Irritable Bowl Syndrome (IBS) or Something Else

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a day to day struggle with digestion. I was diagnosed with IBS over ten years ago, but through many tests and then my mom's observation, I have overcome my IBS and discovered that it was something else entirely.

I was diagnosed with IBS in high school. So many other girls were too. It seemed like the next eating disorder, but it was not in anyway self inflicted. My doctor prescribed some medication and I went off to college. Some days were better than others, and some days I missed class because of my condition. But, with medication I lived a somewhat normal lifestyle.

Then the FDA withdrew my prescription from the market because of side effects. I had been taking it for over 6 months with nothing but positive results. I called my mom crying. What was I supposed to do? I had enough pills to last me 37 days, so I had that long to come up with a plan. We thought we had already tried everything. I knew I could not go back to being as sick as I was and I had unsuccessfully tried every other drug on the market.

I had undergone all sorts of tests and trials, including in depth allergy testing and chiropractic care trying to find a solution. Doctors did all sorts of invasive tests to rule out this and that condition or disease. Finally, like so many other girls my age, I was told that it was IBS, a vague diagnosis. It would be something that I would live with and possibly out grow. I was not at all satisfied with that prognosis.

My mom and I decided that we would try to eliminate some foods to try to come to some sort of a conclusion on our own. I had already tried a Candida diet (at the chance that I had a yeast infection throughout my body that was causing malnutrition and diarrhea) until I passed out at the school lunch table, trying to subsist on boiled eggs and produce without any natural sugars. We had also done a gluten free diet with no wheat or wheat products, to no avail. My symptoms continued and I just lost more weight.

Finally, only a few short days before my prescription medication was used up, my mom had an epiphany. She suggested that maybe it was water. I had tried eliminating everything else from my diet, so why not? I did not stop drinking all water, just that from the tap. We lived in the city of Atlanta at the time, and so I gave up city water and subsisted strictly on bottled water. We washed and cooked all my food with bottled water and an amazing thing happened; my IBS symptoms disappeared over night. I could eat or drink anything I wanted with no stomach distress, as long as it had not been contaminated with city water.

I know that it is common knowledge that many bottled water producers use city water. Of course, I always try to read the label to make sure that I don't ingest city water, and I have discovered, by trial and error which ones I cannot drink. It has now been ten years since I was mom-diagnosed with what we call my water allergy. I have traveled coast to coast and it is a universal toxicity. I must drink and cook with bottled water or suffer greatly. Thankfully, now that I live on the opposite coast from where I first discovered my malady, I live in house with a well, and I have no issues while I am at home.

I have never met another person with the same intolerance and I have never subjected myself to the extensive testing needed to determine what exactly makes me sick in a city's treated water. People are often suspect of my story, but my family knows I can take a drink or bite of anything and know within 15 minutes if its source was city water. We call it water poisoning when I end up with a cup of coffee that makes me sick for hours.

I still have to be very careful when I go out to eat. I must drink a soft drink with no ice; even the little bit of ice that melts during a meal will aggravate my symptoms. Batter-fried foods have often been dipped in a water-based batter. Rice, mashed potatoes, steamed veggie or any pasta is definitely off limits. Sometimes even a freshly rinsed salad can ruin my evening. I am almost always safe with a steak and baked potato or a hamburger and fries if I must eat out. Considering how sick I used to be, I am happy to make a few food sacrifices in a restaurant to ensure a pain and symptom free evening.