men conquering diarrhea - page three
The tale of...Paul
I am writing to inform you of a way in which my IBS symptoms have been relieved. I have suffered from diarrhea-predominant IBS for around eight years, since suffering from a viral infection.
I have had the usual medical tests, eg: sigmoidoscopy etc to rule out any other condition or disease, and basically my life has been a living hell, particularly over the last year where a normal day for me was to have around five or six bowel movements a day (accompanied by lots of pain and bloating.) My worst day was about a month ago where I had 15 bowel movements. (Sorry that this information is so graphic but with this condition you learn to overcome your loss of dignity!)
As you will no doubt realise this has made holding down a job very difficult, but luckily I have an employer who has been fairly understanding about this condition (most of the time!). I recently decided to go back to my GP, and she prescribed 30mg of Codeine three times a day to try and stop my bowel movements from being so frequent. This has helped to reduce the number of bowel movements that I have per day dramatically.
I have also tried a supplement called Esdifan which contains Calcium, vitamin B12 and a mineral called Zeolite. This has definitely helped with the pain and the bloating that I would suffer from. This condition has dominated my life for the last eight years but now I actually feel hopeful for the future.
E-mail Paul: Mmdwell[at]aol.com
The tale of...Jamie
Hi all. I thought I'd share my "IBS" experience because it may help some of you who have been misdiagnosed. About four year ago, I started feel a hellish pain in my lower right abdomen. After seeing several doctors, I was diagnosed with IBS and was prescribed Zelnorm. According to the doctors the only way to deal with it was to reduce stress. The pain became unbearable to such an extent that I could not concentrate at work.
I decided to quit my job and take six months off to deal with this problem once and for all. After four months my life stresses were significantly reduced but the pain remained - in fact - it was getting worse.
I went to all sorts of doctors. One discovered that I had an allergy to wheat, barley and rye. I was put on a strict diet. Again, this made no difference. Another, prescribed a course of antibiotics for the stomach.
Getting desperate, I thought about the pain deeply and decided that it was not in the stomach area. It's too low for that. Could it have something to do with my back? Perhaps there is a problem with the nerves in my spine? Could the pain I feel be the residual pain radiating from the nerves running down my spine?
After discussing this hypothesis with a friend, she advised me to see a highly respected chiropractor. The chiropractor immediately picked up something else...that my right hip was misaligned and my hips were extremely stiff where they connect to my abdomen (ie: no flexibility). Most of what he explained to me went straight over my head - all I remember is something about my misaligned hip pressing against a bunch of nerves.
Anyway, he strapped me to a chair and performed a whole range of exercises on my hip/legs. He told me my hip needed to be clicked back into place. We would hear a loud CRACK when it fell into place. He also said that I need to work on my posture (especially while sitting). People of my generation apparently have terrible posture, especially while sitting in front of a computer. This causes all sorts of problems.
Sure enough, after about the fifth session my pain has completely subsided. I am 100% cured.
The tale of...Paul
I have been suffering from IBS for the past six years. I had problems with all the trigger foods like alcohol, coffee, Chinese food, spicy foods etc. I had always relied on Imodium and sometimes it did not work if I took it too much. I had to be very careful with my Imodium usage.
I was feeling very depressed and I had anxiety problems. This was especially bad because I had to travel and it was really giving me sleepless nights months before my travel.
I recently came across this website and read the story posted by Linda. She had mentioned that she was taking calcium carbonate and it really helped her. I decided to try it. Instead of going for Caltrate Plus, I tried Tums. I took one in the morning along with a spoonful of flaxseed.
It was like magic, all my bloating feeling disappeared and I had no diarrhea. I also stopped drinking coffee. I have been trying it for a week and it seems to work, except on New Year's Eve when I went to a party and decided to have a couple of drinks. Even though I had taken Tums I had an IBS attack the next day. I suffered for the whole day.
So, in essence, no alcohol, no coffee and taking a Tums in the morning before breakfast seems to have fixed my problem. I am going to be very careful on what I eat and continue with my one Tums. Good luck to anybody who wants to try this.