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Next Step in my IBS - !!??

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 6/26/2006 3:48 AM (GMT 0)
After having multiple tests (blood, stool, endscopy, colonscopy) and the doctors not finding anything in my lower bowels, but found esophagitis, gastritis, acid reflux and H. Pylori bacteria they put me on PREVPAC. PREVPAC contains Prevacid, 2000 mgs of Amoxicillin, and another pill.  I have finished the medicine last week. And for awhile my stomach was somewhat back to normal, not 100%, but not like it was.  Well, I am starting to get diarrhea again (not as intense), and my stomach is starting to ache again.  I don't know what to do next. Should I wait awhile to see if the medicine is still coursing through me and it hasn't finished its purpose yet?  What other medication will they put me on?

I am starting to lose my depression because I now feel numb and empty on the inside of my mind.  The only bright spot is that I have met a guy and I like him but don't want to tell him any of these.  This is a brand new friend at dating (3 weeks), so I don't want to scare anyone off by explaining my bathroom problems.  I wouldn't blame him if he ran after I told him, I would probably do the same thing. It's just not a pretty thing to talk about especially with a new relationship. He likes to go to the bars as he is very into the nightlife (as I used to be before this) and i'm sure he would like me to join him.  Any advise? How can I go to crowded bar and what would happen if I had a bathroom attach?  Bar bathrooms are not the best, especially since a lot of the bars don't have stall doors...  Also, how can I seem to enjoy myself when everyone is drinking but me?  I'm not a big drinker anyway, but sometimes alcohol can stir up trouble or so I've been told. Anyone have any suggestions on how to survive a night out at the clubs?

One other thing-  I know this is wrong and people shouldn't use other people's presciptions.  But when I take a painkiller (whatever the mgs or whatever the brand- doesn't matter) my problems go away. The pain in my stomach is gone and  I don't have the need to use the bathroom or diarhea.  I may be slightly constipated the next two days, but I'll take C over D anyday!!!  Does anyone else see results like this with painkillers with their IBS-D?  How would you approach your dr to discuss the benefits of the painkillers in relation to your ibs? 

Sorry so long, just needed to get this out of my mind and get some advice from you great people!

Posted 6/26/2006 6:39 AM (GMT 0)
My stomach feels better with painkillers too, i think they work better than pepto bismol or imodium for me. If i have a very stressful day ahead, i'll take a painkiller. They work better and just relax my mind, i don't worry about going to the bathroom. I try not to take more than one a week, most of the time a half a pill will work, i don't want to become addicted. I doubt few if any doctors would prescribe painkillers to help us with our stomachs, they would rather put us on antidepressents. One tip about going out that makes me feel better is taking my own car and meeting up at the club, just the thought of knowing i can leave anytime if my stomach starts makes me more relaxed. If i'm riding with others in their car and i'm dependent on them to get home, my stomach will hurt everytime:( Once i explained my stomach to my girlfriend, i felt a lot better about going out places with her.
Posted 6/26/2006 12:31 PM (GMT 0)
Woww IBS sufferer.. ur storyyy is exactlyyy like mine...i used to go out to clubs all the time. now i barely go. i dont have a bf, so ur lucky u have met someone. tell him when the time is right..he will understand if hes a nice guy.and what jp77 said, take ur own car when u go out, that puts my mind at ease a hell of alot more than anything.. Today i had the worst day at work. had D and kept running to the loo and thats soo hard, cos i work in retail and its only a small shop and im the only one there, i had to actually leave a customer in the store and go to the loo otherwise i would have had a mess on my hands...Hence i start to panic...not a good combination.and i had really bad pains in my stomach which sooo isnt normal for me...i just wanted to cry today..was so bad...by the way, with the club situation...maybe suggest a bar that ur comfortable in?? i find some places are easier for me to go, like if there not fully packed and i know there are a few toilets...and god u guys dont have toilet doors????? we do..thank goddddddd..everywhere....i would be at home all the time if that was the case....anyways write bak..i like talking to ppl who are going through what im going through
Posted 6/26/2006 3:06 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks JP77 and Italianbella for your words or wisdom. You two are great and I would like to continue talking with you all as well. It seems to really help talking with others who are going through the same thing!

