IBS Support Group

Hi cinnamonpeaches, I am sorry your are having so much trouble with the IBS. I can relate. My stomach pain used to be so severe that my body would go into a reaction to the pain involving vomiting, diarrhea, and a drastic drop in blood pressure. Never actually fainted because I would lie down wherever I was.
That started when I was 43. When I was 49, I stopped drinking coffee for other reasons. One very happy effect from that was that I don't get the severe stomach pain. I do still have the gas, bloating and pain, but that really bad stuff just doesn't happen anymore. I tend toward constipation more frequently that the other, so I guess in a sense am "lucky" but I do have very urgent calls when I am out. I don't know if you drink coffee but you might try cutting it out and see what happens. If you could start getting an edge on it, then maybe you could get more guidance from your food journal. Stress is also a trigger, so it is a bit complicated. Learning a way to calm yourself is really helpful.

Other things that might help are a hot water bottle on your belly to help relax things and lots of fennel tea. Peppermint is also recommended and helped me, but it would make your reflux worse so you should not use peppermint.

Best wishes

thank you pawsns, for your reply, I will try that I do drink coffee last year I stopped drinking coffee and started drinking tea (I dont really like tea) but it didnt really help so I said well if this doesnt work I might as well enjoy what Im drinking lol. but I am willing to try it again. the food journal stresses me out cuz I cant find anything but dairy that bothers me and I try to stay away from that as much as possible but I am lactose intolerant. Lactose is in alot of things so I know to look at the labels cuz it doesnt have to be a dairy thing. I found out that medication I got had lactose! and lately my life has been under a lot of stress so I do know that is a trigger! well I am gonna keep trying and thank you again for some suggestions

Your welcome cinnamonpeaches! By the way, I love your name. Regarding coffee.....as I think about it, I actually stopped all caffeine. That means I stopped coffee, black tea and all my diet soda. Soda is another trigger I did this for my bone health. The improvement in my IBS was a surprise. I did not stop eating chocolate, but did cut back. I ate a lot....

I enjoy drinking rooibos (red bush tea) which is naturally caffeine free. I like an assortment of herbal teas and drink an occasional decaffeinated green tea (Lotus by Tazo is a favorite).

Food journals are not something I have ever done, although it seems like it could be helpful. Everybody is different though. There is more that one way to find solutions. My doctor told me originally that food has nothing to do with it. So I wasn't looking that direction, although i did avoid things like too much cabbage, green peppers et. that clearly made me feel bad.
Best wishes!

Hi pawsns, thank you very much for the replies, I love coffee but have cut back a lot thinking i might have to cut it out completely, my problem is soft drink I love my pop!! with the food I am having a hard time with figuring it out, most of the time I dont have to eat and I am running!! and the 24/7 stomach pain it seems like its never gonna go away!! and the doctors seem to never able to find anything wrong!! the last few days I have the stomach flu so nothing is staying in and of course my IBS is acting up overtime! have a great day

Cinnamonpeaches! I stopped drinking coffee years ago. I now drink green tea in the morning and earl grey for a caffeine hit. It doesn't affect me.I just had my gallbladder out. I cut out a lot of things trying to cut out the nausea and pain. So-- No... lactose, gluten(my arthritis symptoms went away!!), preservatives, soybean oil (it is everywhere!!), high fructose corn syrup (they call it corn sugar now). I can't think of any more. I do eat chocolate but only 90% cocoa by Lindt. I even get it at Walmart. This is a very restrictive diet and it doesn't work sometimes because of the gall bladder. I am so glad I am not working because the attacks are horrible and I need to be near a toilet. I am so sorry that my 2 youngest sons didn't have the mother my 2 oldest boys had. My oldest son can't seem to realize I am not the same person I was when he was growing up. I don't know why this gets worse with age. I knew I had to be careful when I was younger. My doctors are not any help. I am sick of being blamed for this condition.. Sorry Cinnamonpeaches! I had gall bladder surgery 9 weeks ago and one of the side effects is extreme diarrhea! Nobody told me! Didn't they read my chart? I help myself now. she wanted to wait a week to see if it went away! i was suffering then! I can't leave the house unless I over medicate on anti-diarrheals. The backlash from that is bad. I am so sorry I am complaining. I just have bad heartburn from lunch. I can't figure out why. Look-you can give up coffee. You should have seen my oldest sons eyes bug out when I told him I wasn't a coffee drinker anymore!! It was funny! lol There is hope. I just feel overwhelmed today and I have to leave the house in an hour. nerves.

I am 45 and got diagnosed a year and a half ago...Just want u to know it feels like im reading my own story..Cant work,swollen belly,acid reflux..etc. It is embarrising and peple think the same...O well you look normal...until i show my swollen belly...

the medical community knows changing the angle of your colon = better bowel movements. i have recently tried a squatty potty and it has helped with my IBS symptoms. I have heard that loose stools are (counter-intuitive) are actually a side effect of incompletel bowel movements. It's a godsend!squattypotty.com . I hope it helps you too!