senior chef
Senior Member
If anyone else is suffering from IBS-D I have some good news.
10 years ago, I suddenly developed major problems controlling my bowels. I had completely stopped "normal "BM's and I passed nothing except extremely watery stool. It was horrible. I had between 8-12 BM's/day and most of them were "emergencies". I could be no more than 12 feet from the bathroom and many times I didn't make it in time.
For the 1st year, my PCP treated me with RX meds designed to prevent diarrhea. Nothing worked. He sent me to a G.I. specialist and he 1st ran blood and stool lab tests which all came back negative. Next he did a colonoscopy. Negative again. Then he ran a camera down my throat and into my stomach and upper small intestines. Negative again. He then had me cleanse my system and he had me swallow a huge pill that took photos of my entire system. I wore some special electronic belt that received the images. Once again, negative. He tried several types of meds. Nothing worked.
Well, I gave up and did not see him for 18 months or so. Mostly I was confined to my house. When I did have to go someplace like the supermarket, I had to fast for 18 hours first and I still had to wear diapers just to go to the market.
About a month ago i went back to see him and he gave me a large bag of free samples of a relatively new med called Viberzi, in addition to lomotil 4 times /day. I was to take the Viberzi twice/day with meals. Wow ! I was shocked at how well it worked for me. For the 1st 3 days I did NOT have one single BM. Oh, what joy.
After that my system began to get used to the new med and I settled in for only 1 or 2 BM's /day. Since then I began to experience mostly normal BM's with only 2 "emergencies".
This has allowed me to begin to pin-point which foods were causing the trouble. While before Viberzi, EVERYTHING I ATE ended up with watery BM's.
Currently, I have identified that white rice, refried beans, bananas, apple sauce, and Chili con carne give me "normal BM's". While anything with gluten and/or dairy cause the watery BM's. At 1st I thought that my Splenda was the cause but that ended up to be wrong. I went back to consuming sugary drinks. I ran that test for one week but Splenda was NOT the cause. (even though some people experience diarrhea because of splenda)
Currently, when I want milk, I drink milk without any lactose. I seem to be able to tolerate lactose free milk.
I got brave and I tried having a huge portion of home made Beef Stroganoff with plenty of sour cream. BIG MISTAKE. The following day I had a number of emergencies. So, no more dairy except lactose free milk. Now I'm testing to see if I can tolerant cheddar cheese. Seems to be ok.
For the last few days, I have avoided any gluten products and that seem to be a big factor.
i've not figured it out yet but I may be gluten AND lactose intolerant.
But one thing is for sure. Viberzi has been a God send.
10 years ago, I suddenly developed major problems controlling my bowels. I had completely stopped "normal "BM's and I passed nothing except extremely watery stool. It was horrible. I had between 8-12 BM's/day and most of them were "emergencies". I could be no more than 12 feet from the bathroom and many times I didn't make it in time.
For the 1st year, my PCP treated me with RX meds designed to prevent diarrhea. Nothing worked. He sent me to a G.I. specialist and he 1st ran blood and stool lab tests which all came back negative. Next he did a colonoscopy. Negative again. Then he ran a camera down my throat and into my stomach and upper small intestines. Negative again. He then had me cleanse my system and he had me swallow a huge pill that took photos of my entire system. I wore some special electronic belt that received the images. Once again, negative. He tried several types of meds. Nothing worked.
Well, I gave up and did not see him for 18 months or so. Mostly I was confined to my house. When I did have to go someplace like the supermarket, I had to fast for 18 hours first and I still had to wear diapers just to go to the market.
About a month ago i went back to see him and he gave me a large bag of free samples of a relatively new med called Viberzi, in addition to lomotil 4 times /day. I was to take the Viberzi twice/day with meals. Wow ! I was shocked at how well it worked for me. For the 1st 3 days I did NOT have one single BM. Oh, what joy.
After that my system began to get used to the new med and I settled in for only 1 or 2 BM's /day. Since then I began to experience mostly normal BM's with only 2 "emergencies".
This has allowed me to begin to pin-point which foods were causing the trouble. While before Viberzi, EVERYTHING I ATE ended up with watery BM's.
Currently, I have identified that white rice, refried beans, bananas, apple sauce, and Chili con carne give me "normal BM's". While anything with gluten and/or dairy cause the watery BM's. At 1st I thought that my Splenda was the cause but that ended up to be wrong. I went back to consuming sugary drinks. I ran that test for one week but Splenda was NOT the cause. (even though some people experience diarrhea because of splenda)
Currently, when I want milk, I drink milk without any lactose. I seem to be able to tolerate lactose free milk.
I got brave and I tried having a huge portion of home made Beef Stroganoff with plenty of sour cream. BIG MISTAKE. The following day I had a number of emergencies. So, no more dairy except lactose free milk. Now I'm testing to see if I can tolerant cheddar cheese. Seems to be ok.
For the last few days, I have avoided any gluten products and that seem to be a big factor.
i've not figured it out yet but I may be gluten AND lactose intolerant.
But one thing is for sure. Viberzi has been a God send.
