Meds for IBS?

The only meds I've ever taken for IBS are mostly over the counter. I've used Pepto, loperamide, and GasX very regularly over the past few years. When this episode started they put me on Prevacid and that worked for about a week.

I got a prescription for hyoscyamine a couple of years ago, but never actually took it. Even though I'm a pharmacist-to-be, I still get scared when I read about side effects! I'd really like to try those now because the spasms have been my primary complaint lately. And spasms usually lead to diarrhea for me, so stopping those would be AWESOME.

What other meds have you been on that helped (or hurt) your IBS? Please leave me a comment or tweet @IBSRachel and let me know! Also let me know what kind of side effects you've experienced. If you don't wanna share all on here or on Twitter, you can send me an email: IBSRachel@gmail.com

It's Official

It's official- I'm down to 120 pounds. This is the 3rd sob attack this week thanks to the scale. That means I've lost 15 pounds in about 2 weeks....2 MISERABLE weeks.

Just to make sure we're all on the same page- I do NOT want to lose weight. In fact, I've been working very hard for the past 2 YEARS to gain back 10 pounds I lost when I first got sick and get my weight back up to at least 135. Now, 2 weeks of a flare up have ruined 2 years of work.

I don't even know what to do. The episode I'm having now has brought a new symptom- nausea. That's not something I know how to deal with. With diarrhea, I'd take Loperamide, wait a few hours & be ok to start eating blandly again. But with the nausea, I don't ever feel like eating. All I've had for the past few days is a couple of bagels, rice and some cereal. How the hell am I supposed to get my weight back up if I can't eat anything? Even drinking water makes me feel even more lousy.

While we're on the topic- if you're going to take anything for nausea, make sure you have some down time! I took Dramamine last night and it knocked me out. I've never been drowsy like that before, and while I was happy it kept the nausea at bay, I was worthless! I had to get up at one point to go to the bathroom, and I stumbled the whole way there, could hardly see anything, and really don't remember most of it. Quite an experience. But it did work, and I'm thankful for that. The only bad thing is now that I'm awake, it's starting to come back. I have a week's worth of studying to get done today and there's no way I can be knocked out like that again.

I'm almost hoping that this is just some version of the flu and that it will all be over soon. This is the third day I've been nauseous, so I'm hoping it will be coming to an end soon. As soon as it does, I'm going nuts with junk food (tolerable junk food that won't cause another episode, of course...sigh) and putting that weight back on ASAP. I know there are so many people out there that would probably be super jealous of me losing 15 pounds in two weeks, but this is scaring the shit out of me. I just hope that it stops here and doesn't go lower. If I get into the teens (hundred-teens), I don't know what I'd do. I haven't been that skinny (read emaciated looking) since middle school. And I was shorter in middle school so it didn't look funny/sickly.

Wish me luck :/

Hormones & IBS

As if hormones morphing me into (more of) a raging bitch & giving me cramps from hell wasn't enough, it also makes my IBS symptoms ridiculous! I can't eat anything this week that doesn't upset my stomach. Even cereal!

I need to get to the gynecologist & get on one of the birth control pills. But first I need to learn how to swallow pills without choking on them! And after that, maybe I'll get a little peace. Or I'd just be happy if it didn't get worse once every month. I could find joy in that. :)

Anyone else have problems during that time of the month?

Sometimes I wonder...

...how my body is still even functioning. My body has been reacting to pretty much everything I eat nowadays, so I've started eating a ridiculously bland diet.

I usually have a bagel for 2 out of the 3 meals of the day and the other usually ends up being Spaghettios or a PB&J. That's how it's been for the past month or two. Obviously, I'll throw in a little something to mix it up if I'm feeling like an adventure...but my diet has mostly consisted of those 3 things.

So how does it still run correctly? When I take multivitamins, I feel all sorts of horrible, so I don't get vitamins/minerals from those. There's quite a bit of protein in Spaghettios and I'm sure some vitamins in the other things I eat, but I seriously doubt there is enough to keep my body going.

A lot of the time, it doesn't really feel like it's going to keep going. What do you guys do to make sure you're getting enough of everything while taking care of your GI tract at the same time?

I'd really like this blog to become a conversation tool for IBS people so please leave me comments and join in the discussion!