Stress and IBS
I haven’t had a normal shit in weeks. Literally, I’ve had burps and gas come out of me CONSTANTLY for the last 4 weeks. Go ahead and get grossed out, but this is truly ANNOYING for me to have to live through.
It’s likely irritable bowel and if so, it’s not life-threatening and it’s not progressive. However, it’s a big pain in my ass. I have to minimize the following foods: saturated fats, salt, dairy, spicy foods, caffeine, sugar/fructose (even the natural shit that comes from FRUIT :(, and… certain kinds of FIBER!)
I don’t even know what I can eat, so I’m kind of avoiding food right now. sort of. I’m just eating small bits of different things to see what triggers it. My stomach has on-and-off pain, bubbliness of a bad kind. But this is NOTHING to deal with compared to what’s going on in Texas.
Stress can affect it to, so while I"m able to change how I eat, I have to figure out how to destress.
The kind of stress I have in my life is NOTHING compared to what my sister is going through. I would rather have an ulcer and this IBS shit going than have what my sister is going through right now. I would rather ALWAYS have pain in my stomach than the kind of pain that she’s going through in her heart.
I’m not going to go through any details, but I wish I could help my sister out in some way. I’m sure if I could, I would make us both feel better somehow! I hate worrying about her. I have no idea what to do for her from DC. I’m going to visit though, at least…
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:30 am
I’ve had IBS. I can offer you some tips.
1. Fiber just needs to be taken with lots of WATER. I have found that I usually have FAR fewer problems if I am hydrated.
2. When I was in the worst of it, I was also stressed, and my doctor told me to take Citrucel (fiber drink, less gross than Metamucil by FAR, and safer) every morning first thing. It REALLY helped - and the stuff just tastes like Tang. I felt like an old lady taking fiber every morning, but it worked wonders. Sometimes I’d do it twice a day, always on an empty stomach and with lots of water.
3. Acidopholus and other probiotic stuff really really helps. Kefir, yogurt, whatever - they are the exception to the “no dairy” rule.
4. Even small amounts of uncultured dairy will ruin my day - but I’m also lactose intolerant.
5. Watching portions really made a difference to me. Everything is fine in moderation. A little bit of pasta was okay, a big bowl of pasta would mess me up. Too much of any food would make my stomach unhappy. I found myself just naturally eating smaller portions, and eating like 4-5 times a day instead of 3 times.
6. In paying close attention to eating in such a way that I wouldn’t have GI trouble, I lost 10 lbs, all fat. So my body obviously needs to eat this way to be healthy.
I’ve since stopped drinking the Citrucel every morning, but I do start most mornings off with a fruit smoothie spiked with fiber, flaxseed oil, and some kind of probiotic.
This is just my experience, and your body is probably different, but I thought I’d share.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Thanks for the advice girlio. I hope I lose 10 pounds!!!!
September 24th, 2008 at 3:38 am
I wanted to research this subject and write a paper. Your post what a thousand words would not. Nice job.