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Irritable Bowel Syndrome

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The SO is ill, and after 2 weeks in pain has finaly been to the doctor.

Our doctor doesn't realy do accurate diagnosis, so he has told him he "probably" has irritable bowel syndrome (I can imagine our doctor doing a post-mortem on a headless body and putting "probably decapitated" as the cause of death)

 

Being a bloke he didn't ask any questions about what to eat or not and just came home with the tablets.

 

So, does anyone else suffer with this and what causes it ?

What should he not eat ?

What can he take to help relieve the symptoms, the tablets don't seem to be doing anything, looking at the ingredients they are mostly peppermint oil ?

 

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

 

Ta.

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i suffer from it but not too bad. i find when i eat red meat (beef /lamb) that it flairs up also coffee causes me problems. everyone is different and depends on he foods you eat. its hit and miss so just try different things.

 

some information on this site:thumbsup:

 

http://www.aboutibs.org/

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Thanks, looks like he's going to have to give-up eating certain things and see if that makes any difference.

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Nick2 - I suspect the lad and I are at the same doctors. Either that or the medical profession is in a worse state than I realised!

 

I've suffered IBS for around five years. Because its onset coincided with my getting a new job, the doctor put it down to stress. I've since seen another doctor who said the same thing..............but stress just means they haven't a clue. I'm stressed as hell and my blood pressure is practically flat-lining.

 

I agree with Savbaby in that there are certain trigger foods - different for every person - that he'll have to avoid. I stopped eating meat years ago because it was causing me problems back then (and cos of animal welfare concerns, obviously, otherwise I might have persevered.....)

Like Savbaby, I find too much coffee affects me badly, as does beer. Spicy foods like curries or chillis can also be a trigger, especially if I have symptoms anyway.

 

Its a process of elimination. If he feels bad one day he'll need to think about (maybe even make a note of ) what he ate the night before and gradually refine his diet. Good luck.

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Go up to the bowel's house, ring his doorbell and run away. That will irritate him. :)

 

Sorry. Just couldn't resist.

 

I have family members with IBS - apart from diet watch the stress levels, and you may also want to avoid caffeine , alcohol, spicy foods - the usual suspects.

 

IBS often flares up and subsides again - the stress can cause the flare ups. It's potentially a serious complaint - catch it early and you're more likely to avoid the longer term complications.

 

I hope he's OK soon.

 

Joe

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Guest rosie

Giving up certain foods is not all that bad. It changed my life.

 

My mum has IBS, and eats healthy, although stress causes it to be worse.

 

I often think there is more to it than a doctor saying its IBS and if you cant eat certain food you need to take those out from your diet.

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Aloe Vera juice (one tablespoon three times a day) helps with the symptoms as does peppermint oil but it really depends what the symptoms are?!

 

Best bet is to have a food sensitivity test (done at holland and barrett and body shop) they can cost up to about £60 but most people seem to think they'r worth it and notice a big difference if they take on the advice and change their diet accordingly.

 

Good luck!

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My brother really suffered from this every day for 5 yrs and wasn't able to go out for meals, hated family events and hardly ever ate lunch at work in case of an attack. He ended up in hospital because his system went into collapse as he'd ignored the symptons for so long.

 

The hospital gave him tablets and then after going to the doctors they told him it might be worth seeing a herbalist. He did and after 6 weeks of a magic potion it disappeared. He has to take a fibre supplement every day and only gets an attack if he forgets to take it. He hasn't given up any food though does eat more fruit, veg and pulses. He also had severfal treatments of acupuncture and found this very benefical.

 

 

IBS is caused by different things. It's a great umbrella term.

 

Could be stress, could be a reaction to certain types of food, could be lack of fibre, could be their actual system for digesting food that has gotten lazy and needs a good kick start.

 

There are some good book available that have questionnaires in to try and found out the trigger for an individuals IBS and how they can try to resolve it.

 

It can be resolved or at least made bearable so it doesn't put your life on hold. They really don't have to suffer so good luck in persuading them to investigate further

 

 

:)

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An old friend of mine was absolutely convinced it was caused by traces of washing up liquid left on cups plates and glasses after doing the dishes.

 

His theory was that after you wash up and let stuff drain, the water evaporates leaving a thin film of detergent on the crocks. As even small amounts of detergent will change water's surface tension, detergent in the digestive system / bowel will upset delicate digestive processes that rely on osmosis, absorption and other things affected by surface tension.

 

Sounds like a load of balls to me. Eating lots of fresh fruit and veg, and getting plenty of fibre and fluids, and exercise, is the best option IMO.

 

Funny, but I'm still careful to rinse my cups and glasses now, even tho I think the detergent theory is a bit daft

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i suffer similarly to all of you & have since being 16, having a healthy appetite if i over indulge it aggravates it. however my doctor told me i had colic & prescribed nothing at all.

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Originally posted by JoePritchard

...apart from diet watch the stress levels, and you may also want to avoid caffeine , alcohol, spicy foods - the usual suspects...

Why not just add sex and motorcycles to that list and really ruin my life.

 

:mad:

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I have IBS. There are many things that cause it but one major cause is stress. The things that bring mine on is wheat based cereals, baked beans, even fruit can cause a flare up. Try keeping a diary of what you eat and when you get IBS and see if you can narrow it down that way. Some people find that milk and dairy products dont help either. Peppermint tea is an excellent help and ive noticed that since I started taking these new herbal pills called Dida for candida that IBS has not reared its head for a few weeks.

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