New To Ibs, Boatload Of Questions...

[the-dude]

Hello all;

I'm a 28 year old, otherwise healthy male, and have been a DL for as long as I can remember, which is why I'm a member here. I'd like to take a sec to say this is a great and *wonderfully supportive communiuty, so I wanted to ask a bunch of questions as I'm sure others have experienced what I'm going through.

I'm having some problems with IBS, which is a new-ish development for me. Over the past decade or so, I have had night time "poop attacks" as call them where I'm horribly crampy and pooping diarrhea like mad for upwards of an hour or two, generally in the wee hours of the morning. I had previously thought it was from eating something bad, since my (college) diet wasn't the best. I had brushed the once-a-month attacks off as poor diet. These were mostly limited to night time, however several occurrences did take place during day time. I have been out of school and in my professional career for a few years now, if it matters. Diet has been a lot better since then.

It wasn't until a few months ago when I had a severe case of food toxicity poisoning that my symptoms went into overdrive. When I got sick, I had the worst gas, diarrhea, and cramp pain I've ever felt in my life. It was the most unbearable and unpleasant thing I've ever gone through. During the illness, I had almost no bowel control and had a few accidents. Fortunately, since I already have diapers in the house, and my SO was also poisoned and occupying the only toilet in the house, my fiancee suggested I protect myself at least. Now, whenever I have a flare-up, I'm always diapered to make sure I don't have a messing accident. I don't want to ruin any clothes or household stuff. I guess it's peace of mind as well as functional need, at this point.

I have flare-ups during the day time now, which i never had before. The flare ups can last from my experiences, 1 to 3 days in length with varying degrees of symptoms. This has been ongoing for about 2 months now and I've finally mustered the courage to get myself checked out. I will be scheduling a meeting with a doctor to investigate the sudden change in my habits. I have heard, from reading, that IBS can be brought on post infection, IBS -PI I guess it's called, which has some halfway decent (50%) recovery rates. Being that I have had issues before hand, however, I am worried that symptoms might persist. Right now, I experience cramps, occasional nausea if I have bad cramps, bloating, excessive gas, diarrhea, constipation, and occasional fecal incontinence from sudden uncontrollable urges, or the leaking of diarrhea. I also feel like I have a constant need to defecate. I can sit on the toilet for half an hour with no results and still feel like I need to go so bad... but no relief. This can go on for a few hours to a few days, where I feel like I absolutely need protection, so I'm in a diaper the whole time. Mostly I experience a flip-flop between pretty severe diarrhea and constipation. I can literally feel my bowels spasming. In addition to the IBS symptoms I do feel an increased need to urinate frequently. Since I'm diapered, this is not a huge issue but I seem to have some urgency in urination. During my flare-ups I have a tendency to stay as relaxed as possible, which may be contributing to the urges.

I have since overhauled my diet to things that are recommended for those with IBS. I eat much healthier now (out of sheer necessity, and try to be as cautions as possible about what I eat.

I have also noticed that high levels of stress cause my symptoms to go into super-overdrive. We lost a pregnancy this past Thursday (my fiancee miscarried at 8 weeks) and the stress from taking care of the household while she is on prescribed bedrest, along with the associated stress has been a nightmare. This was the last straw, and I'm out to seek professional help. Stress is a huge trigger for me. I'm on day 4 with symptoms right now. (Please, I'm not mining for sympathy here, we're all in good shape, just filling you in).

So I wanted to take a few moments to ask others who are suffering through this:

How did you talk to your doctor about it? What questions should I be asking and how is a good way to begin a conversation? This is pretty embarrassing for me and I might have trouble discussing it with a stranger.

What tests should I expect to go through, and how bad are they? Not really sure what to expect here, however I do hear (shudder) that colonoscopies are pretty routine as one of the tests. I'm quite nervous and scared of that in itself.

Has anyone with IBS experienced any urinary urgency or incontinence? Is this common? When I'm feeling fine, I have no trouble retaining feces or urine, but when I'm in the middle of a flare up, I have to pee a lot, usually in small amounts. I've been relying on my diaper to help me there. I have a feeling it's associated with being crampy. Anyone else get that?

