Before I buy a couple of cats & never leave the house apart to buy toilet roll lol.

I'm a sufferer of IBS for the past 15yrs from when I was a teenager! It's proceeded to get progressively worse over the past few months. I had incontinence while driving back from a meeting with someone that reports to me in the car, to name but one embarrassing moment. I can go from diaorreha in the morning to constipation at night or visa versa! It's effecting my ability to do my job (which involves travelling around the UK), plus I can see it effecting my personal relationships.

 

I've had 4 consultations with a gastro doctors, a colonoscopy that came back clear, I'm now seeing another doctor who thinks it might be an irritable rectum but more tests in London now for it.

 

I've remove various food groups from my diet. Its terrible especially when you go out with friends & they start asking will this place be ok for your stomach, the answer is, who knows, as I've kept food diaries for weeks & can never see a pattern.

 

I've tried acupuncture, hypnotherapy, CBT, everything to over come the anxiety & worry around the IBS.

 

Apart from becoming a recluse, cutting all contact with friends & not working, I have no idea what to do, who to see, what herbal or prescription drugs to take.

 

I've paid lots of money out to try things, I'm lucky to have private health with my company (but thats only limited).

 

Does anyone, anywhere have any feasible suggestions that can truly help me? Before I buy a couple of cats & never leave the house apart to by toilet roll lol.

I'm a lot older than the two of you and I've pretty much kept a very quiet social calendar since I landed in my health situation (colon cancer, resection, fast transit, dumping issues, etc.). Symptom wise I line up most with IBS'ers (which is such a broad term and varying group of people). But there ya have it, I do understand the need to just work and then go home, in case anything erupts. I also understand how many social invites involve food in some way. I have implemented so many fibs along the way - skipping meals completely in public, oh I just ate before I came here, or if it's a cocktail party I do outright lie, oh I just had a little food (yeah, like yesterday!). In 14+ years I have determined it's best to eat lightly the day of an event and then skip all food intake 4 to 6 hours prior to leaving home.

Those with normal colons and normal bm's - once a day, those days are a real blur for me - just do not get it. But I'm long past the need to explain myself.

Come up with a good excuse, usually less info is best, I have mine down to one sentence - I had part of my colon removed due to cancer and now spend a lot of time in the bathroom. Then I spin on my heels and walk away (because if I stay the onslaught of questions and comments begin, isn't there a pill for that? Sigh.......huge sigh!).

So you've come to the right place, for support and possibly ideas to try.

One I might suggest is taking Renew Life/Ultimate Flora probiotics in pill form. You find these at health food stores and they are amazing! They quiet my touchy gut and give me some sort of consistency (output). Most popular strengths are 50 and 80 Billion counts. Go to their website, you'll notice reviews and that might help you determine if probiotics are for you or not.

I have had IBS since I was 19 or so but was diagnosed with it at about age 24, my doctor called it spastic colitis. IBS wasn't formally on the scene then in the US. I had my gall bladder removed at age 44 and my IBS more or less kicked in at that point and has been with me on and off for many years(I am 63 now). Most recently I discovered I was lactose intolerant which set off my latest bout of IBS. I think everyone is different, but for me the following foods are what I can eat safely:
Poached chicken, poached fish, plain potatoes( no oil or butter), plain rice, 1/2 banana, shrimp and shell fish not fried, no sauce. Vegetables that I can eat are cooked carrots and fresh tomatoes. Never can eat tomato sauce of any kind. I can eat canned fruit with no skin and packed in water. I cannot eat mannitol, sorbitol or any artificial sweeteners...they are in tons of food. No yogurt. No caffeine and no alcohol. What I have found that helps me is probiotics and sticking to
this boring food regime. I have IBS-D and get hemmeroids when it
is at its worst. For those I use aloe wipes and aloe vera gel each time I got to the bathroom which can be four to six times a day. Also I sit in a warm tub every evening...that calms the anxiety and relieves the bottom. I am severely depressed and anxious and have been for a large part of my life and I suffer from agoraphobia. Sometimes I am better, sometimes worse. I have insomnia for which I take Xanax and a Tylenol PM every night. I see a therapist every other week, but sometimes I am so paralyzed with fear I cancel that.

For me the "nutcase" component is what sets me off even though I may appear to be calm. Somewhere that brain is connected to my gut. I used to meditate which actually did a lot of good and I am trying to revert to that practice. I have suffered a lot of loss in recent years, my entire family is dead now except for one cousin to whom I am close. I am very happily married and frankly am afraid of losing my husband as we age. The anxiety is taking over and I worry about absolutely everything. I can't even answer the phone without worrying.

As for the gall bladder issue, mine had to go. I had serious gallstones.
I agree that surgeons have no interest in their patients after care except to refer you to another specialist usually a gastroenterologist. I am afraid of nearly all doctors(still) but do see my GP twice a year. Of course, I cancelled my last visit to him this month.