Painkillers are my saving grace when it comes to not worrying about bathroom situations, but I can't keep taking them (since there really not mine). Plus, I think they will eventually tear up your stomach and liver it you take them for long periods of time.

I used to go clubbing too (and I miss it so and miss being social) and then this hit. I do take my car wherever I go now and most people seem a little jilted like it weird that I won't ride with them or allow them to ride with me. Even my friends who know my situation still seem put out by it sometimes.

The guy I'm dating I don't consider him my bf yet since we've only dated a few times in the last few weeks, but I do like him. So I don't want to scare him off with talk of D and stomach pains.

The strange thing is a lot of people say its stress related: I do worry some but most of the time I want to be having fun and doing brain dead things like tv, movies, listening to music or hanging out with friends or going to dance clubs. So I wouldn't consider myself a stressed out person UNTIL I started getting symptoms of IBS.

I actually had it about 6 years ago for about 3 months only and it went away completely. Then last September while I was in New York with friends on vacation, it hit me in the middle of the SoHo district. Couldn't find any restrooms available in the area so I had to hail a taxi and immediately go back to our hotel room in Times Square (and barely made it back). I thought it was just a stomach virus that I caught, but to this day it hasn't left. (Thank god it didn't happen a few weeks earlier: I was vacationing in London and Paris and I couldn't imagine trying to travel around with this problem abroad.)

When did your IBS start? How long have you had it? How do you work around situations like dinner with friends? My biggest fear is that I will be with my friends or worse with my new guy friend and I will have an attack and not make it to the bathroom. Many times I've been in my car and it hits, and I have to fly through traffic (avoiding getting a ticket) and barely made it too my apartment.

Let me know. I want to hear more about your situations and how you handled them!
Posted 6/26/2006 3:15 PM (GMT 0)
I never cared to drink, even before I developed problems that keep me from it. I totally understand being at a party where nothing is happening but people getting drunk. That makes for an extremely boring party because there's nothing to do but watch everyone else make complete and total butts of themselves and that gets old in a real hurry.

Personally, I have found that one doesn't have to be drunk in order to have a good time, you just have to find a place where drinking is not the only source of entertainment. If you're going to a club, then dance! Nothing says you have to have a few beers in order to dance. Dance and have a good time. Most bars have something non-alcoholic that you can drink, from water to fizzy juice drinks or colas. Who knows that glass of coke you're drinking doesn't have rum in it? If anyone says anything about your not drinking, tell them that you have to drive; most people respect that. JP77 is right on with taking your own vehicle to a place so you can leave when necessary. That's a great relief off the mind. And I have gone clubbing with friends and not drank (namely I wasn't old enough when I was in college, lol) and it doesn't seem to phase them; real friends should be cool with you not drinking, smoking, whatever it is you don't want to do. We just sat around and talked and danced in turn.

You should go back to the dr. and tell him that your symptoms are coming back. I have heard that it's real heard to get rid of h. pylori and c. difficile and they frequently have to give you multiple rounds of antibiotics to get rid of them. Don't forget to take a LOT of probiotics while you are on strong antibiotics like that to make sure you don't completely depopulate your guts and cause yourself more gut problems.
Posted 6/26/2006 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
Keriamon, thanks for your advice. I am not a big drinker anyway so not drinking is fine but makes me a little on edge. And I have learned that drinking cokes may have been part of the problem with them being acidic. So I have stopped drinking cokes all together (and have lost some weight because of it or of IBS- anyway i've lost weight!!!) I used to socially smoke occassionally at the bars, but now just smoking one or two cigarettes and my stomach is upset the next day. I am assuming its the cigarettes causing it, since I don't eat a lot of food now.

It is very limiting this disease IBS. I have cut down on or completely eliminated: food, or eating out, liquor, cokes, smoking, drugs (i use to do some recreational club drugs but haven't done any in a long time) going out for long periods of time (such as for walks or outdoor activities.

I will call my doctor again and advise him that my stomach is still not where it should be. I didn't know that H.Pylori was really difficult to get rid of. My doctor didn't explain that. And nothing was ever mentioned of probiotics by my doctor either.

