women conquering diarrhea - page three
The tale of...Sue
I have suffered with IBS now for almost four years on and off but looking over my past I have had it since I was around 17 years old and at various times of stress in my life. The last four years have been the worst and most frequent. It started on the way to work one day when I had to stop off at my dad's house to use the loo, at this time it was every couple of hours rushing to the loo.
The doctors kept giving me medications that made me worse so in the end I used tablets to bung me up and Fybogel to make me go, and this went on for almost three years. I used relaxation music/exercises and reflexology which helped me a huge amount.
Last year I had about eight months that I would call remission whereby I was able to live normally again, part of my IBS has given me panic attacks and agoraphobia to fight too! Then suddenly one day after I had a stressful situation it happened all over again, rushing to the loo, the wind and so on, this led me to be scared to go out again and I am slowly working on that again.
For me I found that cutting out alcohol, fried food, reducing my bread intake, drinking peppermint tea and relaxation all helped me enormously, I also take acidophilus and Yakult daily and have noticed that if I miss them for a few days I start to have trouble again, oh and also try cutting out spicy foods too!
The tale of...Louise
Firstly I must say, what a relief to find this website. I was diagnosed with having IBS four years ago and I thought I was becoming a food freak! The doctors told me about the physical aspects of having IBS, but not once do I remember them saying 'you'll go partially insane through constantly thinking about going to the loo!' And believe me at the age of 22, trying to complete a degree in teaching, you have enough to worry about!
Like most IBS sufferers I have cut out food such as bread, pasta and chocolate (hard when your parents own a sweet shop) but for me personally I find the strain it has on your social and working life more of a challenge than the physical aspect.
At university I would not be concentrating on the lectures but trying to plan how I could leave the lecture hall if I suddenly needed the toilet. Whilst on teaching practice I would be counting the minutes to when I could next visit the ladies room. Believe me the mental strain to keep going was unbelievable. There is a happy ending (well sort of - there are no miracle cures). I finished my degree and am planning to start teaching soon.
The tale of...Rachel
My IBS started when I changed jobs. I am in my mid-20s, and when I say I changed jobs, I actually mean I changed jobs and moved 200 miles north at the same time. I didn't have any time off for the move and my first week of work was awful, every time I went into a meeting room with someone for an introductory chat, my stomach would make growling noises and I was in so much pain.
My stomach kept swelling up like a football. Immediately after eating I would feel like I was going to have diarrhea and when I got to the toilet I would be constipated. Often I had to run trying not to break wind. It was awful. Every time I got up to collect something from the printer or do photocopying I had to pretend to look at my watch while the sensation passed before I could carry on walking.
This carried on for months, so eventually I went to my doctor. I was so embarrassed to tell him I was flatulent all the time, and I couldn't think of an appropriate word for it at the time either! He said it was IBS and it was often stress-related, and suggested my change of job was to blame.
Since then I have found this website really helpful, and I realise that my constant toilet trips (at work I am known for going every hour on the hour) and pain is nothing compared to some of the stories I have read. I have found the oddest things set me off, namely:
- pineapple juice
- yoghurt
- alcohol
- bananas
- biscuits
to name a few...
I know this sounds really obvious, but near to my period it gets really bad, so I never do the top button of my trousers up and try to wear as loose-fitting trousers as possible, that really seems to help the pain and swelling. And I try to eat well, but sometimes when the IBS gets me down, all I want to do is eat cake and chocolate.
Work is definitely the hardest thing for me. My team mates joke about the fact I always seem to know where free toilets are in all major cities in Britain - but for me this essential when going out (finding money wastes valuable time). My doctor put me on tablets to aid my weight loss and the side effects were oily stools and the need to got to the toilet urgently - great.
Going to the toilets at work has become a bit of a trauma, I am obsessed about the cubicles being empty in case I have some sort of explosion (I'm not kidding!). I hope that nevertheless this is a happy story because knowing what my problem is and learning to cope is positive for me. I also appreciate that my symptoms are not as bad as they could be. I hope that those still suffering find things to help them soon.
Worst moment: Breaking wind in a restaurant when a child decided to tickle me. Either that or breaking wind in front of my manager. I'm still not sure whether I got away with it...