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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 10/5/2014 10:59 PM (GMT -6)
Hi,

I'm not quite sure where to start, but I found the site a couple days ago and have been reading through a bit, so I thought I should introduce myself.

I am a 24yo female and was diagnosed with IBS 3 days ago, making it the most recent in a long line of illnesses. I wasn't even sure which forum I should post under. At present, I've been diagnosed with GAD, GERD, gastritis, hemorrhoids, IBS, arthritis, chronic shoulder pain, patellafemoral pain syndrome in both knees, PCOS, a small heart murmur, contact dermatitis, and a slew of other things that I tend to forget and have written down somewhere. On top of all of this, I'm still waiting on some test results to come in.

I've drastically reduced my processed carb intake due to the PCOS and have cut out almost all dairy since I would sometimes have IBS symptoms after ingesting too much dairy. Luckily, I hate most of the food items that are said to exacerbate my digestive issues. Unfortunately, my appetite has been so low I've been consuming less than a thousand calories a day on average for the past week (low of 500). I'm trying to work with all of my conditions, but it feels like my body doesn't want me to ever eat anything.

Thanks for reading. I know this was quite long, so thank you!
Posted 10/6/2014 12:17 AM (GMT -6)
I am truly sorry to hear about your condition. It must be devastating. I am also 24 and been suffering from chronic gastritis and IBS. What are your symptoms regarding IBS? Does low carb diet help? I've also tried going low carb and then slipped after a week because I felt so tired and lightheaded all the time.
Posted 10/6/2014 7:55 AM (GMT -6)
Rune, how was this diagnosis of IBS made? With your constellation of issues that include skin and joint pain, I sure hope you had a full GI work-up including colonoscopy.
Posted 10/6/2014 5:01 PM (GMT -6)
AnneBoleyn I've only been doing low carb for a little over a week so I can't really tell if it's having an effect on the IBS or not, though I did have one of my attacks after I started being low carb. My bad attacks aren't too frequent, but start with gradually increasing lower abdominal pain, constipation, followed by a moment of relief after a movement, and then the pain comes quicker and leads to diarrhea and (usually) vomiting (at the same time). This usually happens in the middle of the night or very early morning and I feel normal the rest of the day. I'm afraid that, with all of my issues, I haven't noticed less severe symptoms that may happen more regularly.

kazbern The diagnosis was made by a physician from my anecdotal evidence, though I intend to request to see a GI specialist soon. My doctor mentioned potentially having me do a sigmoidoscopy, but that was months ago and she's out of the office for another week.

Post Edited (Rune Phoenix) : 10/6/2014 5:43:15 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/6/2014 5:42 PM (GMT -6)
IBS is a diagnosis made after eliminating everything else. So, please get into a GI.
Posted 10/7/2014 6:01 PM (GMT -6)
kazbern, after everything I've gone through with my doctors I've learned to get at least a second opinion when things like this come up. I have had some blood work done to check for inflammation and celiac's (everything came back within normal limits) and a urinalysis which showed moderate ketones and a small presence of leukocytes (the doc that ordered the test insisted it was just contaminated and then stopped talking to me). I'm waiting for the results of a stool test and my GP to get back into the office so I can follow up on these results and request to see someone who focuses on GI.

Since eliminating breads and grains, I've noticed a drastic decrease in my appetite. I've been keeping a food and exercise log and am more often than not under 1,000 calories a day. I mentioned it to the doctor who said I have IBS and she didn't seem concerned, but I don't agree. Even when I force myself to eat more I rarely am able to get to 1200 calories. Does anyone else experience something similar?
Posted 10/7/2014 7:52 PM (GMT -6)
A lack of appetite isn't good. Why not put the grains back into your diet and see what happens?
Posted 10/7/2014 8:01 PM (GMT -6)
Unfortunately, I need to keep them out to get my pcos under control. I can't take bcp because of the reactions I have on it, so low carb is really the only option I have.
Posted 10/7/2014 9:22 PM (GMT -6)
Maybe your appetite got bad because you're adjusting to the low carbs - isn't that a thing that happens when you eliminate carbs? Sorry, don't know much about it.

Blood tests and stool samples are the first steps toward figuring things out, but normal results there do not eliminate inflammatory bowel disease as a diagnosis.
Posted 10/7/2014 11:14 PM (GMT -6)
It might be a reaction to going low carb, though I wasn't keeping a food log before so I'm not sure if it started before or after I cut out carbs. I didn't think my appetite would be so severely reduced though. I would estimate I probably ate 2-3k calories a day before cutting out breads and grains. As of right now, I haven't even made it to 500 for today and I'm about to go to bed. :/
Posted 10/8/2014 5:17 AM (GMT -6)
Maybe try eating smaller meals every 2-3 hours?
Posted 10/11/2014 8:42 PM (GMT -6)
Low carb doesn't have to mean less food. Eat whole, natural foods like most veggies (no starchy ones like potatoes, or corn- a grain, however), protein (beef, chicken, fish, eggs) and lower carb fruit like berris and green apples.
Posted 10/11/2014 8:50 PM (GMT -6)
I'm eating as much as I can, which includes different meats, veggies, and some fruit, but I'm just not able to eat enough to reach proper calorie counts. The idea of food often makes me feel nauseated. I had to force myself to eat just one meal today (mahi mahi and broccoli) which has only amounted to 259 calories. I'm trying to gear up to eat something else, but it just makes me want to throw up.
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