irratable bowel syndrome

[jew123]

i am 69 years old and came down with ibs 3 years ago. it comes and goes. i problem is now i awaken almost every morning at around 5 to 6 am with the cramps have to go to the bathroom. that releives the problem once in a while igo twice a day. my bowel movements are not diareha but loose movements. i feel good otherwise. is there anythng i can do to eliminate the early morning movements and to firm up the movements.


This discussion is related to Loose Bowels.

[rbeau2413]

Short story - try wheat (wheat gluten).  You may have a wheat gluten intolerance.

Long story ...... I am 48 and I have suffered from soft bowels and urgency to use the restroom for as long as I can remember.  This was accompanied with 3-4 bowel movemnets a day, always feeling like I haven't fully emptied my bowels, bowel segmentation, occasional cramps and bloating.  All got worse though as I got older.

Twelve years ago I gave up caffine which took a lot of the cramps away, 6-7 years ago I was tested for lactose intolerance -nope not a problem, and then finally diagnosed with IBS.  Read books, started watching cause and effect on food - found that fatty foods triggered an immediate run to the bathroom but beyond that was not able to identify the source of all the other symptoms.  So the IBS diagnosis was not tremendously helpful and maybe wrong.

I am in fairly good heathly, work out 3 times a week, play adult hockey a couple times a week, but I was never able to loose that last 10 pounds.  My doctor who is fairly young, in good shape, very food conscious - organic food, his wife grows own veggies, etc - handed me a book called "Wheat Belly" and on a long shot asked me to read it.  Might be the key to loosing that last 10 or so pounds.  The book exposes the evils of wheat, how it has changed over the last 30 years, how it sits way high on the glycemic index causing the sugar/insulin roller coaster ride that makes us fat.  Went "completely" off wheat for 6 weeks and lost 15 pounds.  Wow.  Eight months later and still on a wheat free (gluten free) diet and the pounds have stayed off.  Cool.  But what also happened is my IBS symptoms largely disappeared.  I am wheat gluten intolerant.  Not celiac disease just intolerant.  Has changed my life.  When wheat mysteriously sneaks back in through a soup at a restuarant or in something at home the effect can either be immediate diarehha or the next day I am back to all those old symptoms of 3-4 bowel movements, bloating, not feeling like my bowels are ever empty.

Going off wheat gluten is really hard to do.  Not only is it addictive (as the book mentioned, gluten peptides -incompletely broken down pieces of protein - react with opiate receptors in the brain) causing withdrawl symptoms but it's in everything.  The process took a lot of diligence, investigation, label reading and effort.  Cereals, granola bars, canned soup, pasta, bread, pancakes, anything deep fried, salad dressings, soy sauce, filler in some sandwich meats, baked items, beer, vodka, Twizzlers (man I loved Twizzlers), on and on and on.  The book claimed wheat flour is used in 70% of all foods we consume and my experience supports that claim.  With research I have been able to replace almost everything with gluten free substitutes - though my grocery bill has gone up.  It has all been worth it, though I wish I had figured this out 30 years ago.  Life would have been much more enjoyable.  Hope this helps.

[CalGal]

Jew, what have you tried? Food changes? Meds? What has your doc suggested? Have you tried adding fiber? Are you on medications that contribute to the bowel habit changes? A little bit more information would be helpful.