holy mother of god its awful
went to docs yesterday and they said i have IBS. they also said this a year ago. but just before christmas my belly swelled up and i was feeling pain and bloating for weeks. now its not so bad but i get really bad cramps and constopation then the total opposite. truing the mebreven and buscopan. but not a lot of good. who else has it and what do you do?
Have you tried increasing your fiber intake,
Fibre
The advice about fibre in treating IBS has changed somewhat over the years. Fibre (roughage - and other bulking agents) is the part of the food which is not absorbed into the body. It remains in your gut, and is a main part of stools. There is a lot of fibre in fruit, vegetables, cereals, wholemeal bread, etc. Some research studies have shown that a high-fibre diet helps symptoms in IBS; others have shown the opposite. In some people, perhaps particularly those with constipation, a high-fibre diet definitely helps. In others, often those with diarrhoea, a high-fibre diet makes symptoms worse. If you keep a symptom diary, you can work out which is true for you. Then you can adjust your fibre intake accordingly.
What seems to be the case is that the type of fibre is probably important. There are two main types of fibre - soluble fibre (which dissolves in water) and insoluble fibre. It is soluble fibre rather than insoluble fibre that seems to help ease symptoms in some cases. So, if you increase fibre, have more soluble fibre and try to minimise the insoluble fibre.
Dietary sources of soluble fibre include oats, ispaghula (psyllium), nuts and seeds, some fruit and vegetables and pectins. A fibre supplement called ispaghula powder is also available from pharmacies and health food shops. This seems to be the most beneficial type of supplement.
Insoluble fibre is chiefly found in corn (maize) bran, wheat bran and some fruit and vegetables. In particular, avoid bran as a fibre supplement.