Coping with IBS-D

Date:   3/7/2013 5:48:35 PM ( 11 y ago)

I love this post on the "Irritable Bowel Syndrome Self Help and Support Group" by Jlady82 - an actress. It mirrors my own experience in a lot of ways, but I just love her outlook:

"I think the best way to deal with IBS is to 'live and let live' - treat it like a housemate or a pet: don't be frightened of it; engage with it. Positive thinking! Or, as my religious grandmother would've said: 'The Lord helps those who help themselves'!"

Full text below:

Posted 01 April 2009 - 06:55 AM

"I developed IBS-D after catching a stomach bug a year ago: rotten luck! After going through the usual rigmarole of blood tests, ultrasounds, barium meals, endoscopy and colonoscopy, the doctor has basically no tests left to give me, and I've been formally diagnosed.

I am an actress, and travel a lot with my work; as well as being on stage in front of the public, so getting this under control was absolutely essential right from the get-go. I'm also only 25, and I wasn't about to let this condition dictate my life!

Imodium works wonders for me, and I use it on a daily basis. I take 4 Imodium Plus (this is what they're called in the UK; although I think they might be called something else in the US) every morning first thing - upping the dose to 6 if things are particularly hairy. I've been doing this for almost a year now.I was also concerned that taking this long-term would be damaging, but I have been assured by both my doctor and the gastorentorologist I saw for tests that it is fine to take it - as long as the dosage is below or up to the maximum - and there shouldn't be any negative effects.

Loperamide (the active ingredient in Imodium) is a locally acting drug, and fairly harmless to other organs (the liver etc). If it helps you, and brings your BMs back to a manageable level, then go with it. I really wish you the best with managing your IBS. It seems crazy to me that so many of us suffer with this - and in such varied forms - and the medical profession can't really offer anything to help!

One particularly helpful doctor told me that IBS was a psycological illness, and all in my mind. I admit that IBS certainly made me anxious at first, but who wouldn't be more anxious if the threat of having an accident was held over their head all day every day! After a course of CBT to deal with the anxiety, I can report that the physical effects of IBS remain unchanged, so I am doubtful that this is an illness 'of the mind'.

However, I think the best way to deal with IBS is to 'live and let live' - treat it like a housemate or a pet: don't be frightened of it; engage with it. Positive thinking! Or, as my religious grandmother would've said: 'The Lord helps those who help themselves'!"

 

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