women suffering diarrhea - page fourteen

The tale of...Geniene

I'm not sure if I have IBS. My problem is that I always get severe cramping followed by the urge to get to a toilet quick, within 20 minutes after eating my first meal of the day - no matter what food it is. However, I will say, I notice it less when I am at home, and more since I started my new job.

I also drink a lot of coffee (thinking it could be a cause since I usually have more of that in the morning). Rarely does this not happen to me, and rarely does this happen to me in the evening. Don't have time to read your IBS site now, have to get back to work. If anyone has any ideas for me to try, let me know please.

Thanks!

E-mail Geniene: martorellg@hotmail.com

The tale of...Livie

OK, so I was in an accident about five years ago and I have been dealing with IBS for around the same time now. It completely sucks and until now I thought I was someone with like five eyes or something.

I am 21 years old and am in college (which is kind of hard to imagine for those of you who don't have IBS). Every day is a constant struggle because I have no idea what I can do and what I can't. I have panic attacks so bad I can't drive, and constant diarrhea (at least once a week I will have an attack).

I didn't know anyone with this problem until I stumbled on this website. I have become so insecure about myself because of this syndrome. I just wish it would go away already. I want a normal life!

The tale of...Moira

I believe I am an IBS sufferer. I have a unhelpful doctor. I occasionally suffer with diarrhea but have chronic stomach pains, bloating and a constant desire for the toilet to pass water. I feel great pressure on the top of my legs and the top of my stomach and find it very uncomfortable to sit on a sofa or especially in a car.

I have tried various pills to no avail and feel a review of my eating habits might help. I do eat quite a bit of wheat which I can try to cut out but with what do I replace it with? I have suffered for some years and feel quite depressed and have stopped travelling on holiday as I never feel well. Can anybody help? I have used my husband's e-mail address as I don't have one.

E-mail Moira: mikegeorge0702@yahoo.co.uk

The tale of ...Wendy

Pretty much like everyone else, my first IBS symptoms appeared when I was a young teenager - 7th or 8th grade I believe to be exact. At the time, I only experienced the mind-numbing pain, cramps, and diarrhea if I went for a run too soon after eating or drinking anything. I would be around two blocks from home (well, it was a country road, so to my best estimate) where the pain I started feeling slightly earlier in the run (which I would try to ignore) would get so bad I would have to stop and would then painfully walk in slow-motion to the house - desperate to get to the loo.

If I remember correctly, up until the time I had my first (and only) child at age 26, I only felt this horrible pain (cramps, diarrhea) because of eating or drinking too soon before exercising, so I would usually try to wait a while before exercising to avoid this, but other times I would become impatient and of course suffer the consequences. I could deal with it though.

Then I had a child and I think the pressure of the child on my already sensitive bowels/intestines made the problem much worse. Ever since then, I have had horrible gas problems, bloating, much more painful cramps, and alternating diarrrhea with constipation. Now the IBS symptoms happen whether I am exercising too soon after eating or not.

The problem has worsened over the past seven years (I'm 33 now) - back in January 1997 (four months after having my child) I ended up in the ER - which did not sit well with me because I had not been on my new job long enough to qualify for health insurance and of course I ended up having to pay the exorbitant  cost on my own, for what I call "not much help."

I ended up waiting two hours to be seen by the doctor - by that time the pain had mysteriously disappeared. I told him I was having extreme pain in the right side of my abdomen - he ruled out what it wasn't and told me it was a problem possibly with the area where my small and large intestine join (splenix I believe), but didn't offer any advice or medication.

After that, nothing major ever happened that painful so I went on living - never went to see a doctor to tell him I had periodic IBS and I needed help (I diagnosed it myself), but the last two years I have had several severe instances where the IBS symptoms would just pop up out of the blue it would seem.

I am never sure what brings them on - sometimes I can eat certain foods, other times it seems I can't. I love to cook and love eating a large variety of foods, especially spicy ones, so I cannot live off of just bland foods. I hope it is not spicy foods that affect me - I don't know - I used to eat them all the time with no effect. I don't eat much dairy, though now I eat yogurt as I heard it adds good bacteria back into your intestines - not sure if it works yet.

Last summer on a vacation with my friend in Izmir, Turkey, I had the worst stomach cramps for a whole week, which had a negative impact on my vacation (I thought it was from the fish I ate the night before, not sure). Then soon after that I think got food poisoning at the Taco Bell I ate at on the Tuzla Army Base in Bosnia because within 30 minutes I was in severe pain.

I went to the doctor on camp (I was in Camp Sarajevo - I am in the Navy Reserves and volunteered for two missions in Yugoslavia) and as I lay there on the table she asked me if I had a lot of gas as she prodded my abdomen - it's like, what do you think? She thought it was just gas-related even though I tried to tell her it was most likely food poisoning. She gave me some mild chewable tablets and that was it! They didn't work all that well, but the pain did subside in a week.

Since then I have had other incidences - another this past June, where I went to another Army doctor (I thought it was related to my reproductive parts). He did a pregnancy test, I had the Sonogram done, blood tests, an internal vagina exam, etc - nothing, so I left. I then realized it was IBS!

I didn't think so before since my periods had become erratic, but it turns out that was not related to the pains I was experiencing. I told him so upon a return visit to medical to out-process and he just wrote probably IBS. I definitely think doctors do not think of IBS as serious - as many of you have mentioned - they should walk in our shoes for a day when we are feeling intense pain and I guarantee you they would have some medicine that would work (and as most doctors are men and most cases of IBS are with women, it's no wonder...)

And to end this - just last night or rather at five o'clock in the morning - I woke up with these incredible cramps - painful - so painful I kept saying "let me be," and "I hate pain."

