I’ve been feeling pretty darn well for around two weeks now, which is an extremely welcome relief. To be honest things were a bit grim there for a while – my guts seemed to get into their kind of “IBS place” which they don’t know how to get out of without help, and I never know how to help. Once I’m in a session like that it can take weeks for things to get back to normal. Well, when I say normal I mean normal for me, which is really quite abnormal for most normal people.
These long-range attacks aren’t like my most heinous of all, the diarrhea-out-of-nowhere-with-extra-pain attacks that are just agonizing. Their power is in the fact that they go on and on and on, and they start to make you think that this is the way it’s gonna be for all time, that this constipation and pain and bloated feeling, this fighting with your system, is just the way you’re going to live from now on, so get used to it.
But like I say, finally, I’ve managed to snap out of it. And I’m not sure about this theory (Oh, I always have a theory), but I think it may be down to the fact that I’m taking vitamin D supplements.
This came about because I’d been trying to analyze my “mystery year”, which was a very odd time in about 2002 when I went for almost a full year with really very few IBS problems. I’ve tried to recreate it as much as possible in the past in terms of diet and fiber supplements, but with not very much success. The only thing I hadn’t tried was the vitamin D, which I was taking because I’d had some back pain and I’d read that vitamin D (along with calcium, which I also take) was good for the back.
I hadn’t really connected the vitamin D with IBS because, well, I was taking it for my back and not my intestines, but I googled it and found that it might not be completely ridiculous to think that there was some connection. The most interesting find was a study which showed that mice with Crohn’s disease (I know, I didn’t realize that mice could get Crohn’s disease either, poor little fellows) showed less symptoms when they were given the vit D.
There was also quite a lot of stuff about how people can be vit D deficient fairly easily, especially if they stay indoors a lot and don’t get in the sun enough. Plus, it may be complete coincidence, but Caltrate Plus is a supplement which is famous in the online IBS community for helping sufferers (although more those with diarrhea, but still.) And what does Caltrate Plus contain? Calcium and vitamin D.
Anyway, at the moment it’s just a theory – and like I say, I always have a theory for the times when I’m feeling well. I’m sure at one stage or another I’ve attributed my good patches to everything from gluten to coffee to homeopathy to hypnotherapy to the fact that I’m not wearing pants.
Hopefully, in the end, one of these theories will prove correct.
do you have ibs or ibd
Funny you mention the ‘no pants thing’ I seem to have better days without pants. I quit coffee over a year ago and tried the gluten free diet, the milk free diet to no avail. I have had attacks for about 4 years and I really miss eating meals out with my husband or just going for counrty drives like we used to. I have seen a gastro.doctor and a urologist too. A barium enima and colonoscopy came back virtually negative of everything but a small area where the large and small intestine meet a area of irritation. I suffer bouts of constipation and diarrhea with a few good days a month which I live for but can not predicts when they will happen. I saw a shink to see if it was a deep seeded problem I haven’t dealt with – not it either. I welcome the vitimin D theory – I will let you know…and thanks for listening.
Vanessa
Yes, Calcium is brilliant, its completely changed my life!! Of course, its combined with vitamin D, and both together…. wow! It took a few weeks to get properly into my system (I don’t eat dairy so my body was shocked at all the new calcium), but now I can live not a “normal” persons life, but for an alternating IBS sufferer – pretty dam normal! I imploy you to try it, in the UK take just a vit d/calcium high strength supplement twice or 3 times a day…
After my thyroid removal, I was taking LOADS of calicium (caltrate 600 D- as told by doc)and had no flare ups during that entire time, even though i was stressed most of the time. I eventually stopped taking calicium because i got lazy (had to plan taking it so it didnt effect my synthroid med) and the flare ups started again. Now Im back to taking at least one a day and am feeling better.
Just a little aside on that – maybe (apart from the stress issues), it would seem a lot of IBS sufferers are much better on holiday – vitamin d from all the sun? I really think a major part of it is connected to the life one leads in large western cities – everything is so manic and hectic. I am travelling in thailand this summer, so i will also be changing my diet a great deal (cutting out most wheat and dairy) and will report back on any effects this may have. Keep up the good work though!
I always have a theory too : ) Thus far none have completely panned out, but I keep searching. I am hypothyroid as well as having IBS-A.
I think you may be onto something about the D. At present, a combination of vitamin D3, calcium, and magnesium seem to be helping me. It started with a surprise blood test result indicating I was deficient in D. So I started on D3 supplements. Had also been taking a multivitamin long term which just wasn’t getting the job done, so I started taking Caltrate as well as the D3. Was okay (at least no worse) for a bit, but then had terrible muscle pains in various places–really awful. Finally figured out I need magnesium to balance my new uptake of calcium. Tried different versions, with “Slow Mag” seeming to work best for me (it has calcium as well as the magnesium). Wow, what a difference! My gut is now NOT at the top of my list of complaints, where it has been for so many years! It isn’t perfect, but it is soooo much better, not to mention better sleep all around. Don’t know if it will work for me forever or for anyone else, but I am thankful it is working right now! I learned more than I ever wanted to know about how you need magnesium along with calcium and which forms are best absorbed and tolerated.
