For months now I’ve had a constant flare up I have IBS-D.
I’ve been to gp and they don’t help.
I’ve done fodmap etc and been to see specialists. So it’s nothing I particularly eat and nothing nasty.
But I’m just drained. The longer this goes on the more depressed I feel. I’m hardly eating or sleeping and have no energy whatsoever. I’m starting to wonder if it will ever end.
I have a two year old so what little energy I have is spent running around after him. The housework is starting to pile up and I just want to curl up in a ball. My partner is very supportive but unfortunately he can’t take any more time off work.
I miss the days of being able to eat what I want and having all the energy in the world.
I’m not a particularly stressed person so it’s not stressed related I don’t think but it’s becoming stressful.
Other then the obvious solutions of peppermint tablets/tea, buscopan, meberevine has anyone got any home remedies that they’ve found helps?
Lyn x
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things that helped me after 17 years with IBS-D ( had two accidents close together and decided to do anything I could):
taking chia seeds appeared to bulk me up and reduce the loose stools
taking aloe vera, peppermint, chamomile and digestive enzymes ( a drink from Holland barrett)
taking probio7 which I saw had the same ingredients as had been shown to reduce gas, the cheapest brand i could find with the strains ( sorry can't remember the study but you may find it if you google 'study shows probiotic strains reduce gas' or something similar)
totally cutting out trigger foods- wheat, gluten, dairy, garlic, spices, onions, etc ( I understand these need to be reintroduced as per fodmap type approach this is work in progress)
Taking L Glutamine to heal my gut
taking tumeric to reduce inflammation
supplementing with transdermal magnesium ( spray) I understand most women are deficient and it did wonders for me in lots of ways
addressing my underlying autoimmune condition ( hashimotos) and overall health, vitamin deficiencies ( B, D etc), and reducung stress, as well as walking a lot.
Thanks for your reply. I’m glad all these things help you and I will defiantly try some of these.
I already take a probiotic so hoping that starts to show a difference soon. And will look into chia seeds, I use physillium husk to add bulk but the chia seeds might help more.
there is a few articles online matching your symptoms to the type of strains best for them. I found probio 7 was really helpful because the strains match my symptoms whereas others made me worse.
i get a lot of info from podcasts- alex manos, dr chatarjee feel better live more and Dr Jade Teta are ethical and reliable in my opinion.
just to say you aren’t alone, I know the lonely and stessful feelings that can arise with this debilitating thing and also that there is hope. good luck x
I cant give you any easy solution, but it may be you are in a vicious circle. You may not feel mentally stressed, but if you are chasing about your gut may be rebelling. You then get worked up about what is happening, which just makes it all worse. Difficult I guess but try and slow down! You seem to have taken all the usual meds, you have thought about and considered your diet, so I think it will be down to stress. Just trying to do too much.
See the link on probiotics. Be aware that many supermarket style probotic drinks are very high in sugar and it works out quite expensive if you take one a day.
I have taken probiotics for about 7 or 8 years, but it took me a lot of trial and error to find the one that suited me best. Some were useless, some made we worse, but I have settled on the Solgar multi d available on Amazon and other web sites. That does not ‘cure’ me but I have fewer flare ups and generally feel more comfortable in the stomach.
It can take a week or two for the probiotics to kick in though.
Sorry to hear this , I suffered this for over 15 years and I'm now 45 , the doctors were pretty much useless to start with . Eventually I went to see a gastro specialist who straightaway put me on fodmap diet , which I have tried to stick to religiously, I have had limited success on this , still not perfect . The other thing I have tried which also helped is something called Symprove , it is a liquid probiotic , this has also seemed to help me, you can buy this off the internet direct from manufacturer, it is expensive but if like me you are clutching at straws for answers it might be worth a try.
Have any health professionals mentioned bile acid diarrhoea/malabsorption syndrome? Not many do. It may be worth you looking it up and see if there is a fit with your symptoms. My 40+ years of diarrhoea has stopped with the appropriate medication as suggested by a gastroenterologist.
