When your chips are down never give up

[dg8867]

Hi, my name is DG. I was initially diagnosed with I.B.S C/D last year. I felt like i was alone and that i had no support in what i was going thru, not even my doctors showed much compassion to my plight as they would just prescribe medications that didn't help me then just dismiss my problem as," i just have I.B.S."After a few months of suffering and no success with doctor i went for another opinion, to which the new doctors tests showed i had a c-difficile infection as well. After 3 months of taking anti biotics they said i needed a fecal transplant, and after said transplant that the infection was finally gone. I was so relieved to hear as i was looking forward to feeling normal again. several weeks after transplant i was still suffering. i had sharp abdominal pain, with constipation fluxuating to diarea, and a strong, strange sensation of having to relieve my bowel constantly. I was feeling drained of all my energy and my spirit was deflating, it felt like it would never end! My doctor just said i have I.B.S. and that i would have to experiment with my diet to see what i could or couldn't tolerate. i tried fodmap, but felt i would just eat a different food each day to see how i feel. after weeks of trial i found one food group was always at the top of my trigger list. It was dairy with lactose. So i eliminated all products that had dairy(with lactose) in them, and being from wisconsin this proved to be a real challenge. This not only included milk and cheese but other products that flavored with dairy such as sour cream flavoring for chips or salad dressings. After a week of going dairy(lactose free i found i was feeling much better as the pain and urgency went away and finally normal bowel movements!! Looking into this more i learned that having any type of bowel disorder or infection can make you intolerant to things such as dairy. I am here to talk to and give support and advice i may have to help others whom i know are suffering the same plight i did, and to say your normal like everyone else and not alone. thank you for reading thru and looking forward to hearing from you . "DG"

[JustmeJKT]

Hi dg8867

Your medical 'trip' sounds very familiar to mine. I'm brand new to this site and already I have a ton of ideas to being up with my regular doctor. I'm hoping she can do some tests from her clinic instead of me having to wait three months to see a GI!

Dairy/Lactose is interesting. I just had pizza and THAT didn't stay long. Someone just replied to my post with the same issue of c-dif. Perhaps tomorrow I avoid dairy...

[dg8867 in reply to JustmeJKT]

it took me about a week after dairy before i noticed the difference so try going a week or two too see how you feel. I also suggest trying to eliminate corn syrup sweetners from diet as well as i believe they are bad as well. I found some juice drinks like certain welch's or paul newmann drinks are sweetened with natural sugar. this was better for me i hope it helps you

[elwins]

I find Wheat is the main thing for me. Which causes me problems. Plus I have to check to make sure that corn syrup is not used as a filler in tablets. Suffer with colitis.

[lizziep]

It is gluten for me mainly but it took about 3 weeks to clear my system and start feeling better. Each day I feel well is such a bonus i don't think anyone who hasn't suffered with I b s can conceive just how painful and debilitating it is. Hope you continue to feel better.

[linedance]

I tend to avoid gluten and use lacto-free milk although I do eat cheese as, according to the FODMAP diet, it doesn't contain as much lactose. I seem to have found a trigger for me could be sweet potatoes and/or butternut squash. I have always eaten these but a couple of weeks ago I had quite a lot over two evenings and suffered a couple of days later. I think some things can be eaten in moderation but it is so difficult to really know what sets you off.

[dg8867 in reply to linedance]

thank you for responding linedance, yes it is hard to have to experiment with what you eat after having been able to eat anything before. sometimes even natural sugars in foods i think can be a trigger as well for some people. I wish they would study into this more and maybe it could help some who are suffering from this. thanx -"DG"