I’d have to agree with Vitamin D intake as helping. It has corrected my bowel ‘swings’ and given me what I would consider a normal function, which in turn enables me to eat a greater variety of food, including much of which disagreed with me for the past twenty years. I didn’t even start Vit D for this purpose! Having a better balance GI system seems to have stopped me being hungry all the time, and makes it easier to control my food intake. I have also had plenty of other things fixed….. I no longer have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the loo, my hayfever has virtually disappeared ( both after 20 years of suffering), I sleep better, am exercising more easily and in general feel about 15 years younger. Just from Vitamin D. I take 1000IU per day, and a recent blood test showed my levels are now normal. ( A local doctor recently stated that he had tested 95 people for Vit D (simple blood test) and found 90 were deficient….! Worth investigating.
I was just diagnosed with IBS, and it wasn’t a welcome verdict. I asked my GI to consider other options, and he chose to do bloodwork. The result? I am severely deficient in Vitamin D. He prescribed Vitamin D for me. I’ll take one pill a week (about 50,000 iu) for the next eight weeks.
I’m not sure a supplement will do the trick for people who have a significant deficiency.
On recommendation I wrote to a Professor of Heptology and asked him to advise me on how to handle my IBS symptoms which include nausea. He wrote back and said that I should take one heaped tablespoon of turmeric and a large dose of vitamin D (4000IE) per day. I then got curious about vit D which led me here. I haven’t started taking it yet but I hope that considering where my advice came from it may be useful for otheres when considering taking vitamin D.
Hi, I just googled IBS and Vit D because I have had the same theory! I have had severe IBS for my whole life, and I am on a strict gluten free diet for the last 3 years, which has really helped the constipation part, but not the severe pain and diarrhea part. Then I went to the DR to get blood work done, and it came up that I have a big Vit D deficiency, so I am on a high dose of Vit d (800 IU), and since I have been taking it I have not had an episode!! Last night was a huge test, went out for Mexican (with a bit of cheese and sour cream….I was just waiting to get hoe because I knew I would be sick soon)…and I started to get the beginning signs that an episode was coming…slight pain, and I thought it was starting. But then it never came. I am in shock, and it has to be the Vit D! Yay!
I have suffered the torture of crohns disease for 47 years, and have recently (2 weeks ago) started taking l0000, iu of Vitamin D 3 per day, I think it is starting to work, I do not experience the burning or the watery liquid so much now, and expect it will get better, soon.
Cheers,
Carmen
I figured this out myself.
Apparently vitamin D deficiency can cause (bad) PMS, and I started getting IBS symptoms with my PMS.
I am deficient in vitamin D and I’m sure it’s related as I remember researching vitamin D deficiency and it was talking about how vitamin D is more like a hormone. Also there is a well known link between PMS and IBS, or even just PMS and diarreah etc. Seems logical.
I think they should look to the idea of IBS being a hormonal problem or imbalance of some sort.
Can you combine questran and Caltrate Plus?
I stumbled on this as well. Just had a friend tell me they had same symptoms and I decided to google IBS and Vitamin D. Found your article. Since I’ve stopped eating dairy, thought I might add in some calcium — was looking at supplements and saw Caltrate said “for colon health” so I thought I would give it a shot. I take two chewables each night. Works great. Regular Caltrate tablets seem to really bother my stomach. I also now take 6,000 IU Vitamin D each night as well in addition to a multi-vitamin. It’s virtually cured my IBS and has even helped some arthritis I’ve developed in my hands. Important note – you have to try WHOLE FOOD vitamins — synthetic Vitamin C and others really cause IBS flare ups. Whole food is more expensive but worth it in the end. Amazing that all the doctors I saw about this didn’t have a clue. “Eat more fiber” they say!
I also stumbled on this post. I was diagnosed with IBS in 2006 after a variety of tests came back negative. I have always attributed it to some type of food that I was eating in the winter as that was when my IBS seemed to be worse.
Recently I went to the doctors for a routine medical which is required by my work and I was found to have extremely low levels of vitamin D. After taking high doses of vitamin D three times a day for about a month I have noticed a significant improvement in my IBS. The only thing I could think of was that it was the Vitamin D. Out of curiousity I too googled IBS and Vitamin D and came across this post. I would highly recommend that anyone with IBS explore the possibility that it may be related to Vitamin D.
So happy to read this. This week has been torture. I am PMSing and have spent most of the week in the bathroom. I know exactly when my symptoms started Feb 2009 – ever since that awful 56 day cycle in between periods my body has been a mess ever since. I have gained 20 pounds, my cycles vary from 30-59 days, dugestive track is impossibly unpredictable. I’m so upset. I also am constanly vitamin D deficient, my Doc put my on 15 days of Vit D in August, once I stopped taking symptoms returned. Im so sorry for everyone else on here who suffers too. Our partners don’t understand, out employers don’t understand I totally agree with the above comment from the woman who just wants to spend PMS week at home in bed. Thank you all for the tips. Best of luck.