During my discussion with my doctor, I would like to tell them that I am wearing protection and that it does provide me peace of mind regarding accidents. I haven't had a ton, but they have happened. How likely is it that I can get a doctor's note (or prescription) for diapers if I can justify needing them? Is there an easy/delicate way to approach this? Would a doctor be willing to do something like that if asked? I'm not about to try to abuse my health insurance (diapers are not covered anyway), or get a note simply just to be able to wear out of being a DL, but a note or script would be for work in case my employer happens to notice and/or question my needs. I would be worried about being found out at work and not being able to furnish "medical advice" to wear protection. It's more of a "cross the t's" situation if I find that I need to wear at work out of necessity. I have not discussed needing to wear protection with my boss, however she does know what I am going through and understands my current situation since one of her daughters also has severe IBS.

Lastly, quick question for others with children. I have a daughter who is 18 mos old and is still in diapers herself. We are beginning potty training for her and hopefully she'll be potty trained soon. I want to know how others have talked with their kids about the difference between kids needing diapers and adults needing diapers due to illness. How do you talk to your child (if and/or when) they find out about needing to wear protection? I don't want to seem hypocritical or contradicting and have no plans to tell my child unless the time is right and they need to know or accidentally find out. What do other parents out there do in this situation? There isn't much advice out there from my reading.

I really appreciate any answers and advice that anyone can give. I know it's a huge pile of questions, and I'm not expecting one person to answer them all, but perhaps others can give some insight as how to handle this in a discreet, dignified, and easy manner. Having to deal with intermittent fecal incontinence is not fun it's impacting my life since I don't want to leave the house, let alone move out of discomfort.

Thanks for listening guys/gals, hope someone out there has some good suggestions for discussing this with others. I don't get here often but will be making an effort to check this post frequently and will do my best to respond.

[sarah_ab]

I had awful IBS from the time i was around 18 until 26..... to the point we would have to pull the car over and i would be going IN THE WOODS!!!! it was so bad..... got to the point a 5 mile ride to work i would have to stop TWICE to use the bathroom.

Finally i found a dr who didn't just say "ohh lose weight and it will go away" because IBS isn't just about weight or diet.... I had cut all dairy out of my diet for two months, still had all the symptoms, i cut all meat out of my diet for two months, still all the symptoms, i pretty much tried every thing imaginable, including high and low fiber diets, the activia yogurt, even did two months of drinking apple cider vinegar mixed with water.... nothing, nothing worked.

My PCP sent me to a GI dr, who of course did all the tests imaginable to rule out other disorders and when she could find nothing, I was diagnosed with IBS. My GI dr told me how many people find that a low dose of an SSRI (an anti depresent) and by low dosse i mean what would be considered sub therpeutic if you were taking it for depression, but this low dose is enough to balance the seratonin receptors found in the GI tract. My GI told me that while many people automatically attribute seratonin to the brain, there are a large majority of the receptors in the GI tract. By taking this sub therpeutic level, I have been free from being tied to the toilet for two years now.

I do still get very bad abdominal pains, but again my GI prescribed a sublingual medication ( a pill that disolves under my tongue) that works within minutes to stop the pains.

For the past two years I have been able to travel, to go on weekend trips, to eat out, without having to take 10-15 anti diarrheal pills a day, or having to stop at every single bathroom imaginable.

While there are so many different causes of IBS and as we all know what works for one, may not work for another, it may be worth talking with your GI dr about trying it. The medication I was started on was Imipramine i started at 25 mg a day to start and then moved it to 50 mgs a day. Thats all it took, one little green pill and i've been symptom free for two years!!!!

I mean yes i still get occasionally diarrhea, like if i eat mexican or chineese buffet, etc.... but we are talking like 2-3 times a year for maybe half a day!!! imagine that!!!!!

also there is another thread about this... http://www.dailydiapers.com/board/index.php?showtopic=7144

and here http://www.dailydiapers.com/board/index.php?showtopic=27182

hope this helps some...

[the-dude]

Just wanted to say thanks for the links. I've since been to a general practitioner and have visited a gi specialist as well. I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy in the middle of september. I've also had a bunch of tests but don't have results yet. They're checking me for all sorts of stuff. So, hopefully I can find out what options I have and what's going on. The symptoms haven't improved much taking a probiotic, eating healthier, and trying low/high fiber. Hopefully I'll find a way to get some relief.

I'll post an update when I know more, if you'd like. BTW sorry for the posting delay, I don't get to visit very often

The Dude