Irritable Bowel Syndrome, what has helped you long-term?

[Divvy]

What have you done that has helped your IBS long-term?

Looking for advice for my dh. For over 10 years, he has suffered with this, really suffered. Nothing helps!

The only thing he says that really helps him, is not to eat. As he is a lorry driver, he doesnt eat till he gets home from work, then he doesnt eat alot. When he is off work, his IBS vanishes, unless we have words about something

He has tried lots of tablets from the doctors in this time, which seem to work for a few weeks then stop working. He has also had a flexible endoscope, to rule out other things, nothing was found.

Just the other week, he bought some xenical from ebay, as he had heard on a radio program, that they can help IBS. I did try to warn him about the side-effects of these, as used to take them myself a few years ago, but he didnt listen. Lets just say he wont be trying them again

anyone?

Hi Divvy

Ur poor dh -I don't have IBS but have ulcerative Colitis and it is just as horrible. Has he tried cutting out wheat/ dairy when he does eat? I found that was the best help but can be a bit boring as wheat is in everything

hope u find something to help

Things that helped me -

cutting down on caffeine
cutting down on fatty foods
peppermint oil capsules

But ultimately, the best thing that I could do was to cut down on long-term chronic stress. I can cope with the normal stresses of everyday life, but a bullying boss was too much for me - once I left I felt much better.

I found eating less wheat & making sure I drink plenty of water help a lot. Eating little & often suits me as a big meal makes me horribly bloated & it seems like I can feel my body struggling to digest what I've eaten. I've also found pilates really helpful although I can't imagine my dh fancying that idea I don't know about yours.

I avoid food with a lot of fibre.. too much fruit and vegetables will set mine of into painful spasams.

so I avoid brown bread and whoelgrains for same reason.

Also dairy products have an expolsive affect on me.

This is what I took and no longer have symptoms.

1. Bio-Acdophilus by BioCare Lab4 - 3 times daily before food.
2. Digestve Enzymes by Solgar- twice daily after food.

Avoided mushrooms, vinegar, milk and wheat for a long while, then gradually introduced the wheat again. I can now eat pasta, pizza etc with no ill effects!

I went to see a kinesiologist/nutritionist who tested me for intolerances. I gave up wheat, dairy, sugar, tea, coffee, alchohol, pork, beef, tomatoes -basically a detox.
I also took various supplements and was advised to re-organize my drinking habits.
Basically drink a pint of warm water on waking, wait half an hour before breakfast. Then don't drink with meals (can have sips of water) and wait an hour after meal before drinking again. Can't remember the reasoning for this but it definitely solidified things iykwim.
Also eating short grain brown rice at least three times a week helped - it passes through slowly so soaks up toxins, apparently.
Sounds complicated but was just dull really, but three years later I can eat whatever I like without symptoms.
I'd suggest the main things would be wheat and dairy and not drinking with meals.

Following a low carb diet. I started doing this to lose weight, but noticed that it had a really positive effect on my IBS. If I ever do fall off the wagon, it usually takes about a week and then the symptoms return.

Yes, like nontoxic said, plenty of brown rice. Basically avoid anything white.

Don't drink caffeiene.

I moved jobs because the stress of the old one caused horrible bloating every sunday night without fail.

Also brown pasta, rice, bread etc rather than white.

And I take multibionta probiotic multi vits which seemed to help as well.

For 3 years, I took Aloe Vera Gel twice every day, mixed with apple juice to mask the taste .

This followed two stays in hospital and several other major flare ups.

After 3 weeks on the aloe vera, my symptoms virtually disappeared.

I've now stopped taking the aloe vera every day and my IBS is generally under control as long as I avoid any very oily or spicy food, and avoid as much stress as possible.

If I know I'm going out for a curry, or going to have a stressful week at work, I take the aloe vera again for a few days.

2 words - ALOE VERA !