I’ve seen a gastroenterologist and they referred me back to gp saying it was just ibs and my life now so no they’ve not mentioned bile acid diarrhoea
Oh poor you! How awful for you.. have you tried probiotics? That's what I'm trying now. My pain is a burning pain and always in the same place to the right of my navel? I do hope you improve.mit must be so awful with a little one to take care of.
Thanks for reply. Yes I’ve recently started some probiotics so I’m hoping they help. I tend to just have pain all over tummy.
But It’s becoming more difficult to have the energy to chase him around, becoming very physically and mentally drained
I had a bad flare up at the end of last year. Diarrhoea nearly every single day for 3 months. Mine was definitely stress/anxiety related. Things have settled down for me now. Two year olds are very active & need a lot of attention, although you may not feel stressed you could well be & are now in a vicious circle of worrying, not eating, not sleeping etc. I had almost resigned myself that this was my life from now on. I’ve done food diaries and I think, but not totally sure that uncooked tomatoes, sesame seeds & nuts seem to be triggers for me. I walk for 2 hours every morning, I never eat before I go out. Someone on this website suggested Silicol Gel. I have started taking it 3 times a day & so far so good. I ate a slice of toast before my walk yesterday & made sure I went somewhere quiet with bushes but I was fine. I kept waiting for what would normally have been the inevitable but nothing. It may be a complete coincidence but it’s worth giving it a go. You can buy silicol gel in the chemist or online, even on Amazon. Good luck with it all. Hope you start to feel better soon.
Thank you for your reply. I’m so glad it’s settled down for you now.
I do think I’m in some sort of vicious circle with not sleeping. When i spoke to my gp about lack of sleep she said she thinks that once you have a child you don’t get a lot of sleep. But he sleeps through the night like an angel most the time. And I do get a lot of tummy pains at night which does stop me sleeping.
I don’t eat either before I go out. If I know I’ve got errands or picking my son up from nursery I won’t eat till I’m home.
I tried silicol gel but never stuck with it so will probs give it another go x
Have you been tested for Crohn's, Coeliac and Bile Acid Disorder/Malabsorption (BAD/BAM)? All of these cause chronic diarrhoea.
BAD/BAM is often overlooked by GPs as a root cause, but there's a test for it and a specific treatment also.
Have u had any antibiotics or tablets before it started?
Only i had never had ibs until i was given really strong antibiotics about three years ago, i mean i did have it but not major and it was controlable!
Then i had these god awful antibiotics for tooth infection and it went of the scale, couldnt eat, was sick and in pain all time, every time i even smelt food i felt sick. I lost so much weight i looked like i terminally ill.
So i was sent to a gastro. Who was fantatsic and she recognsied that it was the antibiotics that had stripped my stomach lining of all the good gut bacteria and basically it was raw....
So i had to do a special diet which her nutritionalst gave me and i also saw a naturopath who gave me a allergy test as the gastro explained i could b intolerant to stuff i wasnt before as my gut was so ill.
I had absolutely no good gut bacteria it was over run with candida ( bad bacteria) and i had to kill the bad and regrow the new...
I did this diet and took the supplements for 6 weeks but i could tell difference by 2-3 week.
I now have very rare bouts of it and thats usually my own stupidity... i did find out i was gluten intolerant so stay away and if i have some i pay ....
So I was about 8months pregnant when loose stools started. But I put that down to being pregnant.
But when I gave birth I was on antibiotics as I had some sort of infection for about 10days and about 2 weeks after I started to get loose stools again but put that down to things still being unsettled.
I had a colonoscopy and have seen a gastro and nothing came of either.
I started to take Optibac probiotics but ran out and ordered some new ones called Alflorex and have just started those.
Yep! It candida!!! U sound exactly like me.. literally started after a 7 day antibiotic course turned into 14 days and my stomach just went of the scale bad....
It was all explained that really gps should tell us whilst taking anti we should also take probiotics! But gps dont as they dont medically accept it but most gastros do now.
I literally did the candida diet for 6 weeks and it went...
1. No sugar
2.no processed food
3. Stick to fish chicken turkey and greens like spinach.
4. No bread or yeast as this is what is in ur gut ... bacteria is yeast unfortunatley antibiotics kill the good yeast and then the bad yeast overgrows ie CANDIDA!
