Has anyone successfully controlled their IBS (diarrhoea type)

[MoanyMcMoanington]

I have had IBS for decades but it's getting worse as I age.

I have had many tests (cameras up and down, scans, biopsies etc) and all ok. Gastro says it's 'just' IBS and sadly it's something I have to learn to live with (I don't know what she thinks I've been trying to do these last 25 years but ok).

No amount of low fodmapping, carefully avoiding my trigger foods, not touching alcohol or caffeine and leading aa healthy a lifestyle as I can seems to help to control my gurgling and unsettled gut. I experience loose stool every day (some days looser than others and no idea why that happens). Medication hasn't helped and I've tried many including Imodium which seems to be the only given advice for loose stool but that doesn't help me at all it just slows everything down yet I still have loose stool.

It's really depressing to think all these years trying to live with this and that this is my life, always watching what I eat, urgency every damn morning, never knowing when I might need to suddenly go, hardly socialising as a result. I know it's not seen as a serious issue by most health professionals but it's really depressing, I've had to give up work recently as a result.

Has anyone successfully controlled or even eliminated their gut problems?

Have you been checked for Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth? You have my complete sympathies OP IBS is beyond awful

Thank you. I had the SeCHAT scan a few months ago, it came back clear. Sounds mad but I was almost hoping it was positive so I could take the medication and start living a normal (if you can with BAM?) life.

I have IBD so lots of inflammation and bleeding if I'm not careful.

The thing that helps me best is a low residue diet, low'ish (twice cooked) carb diet with also as few chemicals in food possible.

If I eat processed carbs such as bagels, take away pizza, cheap croissants etc can cause a flare up. So I make my own pizza dough and only have other treats perhaps once every few weeks.

I avoid as much as possible (but don't eliminate completely as I want a life and love food!):
gums, emulsifiers, maltodextrin, artificial sweeteners (they are a killer!), monosodium glutamate (chinese takeaways are a once a year treat me 😩)

I find sticking to this keeps me good 95% of the time

Have you considered it may be an allergy? I control my IBS with a very strict gluten free diet ( don't have celiac disease). Accidental or intentional exposure sends me rushing back to the toilet.

I would start with the most common 8 allergens and completly eliminate them from your diet one at a time.you need to give it time so wait 6-8 weeks before trialling reintroduction. If no improvement in symptoms reintroduce give it a couple weeks to settle down and move onto the next allergen. If you get an improvement in symptoms still trial reintroduction to test it.

This is now the common advice given to parents of children with non IgE allergies ( would previously have been called intolernces). But when I was a child this wasn't recognised.

Worse case senario it's not an allergy but you may find some alleviating of symptoms so worth a shot.

Yes! I've put my IBS into remission after 30 years. I cleared out all of the ultra processed food from my diet and started eating fermented food like kefir and saukraut. It took a few months of my body freaking out at all the extra fibre and wholefoods but after 4 or 5 months it all stopped! I now have fermented foods regularly and rarely touch anything UPF. I even make my own bread which doesn't seem to cause bloating! It's been a revelation. Give it a go.

I’ve decided the risk is worth the benefits and that’s with grandmothers on both sides having dementia. I have accepted that I will likely get it anyway so I want to improve my life now.
Nobody without IBS can understand how it absolutely ruins your life.

They thought I had IBS but it turned out that I am Salicylate Intolerant and that was probably a great deal of the cause. Worth thinking about.

@Dmsandfloatydress is right - I truly believe the chemicals in food are the main culprit.

If I cut them out - I'm good to go.

Have you had your thyroid checked? I have IBS and last year it got completely out of control (not that it's ever really controlled). It got so bad all I could eat/drink was yogurt, apple juice and bananas, anything else caused the most horrific cramping and diarrhoea. I eventually went to my GP and found out I had an underactive thyroid, since starting on levothyroxine my IBS symptoms have improved loads.

I did a private stool test a year ago, it came back with a few things, dysbiosis being the main issue so I then I did a breath test which came back as hydrogen SIBO positive.

Took this info to my NHS gastro but she said to ignore this as the tests are unreliable and sibo is not yet well understood, she said I would more than like have a serious health issue if I had sibo but I'm not so sure from what I read online but she dismissed it completely. Apparently the cost for anitbiotics privately is £200 for a 2 week supply (I discovered this when I joined a FB sibo support group).

I know many people treat themselves with antimicrobials but they are very expensive too and seem hit and miss and can give quite nasty side effects. I honestly don't know what to do about that.

I've been like this for years but never been to the doctor just assumed it's ibs. Watching with interest. Stress makes it worse like OP said stuck in traffic etc.

Artificial sweeteners wreck my digestive system too.

I really need to drop my carbs, I read so many people saying it helps their gut but I won't lie, I am addicted to carbs, the thought of giving up potatoes and starching foods makes me want to weep and I worry how I can fund a higher protein diet especially as I have temporarily given up work and I can't eat eggs either which is so annoying as they are a cheap way of upping protein.

I do need to look into this. I avoid wheat/gluten and so many other trigger foods but I haven't really looked into allergens. I will start googling, thanks.

I am quite good with avoiding processed foods but could do more, I am frankly scared of introducing anything new especially fermented foods but do need to try.

Don't give up the carbs - just cook them twice!

ie: toast instead of bread,
pasta cooked - put on fridge overnight, then eaten cold or reheated as usual
potatoes - roast potatoes, fridge/freezer, roast again when you want them
mash - make into potato cakes, new pots: cook, cool, make into potato salad or reheat next day

Honestly, no need to give anything up, just change it up

I feel the same. I have to weigh up the quality of my life in the here and now don't I?

I do have a prescription waiting, I should try it, it's for 10mg of Nortriptyline the sister drug to Amitriptyline.
Do you experience any unwanted side effects like memory loss or dizziness?

I've not heard of that, which foods contain Salicylate?

My gp says my thyroid results are ok.

Following a GF diet has helped immensely. And a daily Actimel .

You have my complete sympathy.

I feel for you. I suffered terribly with IBS when I was younger. Stress made it so much worse. It was horrible. The pains from the cramps and the way they would just appear anywhere was absolutely awful, especially when out and about.

i used to take mebeverine before each meal which helped.

it also seemed to go away when I went on the minera coil but I don’t know if that’s just coincidence

Is that for the resistant starch thing?

A very strong acidophilus tablet which I bought from the chiller section of Planet Organic. I took it for a year and it sorted my stomach out so much that my GP was amazed. I had daily diarrhoea & vomiting for 10+ yrs after eating certain foods that I never gained weight. One year of those tablets gave me my life back, I could eat whatever I wanted.

No, not really. You have my sympathies OP, it's horrible isn't it? I get the diarrhoea and also vomiting when it's really bad.

I thought I was doing really well for a few years, avoiding trigger foods mainly. However my list of trigger foods has completely changed/ expanded - e.g. it used to be most meat, but that doesn't seem to make any difference now (I rarely eat it anyway). I can no longer eat any kind of beans, lentils etc, and I'm beginning to question peas too.

I use the biomel powder, drink kombucha every day and mostly only drink peppermint tea or water - sometimes I can kid myself that's all helping but then I'll get a flare up out of nowhere. Sugar does seem particularly bad - I'm suffering now as I did indulge a bit at Christmas, and even though I'm back to being really careful it's like once it's started it takes weeks to settle down again.

No idea, but it just works for me and is easy to stick to 90% of the time (I eat any old carbs if I'm at someones house or eating out)