Honestly the only thing that I have found that cures my completely are painkillers. I don't know how to ask my doctor about what he thinks of P.K. for IBS...
Posted 6/27/2006 5:08 AM (GMT 0)
It may be the pain killers are acting as a relaxant in some way and allowing your system to just relax. I know when we have pain we tend to tense up. I missed what kind of pain killers you were using. The only problem is they are tough on the stomach overall and can cause the other kind of ulcers, not the h. pylori kind. Your Dr. can test you in a while to see if the H. pylori is gone but you cannot take any of the PPI's for acid for 2 weeks before the test but can take Pepcid, etc. just not Prilosec, etc. I also found that when I stopped taking the Prevacid that I was taking that I went thru a period of bad stomach problems. some believe there is a withdrawal effect from stopping the PPI's. I would be upfront with the Dr. about the pain killers and maybe there is something that he can give you that will not be so hard on stomach. Have you tried all the antispasm drugs?
Posted 6/27/2006 12:33 PM (GMT 0)
I travelled to Europe with my stomach problems. i was apprehensive before i left, and then i had a panic attack on the plane. needless to say the trip wasnt brilliant after that and is pent 6 weeks away..i sooo wanted to go home.but i coudlnt obviously...i did have good times. but alot of bad ones. trying to find a loo in bloody croatia suckedddd. im so worried about going to work tomrorow. cos on monday i had a bad day at wrok with my D. freaked me ou t big time. i wanna call in sick but i hate doing that to people. im already nervous thinking aobut work. which makes it worse...so its all a cycle...i ahte it
Posted 6/27/2006 2:00 PM (GMT 0)
I would also suggest antispasmodics. Most pain killers don't attack the pain, what they actually do is send a message to the brain to block the pain receptors in the body. It doesn't target any specific spot except for the brain. The antispasmodics will calm the colon's smooth muscle from the irregular contractions that happen in the colon which in turn causes the pain. Pain killers can become addicting and most of the time do not do anything for the problem. The meds wear off and your pain is still there and you want more meds to take it away again. But if pain meds are the way to go, you might want to seriously consider talking to your doc about seeing a pain specialist who might be able to put you on a regimine.
Posted 6/27/2006 3:16 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on Zoloft (dr says that calms the GI tract as well as mental benefits), Xanax as well, and Chlordiazepoxide/Clidinium that suppose to help calm my GI tract as well. These only slightly calm my stomach. And I really hate taking medicine. I used to be able to come and go as I pleased, stay out all night, hang out with friends, drink, have fun, meet people and be social. And my entire life has changed to this where I am afraid to do anything outside of work and home. I want to change it back. I want to go back to a year ago before this started when I was having fun every day and my life was good.

I see my friends and others doing things that I want to do and it kills me. And when I do meet people they wonder where I've been since they don't see me out at the bars, etc.

I find it really hard to believe that there isn't a more precise diagnosis and cure for IBS. It's not like a mutating virus where they can't develop an innoculation. I mean it should be curable with taking a few pills and presto! all better. I wish it could be so easy.
Posted 6/28/2006 3:49 PM (GMT 0)
Also, since I am taking anti-axiety prescriptions I just wanted to ask anyone else who taking them if they have noticed any side effects, especially sexual side affects.
Posted 6/28/2006 5:24 PM (GMT 0)
I have a friend on Zoloft and he is extremely disappointed at the sexual side affects. His sex drive is way down.
I'm sure there are several out there though... Keep trying until you find 1 that works for you.
Posted 6/29/2006 11:38 PM (GMT 0)
Antidepressants I think are more of the culprit than the anti-anxiety meds (benzos). There are a lot of antidepressants out there and I think that is the biggest complaint of why people stop taking them regardless that they are helping with the depression. I totally understand though. Wellbutrin is the one antidepressant that I have heard that is not supposed to have sexual side effects. As far as I know, that is the only one. You may want to ask your doc about them. Xanax which is a benzo does not cause sexual side effects for me and as far as I know that is not a common complaint.
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