*sigh*
I think I may have irritable bowel syndrome. For the past couple of months I've had a lot of diarrhea. My mom has IBS (no idea if it's hereditary), and it's really something that I'd love to not be effected by. I've been hoping that it isn't the cause of my diarrhea because I know that if it is it will almost certainly mean needing to radically change my diet.

To quote wikipedia:


Seriously, that's practically all that I eat/drink. I live on fast food. I know for a lot of people what I'm saying probably sounds really stupid, and the obvious solution is just "eat better", but it's just not that easy for me. Between school and work I hardly ever have time for an actual home cooked meal.

Anyway, I haven't told any one because I know what they're going to tell me. I don't really know what I hope to accomplish by posting about it here, but I just felt like I should get it out there.

Drop by an army Navy store and buy some rations. They'll plug you up. Just don't eat the gum that comes with them because it's a laxative. Good luck.

my ma has the ****s just like that, i get the ****s sometimes too, really though i'd expect that you'll develop harsh symptoms worse in life, maybe at the moment its because you're lacking veggies?

Dairy, chocolate, carbonated beverages? Man, that sounds very bad. I feel sorry for you. I have lactose intolerance, and it's a nuisance enough, seriously. Luckily there are low lactose or lactose free dairy products around, and of course the lactase pills. Sounds like no such luck for you, unless you are wrong with your fears.

Change your diet for a couple of months, you'd be surprised how much your diet reflects your health. I used to be really unhealthy but now I cook all of my own meals, I dont eat red meat (coincidentally), try to minimize oily ****, and its helped my health immensely. Basically my meals consist of toast and tea for breakfast, breaded chicken (I know its not the best) and a salad for lunch with a banana or something, and then for dinner I almost always cook fish. Eat healthier and with regular exercise I am willing to bet money it goes away. Alot of my problems did.

My heart murmur went from a grade 5 to grade 1-2, feel more awake with less sleep, ect.

Pretty much anything with tomato sauce gives me the squirts, like spaghetti or pizza. Of course, I still have spaghetti once a week and pizza is my favorite.

Heh, IBS is a bit of a catch all diagnosis. Changing your diet may or may not help, it may not really be needed, it just depends on the person. I mean, if you eat nothing but bread you won't get diarrhea but that isn't much of a fix.

The only real acceptable universal treatment for the underlying cause of IBS is for the ol' upstairs... as in it's still sorta seen as a bit of a mental condition. Treatments range from counseling to tricyclics and all.

Let's just say that it is not that well understood at all, so don't be sweating bullets preemptively over what you have to do. Plus, you are diagnosing yourself, it could be many other things, not just IBS. Although it is rather common (being a idiopathic diagnosis and all).

I can't eat Pizza Hut at all. It and my digestive tract have...issues.

Yeah, I know my doctorate from the wikipedia isn't exactly the best method of diagnosis ;). IBS seems fairly common, and fits my symptoms pretty closely. It was just the first thing I jumped to. I'll probably bite the bullet and just see a doctor.

As for the whole mental aspect, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm under a ton of stress, and I'm sure my body hates me for it. Also, I don't deny that I eat like crap, and I always knew sooner or later it would catch up to me. Just didn't think it would be so soon.

my bowels are nice and clean, but for every hour i'm awake, i feel like i'm gonna throw up.

I'm giving up eggs and tuna for every meal, may be a bad thing.

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

This is true for me too. Not usually the squirts but gas. Everytime I have pasta with tomato sauce, stay out of my room for the night.

Diarrhea is in fact hereditary.

(It runs in your jeans.)

*blink*


Anyways, eat more veggies. Like others have said, changing your diet will have a drastic effect. I used to have uh.. itchiness back there because I wasn't eating anything but meat and bread. Now that I'm actually a bit more balanced I haven't had any problems.

This is one of the main reasons I absolutely don't tolerate smoking. If i'm around someone who's smoking, even for just a minute or so, my digestive system will be screwed for the rest of the day. My body just can't tolerate breathing in that crap. My digestive system is fairly screwed anyway, I swear my body just doesn't bother converting the majority of my food into useful stuff.

Smoking acts as a natural laxative, tricking your body into thinking that you have eaten something because you are inhaling something. It throws off my system too, but I've gotten used to it.

Yeah, you should start smoking. It's much better for you.

smoking makes me feel really hungry and makes me burp.

Unless i smoke after a meal

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

Darn. I was planning on staying in your room aaaaaaaaaallll night.:downswords:

Impossible. He would have run out of 5's.

The only thing I could think of is to eat stuff that I guess would make you more constipated

lots of cheese.

That's something that I could get used to. Mmm cheese.

it's not

you should.

that is 150 different kinds of gross.

No. No no no. "I don't have enough time to cook! :downs:" is not an excuse and you are lying to yourself. It takes less time to slap some lettuce and meat between two slices of whole wheat bread than it does to drive to McDonalds and get your daily dose of cow hormones. It's also much healthier to eat raw vegetables and fruits than prepared kinds. Your digestive tract is rebelling because you are killing yourself.

Eat less meat overall, way less red meat and dairy, less grease, eat more fiber (soluble and insoluble) and more white fish and other natural sources of omega 3. I guarantee your problems will be much less serious, if they don't go away entirely.

How about try not eating at fast food places? Its just as easy to pack yourself a sandwich.

Ew fish, I hate fish.

Believe it or not, I do appreciate your advice. I know this is a change I have to make, it's just a matter of doing it. Another large problem that I have is I intensely dislike most vegetables. I simply cannot bring myself to eat broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, etc).

You just named all the gross vegetables. There's lots of better ones.

Dude, those are the best ones. My four favorite: broccoli, cauliflower (the best), brussel sprouts, and asparagus.

The one I've never been able to see the appeal in is cucumbers. They're nasty. Yet people buy so damn many of them! Probably the second-most bought produce after bananas.

Try green beans. Best green vegetable. Put something healthy like Olivio on them, it's great.

Jon`C is right that you certainly do have the time. Very few people actually have as little time as they say. They are just very poor at managing it, or don't try. In the meantime, at least get some healthier sandwiches from places like Subway. Even McDonald's and Burger King have relatively healthy alternatives.

You are a funny man. Thank you.

I have IBS. Mine started after a bout of gastroenteritis. For the first 3 months I was chronically nauseous, could only stand to eat bread and jam and had plenty of unpleasant stomach aches. I use to wake up every 2 hours in the night and dry retch. It’s not so much fun being afraid of going to sleep. At first my family thought it was all in my head despite my efforts to convince them otherwise.

I ended up going through a whole bunch of tests for other bowel disorders, and I did all the “mental treatments” as well before the doctor finally settled on IBS. These days, most of the symptoms above are gone. I have a fairly limited diet (no alcohol, caffeine, fatty, greasy, spicy foods, basically anything with taste ;)) and have to maintain a strict routine otherwise I tend to feel unwell.

My main symptoms these days are simply having to go to the bathroom quite a lot. This is still fairly disruptive, as I have to get up about 3 hours before I plan on leaving the house, and I have to plan my day so that there are enough breaks for me to pay a visit to the throne room. Plus I am fairly reluctant to go on long car trips and places where the bathrooms might not be useable.

Some people’s IBS can be eliminated via eating better, others only suffer from it when they are stressed. Mine is made worse by eating “dangerous” foods or when I get stressed, but is there every day no matter what. Exercise is also helpful, but given your current diet I imagine that most of your problems will clear up once you start eating better.