Post infectious ibs

[Stacy86]

Does anyone have experience of post infectious ibs? I'm wondering how long it took for people to start eating normally again and have normal bowel movements with it? Thanks

[ivesy]

Hi Stacy, this probably isn't the response you were hoping for but I was initially infected over 5 years ago and am still suffering from ibs. I don't think there's necessarily a fixed time period. May be worth trying probiotics to try and get your gut bacteria back to where it needs to be.

[Maccy50]

Hi,

Also not another reply you will like. I got really bad food poisoning around 4 years ago. For the next few weeks it was just plain food but I had severe gastric problems with others. It took months to work out what foods were triggering the problem and another year for the IBS diagnosis. I still have symptoms of IBS now that are not so bad, but I do get the odd flare up. To answer your original question it took maybe 7 months to have more normality. Good luck with it! Getting used to it and what foods to eat is the main hurdle at the start.

[Stacy86 in reply to Maccy50]

Thanks for the replies. I already have a diagnosis of ibs but I normally suffer with constipation. Since a bug I've now got diarrhoea on and off. Once you found your triggers were things a bit better? I have been on a really plain diet for a few weeks now and have lost alot of weight and don't think I can sustain it for long. I'm just really anxious about reintroducing different things incase it gives me diarrhoea again. Every grumble makes me fearful. How do people reintroduce stuff? I've been advised to avoid garlic and onion as they can really irritate the gut and I seem to be ok with gluten as have been eating lots of bread. I have had small amounts of milk in tea and been on but really want to try other dairy. Just not sure how to do it!

[Maccy50 in reply to Stacy86]

I see, I have had a similar problem recently with a stomach bug. It had taken around 3 weeks to have a mostly normal diet. During flare ups I do eat really plain food and gradually reintroduce things. I have found my symptoms improved after cutting out specific foods that caused me problems.

I am sure others here can give you better advice on reintroducing food. I usually take it slowly, like having one piece of fruit every other day and gradually increasing to 2 a day. With dairy you can start with yoghurt as that has much lower levels of lactose than milk. Many find the FODMAP diet helps and probably where your advice to cut out garlic and onion, but I don't know so much about this diet. Trial and error seems to be the main way to find out and that is how I started out. I also find that the time of day affects me. So I can only eat plain food for breakfast, but can deal with something else by lunch.

[Stacy86 in reply to Maccy50]

Thank you that's really helpful.

[tiredmum]

My son has post infection ibs after getting giardia and cryptosporidium in India . He has suffered from terrible diarrhoea, going sometimes 15 times a day for the past 15 months. He consultant told him it could take up to 5 years for his bowel to start functioning properly again.