IBS-D

Welcome. You are not most definitely not alone. I have never had a colonoscopy. but have gone through them with both my parents several times. You will have to go through an evening of emptying your bowels the night before which is not fun. But, the procedure itself should be fairly painless due to happy drugs they should give you to help. In most cases, its outpatient.

I am glad you have found a place that helps you feel not alone. My IBS symptoms are different from yours. But, I would suggest looking at your eating habits. Are you eating more at night and then having problems in the AM? Just a thought. I know what you mean about acting up before plans etc.. I can have terrible anxiety and freak myself out totally. Try exercise or yoga to help relief stress. Good Luck.

Hi there,

Once you really start to understand what causes the IBS it will make a lot more sense. The 2 key strategies we recommend to get the constipation or diarrhea to stabilize involve dietary changes to address the triggers that are affecting the dysregulation of the nervous system in the gut that controls the motility (frequency – too slow or too fast) and soluble fiber (acacia is the most tolerable for IBS) to help address the consistency of the bowel movements. The dietary triggers are the same for both diarrhea and constipation IBS, the individual just responds differently by either slowing down or speeding up the motility. Removing the dietary triggers for a while will allow the gut nervous system to calm down and ease the dysregulation that affects the motility. Once it is calmed down, the frequency will begin to normalize and you can then carefully start bringing things back into the diet following all of the tips Heather talks about in her books to prevent IBS from getting irritated again. To get the best results you should tackle IBS with both approaches……diet for normal motility/frequency and acacia for normal consistency. The fennel (for gas/bloating) and the peppermint caps and teas (for pain associated with cramping and spasming) are to help you manage the associated symptoms that often come along with IBS. The peppermint is soothing and calming to the dysregulated and hypersensitive nervous system in the colon. They are designed to calm things down before the food gets there to prevent any trigger foods in the meal from causing a flare up of the IBS nervous system dysregulation. Soluble fiber also works like a cushion between your colon and these trigger foods to help minimize the effect and in turn minimize the chances of aggravating IBS.

Taking too much acacia too fast can cause increased gas and bloating. Acacia is one of the lowest gas-forming fibers out there and going slow makes the gas issue totally avoidable. Please be patient because this really does work.

I recommend starting with ½ teaspoon twice a day (daily dose of 1 teaspoon). You can split the daily dose up as many time as you like throughout the day, just divide it by 2 or 3 depending on the frequency you prefer. Try to increase the dose every 4th day or so by a teaspoon (add this to the daily dose). If you get increased gas and bloating by jumping the dose up by a teaspoon, try cutting this in half. Some people with IBS are so sensitive they have to go up at ¼ teaspoons every 4th day. Keep stepping up the dose every 4th day or so until you find a dose that resolves your constipation and/or diarrhea. Constipation is usually resolved with a daily dose of 4-5 tablespoons/day and diarrhea/loose stools usually resolves at a lower dose of 1-3 tablespoons/day. You shouldn’t take more than 5 tbsp/day. The maintenance dose is different for each person depending on their specific symptoms. Dietary changes are often necessary to make lasting changes. In the beginning until you stabilize, it works best to take the acacia before each meal to minimize the effect of trigger foods in the meal and to calm the intestines before the food arrives.

I would suggest reading both of Heather’s books so you can thoroughly understand all the ways to help stabilize IBS. The diet and soluble fiber will work more with the cause and help to stabilize you. Acacia helps people with diarrhea to have formed bowel movements and people with constipation to have softer and easier to pass bowel movements. People often experience significant improvement within a couple weeks when they make the dietary and fiber changes at the same time; although, constipation does take longer to resolve than diarrhea. It is not uncommon for constipation folks to increase the acacia very slowly because they are more likely to have trouble with painful gas and bloating. It can take 1-2 months to work up to the daily dose of 4-5 tablespoons/day sometimes. It will only make you miserable if you increase the dose too quickly. Important changes are taking place inside the colon as the body adjusts, so just be patient and let your body gently adjust to the acacia. Constipation folks will often need to continue to use whatever methods they were using previously to keep things moving until they are able to work up to the 4 tablespoons/day dose or so. Please don’t stop everything cold turkey and make yourself sick because this will take some time. The overwhelming feedback I hear from people is that once they reach this dose it is a magical experience and they are able to stop relying on the other medications etc they have always needed to have a normal movement at least once a day.

Go ahead and print up the IBS Patient Handout by clicking on this link. http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/cheatsheet.asp. This gives a list of soluble/insoluble fiber foods and trigger foods to stay away from.

I hope this helps!

Erin