So I have no advice on what works, but I am going to check out the IBS success stories next - so I am hopeful!

E-mail Wendy: mwendy8@yahoo.com

The tale of...Angela

I'm Angela, and I'm 26. It all started in May 1998. I had watched my very close auntie die in hospital and about two months before in March I had a bad water infection and after that I kept getting them all the time and had problems with my bowels. I got sent for a scan the year after and they found nothing wrong. I kept getting water infections, it was like I needed the toilet all the time.

I tried some medicine and after a while that didn't work so I tried Colofac. Last year I had a bad pain in my right-hand side which every time I had sex really hurt, so I had another scan and that didn't show anything. I told the doctors about my bowels and the doctor said I had IBS, but I was still bloated and looked about six months pregnant.

I saw an advert for food testing and had a food test done, and now I stick to what I've been told to eat. But it's hard to find something to eat and it's even harder going out for something to eat.

I've have found that my periods are very irregular and I'm very moody. My partner and I have been trying for a baby but nothing's happened at the moment, and I wondered if it's my IBS that's causing my irregular periods. Has anybody got the same problem?

E-mail Angela: andrew@mansell2310.fsworld.co.uk

The tale of...Midge

I am 25 years old. Recently I have been suffering from stomach problems. I thought that it may have been food poisoning or the flu. My diarrhea lasted for about a week and I was really worried because it was green and it smelled like sour meat or milk. I, like most of the women on here, know where every gas station is for a 40 mile radius. I know the stations where there is no bathroom or the person in charge won't let you use it.

I was going to meet my mom one day to look at wedding dresses. Her house is about 45 minutes from where I live. I stopped at least seven times, not to mention the three times I went while I was at home. I got to her house and went twice. I was OK until I was on my drive home after dinner. Yes, we ate Mexican but I didn't overdo it with spices and stuff...I went for cheese nachos thinking that cheese would make me constipated and at least let me make it home.

I was wrong. I made it about three miles from their house and had to stop at a gas station. I was finished there and then made it about four more miles and had to stop at another gas station. It was a small gas station and only one unclean bathroom and someone was in it. We all know that that is the fear of all of us...not being able to go and soiling ourselves in the process.

I hopped back in my car and dodged oncoming cars to the I-hop across the street. Thank God that I made it...my parents had to come and get me and my mom drove me while dad followed us to my house that was 45 minutes away. I still had to stop one more time before I made it home.

The next day, my fiancé was mad because I told him that I wouldn't eat...yeah, I was starving at that point, but the satisfaction of knowing that I wouldn't have another bout with butt soup made me happy. He then made me go to the emergency room. You have to think that over a five-day period, I had probably eaten one meal a day and not been able to drink anything, including water, because all it would do is come right back out in no time.

The doctor was really nice and told us that unfortunately that in the ER there is the thing that they call the "black hole" and that is from the stomach to the rectum. She told me that she was not going to run up my ER bill and she referred me to a digestive care clinic. The doctor there saw me for about three minutes and asked me about my symptoms and then scheduled an endoscopy.

All that revealed was a little oesophogitis and a small amount of acid reflux. I knew that this was not my problem and I just wasted money for someone to tell me what I had already known.

My fiancé and I are in the middle of building a house and it is about 25 minutes away from town in the country. There is no gas station for about 11 miles and the ones that we come to are so untidy, but at this point I could crap in the woods and I wouldn't care. I am so embarrassed when we go out there because I always have to stop at the sales office and use the facilities.

I tried the whole Imodium and Pepto Bismol routine. I think I have made myself immune to it like they were antibiotics. Pepto just made the symptoms worse, and ladies, it makes things worse before it makes it better. I am so tired of being cranky and not being able to go out with friends or trying to explain myself to people about my situation.

I am tired of hearing that it is because I smoke...well, smoking is the only thing keeping me sane since I can't drink alcohol...yet, I have found that a bottle of beer will help me with my nerves and usually helps calm my stomach down. I'm tired of hearing that it is my diet...well, I have given up everything greasy, fried, fatty and I have eaten veggies, fruits and chicken and fish...the same thing happens with all food.

I cry all the time because I feel that it is coming between my fiancé and I. We can't do anything together...I can't go and see my friends and family in my home town because the thought of the drive just upsets me even more.

I don't sleep at night because I somehow now developed insomnia. I am tired all the time because my body can't possibly be taking in any nutrients for the food to go through me that fast.

I am so glad that I have found this website. I knew that I couldn't be the only one suffering from this madness...and that is exactly what it is. I thank you for reading this and letting me express my feelings on this matter. if there are any doctors reading this...please listen to us...it is not anxiety, diet, depression...or anything of that sort...those are the outcomes of this IBS disorder.

E-mail Midge: kevharvickfan@yahoo.com

The tale of...Yvette

Hi ladies and everyone out there coping ....if you can call it that, with this disease. I'm a long time sufferer of IBS and still at a loss to tell people where to turn. I was so glad to find this site to know there are other people with the same symptoms as me.

Right now I started another part-time job to make ends meet at home. I had so much cramping and bloating yesterday I thought I was gonna die. I made it through the day - thank God, you can go to the bathroom whenever you need to. It's so embarrassing cause you never know how you're gonna feel.

I just pray I'll make it through the day. I keep talking pain relievers and a little pill called Bentynol Dicyclomine to relieve the spasms but it really doesn't get rid of the pain. My legs seem to throb as well when I'm going through a bad bout...does anyone else have that problem? Well I hope we all make it through another day...I'll be praying for one and all.

E-mail Yvette: maxitweety@hotmail.com