New to ibs and worried...please help!

Hi there, I'm sorry to hear you are not feeling well!

1)You might consider that you may be allergic to something that you are eating or drinking since you had mentioned that you get diahrrea every now and then. A Gluten Allergy might be considered too. Your Doctor can test you for this as well as for any allergies to food that you might have.
2) Have you been eating the usual stuff or have you added anything new to your diet that might be causing the problem?
3)Stress can also throw your system out of whack. A new job will certainly do that!
4)You may be suffering from an imbalance in your digestive tract between your good gut bacteria and some other bad bacteria that have gotten into your system. If this is the case you can buy some Acidophilus/bifidus pills to take, or drink some Kefir or Yogurt with good bacteria in them. Activia is a yogurt that advertises that it has good bacteria for your gut in it. Kefir is a superior product to yogurt but works the same way as Yogurt.
5)A new drug that you are taking could be causing Diahrrea and throwing your system out of balance inside.

So those are the first things that I would look at and consider. If you are still having problems and you are not getting any better it is best to ask your regular Doctor if you could see a Gastroenterologist. A Gasto Doc will check you out more thoroughly to see what the problem could be.

Yes being stressed will usually mess up a lot of things! We all have anxieties and it's just what we do with them that counts! (I believe in God and so I read the bible and practice casting my cares and anxieties on Him which is in Philippians 4:6) Besides what else can we ourselves do! We're NOT ALL powerful nor can we do EVERYTHING either! I figure a lot of our energy is wasted worrying about what MIGHT happen and 10 to 1 it NEVER happens!
If you often get the runs Raspberry Tea and or Liquid Calcium I find works wonders to slow things down. If you do have bad bacteria inside that would cause Diahrrea, so I'm glad you're doing the Yogurt thing! There is another product called Kefir which is like yogurt but has double or even triple the amount of good bacteria in it although it's a thinner mix than yogurt. I'm glad I could help you and I wish you a SPEEDY RECOVERY!

Hi Moon Girl,
Yes, you DON'T have to eat gluten to be healthy! It sounds really good that your Doctor is trying to help you!When one is not feeling well one needs to have others around who will do all that they can to make you feel better!

Here are some other suggestions to consider too:

Digestive Enzymes - if you have acid reflux it is a sign that you have too little acid in your stomach. The reason why I say that is this - your stomach produces acid to digest your food and if it is not producing enough then the little muscle at the base of your esophagus does NOT tighten up to keep the stomach contents down where it should be. And that is when you feel acid coming up! It is not that you have too much acid down there, you have a lax muscle instead.
Here is a test that you can do on yourself to see if that is your problem.
When you feel that you have acid coming up take a teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar and then wait for an hour or two to see how you feel. If you no longer feel any acid coming up then a lax muscle is indeed the problem. The vinegar is acid and it will have tightened up that little muscle at the base of your esophagus.
You can buy Digestive Enzymes from a Pharmacy or Health Food store which help break down your food. They are what you need. Take one with each meal for about a week or two and then you can stop taking them after that if you feel better. Drug companies will hate me for telling you this because they want you to keep on buying their pills forever-amen. Their pills don't cure you either!

Kefir- another product which is like Yogurt but is not as thick as yogurt. One can make milkshakes with it. It has much more good bacteria in it than yogurt does. I Highly recommend it and take it myself! It helps right the balance of bacteria inside you.

Vitamin D- if you have Crohn's Disease or inflammation of your intestinal tract you may not be able to absorb Vit D due to the inflammation. That has been my problem and my Doctor didn't know this, but I found out this information in a book on The History of Immunology at Indigo Book Store. It seems that Doctors are hopeless when it comes to Nutritional Knowledge since they DON'T learn it at school! Only HALF an education they are getting! So one must lay under some UVB tanning lights or go out in the sunshine to get adequate amounts of Vit D thru the skin if you aren't absorbing enough thru your intestines.

Sublingul Type Vitamin B is more easily absorbed because it is placed under the tongue at nighttime and is absorbed there instead of in the intestinal tract. A good form to have on hand!

Raspberry Tea - helps when you have the runs and is packed with nutrients.

Liquid Calcium Citrate- works to help slow down the runs also.

I'm not sure what you mean by PPIs and SIBO? Maybe you can enlighten me on those terms? I hope what I have written above will help you in someway! Sincerely, Kate