I am not even sure if I have posted on the right forum or not! I joined several weeks ago and this is my first time posting. Several months ago I was diagnosed with IBS-C....not anything new for me as I have suspected it for YEARS anyhow. I thought with the dx I would finally find some hope and some real relief...not so...the GI wanted me to seriously consider a tx plan using anti depressants and I wanted to avoid that as I really dont want to go to this sort of extreme yet in spite of my desperation to feel NORMAL again after so many years and so many tried and failed diets etc etc etc.

I am a 44 yr old woman with three active children under the age of 10. I am a personal trainer and have been for almost 9 yrs. I am in very good physical shape..get PLENTY of exercise and do drink LOTS LOOOOTS of water and do also keep a relatively clean diet/eating habits. I do suffer from the IBS-C ( constipation) and havent found any real relief..only short term and I use that term very lightly. I have become obcessed with my bowels and have even known to try to talk my bowels into full submission during many "quiet times" on the potty to no avail. In January I did my first bowel cleanse. I used a cleanse "kit" my brother sent to me as he is a distributor for a certain company and the kit was "free"...I was VERY skeptical as I had many visions of potty emergencies and in my line of work I cant spend time rushing back and forth as it were but I did it as my brother "swore" this would really help me specifically and I was turned on by the "promise" (in spite of my skepticism) of being able to have normal bowel function. I have even protested my husband's incredible "poop abilities" and honestly been a bit jealous of it as well :(

I did the cleanse. It was a 10 day program..the first 3 days I drank a fiber drink in the morning and followed this with an herbal packet consisting of two capsules in the evenings for 7 nights. On the 4th day I introduced a probiotic into the regime. I also ate nothing but veggies....raw or steamed, spelt cereal, brown rice and an occasion piece of fruit ( apple or pear). This isnt terribly different from what I normally eat however I do try to eat some meat from time to time as I am a type O. The first four days of this cleanse were nearly the same as if I hadnt begun a cleanse. I was literally in tears every night as I felt more bloated in drinking the fiber than I had if I hadnt...I still hadnt experinced a bowel movement after the fourth day of the cleanse and was becoming frustrated as my husband had begun the same cleanse the same day I had and was constantly reporting to me his great and sometimes mysterious poo's. By the fifth day after being "advised" I upped my dose of probiotics and finally had the intial and most ultimate poo I have seen in YEARS......I was ELATED......funny how a poo can make someone so happy!! ;-) At any rate the rest of the cleanse went on and I did have some very good "results"....I did feel much more energetic and did even feel lighter and overall was pleased. I continued the probiotics and changed from the psyllium ( sp?) fiber drink to a flax as I felt the psyllium was hindering me in some way. I also added Omega fatties to my diet and was having at least two regular bm's a day...this went on for a full month and then one day I was hit with the all too familar cramps and bloating and again was plauged with the no go poops for the next week.....this cycle has continued on since February though I do find if I up the dose of probiotics I have at least ONE incredibly loose bm once every few days....

I dont drink milk and do very little dairy otherwise. I dont eat fatty fried foods or load up on salt...I stopped regular caffine and went to the bleached type.......as I said I am in very good physical shape and good health save for this horridly annoying bowel issue that literally keeps me in a frustated mode 98% of the time . I want to do another cleanse but once again even in spite of the results I got with the last, I am a lil' more skeptical this time around. I KNOW that there isnt a CURE for IBS....but I DO expect to be healed!!Ü I would give anything to be able to have even ONE poop a day for the rest of my life rather than one poop once a week. I would love to wake up and not look 6 months pregnant and not feel pissy due to being so uncomfortable....the list is endless actually....Ü After reading so much on this site and through the many forums I felt I could comfortably ask for some advise as to what the next step or best alternative course of action might be for me to take/try! SOrry didnt mean to ramble on so! Thanks for reading this far!

HELP ME??? PLEASE!!!!

Deena