Fibromyalia and IBS

Hello Everyone Im new to this forum but not new to the condition. I got it after a car accident in 2000. I went thought a lot the first few month and was so bad I tried to get disability and was turn down. I went and started a business in my home doing daycare and was doing pretty good until January of 2009. I was having bad mornings all the time but was working on it. I have been back to the doctor to find now I have IBS and on three different meds . Im on pristiq 50mg, gabapentin 300mg at night and amitriptyline 20mg for IBS at night. Im always tried when i get up even after sleeping at night. I have hot flashes leg cramp. Please someone give my some help!!!!!!!!

What are your IBS symptoms that you are taking medications for? You may have some other options - I've tried many of.

Tweety,

I also have fibro and IBS. I've been taking Nortriptyline for about 20 years, and my doctor says it's only something like 1 molecule different from Amitriptyline (less sedating.) That said, I've had relatives who couldn't take it because it gave them terrible dreams....

We're all so different, even if we have the same conditions. Never ceases to amaze me! Good luck.

Debbie

BunBun,

After being constipated about as long as I can remember (worse and worse as I got older) I've got a much better handle on it now.

It all came to a head about a year ago, when I tried to go gluten-free, thinking it might help...after a few weeks, I was SO constipated I was desperate and in a lot of pain...why, I have no clue! Went to my gastro doc and he had me start taking Miralax (or one of its generics) in the morning and Citrucel, which I'd already been taking, before supper.  (He didn't know why the gluten-free diet was so wrong for me...brushed right over that, and just gave me the standard protocol for IBS.) 

Well, that helped some, but I was still feeling really bad and looking for advice on the internet...and I found something on the IBS forum on HealingWell. It was an article by Healther somebody about eating more SOLUBLE fiber than anything else. It's rather involved, and explains the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber, and how they affect the colon (which is so sensitive if you have IBS) along with how other foods do.

So, after eating tons of whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies, and all the fiber I could handle for decades - I now eat mostly white bread(!!) and lots of starches, and my constipation is pretty much GONE. I dropped a pants size. I don't feel bloated all the time.  I still have days with too much or too little, but NOTHING like it used to be! Strange as it seems, it might be worth looking at, anyway.

Debbie

Acheybody said...
I now eat mostly white bread(!!) and lots of starches, and my constipation is pretty much GONE. I dropped a pants size. I don't feel bloated all the time. I still have days with too much or too little, but NOTHING like it used to be! Strange as it seems, it might be worth looking at, anyway.

It is so interesting that for some people, what is supposed to be the healthiest options actually do the most damage. My youngest brother in law has hirschsprung's disease and short gut, so he can absorb very little, if anything, through his digestive tract and gets most of his nutrients from TPN. But all the stuff that is healthy for the rest of us - veggies, whole grains, etc, are totally toxic to him and he can obstruct severely on many. A large portion of his diet is protein and fried foods because he needs MORE fats and MORE calories, not less. I hate watching him eat!!!

Hi Tweetygold,

I also have fibro and IBS, I have not been offered any meds for my fibro except painkillers, which do not touch it, but help me to get to sleep because they make me feel drowsy.

My IBS is very troublesome, the only things that I have found that helps are peppermint oil capsules and buscopan cramps.

I did try just taking buscopan, but that only got rid of the cramps but didn't help with the probs of my IBS, so I tried just taking the peppermint oil, but that left me with the cramps. So taking both of them helps tokeep it under control, I still have bad days with the IBS, but it's not as bad as it was.

It might be worth having a look into it and see how you feel.

All the best *hugs*

I haven't been diagnosed with IBS (mainly because it hasn't gotten so bad that I have discussed it with doctor) Plus, you know, it's been kind of embarrassing, and I'm sick of getting that weird look that tells me they think I'm nuts (I'm starting to think I'm too paranoid about that!)

But I seem to have trouble when I'm in stores. I know I am sensitive to fabric dyes etc, but I will often have trouble even at a store like Walmart or the grocery store. It comes on suddenly. I used to think it could be anxiety, but when I really pay attention to how I felt prior to the attack, most of the time I am feeling fine and in a good mood, then BAM!

Recently it happened at home, and I hadn't even eaten yet, the smell of the food I was fixing set me off. I think sometimes peoples' perfume out in public might be a factor.

I've also had cramps so bad that I can't stand up straight. It's ridiculous.

It makes sense that so many of us would be deficient in certain vitamins, if we have these problems in our gut.

Hi Tweetygold and everyone,

I have found that after taking the Gabapentin for a month or so, my diarrhea has calmed down. I went from going 30-40 times a day to only 10 or less. I am able to eat and digest more foods (which the G.I.'s though were food intolerance).
I also noticed that around my monthly "cycle", things are a lot more "slower" in that area anyway, than right after the cycle. I also have no colon, so it was a combination of having no colon (due to colectomy) and the Fibromyalgia that caused my problems all these years. I am so glad that I can eat again and no longer put up with embarrassing and painful procedures.

Good Luck with everything.