If u google it ur see it.
I also took lots water.
No fizzy or squashes as the sugar feed it.
I also took probiotics twice a day... never near hot food... it kills it before it gets to gut...
I took peppermint capsule for the pain and wind and upset belly.
I also took a dogestive enzyme as i was not keeping any food in so i was so skinny i needed to b able to eat something .. so i took dig enz they help ur gut to digest.
All in all best thing i ever done coz now i can more or less eat anything. I never get colds or flu or ill.
It like i have a whole healthier body.
I also stopped eating bad food as i stopped liking it after eating clean for so long.
I thought it could be something like Candida at first. And even purchased a Candida capsule cleanse from a company called Elle Belle uk. I never took them as I was worried it make things worse.
I think I will look more into this. And try the diet. I wanted to eat cleaner anyway so I guess it’s now time to. Thanks for the help
It literally kills it off TMI but it come out in ur poop!!
I used a die of tablet aswell called DIDA it suposed to b good, i used it and it helped but i think all together it was both the diet and the supplements, i dont think one would have worked with out the other.
I still slim and prob will stay like this now as my outlook on food has totally changed but i look and feel healthy before i just looked really sick.
I wouldnt bother with all the diarrhoea tablets or anything is say they prob wont work
I’m defiantly going to try this. I do need to loose weight so the clean eating will do me some good either way. Going to make a meal plan today and research some more.
Thank you so much for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it x
No probs... there is a candida site on facebook just called “ the candida site” loadsa info ...
By a nutritionalist and naturopath.
Also if u google it there loads in america it called SIBO. So u may see that instead but it seems to become a quite recognised thing at mo so there loads to help u.
Well yeh i went from a size 14 to a 8!!! But did go to a 6 which i looked ill.
I lost two stone in 3 months where i was just 💩 all the time! No food stayed in.
Now im trying to get back up to a 10 so i need another half stone and il b happy at that.
When u give up bread and yeast ur bloating and pain will just go it no good for u anyway.
I never gone back to bread ... cant even stand smell now
No gluten free bread not good they use more yeast and sugar so it worse then normal bread im afraid u have to give it up if ur doin the diet( not for good but u do for first 6 week) it really works, i used gluten free crispbreads, hummus, gluten free tortillas and hummus, carrott and cucumber and hummus thing like that for lunch. Then chicken, turkey and veg for dinner. Breakfast was gluten free porridge or yogurt and fruit.
Yeh oh it was awful... i would go about 15 times a day.. sometimes more.. i would eat and half way through have to go to toilet and i would literally 💩out anything id just eaten....
now i go once a day.
It ur stomach cant handle the food so it just basically gets rid of it.
It weird coz i always had pssoarisis to and since i started having a good diet it gone and i had it since i was a baby.
Oh ok that’s fine. The gluten free crispbreads with humus etc sounds nice anyway.
I don’t want to spend anymore time on the loo though 🙈 haha. Might wait to start till when my little one goes back to nursery so I don’t have to leave him alone too much.
I’m glad it helped other issues for you. My best friend has pssoarisis quite badly and I know stress triggers it. Must of been horrid for you to have along side the bad tummy.
Yeh stress didnt help. U get stressed coz u feel so ill and the u get ill coz u get stressed.
Cant b easy feeling so sick and bad with a baby ...
It is easy once u get into it.
Only thing i found hard was the sugar, i am a sugar fiend... couldnt go hour without something sweet ,had 3 sugars in my tea. So when i came of all the sugar i literally had a come down... the headache was major for about week but once it went the brain fog and my body just started feeling so much better and the 💩took about 2 weeks to calm down then within 3 weeks it had gone but if u think thats it and start eating it all again it will just start again u just need to see it through for abit longer. Mine was totally gone in week 6
HI there Lulububs , I've had IBS since 1996 and it's got a lot worse since I had food poisoning from a veg pot, I didn't realise the pot contained rice and the instructions are to re-heat the pot for 3 minutes. I always re-heat to boiling hot.
