IBS Chat is a new book which has been written entirely by IBS sufferers – and without them really knowing it! No, they haven’t been hypnotized by an evil megalomaniac cyber-sheep and forced to talk about their bowels – stop being silly. They’ve just contributed to the rather wonderful IBS Self-help Group bulletin board, and now the best, most supportive and most knowledgeable posts from that board have been collected into a book.
Now, perhaps the first question you might ask is why you would bother to buy a book version of a website, when the website already exists. The answer is, of course, editing. The IBS Self-help Group now contains thousands upon thousands of posts, if not millions, and while that fact makes it a great resource in its own right, it does mean that sometimes it can be hard to find what you’re looking for. But no longer!
The book has been collated by Jeff Roberts, the founder of the IBS Self-help Group, and Barbara Bradley Bolen, a clinical psychologist and author of Breaking the Bonds of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The idea behind it is very simple – chapters are dedicated to various different aspects of IBS, such as diarrhea, constipation, diagnostic tests, medication, hypnotherapy etc etc, and then the best posts and threads from the bulletin board are arranged neatly within.
Personally I’m a big fan of things written by IBS sufferers for other IBS sufferers, and the whole reason I started IBS Tales was because I didn’t want to read any more books by doctors who were well-meaning but remote, I wanted to read stuff by the people who were actually living it.
There’s a real power in reading page after page after page (after page – you get your money with IBS Chat, it’s over 500 pages long) written by people who are Just Like You. You begin to realize that most IBS sufferers have the same challenges and problems and bizarre things said to them by well-wishers, and that far from being abnormal we’re part of a pretty huge club.
Not only that, you can pick up some great ideas for treatments – there’s good coverage for example of the calcium and magnesium supplements that have proved so useful for so many people, despite rarely being mentioned by our doctors.
So, IBS Chat is definitely a book to add to your IBS reading list. My only gripe really would be that there’s no index, but the chapters are so well-organized that this isn’t much of a problem, and of course you can always look the subject up online.
Thanks for the tip, Sophie. (And happy new year!) It sounds like a great book.
sophie, maybe you shouldn’t knock what you havent tried digesterol is a very good product and you maybe keeping someone from trying somthing that could very well bring them relief. Also on the subject of surgery, they do recommend removal of parts of the intestines for ibs.
Steven, I’ve given my arguments on the Digestrol front, and you are of course welcome to take or leave them, along with anyone else.
Doctors do not perform surgery for IBS.
HI ALL. I JUST WANTED TO ASK IF ANY1 KNOWS ANY GOOD LIVE IBS CHAT ROOMS SO I CAN TALK TO SUM1 ABOUT IBS AS I THINK I HAVE IT. THNK U
Hi Everyone,
I’ve had stomach problems for about 20 years-have gone trough all the testing etc and have tried several alternative treatments. Colonoscopy was ok except slight diverticulosis.
I reasearched for hours on this!
This is what worked best for me-actually knock on wood I haven’t had any symptomes in 2 weeks since I started on all 3..
3 products:
1. Serovera AMP (most expensive but well worth it)
2. Primal Defense (ultra)
3. Traditional Tibetian Healing pills (gross tasting) but I just have a glass of water handy
Make sure they have ruled out everything with a colonoscopy test.
It’s amazing-no more gas, pain etc.
I don’t sell any of this but I should!
Good luck
BT
im 26 i hate living with ibs and i hate the fack that no one wants to even try to undertand i would like to meet a women who nos what its like het me up un myspace tysonbk@yahoo.com or medinaangel@yahoo.com
How do I kwon if I have IBS for sure? Im 41 and the doctor says “I have it.”I had every test done to man,and all come back NEG.But I still have abdominal pain{that moves from time to time} and diarrhea.He’s telling to take imodium a-d once a day.Is that good? He has me on Dicyclomine and it does seem to help.If I have it can I get help here?
Hi Rob – unfortunately there’s no set test for IBS, it does depend on a diagnosis from your doc based on your symptoms. Imodium does help a lot of people – I’d follow your doc’s instructions and see what happens. And we’ll try to help if we can!
hi sopie. i can say in the morning when i wake up dreadfull pain in tummy it was so bad had to sit down take my meds felt better half a hour later.good news then bad news the bad news is i have a recurrent hernia again waiting for op could be called in any time up till the 18 of dec. good news is i was 10 stone now i am 13 stone. i think it was i was ill stop eating and my gp at the time who i loved thank god i got rid of him out of my life.i now get dla imcome supout and ibc as well the gp i loved never help me get any money my new gp is a great help. i have treid telling men and woman about ibs its a wasted of time they just do know how ill will feel this s a great site all the best to all those who suffer ibs to martin harrison.
hi i have been dealing with ibs with constipation for my hole life and im only 18 i am very uncomfortable and everyone thinks i am crazy and no one understands but anyway i am going to to basic training in seven months and i need something if anyone has a tip please send me an email thanks
hi
I have had constapation all my life. I’m 50. I just got introduced to this product and i like it. the company that makes it is renew life digetive products. the stuff is fiber smart. Its made with lignan-rich organic flax fiber,probiotics,fos and l-glutamine. they have alot of good products but the cost is high. they even have health advisor to help you.
hi
I have ibs,dermatitis,constapation,anxeity. Does anyone have information about a IBS treatment center in seatle washington. I’m thinking about going but don’t want to waste my money. I’ve wasted enough. thanks kathy s
ibs is hell
I have what seems to me the worst case of anxiety brought on by my i.b.s. its horrible. im always thinking about my stomach and complaining about it. Im scared to eat anything. i dont even like to hang out with my friends or want to get a job because of this. Does any1 else feel like this? are there any live chat rooms 2 discuss it? just actually being able to relate to someone else dealing with it would be very helpfull. I agree ibs is hell.
I have suffered from Ibs since I was 14. I am now 57. I have Ibs-D. I started taking Cholestyramine (Questran?) a few days ago ~ 3 times a day. It hasn’t started working yet. Supposedly it take 1-3 weeks to work. I also ahve a prescriprtion for Lomotil. I decided to try the Questran first since it is least harmful. Lomotil has narcotic properties. Has any tried both, obviously at different times? I know that everyone responds to medication differently. I would like to know how much more effective the Lomotil is at controlling Ibs-D than Questran. Thanks
Hi All,
I’m pretty sure I have started suffering from irritable bowel but not 100% sure yet as I haven’t exactly been diagnosed with it. I was on a series of antibiotics last year for recurring bladder infections and started getting a dull pain in the lower left part of my abdominals and my groin…that eventually went and everything seemed fine, had alternating diarrhoea during that time and consitapation….then about a month or so ago I was put on another course of antibiotics for a sinus infection and that seemed to be the icing on the cake..I’ve had thesame kind of nagging, dull pain in the lower left groin/stomach ever since…it’s not unbearable pain but it’s just very frustrating and I’ve been getting extremely depressed about it. I’ve changed my diet, eat a lot of fruit now..have cut out dairy and sweets and anything with excess sugar in it…I’ve been reading about so much stuff online about IBS and have actually made anothe doctors appointment tonight to tell her the pain just hasn’t gone. I was on a laxative for about a week and I was completely constipated and that seems to have improved a lot but this dull ache hasn’t gone…has anyone else gone through this? I have also been extremely stressed the last couple of months and have been told this is probably contributing to it as well, it’s just very annoying at this point.
E.