Does anyone here deal with IBS?

[TrekChick]

Two things seem to trigger my symptoms: stress & fatty foods. I dealt with the stress by changing jobs last year, and I now have to completely avoid rich, fatty foods: bacon, mayonnaise, most kinds of cheese, ranch dressing, anything deep fried; because they all cause horrible stomach pain that lasts anywhere between 1-3 days. So, I base all my meals around a lot of carbs: bagels, pasta, rice, bread, tortillas, potatoes. Veggies are no problem for me, nor is spicy food. I try to eat small servings of chicken, turkey, pork or seafood (for protien) at least once a day. I also try to keeping meals small, so I don't feel bloated right after eating. I NEVER drink sodas, diet or otherwise; soda pop is very, very bad for ones stomach - it makes me feel very, horibly bloated and cramped-up! I started taking Citrucel fiber tablets EVERY DAY, about 18 months ago at the suggestion of a physician, and have had only two severe symptomatic bouts since then. And, of course, exercise helps tremendously - it relieves stress, and also burns off all those carbs!
Remember, everyone's symptoms are different with IBS - you just need to find your specific "triggers", and reduce or eliminate them. I sincerely wish you Good Luck!!!!
~~~~~TrekChick

[betagirl]

Hey yellow....good to see a fellow bike riding crohnie! I agree, it's so nice to find others you can discuss this stuff with. Though some of my friends without any GI issues still ask me questions, which is cool of them.

[shadon]

Yes..for the early posters, IBS is indeed Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I'm guessing that mine is something connected to hormones, since my period came this weekend...and as I think about it, that's what happened when this occured about 4 months ago.

I hat is off to those of you who deal with Crohns Disease...while I don't feel well, I can't imagine dealing with what you do.

I think this is a wake up call for me to get serious about what I eat and to change my eating habits, starting with eating breakfast, and eating out less. I gotta make this not get in the way with riding the bike!

[ACG]

I have IBS the 10 days surrounding my period. I have learned thru trial and error what works and what doesn't. Drink lots of water. Take fiber supplements. Limit or stay away from certain foods. EXERCISE

I feel bad sometimes as I have to use the bathroom 3 times in the a.m. when I wake up, yet once I'm 'done', I'm fine the rest of the day.

I'm sorry you all have this problem and glad, cuz now I know I'm not the only one. My suggestion to anyone is a food/lifestyle diary. Find your triggers then correct them.

[pkq]

Stress triggers mine as does eating out, which I don't do often. When I traveled for work, I began going to the grocery store to get food. You can be creative and eat healthier than most restaurants allow.

Momma had it but it never occured to me that I did. Last year my doctor diagnosed me with it and prescribed pills. I am not one for taking pills so I ditched the 'script and began thinking about what I could do to avoid so many restaurants during business travel. Things got better quickly with grocery store runs.

I am big on oatmeal and oatbran. It's great breakfast food and snack food. I have that most mornings and change it up with frozen fruits ( cools it off and adds flavor ), butter or oil, cinnamon, sugar, light salt, and Grape Nuts for crunchy texture. I'm sure y'all can come up with much more creative ways to spice up oatmeal/bran.

I like Grape Nuts with the Dannon La Creme yogurt, too.

[Lynne]

oh, am I glad to see this post! I "get" to go in for a Colonscopy and endoscopy tomorrow, and I'm a nervous wreck. I'd been diagnosed with IBS years and years ago, but hadn't had any flare ups to match what I've had for the past 3 weeks or so. So, in I go for those lovely procedures, and I'm beyond embarrassed about the whole thing. Basically, I want to hide my head under a blanket and not come back out! But dang, it hurts so bad that it makes me want to curl up (I do curl up with a stuffed teddy bear at night, so lame, huh???). I'll find out soon enough if it's IBS still or Crohns or a stomach ulcer or whatever, but none of them are ok, they all suck. But if it helps to know, even when I feel really terrible, getting on a bike helps tremendously. When I hurt a lot and don't feel like walking upright, I can get on a bike and feel better in about a half hour. I suspect it's because it takes everything away from the digestive system and gives me a break, but I'm not sure. I have no idea what my triggers are, either. Anyway, all of this is to say, get on the bike, trust me. The only problem I've had are side aches, but still better than the pain in my stomach and abdomen. Good luck!

