Me, Myself and My Irritable Bowel

Irritable Bowel Syndrome - who came up with that name? Irritable makes it sound like a mild fluttering in your sensitive bowels that lightly affect your day. No, I think it's more a pain in the - well, you know. And yes, every pun is intended.

I have lived with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, also affectionately referred to as IBS, since I was in junior high. This is the earliest I can remember my symptoms beginning. So, we are talking about 20 years. For those of you who are unfamiliar with IBS, I will give you a quick overview. IBS is a collection of symptoms that include abdominal cramping, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation or a combination of both. Doesn't it sound fun? IBS is usually diagnosed by ruling out everything else that could be wrong with your bowels, and then sticking it to you with this three letter label when medical science has no other answer. There is no cure, but treatment is provided in the form of medicine, dietary changes, and stress relief. Lucky us!

Okay, so I know I sound cynical, but for those of us who live with IBS on a daily basis you know how exasperating these assortment of symptoms can be. I call my IBS a migraine of the stomach. No, I do not know how a migraine feels. However, I have several friends who suffer from migraines and I know how they penetrate their daily lives, especially when there is a flair-up. They are always planning and avoiding certain things in order to prevent a mind-blowing headache. This is how my life is living with IBS, planning and avoiding.

If I want to prevent a flair-up, then I have to plan carefully what I eat and avoid the foods that cause my stomach to revolt. It took me many years of trial and error (and I lot of hours in the bathroom) to figure out that foods like iceberg lettuce, corn, vegetable oil, Italian dressing, and mandarin oranges cause my stomach to revolt. Usually, the foods that make me the sickest are the ones that do not digest well. If you live with IBS, you kind of know which ones do not digest well.

Restaurants are another evil that my stomach rebels against. Most foods at restaurants are fried and cooked in spices that may affect your stomach, but you don't know because you are not preparing the food and seeing what is going into it. You are forced to rely on what the menu tells you or what your server (who could care less about your bowel problems) feels like investigating for you. To make the restaurant experience feasible I take 150 mg of Zantac before eating. This usually works, but it took a night out with Zantac and another couple to make me realize nothing works 100%.

Friends add a whole new stress to IBS. You can tell your friends all you want about how bad your stomach is, but until they are forced to live the experience with you - they have no idea. One time my husband and I went out to dinner with another couple. The dinner was great and I remembered my Zantac, but not more than ten minutes after paying the bill, I was navigating the bathrooms one by one until we were out of the building and into the parking lot which was probably about 90 minutes later. Our evening was ruined. My friend was sensitive to my ailment for the first couple trips to the bathroom, but after about the third trip she was starting to get a little pushy (yeah, you know who you are). Friends try to understand, but they enjoyed their meal and their meal enjoyed them. They can't understand why you are physically unable to pry the toilet seat from your bum.

I could go on and on about how IBS affects my life. I could tell you a thousand embarrassing stories that I have acquired after years of dealing with this syndrome, but if you live with this you already know. You know about the maddening pain that can leave you lying on the bathroom floor praying to pass out. You know about the numerous trips to the bathroom that your co-workers, friends or family members just can't wrap their minds around. You know about the constant struggle. If you do not endure IBS, there is nothing I can say to adequately describe the ways that IBS can distract me from life. I can use a bunch of metaphors and descriptive language, but I can't make you feel what I feel. What I can do for those who have the symptoms and those who do not, but may have a friend or family member that does, is give you some ways to try to combat this crazy condition. None of these suggestions are carved in stone, they may work for you - they may not. But I hope that within these suggestions, you can find something that may help you live your life more fully and be able to manage IBS.

Diet: You have to watch what you eat. If you think you can eat a bag of potato chips, drink a 12-pack of soda and top it all off with a candy bar, you need to reexamine your goals. Do you want to manage your IBS or make it worse?

For years, I was told to try to add more fiber into my diet. I resisted and I continued to have problems, but when I finally gave in and started eating more fruits and vegetables my bouts became less and less. I use to have flair-ups at least 3 times a week. Now, I can go weeks without having to succumb to the agony of a flair-up.

The best new food I added to my diet? Raw spinach. Since, I could not eat lettuce I avoided salads. They just made me sick. But a former co-worker of mine suggested spinach and now I eat spinach salads all the time. They are so gentle on my stomach and they are filled with fiber.

So, my first suggestion - change your diet. Add more fiber and drink lots of water. If you are new to the fiber thing, go slowly. You need to give yourself time to adjust or you will cause yourself more stomach pain and give up before you start to see results.

Vitamins: I hate taking pills, but I realized after I had my second child that when I was pregnant I never had IBS symptoms. Those times when I was pregnant were the only times that I had been symptom free for months at a time. I asked my Ob-Gyn about this and asked if she thought it could be hormones. She suggested that it could be caused by the prenatal vitamins I was taking.

These days, I take a multi-vitamin everyday (okay, so sometimes I slip. I still hate taking pills). When I get myself on a steady regimen of taking a vitamin everyday, I do feel better. There might be a little magic in these vitamins.

Stress: This is the big one! My little IBS demon is seriously addicted to stress. Stress is what feeds him. It is my goal everyday to keep him malnourished for as long as I can. I can eat right, cut out caffeine and greasy food, exercise and take those vitamins, but as long as I take myself to seriously then I will always struggle with IBS.

I have tried meditation as a stress reliever, but I am not very good at it. I have a "monkey mind" that cannot be calmed and I get way too stressed just trying to de-stress. So, I have had to look for other forms of stress relief. Reading a good book, working on a craft or just hanging out with my family are perfect ways for me to take a break from my type A personality for just a little while. When I learn to chill out, my stomach is calm and my little IBS demon stays away for a while.

For those of you who struggle with the day-to-day living with IBS, I hope that you find some of these suggestions helpful. However, it is important to keep your doctor current on you IBS symptoms. While IBS does not generally lead to other health problems or cause damage to your bowels, it is still central to your overall health to have regular screenings to make sure your symptoms are not masking other gastrointestinal problems that can lead to more serious diagnoses.

If you are looking for more information on Irritable Bowel Syndrome, you can visit www.aboutibs.org. Here you can learn more about the syndrome and even find a support network where you can talk about your experiences. IBS may be irritable, but it does not have to control your life.