Re: IBS pain relief? I might have found it.

Posted By HFHSM.D.-ym on October 19, 1998 at 12:17:56:

In Reply to: IBS pain relief?  I might have found it. posted by tom c. on October 19, 1998 at 10:29:08:






Have you been suffering from pain underneath the left or right rib cage (in the upper right quadrant or upper left quadrant), gone through a whole bunch of tests and were eventually diagnosed with IBS by your GI doctor.  So have I, and for me it was very frustrating and depressing living with it for all these years.  I still have IBS (still have intermittent nausea and indigestion) but have just about eliminated the pain associated with it.  From what I understand, a lot of us IBS sufferers have pain under the rib cage on either the upper right or upper left side of our abdomens.  The reason this is so, IN MY OPINION, has to do with what is called the splenic flexure of our large intestine (left side) and hepatic flexure of our large intestine (right side).  What this means is that these two flexures are where our colons go from the horizontal position to the vertical position, one on the left by our spleen ("splenic" flexure) and one on the right by our liver ("hepatic" flexure).  These flexures are where there seems to be a lot of gas buildup in people with IBS.  Imagine your large intestine as a garden hose.  If you laid it out in a straight line, the water would pass through unimpeded.  But now, bend the hose and notice the problem.  Our large intestines are sort of like this.  Of course, our bodies were made so that this shouldn't happen.  Our ancestors, did not suffer from IBS. The reason - they had a diet high in fiber.  For modern man, particularly Westerners, we eat far too little fiber for us to transport our food through the "garden hose".  For most people, its no problem, but for those of us who have sensitive GI tracts (e.g., IBS) we need help from our friend MR. FIBER.  You see, it's not really a gas problem with us, but rather it is the hardness of our stools as they go around these flexures that is causing us the discomfort.  My recommendation, take Fiber supplements (i.e. metamucil), drink plenty of water, take stool softeners, eat plenty of vegetables.  Try this for a few weeks and see what happens.  At first, you'll notice that you'll be farting a whole lot more; but don't worry, that'll pass.  Eventually, you'll notice that your stool is a lot softer, almost like toothpaste coming out of a tube.  This, I'm told, is how it should be.  It's not supposed to be like a rock dropping into the toilet bowl.  Please try this and let me know what happens.  It really did help me.  Good luck and happy farting to us all!!
Dear Tom c.,
Thank you for your comments. Although fiber supplements don't help everyone with the irritable bowel syndrome. It is certainly something to try first.