My tummy has been bad since the food poisoning in November last year; I had nausea just about every day, diarrhoea every day and feeling very lethargic. The only thing I found I could eat without sending me running to the toilet was toast. I've since had a Colonoscopy and that was clear and have an Ultrasound booked for 19 March (the doctor didn't think it was right to still feel nauseous after all this time).
I read your reply with interest in relation to Candida and have to say I am so pleased for you that this has worked. I am seriously going to have a look at this as bread is my real downfall. After the illness I was living off white shop bought bread which I hated as I am normally a healthy eater (I am a Vegan and love healthy food i.e. I don't eat sugary things at all and make my own raw fruit bars) and I make my own bread.
This is definitely worth a go as it would be fantastic to get rid of this urgent need for the toilet. Thank you for sharing this.
Yeh bread was my downfall aswell , i literally had about 4-6 slices a day, toast was my go to snack!
Then i got ill after being given amoxiclav antibiotics and bread was the one thing i literally just went straight off it was the yeasty smell, as soon as i ate it i would b on toilet in pain... it also hard to digest.
I have never eaten any since and that was two years ago.
Unfortunately anything yeasty will feed ur candida/sibo and it is quite common to get candida after a bad case of food poisoning or antibiotics as both strip ur gut so all ur left with is a inflammed lining which generally thrive on bad bacteria so u need to put good back in there.
1- no sugar( or low)
2-no gluten
3-no bread or yeast ( beer, pizza)
Try to eat good homemade food
Loadsa of spinach and greens and veg
Also i really good probiotics is a absolute MUST!
It puts the good gut bacteria in.
Peppermint oil caps( bloating , wind, pain)
Dogestive enzymes( helps ur body breakdown food makes it easier to digest)
Thank you Lulububs , I'm normally very healthy and made homemade chickpea curry for tonight but could stomach it. I'm going to have a go at making kombucha.
I do have Probiotics but they aren't doing anything for me.
Digestive Enzymes I haven't tried yet so must look at that.
Thank you very much for your help, it's much appreciated.
Yeh my stomach cant handle curry at best of times!
You got to think of it as a inflammed stomach so putting anything spicey or taut like vinegar is like rubbing it in to a open cut. It will make it hurt.
Think of all bland food, chicken, spinach, pot. I know it not exciting but it just to let ur body heal
Thank you. Unfortunately I'm a Vegan so chicken isn't an option, I can't face meat at all. I've been eating a fairly bland diet for quite a while now i.e. white toast, crackers and sandwiches. I've hardly been eating breakfast either this is doing my head in.
I'm going to research into the Gut Biome later this week and looked at Kombucha and re-read the Clever Guts Diet book.
Yeh i was so ill, im generally ibs c but after the antibiotics everyhing just changed it was mad. I went from c to BAD ibs d, i couldnt keep anything in. The sick feeling was awful , i woke up feeling sick and went to bed feeling sick.
If u “ google” candida /sibo ur find it all the general signs.
When u stop feeding it the yeast and breads it will dye off which u will actually see it in your 💩( sorry tmi).
It just ur stomach and digestive system begging for help, once i started the diet within 2 weeks i felt different, i stopped 💩after every bit of food and about 10 times a day.
Within 6 weeks it had gone!
I did choose to stay of bread and yeast though as i just hate the feeling of being full of bread.. it makes me really constipated
Yeh i saw a gastro then she diagnosed candida and sent me to a naturoath/dietician.
He tested me and said i had caught it from antibiotics... he explained in quite a good way really he said “ imagine a garden full of lovely flowers and bees and sun and it all growing well ( ur gut full of good gut bacteria) and looks gorgeous but then a plague of bugs get to the flowers and kills them all (ie food poisoning or antibiotics) and ur just left with this sad brown , dead garden that nothing can grow in as it just dead and the bugs are still in there ....
Thats it in a nut shell.
So what u have to do is starve the bad bacteria!
To grow good...
But if u dont starve it the bad is stronger then the good so it will just keep killing the good.
So you have to do a 6 week diet.