[texas_emily]

Lynne,
Good luck. A clear diagnosis will be worth the discomfort and embarassment. You'll feel so much better later.

On the original topic:

I also deal with IBS...and variations thereof. I have problems with dairy, caffeine, rich and fatty foods -- all of the good stuff, right?!?

My doctor recommended daily fiber supplements, lots of water, and a steady supply of OTC anti-gas medication. It helps a lot! I've also found that eating meals and/or snacks on a regular schedue (rather than wildly varying hours...dinner a 6 one night, 9 the next) helps too.

Most of the time, my IBS doesn't keep me off the bike, though I tend to keep some extra tissues or TP in my jersey pocket or seat pack should problems arise!

[archibella]

I've got IBS too... have since high school. Drinking lots of water, eating fiber rich food, and avoiding stress and rich/greasy foods seems to help me... I try and regularly eat snack bars or cereal that's high in fiber like the All-Bran breakfast bars (an amazing 5 grams of fiber) Also-- I know drinking carbonated things is usually a no-no, but a sparkling mineral water such as san pelligrino (not the more fizzy perrier) seems to settle my stomach. Somebody told me it could be because the minerals made it more alkaline, which counteracted some of the acids in your stomach... that may be just talk though-- don't know. At any rate i feel better, and I'm drinking water.

If you're like me and stress is a big factor, try doing something to make your body relax: a hot bath or a dip in the hot tub. Physical activity seems to make it better as well, especially if it's something you enjoy-- like biking! Good luck, and hope you feel better for the weekend

[Dogmama]

oh, am I glad to see this post! I "get" to go in for a Colonscopy and endoscopy tomorrow, and I'm a nervous wreck.

The worst part is the prep. Hope everything went well.

Your signature line talks about cheesecake & pizza, you're kidding right? Both can be major offenders in the IBS battles.

[Dogmama]

Wish me luck, ladies. I'm off to San Fran in a couple of days. The change of schedule, plus excitement, usually kicks off my IBS in a very big way. This time, I'm being very pedestrian in my fiber & water intake and will continue while on vacation. I also have laxatives (which I NEVER take except during emergencies like this) if I absolutely must. Oh, and did I mention I'm in my worst part of my hormonal cycle for IBS?

I will avoid cheeses, fatty foods and sweets (repeats as a mantra...)

[mary9761]

Last year when I was having chest pains and shortness of breath and thought there was a heart problem, (luckily NOT) the docs put me on a cardiac and diabetic diet. I was told NO CAFFEINE Well, after the initial withdrawels I noticed something. I wasn't running to the bathroom as soon as I finished eating anymore. I would normally have a cup of coffee, THEN eat and nearly immediately would have problems. I haven't had that problem since really. Between the better fiber intake AND getting rid of the caffeine, I'm doing MUCH better.
I did have a recent confirmation that it was indeed the caffeine in the coffee when I sneaked having a cup of regular instead of decaf and I was Off to the races....

[LED_now]

Very recently (2004-2005) extremely important TURNAROUND ideas about "IBS" in the medical community were discovered.

Basically, the Gastroenterology Research folks at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles California are stating BIGTIME conceptual changes in this whole thing.

They are saying that Normal Small Bowel enteric flora (bacteria) are limited to a certain type and are different than what is Normally found in the Large Bowel and that "IBS" is a label that has been used in describing the activity (symptoms) that has been found in a large percentage of patients who have had Normal LARGE Intestine bacteria set-up shop in varying numbers in the SMALL Intestine (where they NORMALLY) do NOT reside.
