Ibs

Becles

Does anyone have any tips for coping with IBS?

I've been quite poorly with it over the weekend. I've had tummy cramps since Friday, and started with diahorrea last night and it hasn't settled yet. At the moment, the pain is so bad, I can hardly stand up. I've tried painkillers and a hot water bottle, but I can't get it to go away.

I'm normally careful about my diet, but went to a charity fundraising BBQ on Friday night, and ate some sausages and a marinated chicken breast. I wondered if thats what has caused this attack? I've eaten the same food as the rest of my family and nobody else is bad, so I don't think it is food poisoning.

Any tips that are not medical advice would be very much appreciated.

Sheel

I sympathise Becles as I suffer from it myself , but I can't really give you any tips on coping with it cos I just put up with it really

I know certain foods can make me worse , bread being one of them , but cos I love bread i'd rather put up with some digestive discomfort than give it up :rolleyes:

THIS book looks like it may be useful

Barter

A friend who suffers with this went on a low-carb diet & found, as an unexpected spin-off, that it made her condition much better. I needed to lose weight too, & with some mild IBS symptoms myself I thought I'd try; I followed Dr. Charles Clark's diet rather than Atkins - couldn't give up the booze! It has certainly made a positive difference & ties in with Sheel's bread ref.

Ted_Hutchinson

World's Healthies foods IBS info
has some quite detailed advice you might find interesting.

I'd particularly support the use of probiotic yoghurt.
Lidl's have some on offer at the moment and if your lucky you will find some "naturalis" favoured, as opposed to the vanilla variety, which I've used successfully as a starter for home made yoghurt.

Regular readers of my posts will not be surprised I mention Omega3, it is known to be an anti-inflamatory agent, followed by my second favourite supplement, brown linseed which if ground in a coffee/spice grinder and added to cereals will also increase dietary fibre, you also need to increase the amount of water you drink if increasing your linseed intake.

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Sheel

Barter wrote:

A friend who suffers with this went on a low-carb diet & found, as an unexpected spin-off, that it made her condition much better. I needed to lose weight too, & with some mild IBS symptoms myself I thought I'd try; I followed Dr. Charles Clark's diet rather than Atkins - couldn't give up the booze! It has certainly made a positive difference & ties in with Sheel's bread ref.

I also found when I was on the Atkin's diet for a while last year that my condition improved too.

I have some Omega 3 capsules in the house so i'll give them a try and see if they help me

Bendybops19

I drink fibre-gel with all my meals when i have a bad attack of IBS. Also drink a huge amount of water!

Have you been diagnosed with IBS or think its just a bad tummy?

I cant eat certain meat because it causes me to have a bad bout of IBS for days on end, esp if it is quite greasy like mince can be.

My doc suggested i wrote a diary of what i ate every day to see if a pattern of certain food came up, it really helped me.

All i can really suggest is to be careful what u eat over the next few days and drink plenty of water.

I hope u feel better soon! I know how grotty it makes you feel.

cattie

<<Regular readers of my posts will not be surprised I mention Omega3, it is known to be an anti-inflamatory agent, followed by my second favourite supplement, brown linseed which if ground in a coffee/spice grinder and added to cereals will also increase dietary fibre, you also need to increase the amount of water you drink if increasing your linseed intake. >>

Adding a couple of spoonfuls of linseed to yoghurt is also helpful ( a tip given many years ago by a hospital doc ). It gives a nice nutty texture to the yoghurt too. I've suffered with IBS for as long as I can remember, but the only drug I've ever been prescribed is Mebervine, which is supposed to help the painful spasms. It's the terrible bloating & pain that really gets me down, when I increase at least 3 dress sizes & am doubled over in agony when having to move about. In it's severe form it can be very debilitating, as many of you fellow sufferers know I'm sure. (

Becles

Thanks for the tips.

I'm no better this morning, so I'm off to the GP's later.

I ate nothing yesterday, then tried a bowl of plain rice in the evening, but that made me ill again I've had nothing to eat since and can't face food today. I'm currently forcing myself to drink weak herbal tea, simply just to get some fluids into me but even that is making me feel nauseous

Bendybops19

Oh i really feel for you Becles Its just so horrible. Have you seen your GP yet today? It will be interesting to hear what advice you get as all doctors i see give me different remedies and advice!
Take Care

MonkeyGirl

I found peppermint products where good. Especially peppermint teas.I hope you are feeling better now *hugs*.

Ria

My husband suffered badly with ibs for years and he tried prescription drugs, he had scans, internal examinations of his gut etc. When we had established that there was nothing serious going on I tried to help him with his diet. It sounds very simple but we have found that if he has five or more portions of of fresh fruit every day he hardly has any pain at all. The change has been dramatic and he just has whatever fruit I have available, usually a couple of bananas, a couple of apples and a pear or a peach. This is in addition to fresh vegetables with his normal meals but it is the fruit that seems to do the trick. Believe me it has changed his life!