Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): So my doctor thinks I have it, and I have several months until I get to see a specialist. What do I do now?

Caraway tea is the greatest thing ever for IBS. It tastes like dirty sock...however...it helps with the pain like no other. Take a tablespoon of caraway seeds and place them in a tea ball. Let them steep in hot water for about 3-5 minutes, then drink. it's always helped me.

In high school I was diagnosed with IBS, and there seemed to be no pattern with foods causing it. The doctor suggested that my problem was that I was internalizing stress. I was definitely under a lot of it. He said I needed to find a way to work off the stress instead of letting it attack my innards. As it turned out, the advice worked. I took up a form of exercise that I really enjoyed, and with that, I was able to keep the IBS under control. I go years without a flare up, and when it does flare up again, I know I need to go scream and yell and run around and just basically do physical stuff to get rid of it. It still works. YMMV.

(By "go scream and yell and run around and just basically do physical stuff" I don't mean "just do that for 5 minutes and the attack goes away." I mean I need to just make myself more active in my daily life for a while and really make an effort to de-stress that way.) Even when I had constant flare-ups they never seemed food-related... but they did happen like clockwork on my way to school each morning, which was the first hint that it was stress. (I was hating school at that point, and especially the first period class.)

Diet and exercise seems to do it for me-- lots of vegetable fiber and a running regimen keeps my stools relatively firm and my gas almost tolerable. In fact, I even get constipated once in a blue moon now, which certainly didn't happen when I was younger. You're going to have occasional symptoms. I still have diarrhea two or three times a week and there's nothing I can do about it. One parrt of dealing with it is accepting that it never goes away completely.

http://www.helpforibs.com/ (not so much its forums, but YMMV there) and the http://www.helpforibs.com/books/1stIBS/books_1ibs_home.asp were tremendous help for me.

My family has bad digestive troubles but I have never had trouble. Recently though I have been under huge amounts of stress and was drinking A LOT of coffee. I then got a sinus infection and my whole digestive track broke down. Basically A LOT of gas started coming out each end and the symptoms you describe as well. I was just told to start eating more yohgurt because the flora of my gut is apparently wrecked.

A lot of good advice so far. I don't think anyone has mentioned sleep. I know that with my own problems, the amount of sleep I get makes a difference on how I tolerate certain foods.

Sorry for the late reply, but I think I can help answer this question, as I've been suffering from IBS for awhile. I just returned from a specialist yesterday, and this is what he reccommended to minimize it: A high-fibre diet along with 1-2 tablespoons of the orange flavoured Metamucil, mix with 9 oz of water or juice and 1-2 tablespoons of http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682338.html in the same glass. Lactulose can be picked up at any pharmacy without a prescription, you just have to ask the pharmacist for it. Continue this regimin for a few weeks, my specialist swears by it. I'm on day two.

Forget diet, forget pills, forget any means of alleviating IBS except alleviating what is causing you to stress. I had IBS very bad for years, and the day my wife left me and I (instantaneously) realized I should quit my job and go to art school, IBS disappeared. That day. That was 17 years ago. Metamucil and every other friggin' brand did nothing for years. IBS is stress related. HOWEVER, you (like me) may be totally unaware of the source of your stress. Tricky, foxy, coyote. Once and a while it creeps back in, usually work related. But look into your head, not your bowels to find relief.