dealing with ibs advice

[toastiepjm]

so i’ve been suffering with abdominal pain and the works since september now and after a period of time in hospital in january where i was told over and over again that i had an eating disorder, the doctors have kinda given up and just said “i think we can call this ibs”.

i’ve been on mebeverine tablets since december and while they mute the worst of things, i’m still not in a stable place at all. i’m honestly at my wits end on how to control and manage this now i’ve just been left with this half hearted diagnosis.

i think stress and anxiety and depression really factors into things, although i don’t know how to manage that either. i’ve always suffered with mental health issues however these past three years have been the worst. it started with my aunt losing her battle to cancer, my best friend leaving me, my nan being diagnosed with cancer, a lot of cyber bullying, me ending up with this stomach pain and having my entire life flipped and put on hold, my nan being critically ill in hospital now, and on the first of march, my father walked out on us and turns out to be this cold, controlling, nasty monster.

i really want to just be able to have some hope of things getting better because at the moment i really feel like what’s the point in all this.

[IBStired]

I would ask your MD to see if you can get an antidepressant/anti anxiety medicine. It does help some.

[Smeese]

I'm sorry - that's a lot to cope with, and not a lot there that you could or can control. You can however look after yourself really well and it's a wonderful starting point for recovery and self-esteem rebuilding. Get yourself a copy of the Fodmap diet - high fodmap foods are the most likely ones to be causing your problems (apart from stress which is a biggy and you might benefit from some anxiety meds). You can download a list of high fodmap foods to avoid or get a copy of the Fodmap Navigator by Martin Storr for 99p from Amazon. Avoid high fodmap foods for at least a month to let your gut clear of all the fermenting stuff. You can help clear your gut by taking a soluble fibre product like psyllium - you can get a bag of it from health food places or online but avoid the expensive ones as they contain inulin which doesn't agree with a lot of people. Take a heaped teaspoon mixed in water or diluted juice two or three times a day. Repopulate your gut with probiotics like Zenflore, Biokult or Alflorex in capsule form and things like kefir ('Love your Gut'which is coconut based instead of dairy). If you don't want to do the whole Fodmap diet then just avoid dairy products,high caffeine things like coffee, wheat, onions and garlic for a while. I hope you feel better soon.