I too was diagnosed with IBS (I’m Baffled Syndrome) and found my triggers were:
Peanuts
Gluten
Dairy
Diet Soda (now a water drinker)
and cut those out after my Functional Medicine MD worked with me and had me use a Food Diary. Then I started Vitamin D3 when my blood test showed I needed to bring my blood level up. I’m on 10,000 IU a day. My M.D. will retest my D3 level after 90 days, will adjust my dosage then. I am sooo much better now. My IBS symptoms are 90% gone. I dropped 6 lbs (already fit), and I noticed my mental focus has improved. I also treadmill 40 minutes per day. I’m a new woman! I’m in Mental Pause and feel pretty darn good.
Is anyone having an opposite reaction? I was hyperparathyroid until I had some parathyroids removed, they also remove 1/2 my thyroid so now I’m on the hypothyroid side but my parathyroid / calcium level is normal. Not taking any meds but everytime I supplement Calcium and Vit D, I have lower intestine/colon issues. Once I stop, I’m all better so next time I try Vit D alone and the issue occurs again. I stop, it stops. Start again it start by the next day. So convinced there is a relationship but for me it’s a negative one. Anyone else?
I was put on high does of VitD by my asthma specialist last summer after he found that I was critically low on VitD in my blood. After a few months I started noticing that my IBS wasn’t as bad anymore…then I went 3 weeks without an attack after years of having at least 2-3 attacks a week and sometimes multiple attacks a day…now I’m slowing trying out “no no” foods to see if I can begin gently re-introducing them to my diet. If you suffer from IBS, go to your doctor and request a Vitamin D level check. It is a simple blood test, but it isn’t on the standard lab work forms and for some odd reason the drs don’t usually check for that! I’m not cured, but I’m the closest to living a normal life that I’ve been in over a decade!
Not a crazy theory at all. One of my co-workers, who had terrible IBS symptoms for years, started taking vitamin D (for bone loss), and hasn’t had a single GI issue since about a month after starting to take it. I have has IBS for years, and just got diagnosed with extremely low Vitamin D, after high doses of prednisone (it’s known to do that, so the doc checked). Starting taking it today, and hoping…
This is a very interesting. l guess my story is a little different. I was diagnosed with severely low Vitamin D levels-about 10nl prior to having IBS symptoms. I guess its my own fault…Instead of taking the extremely high dosage my doctor recommended I self-medicated with lower a dose. Reading this reminded me that my IBS symptoms began around the same time I stopped taking my Vitamin D (also had started a new job so stress may have been a factor) I’m going to pick up some of the recommended items here and head in for another blood test. Good Luck, and my prayers go out to you all!
I am IBS sufferer and lactose intolerance double trouble and was diagnosed Vitamin D deficiency and since taken vitamin D I haven’t felt better in years…. Read this article study of Vitamin D~IBS, etc….
http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=2923
Hi Sophie
I enjoyed your book and am currently making an iMovie about ibs and the importance of patient stories in healing. It will be used to educate medical students. I would like to include a screenshot of this page. You need to give me your permission so that I am complying with copyright. Is this ok with you?
Vicky
PS Vit D worked for me too. Thank you!
Hi Vicky – glad you enjoyed the book! You would be welcome to use a screenshot of this page or any other page on this site, as long as it is credited to http://www.ibstales.com
Good luck with your movie, sounds like a very worthwhile project.
I am so happy i stumbled across this page, I have had digestive problems for about a decade, and I have tried everything under the “sun” to find a cure, there were many occasions where I felt a certain food or substance I took cured it when I felt better, then I kept at it and then it came back, being further confused, why I felt better and what I did to get this relief,I am bangladeshi being brought up in britain, and whenever I got to bangladesh where the sun is scorching, and when im there my digestive problems is virtually gone. I didnt take notice because I didnt know what cured it, then I realised because of my genes, I could be preengineered to be dependant on the sun, which britain lacks big time.
fingers crossed, I only started taking the Vitamin D
I have not been officially diagnosed with IBS just yet but I to noticed taking Vitamin D has helped my bowel issues. At first, I had severe constipation with constant pain. After taking it for a bit, the pain lessened and I was able to go a little easier. The past two days I haven’t had the supplements. (Ran out, getting more tommorow.) And the pain and constipation have started to become less tolerable. I do think, it was the Vitamin D. I have a Vitamin D Deffiency, and I think perhaps even having this deffiency alone can be the cause of things like constipation or IBS.
I’ve suffered from IBS since my mid-twenties. My sister also but her issues progressed to the point that she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in her thirties. After I had my thyroid removed for thyroid cancer, and she had hers removed, at nearly the same time, for a goiter caused by Hashimoto’s, we both saw significant improvement in our symptoms. Five years later, I was diagnosed with Vitamin D deficiency and put on 50,ooo iu – no IBS symptoms whatsoever, but as soon as I was off the Vitamin D though, they were back – although never at the levels prior to the thyroidectomy. My sister and I also had serious PMS/cramps, etc. I think there’s definitely some hormonal / vitamin d connection.