It hard but well worth it
1. No gluten
2. No yeast
3. Low sugar( preferably none)
4. Not to much dairy.
Then take
1. Probiotics three x a day( not anywhere near hot food)
2. Peppermint caps
3. Digestive enzymes
All not with hot food or drink as it needs to get to gut and live
Anything hot will kill it.
I take mine about half hour after breakfast which is decaf coffee and rice krispies with almond milk
Lunch i have a salad or quinoa or gluten free cous cous, hummous and g f tortillas a nakd bar.
Dinner - veg!!! Veg veg... and cous cous or g f past. Chicken.
Lay of spice aswell it will inflame a already inflammed gut
Thank you Lulububs , so far I have been very fortunate with the treatment I've had from the doctors.
They have given me blood tests, examination down below, felt my tummy and referred me for both a Colonoscopy and Ultrasound, I've had the former and the latter is next Tuesday.
So sorry you had to suffer like you did.
Thank you for the warning which is very useful as not to expect too much. They do need to stop labelling any tummy troubles with IBS. I reckon in years to come IBS will be a thing of the past and it'll be split in to many separate conditions. Our guts are very complex that's for sure.
I hope you're still not paying for a Naturopath and Dietician.
Yeh my doctors are good it just if u are labeled ibs they just say anything is “ oh it part of ibs” oh and that can happen coz u have ibs... it there answer to everything once u have it.
But to go from 10 st to 7 1/2 in 4 months and literally not stop goin to toilet or keep any food in anyone could see was different.
They just dont understand or wont accept things that are not proven medical condition or thats a new thing.
Totally agree with you in that it's a label. I'm feeling pretty nauseous tonight and it's awful.
I'm not at work tomorrow so will be going on the internet looking at Candida and the diet. I'm going to collate paperwork from the internet and take it to the doctors.
Thank you for all your responses on this. I have started to cut everything bad out and I think I’m feeling abit better I’m doing it slowly so my tummy has time to adjust etc. But You’ve been a big help to myself and others. It makes things a lot easier knowing there’s others out there going through the same thing. X
Unfortunately IBS is labeled about for just about any tummy problems, u go to gp with belly ache and it “ oh u have ibs” and there so many reasons WHY we can have ibs...
we have a huge amount of gut bacteria thats keeps our stomachs happy😀 and if anything put that out of kilter ie food poisoning, antibiotics, periods, food allergies and medications. It becomes a unhappy gut, it becomes inflammed and the bacteria starts to die and becomes bad bacteria : as in candida or sibo...
Not enough is known about this .. i never even knew it existed until i went to a gastro and naturopath.
Im glad to help.
My friend has been ill since she ate some dodgy pork and kept goin to gp and they kept giving her tablets but she was so ill for about 6 weeks so i put her on the diet as i said “ the food poisoning has ruined ur stomach”.
So she has been doin it for just 6 days and she says she feels better already!
So it really does work.
I have had ibs for years....
I have been able to control it to a limit but when i got really ill through antibiotics( amoxiclav) i lost 2 stone in such short amount of time and felt utterly awful, the pain in my stomach was relentless.
As soon as i started the diet with 4 days i felt bit better by 2nd week i was a totally different person.
By time i went back to gastro after 6 weeks i had healed my whole stomach lining and gut bacteria.
So much so i still follow most of diet 2 years on.
I have no home remedies for this, but there are at least 2 meds that will stop chronic diarrhea in it's filthy tracks! Those are: Welchol and Colestipol. I take Colestipol because it's less expensive over here in the States. Believe me...start taking either one of these and you'll be fine!
I believe they are available in the UK...I've heard another drug mentioned from a woman in the UK, but it's been so long I don't remember what it's called....give me a minute..I'll see if I can locate a webpage for you.
Here's a page that gives names for bile acid sequestrants. These are wonder drugs in my opinion. They are used to treat high cholesterol taken along with a cholesterol-lowering drug. They are also used for treating Type II diabetes. I do not have either of these conditions and I take 4 tablets a day of Colestipol to stop my chronic diarrhea. I couldn't leave my house at all in the mornings before..I have my life back:
No worries, LynLoo...no one should have to suffer with diarrhea all the time. I just wonder why doctors do not presribe this stuff. I had to do my own research and had to tell my doctor about them! He should've know, I think...anyway, don't let the doctor talk you out of these just because they're used for a couple of different things...aren't most meds. used for different things? Good luck! Keep me posted!
