Wellness

[fortune]

What helps the most to relieve symptoms of IBS?

[ennui1]

Google will probably give you better information. Lots of websites devoted to it.

Avoid eggs. That's all I got.

[sylviahomeatlast]

see your GI doctor

[AnnMarie-1]

Google fodmap diet or fodmap food, helped me when I started getting IBS symptoms, once it calmed down I could add back in my regular food

[tiamaria]

Have you seen a gastro? There are different types of IBS. IBS-D, IBS-C. Mine seems to be a combo of both. I have tried many medications from my gastro...bella donna, hycosomine...nothing works. Do you know what your triggers are? Mine is stress. I do not have a problem with any foods unless I am in the middle of a flare up, then everything bothers me. I have even tried probiotics. I cannot say they helped much.

A few months ago I was suffering real bad and I went into a health food store and found a line called Heather's IBS line. I read online about taking fennel tea for cramping. The lady in the store showed me the line and so I bought Heather's Fennel Tummy Tea, as well as her peppermint capsules. Peppermint is suppose to relax the stomach but you have to be careful if you are prone to any upper GI problems like heartburn or acid. Peppermint can make it worse. Between the peppermint capsules, fennel tea a few times a day, NO coffee to make it all worse, and my stress calming down a bit I got through it. It is all natural so i figured it couldn't hurt. Until I can figure out how to control that brain/gut connection that causes my problems, I just have to deal with these products.

Good luck.

[fortune]

Thank you so much, ladies! This is a weird illness. They really don't know what causes it, but there is a lot of advice on what to do and what not to do.

[Citychic]

Tiamaria, great advice. I have dealt with IBS for many years too. I have been through many meds some of which you mentioned, but none of them has done as much good as the fennel tea. I have been ordering this for years, won't go anywhere without it. Honestly nothing stops the cramping and discomfort like the fennel does. The peppermint caps are ok, but like you said if you have GERD hard to take them. My Gastro recently talked to me briefly about amitriptyline low dose, apparently there is a study out there that's supports the use of this drug for IBS. I have not tried it, but we discussed it. I also find Heathers website "help for IBS" very helpful. There are some good articles there. I also find that I cannot pinpoint certain foods as I can eat them one time and the next time I can't. However, I do watch my diary intake as that can trigger some symptoms for me. Probiotics have helped me for the most part, but there is only one brand I can tolerate, Align. IBS is so frustrating as it is very hard to keep it in check, besides the fennel tea one other thing I have learned is to not go too long before you eat, and I always lay down some bread or crackers before I eat my meal. Fortune I hope this has been some help to you. I would have swore I wrote Tiamaria's post, because it sounds like my story as well. BTW, I just read recently read CVS will be/or is carrying Heather's products. City

[Bird]

Rather than looking at relief for the symptoms, consider the cause. That would most likely be the food you ingest.

Likely culprit(s): dairy, wheat, corn, any GMO (good luck with that, avoid canola, corn oil, soy oils, etc.)

Eat all organic, omitting the GMO, wheat, corn, dairy...then add back in, one by one to see what causes your symptoms. Also, corn syrup is made from GMO corn. Bye bye sodas and most other food industry products!

The problem with eggs may be the croap the chickens are being fed, which is likely a lot of GMO agribusiness scraps and sweepings. Not good for the chickens, not good for those who eat their eggs. So avoid eggs as well, and when you add them back in, only consume eggs from truly non-soy organically-fed chickens. "Organic" and "cage free" mean nothing!

[Big Sister]

On 2/17/2014 Citychic said: Tiamaria, great advice. I have dealt with IBS for many years too. I have been through many meds some of which you mentioned, but none of them has done as much good as the fennel tea. I have been ordering this for years, won't go anywhere without it. Honestly nothing stops the cramping and discomfort like the fennel does. The peppermint caps are ok, but like you said if you have GERD hard to take them. My Gastro recently talked to me briefly about amitriptyline low dose, apparently there is a study out there that's supports the use of this drug for IBS. I have not tried it, but we discussed it. I also find Heathers website "help for IBS" very helpful. There are some good articles there. I also find that I cannot pinpoint certain foods as I can eat them one time and the next time I can't. However, I do watch my diary intake as that can trigger some symptoms for me. Probiotics have helped me for the most part, but there is only one brand I can tolerate, Align. IBS is so frustrating as it is very hard to keep it in check, besides the fennel tea one other thing I have learned is to not go too long before you eat, and I always lay down some bread or crackers before I eat my meal. Fortune I hope this has been some help to you. I would have swore I wrote Tiamaria's post, because it sounds like my story as well. BTW, I just read recently read CVS will be/or is carrying Heather's products. City

Citychic, about the amitriptyline, it did not help me at all and I was on it for two years.

[AngelPuppy1]

I have had this forever. Whenever I'm particularly stressed, it seems to get worse. Drink a lot of water. Stay away from carbonated beverages, alcohol, caffeine and the usual -- heavy, greasy foods. Do not eat late in the evening. I also seem to have a problem with eating much dairy. I starting taking pill before I eat any dairy (you can buy them at the drug store) and this has cut down a lot on the cramping and gas. Also, avoid if possible artificial sweeteners. Nothing the gastro dr. has prescribed for me has worked. They either had too many horrible side affects and made me feel worse or they just did not work for me at all.