Try it, it works, I swear by it. You can get the juice or gel from health food shops or some chemists - the purer the better - I don't like it mixed with anything - it tastes foul but you learn to knock it back without it touching the tastebuds ! When you get some and you MUST (!) keep taking it for 2 - 3 weeks even if you don't notice any difference, it sometimes needs to build up, although I notice the difference immediately.

Good luck

Stress reduction is the only thing that really works, and a low fat, lowish fibre diet. (No peas, no sweetcorn, no bran, no wholemeal, no fried food)

I get bouts of IBS & what helps me is peppermint tea & lots of natural yogurt. Stress usually brings it on.

He does have peppermint tea, but not tried to oil.

He gets through 6x5 packets of chewing gum a week while at work, which I think must be adding to bloating, which he doesnt have while off work. Also a litre of flavoured water, so he lives on chewing gum and coffee and fizzy diet pop while at work....do you think I am on the something here?

The thing is going to be finding things to replace these!

He wont change jobs, and right now its not the time to be changing.

He must be adding to stress, chomping on that chewing gum for 11 hours a day!

He then has a meal of rice, fish or meat and veg when he gets home, but he just really eats the meat/fish. Then he snacks on ryvitas wth jam and peanutbutter. Plus 2 Muller Vitality Probiotic drinks

How do I get him to change his eating?

He also has a thing about his weight, which is ridiculous as he is slim.

Coffee is not good.

I wouldn't have thought it would be good to chew gum a lot as I've heard that the chewing action encourages the stomach to produce acid. If there's no food there for the acid to work on, I'm not sure what effect it could have. I might be talking complete nonsense though!

The aspartame/sorbitol in flavoured water is not good either.

Thats what I thought, although he has really good teeth!

I've been diagnosed with IBS. This means having every single test known to man to rule out anything else.

I was then sent to a nutrition expert who had the following advice:-

KEEP A FOOD DIARY

To start with, eat really bland food. I started with:-

Breakfast: Skimmed milk and porridge
Lunch: fruit (nothing acidic) (3-4 pieces/portions)
Dinner: Steamed chicken breast/fish with white rice and plain steamed veg

Once he has done this for a week, introduce a different food each day and keep note and honestly he will soon rule out what he can and can't eat.

Also drink plenty of water and cut out hot drinks.

Chew every mouthful thoroughly - this eases work for the intestines so they don't have to process as hard.

It's the most miserable existence but it works and it's really the only way of narrowing down what you can/can't eat.

Also as hard as this can be, try to avoid stress because 8 out of 10 times, it's the cause for IBS.

Hope this helps.

The stress thing is the cause, I am sure of it. Over the years we have tried cutting out diffenent foods, then starting having them again. The only time he is IBS clear, is when he is off work. He had 3 months off a while back, and he felt fab! Within 2 days of being back, the IBS was back. There is no way of getting away from stress while driving. Maybe I need to think about other things to help lessen the stress while driving, maybe radio debates are not helping..

This is so helpful - I think I may have IBS - and have stop gluten which worked initally. However I believe wholeheartdly that stress is the major cause, which is sad because my job is naturally stressful.

Out of interest, can you have IBS without the spasming pain, as it is the only sympton that I don't have.

I also have not been back to the drs about it, as they dismissed me as having a pile post giving birth....

I second littlefish on the aloe vera food supplement, I suffered IBS for years even when I changed my diet to brown rice etc I still has some effects.

After using aloe vera for about 2 weeks it had cleared up, I continue to take aloe vera daily, for all the other benefits it provides.

Does anyone have any evidence that low-dose antidepressants have worked?

I have found eating an egg a day works. Not sure why but apparently Danni Minnogue swears by this too. Could be worth a try? I do still get IBS but nowhere near as bad as before

Plus3, not saying this applies in every case, but my IBS started a on ADs - gp said it was one of the known side effects.
I thought it would go when I stopped taking them, but it took two years on a detox diet to clear.