Irritable Bowell Syndrome - advice please

[BakeliteBelle]

Can anyone direct me to a good forum or source of advice on IBS? I have had a look but there are quite a few sites and I want the best one! I especially want scientifically verified advice on Pro-biotics and diet/fasting and any other treatment that isn't just whacky snake-oil seller stuff.

I have been diagnosed with IBS and given Mebeverine which just seems to temporarily mask the symptoms. I am in quite a bit of mild discomfort most of the time with bloating and wind and other unmentionables and I always feel slightly 'toxic', like I've got a hangover. This has been going on for about 3 years.

I am a mum of 3 and my middle child is severely disabled. I am just a bit fucking fed up with having my energy levels depleted and being fobbed off with Mebeverine.

I was diagnosed almost 6 years ago and I feel for you.
I was prescribed a mild anti depressant as the side effect of it was to "stop you going" I think it was Amitripiline, one before bed every day worked wonders, was also getting Loperamide aswell but only during bouts, its awful but I have been fine for months now.
Have you worked out your "triggers" yet?
Mine was mixing alcoholic drinks, too much cheese and stress.

Don't know of any sites, sorry, but my IBS went away when I stopped eating wheat and tomatoes, as did my heartburn.

As treehuggermum says, it might be an idea to try to identify your triggers and then avoid them. My life has improved so much now I don't have bowel issues (which I have had since a baby) and heartburn, which I have had since a small child (I used to think I was a dragon because I could feel the fire in my tummy)

Have you tried any exclusion diets?

Diet is the only sensible way to go if you really want to get better rather then experimenting with meds that cover up symptoms.
Just search for wheat & gluten, glutenfreeforum is great and full of people who had been there and came out amazed how much their health has improved. I mean, if you realise what the food triggers are, why would you want to keep eating them to make yourself unwell, but this is what drs don't tell you, sadly.

There are a few brilliant websites - endorsed by the NHS. Agree dont take any notice of the barking mad alternatives. ANy pro-biotics is total rubbish - eat natural foods its the same thing. There is a market out there for selling rubbish that hasnt been approved. Dont go to these allergy testing either they always say wheat and tomatoes - allergy testing needs to be done with bloods. Real allergies would make you very ill.

Many IBS suffers can easily digest wheat but not so much refined. You can make good bread, using slower processes which has shown has little bad effects on the gut.

I've done exclusions too and nothing helped, mine is intermitant. Stress doesnt help. Worth keeping a diet and writing down and really evaluating the food yr consuming with moods/stress/hormones??

Diet wise - back to old fashioned slow cooking - keeping all the nutrician in and soft easy to digest ingredients. ANy pies, mince, soups, pulses etc. SLow and long cooking helps loads. Good eating habits too.

I use the ducloease and Mebeverine. I dont think it masks it - it stops the guts and bowls overacting.

I know your pain!

pre and pro biotics DO work for me, usually to relieve symptoms, but if I take them on a low dose daily, they do help prevent. they are much better for you in capsule form than in the yoghurt drinks, etc, which are full of sugar. garlic and bread are my triggers so i try and steer lcear, but i do find drinking peeprmenit tea after meals helps too.

ooops, sorry for dodgy typing!

I suffered from IBS (constipation related with bloating and severe pain) since I was a toddler.

I've tried Mebeverine which sort of worked for a while but I found it difficult to take (how do you know you're going to eat in 20 minutes' time?) and after a while it was ineffective - even a double dose prescribed by my gp didn't work.

I consulted a nutritionist who recommended an exclusion, wholefood diet plus supplements. This resulted in the opposite problem - I was going to the loo 7 or 8 times a day - ouch!

I eventually found a diet that worked for me - I make sure I eat some organic bio yoghurt daily and a little soya & linseed bread - I've found I can't really tolerate any other type of wheat bread. Linseeds are extremely soothing for an irritated digestive system - they can be added to any other food and you only need a very small amount to be effective.

I'm now 99.9% pain and constipation free - it's wonderful after all these years.

Everyone's different though and it's well worthwhile trying to find out what's suitable for you.

You're right nightcat - doctors don't tell you these things. The gps I consulted never enquired about my eating habits. I could have been living off beer & curries eaten in the middle of the night for all they knew!

bacon - your post is full of half truths and information. Allergies are not the only issue with gut problems - intolerances are very real. Coeliac disease, for example, is an intolerance to gluten, not an allergy. Lactose intolerance is due to a lack of the enzyme to digest it, and as the name suggests, is an intolerance, not an allergy.
I agree that health food shop "allergy testers" are not the way to go but you are offering incomplete information based only on your experience. Exclusion diets and probiotics (which, by the way, are specific gut bacteria and not available from general food) do work for many people.

Thanks so much for all this really interesting advice. I will definitely do an exclusion diet.

The reason I mentioned Pro-biotics is that - aside from the Yakult marketing etc., - there is some evidence, is there not, that they help the 'good' bowel flora and fauna? I thought GP's could prescribe pro-biotics? I also read a transcript of a recent radio 4 programme which featured medics/researchers talking about IBS and trying to get the good bacteria to flourish. They mentioned pro-biotics, but also went on to mention stool 'transplants'...! All about introducing good bacteria.

I have also heard of extreme fasting where you get the gut into the condition it was at birth, and get rid of the bad bacteria which is associated with IBS. Anyone gone to that extreme?