Working in an office environment with IBS/D

Ok, so i just wanted to see how other people cope with work and IBS.

I'm 30 years old, female and have been working in an office for a few years now but find it a constant struggle.

I started with IBS when i was pregnant when i was 19 and also ended up with food intolerances at the same time, i think it was brought on by hormone changes and lifestyle changes. I kept a food diary and now cut out all diary (apart from mild chedder as this doesn't contain lastose), wheat, orange and peppers. I have tried all sorts of drugs from my doc including anti-depressents, anti-spasmodics, loperamide and the only thing which i have started taking recently that gives me some slight relief is codiene phosphate which i just take when i need them not all the time as i don't think they are the safest drug to take everyday! I also take pro biotics daily otherwise i cant digest anything very well.

I am also trying the IBS hynotheripy program 100 and am half way though but it doesn't seem to have helped much so far but i figure i will carry on for the full 100 days as its worth a try!

Anyway i spent 4 years dragging myself through university and sitting through exams with chronic D/panick attacks/anxiety which i swear nearly killed me.... to get a degree in computer science to find that sitting in an office for 8 hours a day is practically impossible! Ok so we have toilets at work but when you go 10 times a day you get people asking 'whats wrong' and how do you explain that you have IBS and need to go to the loo 10 times a day because you are so nervous! 'Normal' people just don't get it do they? And meetings oh my god there is nothing worse for me....sitting there in a meeting spending my whole time saying to myself in my mind 'calm down'...please don't need the loo....then that makes me need to go!

So i'm at a loss what to do now really....i either need to look for a job which is more suited to my situation and get paid peanuts....or carry on struggling....i don't want to do either.

Anyway has anyone got any tips/advice on jobs that are more suited to people with IBS or is someone else in/have been in a similar situation to me? Sometimes i think i'm completely alone in this world but i hope i'm not :)

Sal

I have ulcerative colitis, so I know exactly how you feel everytime you get up to go to the bathroom.  I asked my doctor for a perscription for LOMOTIL 2.5mg and I only need to take one after my many bm's in the morning and I don't have to run to the toilet for the rest of the day.  Its a life saver for me plus it relaxes the intestines so you don't have that knot in your stomache.   Metamucil is also important to take, it bulks up the stool and absorbs the water in the colon.       I usually take it before bed just in case it makes me gassy.

Daily exercise has helped me also I try to do 1hr a day, it calms the mind and the gut.

Hi, you sound just like me. I quit my job to take another higher paying job and ended up going there 3 days!!! They had 1 bathroom for 25 women and I couldn't do it! I was so afraid that I would have an accident while someone else was in there. I ended up leaving there and going back to my old job...thankfully they took me back and I was/am the only woman in my office. I lost the increase in pay but I got back my sanity!

I have been prescribed every drug out there and nothing worked. Until last week when a new Dr prescriped a powder called Cholestyramine. You mix it with water or juice and drink it. I have not had any Diarrhea since last Thursday!!! I usually go anywhere from once up to 10 times a day. Since I started taking this prescription I have gone once a day maybe twice a day but it is a normal formed BM. I haven't had that happen for over 18 years!!!!

Good Luck,

Sheryl

I'm just lurker... usually post over at Hepatitis ... but when I deal with this issue... I drink Jello... and this is a home remedy... along with those that have already been talked about ... and maybe that's not a good for you but it has worked.. when I do through this..