Does anyone here deal with IBS?

[Dogmama]

I have it. I hate it. Hormones play a big part. Here's what I found that works: (Warning - this is a tad graphic)

Avoid coffee, (even decaf), carbonated beverages and fatty foods. They trigger spasms in the bowel. You want the bowel to be calm.

Take a fiber supplement at night. I found one by Jarrow that tastes terrible but works. Citrucel, et. al, have artificial colors & flavors that I'd rather avoid. Fiber gives the bowel something to hang onto and helps train it to act normally.

If you have primarily constipation, avoid laxatives that stimulate the bowel. They may work at first, but eventually you'll get dependent on them. Better choices are "stool softeners" that draw water into the bowel. Even then, you need to use these sparingly.

Wheat, dairy, soy foods may all be triggers. Remember that it takes ~ 2 days for anything to get all the way through your system. So, that bagel you ate two days ago might be causing you problems now.

Exercise does help. Just plan your rides so that you will be next to a bathroom

[shadon]

..for letting me know this isn't gonna get in the way of the bike! I had this in college, it didnt bother me for *years* after that, but seems to have reared it's ugly head in the last 6 months. Middle age stinks...

[Dogmama]

..for letting me know this isn't gonna get in the way of the bike! I had this in college, it didnt bother me for *years* after that, but seems to have reared it's ugly head in the last 6 months. Middle age stinks...

IBS is often exacerbated by stress. Good thing we don't have any of that!

[betagirl]

I don't have IBS but I have crohn's disease, which has similar symptoms of running to the can and such If I have a flare up it's really hard for me to not want to get on the bike anyway. I try to avoid the trigger foods if I know I'm going to go on an organized ride. Thankfully stuff like carbs doesn't set me off Otherwise, if I get hit with pain on a ride I slow down and take deep breaths til it passes. If I find I need to "go" I have no qualms of using a corn field or stopping at someone's house. I have this card from the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America that says I really really really really need to use the bathroom, in so many words.

GI issues are fun aren't they?

I have found I feel better if I exercise though, so it's more a matter of figuring out what I can do and when I should take it easy. But never *too* easy.

[yellow]

GI problems are VERY common for women...we just don't talk about it that much because it can be rather personal and embarrasing...but then when you do open your mouth you find out just how many others suffer along with you.

I also have Crohn's but have not had a really really bad bout in almost 5 years. It's miserable: it dictates your life, what you eat, where you go...which in turn can really mess with your head. I have minor symptoms pretty much monthly (yep, directly related to hormones in my case) but nothing like I used to. I'll never forget the day I found out the woman that sits 2 doors down from me at work has colitis...we were both so relieved as we each thought we were the only one with what we've come to joking call "poop issues"!

I think you get the picture that you have to figure out what it is that makes it the worst...and know that if you indulge/experience, you will pay. And it may get better with time. It's your opportunity to get to know your body, which is something that most folks don't bother with.

Good luck, hang in there, and don't get angry like I used to...it just makes it worse!

y

[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.

[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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