IBS Tales Home > Read The Tales > Sad Tales: Teenagers with IBS-D Page Five
sad tales: teenagers with ibs-d page five
The tale of...Amanda (December 2005)
I hate IBS with a passion. I always think why me? I am a healthy 15 year-old girl I should not have anything wrong with me. I do not have any friends who have IBS, so many of them do not understand the problems that accompany it. I hate not being a normal 15 year-old.
I would love to go and sleep over at my friend's house, and even go to the mall without having to search for bathrooms within two seconds of my arrival, or even worry there is a chance I might not make it. There is also no-one in my family who understands it, and quote, 'It's all in your mind,' they say.
I didn't go to the doctors for about eight months after realizing something was happening and having to hear stupid reasoning, 'You drink a lot of water', 'It's your period', oh and the famous, 'It's your diet'. I was sick and tired of hearing the same speeches repeatedly.
When I finally made it to the doctors, I was going to see the same specialist that helped me with my liver problems. It was so embarrassing telling someone about your poops.
Then after that ordeal, I had to lie on my side and he stuck something up my...I had never been so humiliated in my life. I am still a virgin, and here is this old man who knew me when I was about six, nine years later up my butt...wow, there is a story to tell the grand-kids.
In addition, I hate going to school in fear that I if I get an attack I simply will not make it or the teacher will not let me out of the classroom. Some students have had fights with the teachers about letting them out to use the bathrooms. My movements have lately become less controllable. I never want to be in a position where I cannot use a bathroom and have to relieve myself in front of my classmates.
After reading some of the stories, I feel a lot of relief. I feel so sorry for the people who have it worse than I do. I wish that everything got better for them! Some of the stories I feel bad for even complaining. I commend the creator of this website. I needed a way to get everything off my chest. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
E-mail Amanda: novrain112@REMOVETHISPLEASEaol.com
The tale of...Jen (January 2006)
Unfortunately, IBS is something I know about first hand. I can't tell you technical details, but I can tell you my story. I was reading through some of the other stories and then I closed out the site. I didn't want to tell my story then, but maybe if I tell it now, maybe it can help somebody else.
I'm a young female. I'm not 11 or 12, I'm not that young. Let me flashback. My whole IBS nightmare started when I was in kindergarten. I hated school, hated the teacher, so I was nervous about school, etc. I didn't have the best eating/drinking habits either. I was quite a fan of coca-cola. God, I use to guzzle those down like crazy back then.
Well, then it happened. I kept getting sick at my stomach and every time I'd get sick at my stomach, I would have these awful-tasting burps. I know burps don't taste like chocolate, not at all. Whenever I got these burps, I dropped everything. I wouldn't go to school when I got the burps because I knew I would be barfing. And yes, I did barf. I barfed a lot.
Went to the doctor, the doc told me I had IBS. He also said to drop the dark drinks, so I dropped the cokes, the Pepsi drinks, etc. The doc put me on two kinds of medicines. They were syrups. I can remember the name of one of the syrups, it was called Tagamet. I can't remember the name of the other syrup.
I'd take the medicines, I'd still have trouble with the IBS. I was getting scared (I still am) of eating food. When I found something that would work for me, I stuck with it. For numerous years, almost every day, I would eat chicken breast and corn. Some days I'd have mac and cheese.
I'd get yelled at from my father. He would tell me, 'If you ate more vegetables, you wouldn't get so sick so often.' Deep down, I knew vegetables didn't have one damn thing to do with IBS. I could've stuffed myself with five million kinds of vegetables and it wouldn't have done any good.
And so I lived through it. I took it day by day. Some days I'd be fine. Other days I'd be sick as a dog. Then two other things happened. One made me pretty damn happy, but the happiness would later on turn to semi-disappointment.
I was in 10th grade and the IBS was slowing down on me. I wasn't throwing up as much as I used to. Will I finally be free of this? That's what I kept thinking and asking myself. I'll talk later on about the semi-disappointment.
The second thing that happened, it was kind of expected. I barfed out on chicken breast. I'd have it different ways (boiled and baked) and I was just getting tired of it. I was too afraid to rock the boat. I didn't want to try experimenting with different food and then fall out of the boat. Oh yeah, I barfed out on corn, also.
So I found something else that worked for me. Now my main meals consist of chicken tenders and carrots. Some days I'll have mac and cheese. I don't know what I'll do if I barf out on chicken tenders and carrots. Maybe I'll go back to corn and chicken breast. I can rotate in and out between the two.
Just this year, it kind of started back up again. Thank God, I'm not getting those awful burps and barfing. Still, the IBS is back. I wasn't sure what was going on with me. Hell, at first I thought I had colon cancer or something.