Various reasons why this happens are listed. Some point to a mechanical fault (we have valves that separate the small & large bowel, and sometimes those can be faulty, therefore allowing Large Intestine bacteria to move upstream into the Small Intestine). Other reasons can be too little stomach acid, or Immune Disease.
SPECIFIC antibiotics (not "broad-spectrum" antibiotics) are given in cyclical format - depending on the nature of the dysfunction (Immune? Faulty Valves? too little stomach acid? etc.).
This study from Cedar-Sinai has just been published in the Medical Journals and is REALLY turning the whole 'concept' of "IBS" (a label of symptoms only) on its' ear.

Please Google this: "Introduction to Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth Oren Zaidel"

You will find there the text: "Uninvited Guests: The Impact of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth on Nutritional Status"
(Oren Zaidal is one of the researchers,Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

and also -

This is the Original University of California News release based on the study:

Bacteria May Be the Cause of IBS
08/25/04
A USC researcher considers new ways to treat a gastrointestinal condition that affects millions of Americans. The approach represents a reversal in thinking, offering hope for patients.

By Alicia Di Rado

The enigmatic-but-common condition known as irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is caused by an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine, a USC researcher has proposed in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers have suggested numerous theories to explain IBS, which affects as many as 36 million Americans. But according to gastrointestinal motility specialist Henry C. Lin, associate professor of medicine in the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the idea of a bacterial origin of IBS represents a major change in thinking.

Writing in the Aug. 18 issue of JAMA, Lin proposed that ordinary bacteria normally confined to the large intestine may expand into the small intestine, prompting uncomfortable bloating and gas after meals, a change in bowel movements as well as an immune response that may account for the flu-like illness so common in the IBS patient, including such debilitating symptoms as headaches, muscle and joint pains and chronic fatigue.

"IBS has long been a frustrating diagnosis for both patients and their physicians," Lin said. "The bacterial hypothesis of IBS offers new hope for suffering patients by providing a new framework for understanding the symptoms of this disorder, pointing to new strategies for treatment."

Physicians frequently diagnose a patient with IBS when ongoing symptoms - including diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas and abdominal pain - are not explained by medical tests such as gastrointestinal endoscopies.

For more than a dozen years, Lin has searched for a common thread to account for the symptoms in IBS. Studies indicate 92 percent of IBS patients report bloating after they eat, a symptom he saw again and again in his patients.

While many physicians believe that IBS-related bloating is perceived and not real, Lin noted that recent studies of IBS patients show that their abdomens do become measurably more distended than those of healthy patients.

With the symptom of post-meal bloating in mind, Lin began the quest for the cause of IBS by considering the problem of increased intestinal gas.

Gas comes about when gut bacteria ferment food in the intestinal tract. There are plenty of organisms in the gut, where bacteria may number 100 trillion.

Bacteria perform a variety of valuable services in the large intestine, according to Lin. "But we believe problems may start when bacteria set up shop in the small intestine where they are normally scarce. Usual medical tests such as endoscopy cannot detect this problem in most patients," he said.

However, a breath test can be used to indirectly tell if too many bacteria are in the small intestine. In this test, the patient ingests a syrup containing the sugar lactulose. Over the next three hours, the gaseous products of bacterial fermentation of this sugar may be measured in the exhaled breath.

In a 2003 paper authored by Lin and his research partner Mark Pimentel of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 84 percent of IBS patients were found to have abnormal breath test results suggesting small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, patients received either antibiotic therapy or a sugar pill. Patients whose small intestinal bacterial overgrowth was eradicated by antibiotics reported a 75 percent improvement in symptoms.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth allows gut bacteria to cross the mucosal barrier, which is the lining of the gut, and enter the body. This activates the patient's immune system as evidenced by increased numbers of inflammatory cells in tissues of IBS patients.

"The immune response to bacterial antigens may then explain the flu-like symptoms that can greatly diminish the quality of life such as chronic fatigue and pain," Lin said.

The Jill and Tom Barad Family Fund supports Lin's current bacterial overgrowth research. His other research projects are supported by the National Institutes of Health.
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