IBS-D Gone In 5 Days!!!

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IBS-D Gone In 5 Days!!!

Postby lemontree » Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:58 am

I have had IBS-D since I was 13 and I'm now 50. I have gone from doctor to doctor and not ONE told me to change my diet. All they did was prescribe fiber like Metamucil which only made things worse. When I was in my early 20s I was diagnosed with PTSD so after that, the IBS was in my head according to the psychiatrists and nutritionists because, I was told, IBS is directly related to Anxiety Disorders. So, they stopped recommending Metamucil and started sending me to hypnotherapists. Apparently, if I could just get my head "right" again, and stop having panic attacks, my gut would also calm down. Maybe there's some truth to that but three hypnotherapists later, I still had IBS. Nothing seemed to be working. It got to the point where I was afraid to leave the house because I didn't know when I'd need to literally run to the bathroom. I became somewhat agoraphobic. I would never stray too far from home for fear of needing to use the bathroom NOW!! And I have a problem using public restrooms so I always had to be close to MY bathroom.

After seeing Dr. Fuhrman on public television, I purchased the products he was offering. I read his book cover to cover, joined his message board, followed his diet to the letter. The IBS got worse. I ended up with explosive diarrhea and for the first time in my life I had an accident, if you know what I mean. Thank God I was home when it happened! I felt much worse on his diet, much much worse. I was told by the "nutritarians" that the fact that I was getting worse was GOOD! It meant my body was HEALING. They said my body was detoxing. Detoxing from what, I wondered? I wasn't vegetarian but I had been eating what at the time I thought was a very healthy Mediterranian diet. Lots of fruits and vegetables, very little meat. I wasn't eating the SAD diet. And I have friends detoxing from a serious drug addiction that didn't go through their detox half as bad as what I was experiencing. So I stopped and went back to the way I used to eat. At least I wasn't having EXPLOSIVE diarrhea in my pants eating how I used to!

Then I stumbled upon Dr. McDougall's books and thought, why not try this? I've tried everything else. It took several months to do an elimination diet of sorts to figure out what I could and couldn't tolerate. Turns out I cannot have ANY whole grains of any kind, so I have white rice and white pasta instead (loaded with vegetables). I can have white potatoes as long as I peel them BEFORE I cook them. If I eat the skin or peel the skin off after they're cooked, I get diarrhea. Maybe whatever's in the skin that my body doesn't like gets cooked into the flesh of the potato? I can eat sweet potatoes with the skin. I can eat all kinds of squash and pumpkin, even beans as long as I soak them for 12 hours before cooking. And I can eat raw vegetables (like a salad) but only as a side dish - not as the main meal. I can also have raw fruit, as long as I eat it alone, so I usually have fruit for breakfast. If I have a fruit after a meal, I have diarrhea. I can even eat and digest corn now! I never could before - it would go right through me undigested. But since McDougalling, I've found that I can eat and digest corn perfectly - it no longer goes through me. So basically, I can eat A LOT of food, even some foods I couldn't before, as long as I know when to eat and what to combine. I hope that makes sense.

Long story short, since I've been seriously doing the McDougall way of eating (after figuring out what I can and can't eat), ALL IBS SYMPTOMS ARE GONE - in 5 short days! The diarrhea is gone, the cramps and weird abdominal pains and sensations are gone, nausea is gone - it's all gone! It's been a week now that I've been having ONE (count it - ONE!!!) normal, properly formed bowel movement a day.... AND my colon doesn't feel irriatated anymore after I go and I no longer feel like I still have to go right after. I just feel the need, I walk S-L-O-W-L-Y to the bathroom instead of making a mad dash, and I go.... easy peasy! I feel so much better overall, probably because I don't have so much anxiety around my bowel movements anymore. Poop isn't a pleasant subject, but when you can't have a normal healthy bowel movement, it affects every area of your life. At least that was the case with me. I never thought I'd be so happy about being able to poop once a day like a normal person! :lol:

Oh and I lost 5 pounds in one week without feeling hungry or deprived.

Why doesn't every doctor know this??? Why doesn't every doctor recommend this way of eating??? I could have been saved literally YEARS of pain and suffering and embarrassment and anxiety and depression if ONE of the MANY doctors and therapists had told me to eat a starch-based vegetarian diet!

Thank you sooo much Dr. McDougall! I thought I'd be chained to the toilet for the rest of my life.
lemontree
 

Re: IBS-D Gone In 5 Days!!!

Postby Ampin Up » Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:24 pm

Franca,

Thanks for the full update. I'm glad it worked out for you and not surprised. When I said give it a month, I thought you might see relief sooner and I'm glad you did. Great job improving your life!
Jeff - Certified Starch Solution Instructor
Down over 50 lbs and controlling BP, cholesterol, diabetes and arthritis no meds
Free Health info and recipes on my website
Self-Paced classes from $1
https://sites.google.com/site/letsbehealthytogether/
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Re: IBS-D Gone In 5 Days!!!

Postby chewy » Tue Oct 29, 2013 8:59 pm

i a so happy you are finding such relief after coming to mcdougall from fuhrman's plan!
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Re: IBS-D Gone In 5 Days!!!

Postby Daydream » Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:43 pm

Franca, thank you for sharing your story. I'm so happy for you!
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Re: IBS-D Gone In 5 Days!!!

Postby carollynne » Wed Oct 30, 2013 3:57 am

That is just so amazing! I am very happy for your success in IBS. Congratulations on preserving, and not being afraid to go against the grain in accomplishing your goals! :-D :D :-P
I have lost about 60 lbs and never thought I'd be in the 150s ever again. cured my NAFLD!! Feel great!! Wt loss is so good for the knees and back, ankle, that I know I will never start back to the SAD way of eating again.
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Re: IBS-D Gone In 5 Days!!!

Postby vegandrea » Thu Nov 21, 2013 6:29 pm

Thank you for sharing your story here. I, too, found my IBS got worse on the E2L diet and improved greatly on the McDougall program. Since I have more IBS-C than IBS-D, I have a higher tolerance for whole grains, except wheat, and eating foods together like fruit with greens, for example. I also learned that I do much better when I eat five or six small meals versus three larger meals, which is something that was pushed a lot on the E2L discussion board.
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