I also think I have bile acid malabsorption but my gastro man I saw said he’d never heard of it!! He told me to go back to my gp. I’m due back in March to check my b12 after having had injections and tablets. As I’m relatively ok atm I’m going to wait especially as the silicol seems to be working for me. X
Wow...Squirrels777! This is so typical of these know-it-all doctors!!! How stupid that he wouldn't at least let you try them...couldn't hurt. I'm so sorry!
I am going to talk to my gp about Colestipol after reading your post. Thank you & that link you put on was also very helpful & informative. I’ve learned so much from joining this group. It’s great to know you are not the only person with this problem. Thank you for your support x
The SeCHAT test for BAM is well known in the UK. Print something off the internet if your doctor is being difficult. It just means 2 trips to the hospital a week apart, mine was at the Nuclear Medicine Dept. You just swallow a tiny capsule & have a quick scan. Easy.
I’m quite excited about finding out about Colestipol (that sounds really sad doesn’t it?). Thank you for your help, information & support!! X
Hi there LynLoo, I'm the same as you. I used to have IBS C and coped with the wind and pain, I had it for many years and it didn't bother me. Move forward 22 years and j had food poisoning in November last year which I'm still having problems with.
I'm now living on crackers and toast and have the odd bowl of cereal and sandwiches but that is rare. As soon as I eat even a bowl if soup it goes right through me and I also get nausea.
I'm fortunate to have very good doctors and have now been referred to the hospital and the doctor has recommended a Colonoscopy (my 3rd one) and an ultrasound as she thinks I may have some kind of inflammation, it's the nausea that's made her think this.
I'm sorry I can't offer advice but you are not alone, everyone on her understands. I see though that you've had some excellent advice which I'm looking at as well.
Take care and I really hope you improve very soon.
Oh no I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m glad your gp is investigating this for you. And hope all goes well. I think I will book another gp appointment and try seeing another dr.
I’m so glad I came across this forum, everyone has been so lovely. Unfortunately no one in my family understands and I get told to just deal with it a lot.
Yes the IBS C was so much easier to deal with. One doctor did think it was Post Infectious IBS but the one I saw this week wasn't convinced hence hospital appointment.
This forum is brilliant and j see you've had some excellent advice, we are definitely all in this together. I'm so sorry that your family aren't understanding. I would like to see anyone that doesn't understand IBS to see what it's like.
Try a FODMAP diet. It's was like a switch for me. And when I sway away, symptoms return.
Hi Lynloo, have you ever tried any alternative therapy methods, such as energy healing? there is the originating cause of IBS, which could be addressed, but alternative therapies can definitely help with your energy, sleeping, eating and depression, which would help to make you feel better. As was mentioned in one of the comments, you are in a bit of a vicious cycle and if you can break that it will give you some relief.
I'm not sure how it works on this website, with giving advice, but I could explain how it works, and if you think it would be something that you might like to try, I could help you. here is a link to some case studies where Energy Healing, EFT was used. emofree.com/component/com_c...
Hey. I feel the exact same don’t worry. I don’t feel as though my gp is doing anything to help me. I’ve asked to be referred to a gastroenterologist but they’ve refused. Feel completely alone! I don’t even feel like I can hold down a job due to it. Some things that have helped me is peptobismol and even paracetamol sometimes prevents the pain being as bad. I get it quite severe. If only there was a cure
Thanks for your reply. I’m sorry your gp isn’t helping, they should refer you. My gp did refer me but the gastro I saw wasn’t very helpful and now all my gp says is to loose weight! luckily I haven’t had to go back to work yet as we moved back to my parents house and my partner earns enough for us but we do want to move out but I’d then have to go back to work so until things calm down tummy wise I’m abit stuck. I have a two year old to chase around all day too. I understand there’s no cure but a little help from doctors would go a long way! I hope you feel better soon! X
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