The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on October 23, 2008, 11:29:38 AM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=317x2611
This bonfire was lit in January, but it's still burning.
potone (219 posts) Thu Jan-24-08 10:22 PM
Original message
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Does anybody else here suffer from IBS? I have a very bad case of it, and have tried numerous medications for it. The only things that help are muscle relaxants, and they make me too sleepy to take when I am working. I's appreciate any ideas. My main symptom is incredibly violent and painful cramping that can go on for hours, and sometimes days in a row.
Okay, now, really, I don't know this stuff.
Isn't irritable bowel something that can be easily prevented, by not consuming pharmaceuticals licit and illicit, processed foods, sugary foods, non-fibrous foods, fast-food foods, alcohol, sodas, snack foods, and all those other things the mainstay of a primitive diet?
"Irritable bowel" is just a term to me; I imagine it's when the intestines are squirming and squealing and twisting and twitching and writhing in agony because of the junk they're having to deal with.
And then red lights, sirens, alarms, all go off when one notices the most-common primitive suggestion is.....pain-killers. I'm no medical professional, but it doesn't seem to me pain-killers would do intestines in agony any good.
So one must regretfully conclude it's really a hypochondrial condition; the primitives just want pain-killers so as to "feel good," and "irritable bowel" seems just as good an excuse to get them as any other.
mopinko (1000+ posts) Fri Jan-25-08 03:22 PM
Response to Original message
1. there are newer MRs that do not have that side effect. are you getting good care?
How about just eliminating the junk from the daily diet, so that the intestines won't get all bent out of shape and upset?
Warpy (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-26-08 07:13 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Opiates helped me with the pain and the diarrhea. Now I'm on Ultram, a med that hits the opiate receptors but isn't quite as constipating. Muscle relaxants zone me out too much. I only take them when I'm desperate and know I can be non functional for a day or two.
Everybody is different, and you might have to explore different medications to get real relief. I take it you've been scoped and both Chron's and ulcerative colitis have been ruled out. If not, do so. Severe cramping like that isn't a hallmark of IBS unless you're in a flare and then it doesn't happen for days or weeks at a time. The treatment for Chron's and UC are different from those for IBS.
potone (219 posts) Sat Mar-01-08 11:18 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. Thanks for the suggestion.
I will ask my gastroenterologist about Ultram. I take Dicyclomine (sp.?), which doesn't make me as dopey as Hyoscyomine does, but the downside is that it doesn't always work--if the cramping has already started, it won't stop it.
LynzM (1000+ posts) Fri Jan-25-08 03:50 PM
Response to Original message
2. Have you seen a naturpath to discuss?
Some alternative treatments might include: Glutamine, Calcium and Magnesium Chelate, Peppermint supplements, and probiotic supplements.
I'm sorry you're feeling so bad, and I hope that you can find a good treatment without the side effects. For what it's worth, if you're looking for muscle relaxation, supplementing with Chelated Magnesium is a cheap and easy way to help your muscles, with negligible side effects for most people.
Another alternative--and cheaper too--is by just not eating junk.
potone (219 posts) Sat Mar-01-08 11:23 AM
Response to Reply #2
6. Thanks for the ideas.
I take Magnesium and probiotics, but they don't do much good. Peppermint does nothing for me. I should try glutamine, and take calcium more regularly. I really sometimes feel kind of desperate--I have given up everything that might aggravate it except caffeine, and if I gave that up, I couldn't get out of bed in the morning.
elleng (1000+ posts) Sun Mar-02-08 01:41 AM
Response to Original message
7. If constipation is part of your problem, my doc recommended and I recommend stool softeners, docusate sodium. I take without laxative, 1 or 2 a day. Available over the counter.
How about just foods high in fiber? Cheaper too.
OnionPatch (1000+ posts) Mon Mar-03-08 01:19 AM
Response to Original message
8. I used to have it.
I had it for three years or more. Every time I ate my guts would cramp violently as if I were going to have diahreah, but I would be constipated instead. I took dulcolax a lot for the constipation and a drug called Levbid before meals for the spasms and it helped a lot. It didn't make me sleepy. Edited to add: I guess you may already have tried it. I didn't realize it was the same as hyoscyamine.
The thing that cured my IBS was pregnancy. No one can explain it, but my IBS left during my fifth month of pregnancy and has never returned, not even in the slightest. It's been seven years. Good luck to you. I hope you'll find some help and some answers. I know it is hard to live with that condition.
Well, that's a suggestion, but the primitives won't go for it unless the taxpayer pays for the delivery, maintenance, and other expenses of the offspring.
It's probably just cheaper and easier to not dine on junk.
And then a primitive (not quoted here) offers that one might be "gluten intolerant."
What makes the primitives so intolerant of so many things?
Body imitating mind?
The bonfire's of medium size, but most of it is self-pity and hypochondria.