Ibs?????

[Kiyoka]

Hello everyone, Last thursday my Primary Doctor was thinking I might have IBS. Can anyone tell me abit about it, like what causes a ibs flare..there is not cure right? I would like to do my own research...but decided that I can't. I would do to much research and scare myself to much.

I was chatting with some person and she said that you can get it from traveling and what not...no clue. I wish I could just feel better.

[Sarojini]

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is kind of like a hypersensitivity of the intestines. It can be diarrhea predominant, constipation predominant, or it can switch between the two. It's generally thought to be a problem with nerve signals going to the intestines... so that things move either too quickly or too slowly through them. Also, people with IBS tend to feel more pain from normal stimuli -- like, usually us IBSers have HORRIBLE pain if we get just the smallest amount of gas.

You need to know that you CANNOT "CATCH" IBS and it does NOT come from travelling (that's traveler's diarrhea or another type of infectious disease). While nobody knows what causes IBS, it is known that IC patients are 100 times more likely to have IBS than the general population is.

IBS is a real annoyance for most of us, but there are meds and diet changes you can make to minimize how often it acts up. Talk to your doctor about it. Also, there's a little section on it in the Patient Handbook on this site (http://www.ic-network.com/handbook).

[Katrina]

You cannot catch IBS!!!!!

For you....avoid fat (since I believe I know your symptoms) also avoid corn, and fruits. There is no one diet for IBS.....like IC you need to find out what irritates you and avoid the things that cause the symptoms you have.

When you have IBS your digestive system...particualarly your colon spasms for no explainable reason. I recommend trying or retrying an anti spasmodic drug.

email me or call...if I can help! :grouphug:

[Mishka]

Hey there,

Well other people explained what IBS is for you. For me, my major trigger was caffeine. As soon as I stopped all caffeine, I rarely flare up anymore. Before I was in agony every day after I ate. Anything greasy, and chicken seem to also be triggers for me.

A remedy that was REALLY helpful was peppermint oil capsules. You take some half an hour before you eat and it calms your bowels right down. It worked FAR better than a prescription anti-spasmodic for me. Good luck!

[Zookeeper]

Hello Kiyoka,
You poor thing I sure hope you don't have this.you have been through enough.
I think what Jen & Katrina wrote explain it well.
I know for me most of my problems with IBS are from dairy products but not all unfortunatly.
If you have it,you would have to find out your trigger points & that is not easy just like finding what we can eat as IC paitents you know what I mean.
I do hope you get your symptoms under control as much as possable any ways.
Best of luck & please take care.
Love, Zookeeper Kim

[Kiyoka]

thanks you guys, I didn't really mean I got it in thailand. I was that I didn't have to do very many bowel movements, since they all have rice and a few pieces of meat. That when I got back and ate my normal food, that it irritated those areas. but who know. I hope you guys are having a flare free day.