h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Good article! I am always amazed at the number of people you meet who admit to being IBS sufferers. It must be on the increase - either that or more people are realising they have a problem and are going to their GP.

My IBS was diagnosed after an extended period of doctors telling me I had a stomach ulcer, and prescribing a variety of anti-ulcer pills. Eventually a doctor at Uni (it was my final year) who was a little more clued up than the rest suggested IBS, and after all the usual tests to rule out other nasties confirmed it. A combination of anti-nausea pills and a radical change of diet helped. By the time of the final diagnosis I was reduced to existing mainly on scrambled egg on toast, the only thing that I could stomach, and I weighed about 10.5 stone (I'm six foot four!). My personal nasties (it's different for everyone) were greasy and spicy foods and alcohol, so I became a veggie and stopped drinking for 18 months (at University! It can be done!). Four years later I am OK, I can drink, am still a veggie (and never felt healthier) and eat the odd curry without any ill effects. Stress can still trigger the old symptoms though (food-related nausea and a continual interest in the location of the nearest loo), so I have to try and keep a fairly relaxed view on life, which is no bad thing.

CS

It does seem that there is more attention to IBS these days, so this might be an explanation for the apparent increase in diagnosis. I was landed with it about two years ago - I mainly experienced pain in the upper right of my abdomen - so went through the run of tests: ultrasound of major organs in the vicinity, urine tests, and finally the fun of endoscopy (both ends)! When that was all negative, then IBS was the probable culprit.
Nowdays,however, I rarely feel any pain, as I have managed to isolate the foods that irritate me: dairy products and wheat (primarily the former). Having stopped their intake for about six months, I now find that I can have have the occasional dairy product and not suffer the consequences. I also when to a homeopath when the discomfit was at its height, and he gave me belladonna - which stopped the pain almost immediately! It was quite incredible ... and I was uncertain whether it would make any difference at all.
My theory is that now that my system has not been irritated for a while, it has become more robust, and it is again able to take the things that caused the irritation, albeit in small doses.