My end to IBS... (My Experience of Digestive Disorders)

Member Name: chembleton

Product:	My Experience of Digestive Disorders
Date:	01/07/02 (1747 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfortable life if solved

Disadvantages: Miserable life if suffered

This opinion is all about irritable bowel syndrome and I hope that for anyone who doesn't suffer they bear with this opinion and its crudity. I hope it's not featured on the front page of dooyoo! Rather embarrassing!

I will give my opinion on Irritable Bowel Syndrome, in the hope that it will be of use to others. I have suffered from this disorder for about ten years now and think I have finally solved my trouble.

I do not want to go into the whole ins and outs of what the disorder scientifically is all about and in fine detail, as others have voiced their opinions and they are excellent and I agree completely with their view. They cover all that and that's great.

What I will basically say, for anyone who doesn't know anything about this disorder is that IBS sufferers do not have normal control over their bowel movements. Not so long ago I would be regurlarly going to the toilet for a poo (crude use of words but no others avaiable really). I would get up at 6 and go for a poo, nearly always in liquid form. I would go again half an hour later. I would try to go to work on the bus, but the slightest hint of abdominal pain would make me panicky and made the journey awful. In the end I gave up and took the car. I would relax at work but usually I'd need to go to the loo another 3 to 4 times before the end of the day. With each poo, I would get a sharp pains in the guts.
It can be very inconvenient as you would never know quite when and where you'd HAVE TO go to the toilet. Being out drinking was no fun when you were always worried about that. Plus I'd get anxious before going out and that'd make it worse.
Quite often, usually at least once a week, I would get serious pains in the stomach and have an hour or so and about 4 trips to the loo before an episode was over.

People say that a bad diet causes this problem. It may, but speaking from my view, I don't think it does. My diet has never re
ally changed over the last 15 years, before and during my symptoms and now after.

I've been to the doctors about this and been sent for 'tests' at the hospital. Personally I don't think they take it seriously. Nobody really knows what causes IBS, they say diet, stress, lack of excercise amongst things. I had been placed on Domperidone tablets & Merbeverine tablets, both with no positive effects. I was sent for a scan of my stomach with no signs of the root of the problem. In the end I knew they weren't bothered, when I heard my consultant talking to his colleague in another room and being told 'Oh, tell him it's IBS and there's nothing we can do' What a git! It may be trivial to him but it was effecting the whole quality of my life. Thank god I have an understanding girlfriend.

I was resigned to giving up and trying to make the most of my life.
That was about a year ago.

Time went on, my problems went on. I got full of cold. I also got a really bad sore throat. It was the best sore throat I've ever had. I loved it. It was really painful. Now no, I'm not a sadist, I hate pain. That's why I took the strong painkiller co-codamol, or to be more precise, 8mg of codeine and 500mg of paracetamol in tablet form. The sore throat lasted about 3 days. I took 2 co-codamol 6 times a day for these three days. My throat felt better. My butt was also feeling better I'd noticed. In fact I ended up not going for four days! Doing a bit of research on the internet I found that codeine caused constipation! Cool! Anything's better than diarrhoea. I bought more co-codamol, my bowel movements became solid and regular, once a day. The tablets were expensive though.

I went back to the doctors and expained 'Oh yeah codeine does cause constipation'. Yeah thanks doc! You tell me that now. Why couldn't you have given me that before?!
He said my intestines don't move food along pro
perly and does it in lots of bits rather than all together. These tablets help that by causing a small amount of constipation and allowing the other food to 'catch up' with the rest and thus get it all out at once.
I get 200 tablets a month.
Now I'm on 15mg (lowest strength) codeine phosphate tablets. I take 2 in morning, 2 mid-day and 2 at night. I've been on them 4 months. I've never had a single bad stomach. Not one. No more stomach pain, no more 5 & 6 visits to loo per day. No more embarrassment.

To sum up, as a former sufferer, I know exactly how bad it can be. I would suggest you visit your doctor first (besides, I think codeine is only available on prescription), but give it a try. I know, like I was, you'll be willing to try anything.

I hope you have the success I did!
Good luck!

Summary: