nor did it make me feel worse. Honestly, did not see the point in taking it.
Re: Probiotics — I just started Super Shield, can't tell yet. I also tried Great Taste No Pain and helped somewhat, I still need to cut out coffee and sugar.
Re: Elimination diet — Two changes to diet eliminated my problems completely, and they were frequent and sometimes severe before that:
1) Getting rid of dairy, despite tests showing no allergy or lactose intolerance.
2) Learning what food stufs could cause cross-allergy reactions (mainly due to a number of diagnosed pollen allergies) and then avoiding them. Bowel reactions would be delayed so it took a long time to figure that one out.
If one cuts dairy one needs supplement of calcium. Make sure it also gives you vitamin d if you don't live in sunny areas. Also magnesium might help generally, especially if allergies are involved. At least that's my experience.
Re: Whole bowel irrigation — I was given CoLyte or something for preparation for a colonoscopy. Afterward, I began taking large amounts of fresh probiotics (Bio-K). While the colonoscopy showed nothing, this combination of cleaning and replacing good intestinal flora was a major improvement. (It is possible that antibiotics treating me for a parasite a year before killed the good flora and caused the imbalance.)
gd779
Re: Wheat — What was initially diagnosed as IBS turned out to be (or at least to be complicated by) celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disorder triggered by eating gluten, found in wheat and some other grains.
zmed
Re: Diarrhea — I have tested negative for Celiac Disease. NutraSafe probiotics have made a difference after my surgery.
Bugbear
Re: Avoiding foods that cause flare-ups — wheat and oats exposed to wheat contamination. it works! i miss good bread, but digestive pain is not worth it.
Bugbear
Re: Fish oil — I take fish oil for other reasons.
Bugbear
Re: Cramping — I is hard to have a life when you are running from one bathroom to another. I have quit wheat--and oats contaminated with wheat. That has helped a lot--and wheat is all over as a cheap filler in many foods. I now read a lot of labels and talk to servers when eating out. I also use a sub lingual to slow motility before eating. I heard a famous rheumatologist who has written many books on Sjogren's say that motility is now a sub specialty. The testing is expensive and usually available at a teaching medical school. I'm thinking about it.
zallers
Re: Citric Acid — Additive found in many processed foods, restaurants, and even naturally in some foods. Specifically the additive versions flare up my IBS. But better probiotics have helped dramatically (possibly allowing for better digestion, diffusing allergic-type reactions)
zallers
Re: Tomato sauce — Only tomato sauces that contain citric acid and calcium chloride. Straight tomato sauce without additives is fine, but every time I've had the more deluxe brands with herbs already added as well as citric acid and CaCl, it gets me on pizza or spaghetti. I'm not sure if it's a bad combination with those elements or if it's the elements themselves causing inflammation, but I finally narrowed down exactly which ones do it through 100's of tests/experiments and verifying foods.
zallers
Re: Probiotics — Since I've been taking high quality and high dosage probiotics, even the triggers that normally cause bad IBS have ceased.
Magenta
Re: Eggs — The one exception to eggs being fine is if they are fried, this causes my stomach to act up, probably the oils used are the problem.
Magenta
Re: Digestive enzymes — I have had good luck with Digestive Advantage for Lactose Intolerance & mixed results with Bromelain (enzyme found in pineapples) - sometimes it seems helpful, sometimes not.
Magenta
Re: Peppermint oil — The peppermint oil capsules I tried were enteric-coated to avoid irritation, and they seemed good for my stomach BUT I had burning when I urinated. Is there a brand that is best to try, which doesn't do this?
zallers
Re: Cooking 100% at home — Once I stopped going out to eat, and cooking at home 100%, my chronic IBS that I lived with my WHOLE life went 80% away. The remaining 15-20% of the time became very easy to distinguish what foods were causing it. And then there's still the random 5% that just occurs without understanding yet. So in essence, I live wtih IBS about 5% or less of the time as opposed to almost constantly before. Must try cooking at home with NO exceptions for at least one month before noticing a difference- it is so worth it. Even one cheat can reset the whole system all over again.... just pure foods.. nothing processed with many artificial ingredients.
zallers
Re: Chocolate — First two consecutive days eating chocoloate causes moderate IBS; the 3rd time onward consecutively no longer causes ANY discomfort. Somehow my body adjusts (either to acidity, or bacteria builds up, or other?). But if I stop and start, the process starts all over.
zallers
Re: Low fiber diet — Eating fiber regularly helps, but starting and stopping causes problems.
zallers
Re: Feta cheese — First two consecutive days eating feta causes severe IBS; the 3rd time onward consecutively no longer causes ANY discomfort. Somehow my body adjusts (either to acidity, or bacteria builds up, or other?). But if I stop and start, the process starts all over.
zallers
Re: Stress — Only under severe stress and/or in combination with other factors.
zallers
Re: Eggs — Usually only noticeable if more than 1 egg per day.
zallers
Re: Coffee — First three consecutive days drinking coffee causes severe IBS; the 4th time onward consecutively no longer causes ANY discomfort. Somehow my body adjusts (either to acidity, or bacteria builds up, or other?). Also the amount is directly proportional to the pain-- if I only have a little, the pain is less severe and lasts less time.
acc
Re: Elimination diet — I did an elimination diet as part of discovering what foods upset my nursing baby, and it helped me too - dairy was the big culprit.
zallers
Re: Elimination diet — I tried it for a month, and I just couldn't find any sensativities specifically related to anything.
zallers
Re: Whole/Natural foods diet — Eating 100% at home took my IBS away 95% of the time which was huge since I'd been suffering with it most of my life badly. I don't know what they put in all that food, but it was as simple as eating wholesomely. What a miracle.
zallers
Re: SSRIs — My gynocologist put me on it for vulvodynia. It didn't work for V, but it inadvertently took away all my IBS. It was really weird, but I was thankful. One side effect was said to make it difficult to orgasm, and that did affect me some.