Constipation, Diarrhea, Farting, Bloating and Spasms - Investigating Irritable Bowel Syndrome (My Experience of Digestive Disorders)

Member Name: sandrabarber

Product:	My Experience of Digestive Disorders
Date:	20/10/01 (1314 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You could always become a professional farter in a circus

Disadvantages: Very painful, Socially embarrassing, A total nuisance

Listed in the title are just some of the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a condition suffered by literally millions of people worldwide to a lesser or greater degree. Not only is IBS incredibly debilitating in its severest forms, but even the milder forms can be a serious social embarrassment. I know - I've suffered periodically from a mildish form for a few years and my poor sister has it almost permanently.

At times IBS can have you so racked with spasmodic pain that you literally can’t stand up - it's as if your intestine is being strangled. At other times you’re rushing to the loo with the rampant squitters every two minutes, which is often followed by days and days of not going at all and feeling bunged up totally. Then of course there’s the farting and belching. Not to mention the headaches, muscle weakness and general feeling of knackerdness that accompanies the other symptoms.

As my sister and I spend quite a bit of time discussing this condition and comparing treatments (as well as having farting competitions), I thought I'd compile them all into an op that hopefully could help other sufferers.

One of the main problems with IBS is that no one knows what causes it. This, therefore, means that the current medical fraternity puts it down to stress. Undoubtedly stress can make IBS worse, but it seems to me that the medical profession shove this umbrella explanation onto anything they don't understand, thus making sufferers feel helpless and fobbed off. Indeed, didn't they insist that stress was the cause of stomach ulcers until a couple of years ago when it was proved beyond doubt that mostly they were actually caused by an infection that could be cured with a simple course of antibiotics?

So, unfortunately, IBS is something where you might not get a lot of help and/or understanding from your GP (unless of course he or she is a sufferer, in which case they will be tremendously s
ympathetic and treat it as the very real medical condition it is).

Treatments:

Diet:

This is a tricky one and you have to experiment. Some people find that their IBS is caused or exacerbated by food allergies such as dairy produce or wheat. Cutting out these then helps. The best way to find out if you have allergies is to do an elimination diet cutting out one thing at a time, seeing if your symptoms abate and then re-introducing it to see if they come back.

Also, many find that increasing the amount of fibre in their diet helps relieve IBS. On the other hand, though, others find that fibre makes them worse. Again, experimentation is the key.

For both my sister and myself, symptoms are helped enormously if we eat small meals often, rather than two or three big ones per day.

Conventional Medicine:

There are antispasmodic tablets available on prescription such as spasmanol and mebeverine (sorry if my spelling's wrong), both of which I find very helpful for bloating and constipation. They work by encouraging the intestines to contract and dilate normally, encouraging normal perilstalsis and thus preventing that horrible seizing up feeling that is accompanied by agonising pain.

There is also a high-fibre drink called fibergel (again apologies for spelling if wrong) that you can get on prescription or over the counter. This is especially useful if you find eating lots of fibre difficult or distasteful. Unlike laxatives, fibergel doesn't make you rush to the loo but maintains a gentle, natural bowel regularity.

Alternative Medicine:

There are hundreds of preparations available claiming to cure IBS. Together my sister and I have tried loads but to no avail.

Perhaps the most popular is aloe vera which can be taken in capsules or as a drink. It tastes disgusting and didn't help me, but I've read plenty of newspaper articles interviewing people who said
it did help them.

Some people also recommend probiotic supplements such as acidophilus which introduce millions of friendly bacteria into the gut. If the cause of your IBS is a bacterial imbalance or infection, this can help. You can also get probiotic drinks and yogurts from the supermarket, but they are not really very strong.

Peppermint oil is also widely used. You can buy it in tablet preparation or simply add a few drops of peppermint oil (not essence) to a glass of water and sip frequently throughout the day. This also helps with any accompanying acid indigestion.

General Lifestyle Rules:

Avoid stress - easier said than done, but the calmer you are the less your IBS will trouble you, even if stress isn't the cause in the first place. So take any opportunity to have a massage, a relaxing bath, do some yoga or meditation, or generally do stuff that takes your mind off your troubles.

Avoid gassy drinks and alcohol - gassy drinks make you fart even more than usual and bloat you up, and the same goes for alcohol which also irritates the gut lining and causes overgrowth of unfriendly yeasts and fungi in the gut.

Eat small and often, and avoid any foods you suspect are giving you trouble. Perhaps the most common in IBS are said to be wheat, dairy and tomatoes.

Take fibre - if you don't like eating lots of it or all that bulk makes you worse and gives you diarrhea, then try the fibergel drinks which have all the good effects of fibre but not the bad ones.

And if none of this helps you really have my sympathies. Cross your fingers and hope that they soon find out what really causes this debilitating condition and develop something to cure it.

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