My IBS is gone after 8 miserable years

I was reading a small article buried in the back of my local paper regarding the use of Fructose in many foods and a huge amount of drinks such as all soda, lemonaide, limeaide, Hi-C, gatoraide, etc. (read all labels).  The article stated that Fructose is very difficult to digest and that there is a portion of the Fructose that is ingested that stays in the intestine undigested and then in return attracts bacteria.  I put two and two together and it dawned on me that I had been drinking 2 to 3 cokes a day for 15 or so years.  My IBS was totally out of control and getting worse.  I have been a prisoner of IBS for literally 8 years.  I have tried everything with no luck, with the exception of Imodium which I lived on.  I could not eat breakfast or lunch because I would risk a flareup or accident which I had many times at work (a jr.high school).  So in my desperation I decided that I must stop drinking coke and see if that could be the culprit.  The first two weeks I was sick more that I ever was but I persisted to refrain from the cola.  The third week I only had diarrhea twice in a week.  The fourth and fifth (which is where I am at now) I am perfectly normal and my insides feel wonderful.  I can't believe it.  My brain has not adjusted yet for I still have that fear or anxiety response but it is slowly going to get there.  I always thought there was a common thread that caused a lot of the IBS and I truly believe Fructose is the enemy.  Please read all labels before drinking or eating anything and try and see if this has a positive outcome.  Give it a month.  Write your responses, help other people.  I hope this is a true breakthrough. 

    

Did you know that some brands of Fibre supplements used to relieve constipation and diarrhea also have the fructose ingredient? I don't know about metamucil but know that Prodeim has it, and so do some generic fibre supplements.

Sorry to go off topic, but i've recently taken Cipro.. for 7 days, and for the first 5 days i was back to normal. Then after i stopped taking them again i had bad D all over again.

I wasn't on any sort of probiotic at the time, so do you suggest I take my probiotic yogurt or lactobacillus which i normally would take? I'm due for a repeat on cipro shortly, doctor's going to give me another round of antibiotic treatment.

On Monday I went to see the Doctor, very concerned about IBS / Fatigue / Vision / General Health. He told me I was depressed. I left, had lunch, ordered a coke and my companion said that this might be the problem. I have been drinking 1 - 5 cans a day solidly for a long time. I'm 44. Within 48 hours I felt no symptoms of depression etc... My IBS is not cured but 5 days later it is on the mend. I first went to the Doctor 8 years ago about these issues but didn't make the connection between my problems and the drink. It is almost as if the drink blocked the thought process in my brain!! I feel 10 years younger.

That's why I said my symptoms have "pretty much" disappeared. If I'm very anxious, then I still get symptoms no matter what I do or don't eat (yes, including strange noises). Part of it for me has been learning to de-stress through deep breathing and mindfulness meditation. But nothing ever really gets rid of it. It's just getting to used to it.

Because I've been suffering with IBS and GERD for the past few years, I've just read a book by Norman Robillard Ph.D. - 'Fast Tract Digestion - IBS.' The author takes the FODMAP concept a little further and provides an index of foods that contain varying amounts of resistant starch, which he (and others) believe is the basic cause of SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), a situation that leads to conditions such as IBS and GERD. My IBS is much improved since I began following the basic principles, but I haven't strictly followed his bacteria eradication program yet. Also, I ditched my antidepressant (fluvoxamine) and PPI (rabeprazole) medications at the same time; so I'm not sure what's helping the most. I'll try reintroducing a few things one at a time to see what happens. PPI medication is notoriously difficult to drop, as it's addictive. If you stop taking it suddenly, your acid pump goes wild and you need to neutralise the excess acid with some form of antacid for a while. I'm still struggling with that. (I've included comments on GERD here because IBS and GERD often coexist and may have the same source, at least in many people.)

Miniabi: most of what you are eating, I would not be able to tolerate with my IBS-D. High fat foods, fried foods, cooked tomatoes would bring on the attack from h__l. Maybe you can go to a good nutritionist
and get started on a diet that is somewhat bland, things like: poached chicken, plain rice, applesauce, low fat, lactose free milk and then gradually add back food to see what causes your attacks.

Sorry I did not know where you live. But even given that issue, some of the things you mention could be prepared differently. For instance, I can tolerate poached chicken, just white meat cooked in its own broth.
Plantains are basically in the banana family, most IBS patients can eat those. I often eat white rice in chicken broth or just warm white rice.Cooked tomatoes play havoc on a lot of people with IBS, but I can often eat a few slices of sliced raw tomato. Wash all fruits. Milk is one of my issues, but maybe just a little is tolerable. Here in the US we have all kinds of milk including that without lactose. I know in this country we are incredibly spoiled by the amount of food available to us, but even given that, in my case I have a very limited diet due to IBS. I would eliminate frying anything, so hard on your stomach. And beef is very hard to digest although Americans eat an incredible amount of it. I do not eat any. Do you have access to a clinic and medical care? I sincerely hope you can modify your diet with the foods you do have.