women conquering diarrhea - page two
The tale of...Kim
I have suffered for a number of years from what the doctors have diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome. My IBS came on very suddenly, one evening, with severe abdominal pain. The pain was so intense that I began to hyperventilate. My husband rushed me to the hospital where the doctors could find nothing wrong with me. They gave me morphine for the pain and sent me home.
The next day I felt fine and so dismissed this as a one-time incident. Within a month I experienced the pain again, although not as severe, but it stayed with me for about four days. For the next several months I went through this suffering for four days to a week and then feeling good for two to three weeks, and then again four days to a week of pain.
I made several visits to different doctors, each one diagnosing IBS and suggesting eliminating the foods that cause pain, getting more exercise, and eliminating stress. They prescribed painkillers and muscle relaxants and sent me home feeling hopeless. The painkillers caused drowsiness and constipation, and the muscle relaxants caused my heart to race. I knew that I couldn't continue to use them, but really didn't want to anyway.
I wanted to find a natural way to combat this affliction. I took the doctors' advice and began walking to get my exercise. This seemed to help considerably but I was unable to do it when in pain, as it made the pain much worse. I also eliminated the foods that seemed to bother me. Foods such as cabbage, broccoli, corn, soda pop, and ice cream.
I began taking acidophilus, a glass of prune juice every morning, and a calcium supplement, these all seemed to help relieve the pain to some degree but not enough.
The stress elimination was not as easy and I am still working on that. I also tried many fibre supplements which hurt more than helped and I had to quit trying them. In the meantime the episodes were happening more often and lasting longer, although the pain was not as severe as it had been.
It soon became a mental problem of being afraid to eat because almost everything that I consumed would cause pain and bloating. I began to feel nauseated almost every time that I ate and I quickly lost 25 pounds. By this time my episodes were so frequent that once I had recovered from one, because they left me so drained and tired, it took several days to a week to recover after the pain, then I would have another. I was getting scared, extremely tired, and desperate to find relief.
In my search I happened upon a story of a man that was to the point of vomiting nearly everything that he ate and had lost 45 pounds. He had discovered a digestive enzyme with acidophilus and within three days of taking it with every meal he had improved to the point of being able to eat almost anything he wanted without a problem. I tried it and also found significant relief within three days.
I have since gained back the 25 pounds and do not feel nauseated at all. I am not afraid to eat now but find that I still cannot eat very much of either the refined sugar products nor the high fibre vegetables. I have continued the digestive enzyme, acidophilus, the prune juice and the exercising, and I have also added a cup or two per day of peppermint and chamomile tea.
When I do have an episode it occurs late in the day and by the next morning I am feeling back to normal. I can now concentrate more on exercising, eating well and relieving stress.
Unfortunately I cannot tell you that if you have IBS and you do all of the things that I have done that it will relieve your symptoms. I can tell you that when your life is enveloped by this horrible thing called IBS it is definitely worth trying anything that is suggested to you. Finding what will relieve your symptoms is a trial an error process, as one thing can help some people and will hurt others. The secret is to not give up hope and to keep trying.
The tale of...Laura
I was first diagnosed with IBS after drinking coke down the pub. I had been having really bad stomach pains and all the other symptoms of IBS so I decided to stop drinking alcohol as I thought it would be bad for me. So I had a pint of coke and it must have been the worst pain I have ever experienced.
I collapsed on the floor in agony and I was rushed to hospital. It took them a while and then they finally told me it was IBS. I knew what this was as one of my friends was a bad sufferer but I couldn't believe I had it! I blamed it on stress and food intolerances.
After a trial and error period I worked out what affected me and what didn't so I now can't eat normal bread, chocolate and pasta. But I was still getting pains when I worked out it was college - it was so stressful.
I was getting up at 6.00am to get the bus to get into college for 9.00am and then having about eight lessons a day with no breaks, and not getting home until 8.00 some evenings! It was a nightmare and I completely failed the first year so I moved to a nearer college and am now very happy! I still suffer from it but it is no way as bad as it used to be.