Anyone with Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

[CheerfulYank]

What has worked for you, if anything? DH is miserable. His dr. has prescribed meds in the past, but DH says the side effects were as bad as the pain/bloating/diarrhea/constipation.

Is there a diet change that would help? I've googled but found nothing conclusive.

i dont have it really badly but i do find taking acidophilis really helped mine and peepermint tea or capsules. Diet wise i found bread and beans predictably made it worse.

Just bread, or all wheat?

Changing my diet worked wonders for me. Apparently different foods cause problems for different people so it could take a while to figure what his triggers are. For me coffee is the worst thing. I also find rich, fatty foods bad. And red wine - all the good stuff! Seriously though, I cut out coffee, eat a low fat diet & I very rarely have symptoms any more unless I overindulge in the red wine. Peppermint capsules taken regularly can help with the pain.

spicy food, fatty food, red meat, caffeine, bread and pasta - all of those were huge triggers for me. Interestingly when I did the Atkins diet years ago ibs completely went!

I would reduce or cut out something and see, bread and pasta are notorious for bloating/ibs so try those first? And see...but it takes up to a month for results. Colofac and Colpermin tablets can help too as can Buscopan.

DH has IBS and his triggers seem to be caffeine and sugar. He hasn't cut these out, but has cut them down a lot, which has made a big difference. He also has tablets to limit the amount of stomach acid produced, to be taken when needed. Oh, and he usually has an activia yoghurt each day, which he says helps too.

He still suffers from it, but not as often, and usually only when work has been stressing him out, but reading this thread, I think I'll speak to him about looking for another trigger food! :)

Thanks for the replies! I've read that artificial sweeteners can be hard too, so I think he's going to try to cut those out too.

Do gluten free breads and pasta have the same effect? I have celiac disease (what a wealth of genes we're handing to poor DS :( ) and have gf bread, etc, already.

Its not necessay to cut out bread, the crap that we buy now isnt a touch on what we used to eat. Make your own using the best ingredients you can source. He isnt gluten intolerence if he was he would be very ill and the docotor would pick up on that. Far too much refined junk makes me ill and now I hardly suffer at all. I happily eat pasta (once again good quality products) cakes etc. Good slow home cooked food that is cooked slowly and all the nutrition is left in. SInce using more rougher cuts of meat and slow cooking I find my bowels tolerate much better - mince, stews, pies etc.(see food section on MN). Alcohol is minimal too.

Def keep a food diary and think about what he eats - make sure he eats sat down and in calm surroundings.

Stress, stress, stress!!! Makes it worse I wonder if that is triggering it!

what worked for me ---

Cats Claw herb helped a lot, as did viridian stomach flora powders

after a 2 wk exclusion diet of

no wheat, (other carbs & flours ok, such as rice or corn)

no sugar - agave syrup, mayple etc ok

no salt or spices - herbs okay

no Meat - fish okay

no diary - none diary cheeses etc such as goats okay

& then ownwards with - cutting down on wheat, cutting down on diary - avoid lactose all together & I'm vegetarian/pescetarian now anyway, as realise meat really is hard to digest, but if you are a meat eater then try it in small amounts & see what happens & continue with No artificial additives of any kind- ESPECIALLY sweetners

& anything tight around his middle - I realised wearing tight used to set mine off badly

& if not already done - get him tested for Heliobacter Pylori - after YEARS of IBS & GERD diagnosis - turns out this is my real problem

Oh sorry & he needs to cut out caffiene on his exclusion diet too - also some people can be sensitive to foods in the pepper family - related to nightshade & includes potatoes - it might be worth trying cutting these out next if no improvement with the above - good luck :)

Wow, that's a lot! Thanks for all the info.

He was raised on a farm and ate food directly from there; slow cooked home made meals and all that, and he didn't have these issues when he was younger. So I do think that the preservatives/fillers are a big issue for him.

He took some smaller snacks to work today (just simple things, fruit, nuts, etc) so that he can just eat a bit now and then instead of a big meal. I also brewed a huge pitcher of peppermint tea (just peppermint leaves, no actual tea so as to avoid the caffeine :) ) last night and he took a thermos of it with him.

Also when he comes home in the evening he usually bolts down his food standing at the counter so he has more time with DS, but then his stomach problems are usually worse at night. It would probably help if he would sit down and eat more slowly!

My friend sent me a link to a Daily Mail article (apologies if most people here are American - hard to tell without looking at everyone's profile. the Daily Mail is a conservative paper) and I know I'm a bit late to join in this conversation - I'd not thought to look for advice on health issues here. IDK why - it's great for everything else!! Anyway, the DM article was about a probiotic that had had some study done and good results, apparently for severe cases - which I prob am.
I won't go into the entire history of my IBS as it's no fun to relive and no fun to read!! lol. But basically I'm IBS-C and been on ADs for a while now, which I hate, and antibiotics that I have to take for recurrent cystitis really mess with my insides so Id been told to take probiotics to balance it all otu. I just didn't really think they did much for me?
Anyway, It's a new one called Symprove? Anyone heard of it? Or beter still tried it?

I should probably find the link shouldn't I! I'll try adn dig it out tomorrow. I'm shattered and need my bedtime!! :)

Right I've found it - sorry, life took over and had other things to do. Always the way.
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2067322/So-nonsense-Probiotic-drinks-tame-irritable-bowels.html