Let me talk about my new symptoms. To anybody that doesn't have IBS, I know what they'd think if I said something about this second kind of IBS. They would think, 'So what? Everybody poops. It's just a part of life.' Yes, I know it's a part of life.
Let me go back to the symptoms. I would eat something (on some days) and I'd have to go to the bathroom and do the number two so many times in such a short amount of time. I literally feel like my stomach is going to explode if I don't get to the bathroom in time. It only happens some days. It's like my burps and barfing, some days I'll be fine and other times it'll happen. It's just a 50/50 kind of deal.
My mom keeps telling me I'm going to have to go to the doctor. What's the point? Seems like you people have been around the block with this too. If I went to the doctor, the doctor will just prescribe some more pills (BTW, forgot to mention above, the same doc has put me on Pepcid AC and Zantac as I got older), maybe run some tests on me or something. But it wouldn't do any good.
I take different stomach pills during some days. On heavy days, I'll take two of my Prilosec pills and two different pills my father has. He has stomach problems now, also. Light days, I can live w/o any pills or just one of my Prilosec pills.
I guess until they come up with a surefire cure for this, I guess I'll go back to my old routine. I'll take it day by day and just live with it. I wish I could do something else, I want to be free of this stuff forever. Maybe one day, I can be free. Maybe we can all be free...
I hope my story has helped somebody out there.
The tale of...Leah (March 2006)
Well let me tell you a little about me. I am 18 years old, and I have always been wondering what this God-awful pain is that won't go away. I'll take you back to when I was in 4th grade. I was about 10 years old and I would always feel sick like puking.
I would also have to go to the bathroom a lot so all day I wouldn't eat anything until I got home. It got so bad that I would go to the clinic every day and they thought it was in my mind and just sent me back to class. Than I started skipping in 4th grade, none of the adults could figure out why. I told them I always felt sick but nobody believed me.
So it pretty much went on like that and the symptoms toned down a little. Until I was in high school. When I was in my freshmen year I was 16. But the urges of having to go to the bathroom were coming back again. I was so stressed from school and the fact I never got a chance to use the bathroom during the day I felt sicker.
I would bring kaopectate with me and I would eat maybe a bag of chips at lunch. I couldn't trust any food. Than a little later that year my parents saw a repeat of 4th grade, I was going to the clinic every day and I was skipping. So they just let me withdraw.
I never wanted to leave high school, I just wanted to stop feeling sick. So now I'm doing a home school. I have now been diagnosed with IBS but my doctor acted like it was nothing and put me on no meds. So I'm trying to find my own way to deal with it.
It's so painful and especially at that time of the month for woman I find pain is so bad I want to die! I'm sick of having to explain myself to people and why I'm looked at as crazy for always using the bathroom. I just want it to end! And I am sorry for everyone else out there. People without IBS need to understand it's not in our minds.
The tale of...Aussie (July 2006)
I am 16 years old and have had IBS with diarrhea since I was about eight years old, in first or second grade. It started out as simply some pretty bad pains in my lower stomach, but now I have the whole shebang, diarrhea, cramps, cold sweats and all. Luckily for me though, not as bad as many others.
I sympathize greatly with those who must face the full wrath of this horrible illness, and wish that there was a shot or pill to rid one's self of it. It is just so embarrassing when IBS strikes, leaving its mark on the dozens of trashed underpants.
I have found that some things that help are definitely lots of vegetables (or any fiber supplement) and also, I cannot drink juice when feeling 'on the edge', nor a single cup of coffee or a can of soda anymore. Going without them seems to greatly help me, and apparently others too. Also, sleep is a huge factor. I can do very well without any sleep hardly, except the fact that I will, positively, face IBS early the next morning.
I also have lactose intolerance, but I'm not sure if it's actually lactose intolerance or just an aggravation of my IBS, because of the fact that even small amounts of milk or ice cream leave me having attacks for the next few days. Even with the full dose of the lactose enzyme pills, they do not seem to work. And oh how I miss McDonald's ice cream!
So I recommend, beware of soda, coffee, fruit juice, dairy products and lack of sleep! I am also very grateful to come upon this website and see (finally!) people who understand!
The tale of...Emma (July 2006)
I am 13. I have been suffering from IBS since I was 11 and it has been horrible. Huge stomach cramps and urges to go to the washroom everyday! I was diagnosed by a gastroenterologist last year. I have been through every test imaginable.
It has been a very hard time coping with the syndrome. I have missed multiple days of school including weeks at times. Many school days spent in the emergency room with my mom with cramps, nausea and diarrhea. Nausea has been a big part of IBS for me. I feel very sick to my stomach at times, but do not throw up. I only gag. Throughout this time I have taken many different medications, some helped and some didn't. Thank you for this site, it makes me feel a lot better to hear that someone else cares about others' problems with IBS.