In recent months my "mild to moderate" IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) has escalated to severe IBS.

I am now on Levbid every 4 hours in addition to dietary changes (no dairy, reduced insoluble Fiber, no red meat) and it's still not completely controlled.

I wonder how getting banded will affect the IBS?

I'm sure that someone here has experience with this and I'd love to here your story.

Thanks!

Hi,

I can't speak for everyone that has IBS but I can tell you that I've had IBS for the better part of 20 years. I knew every bathroom in the state of MD!!!!!!!! Crazy things would trigger it....food, stress, the wind blowing the wrong way :thumbup:...Once I got banded (a little over a year ago) my IBS symptoms all but disappeared. I still have an occational flare-up but not at all what it once was. I don't know if its because I've lost 70pounds or because I've completely changed the way I eat or if its because I'm exercising...probably all of the above.

Hope this helps. Good luck on your journey.

Gail

I too have had IBS since age 14,, 25 years of misery.. Im not banded yet but was very concerned about that too, but my doctor told me because of the dietary changes and the amount of food restriction that most patients get better.. My big trigger is stress, and another is not eating right, or eating out twice in a row..

Gail,

those were the exact words that I wanted to hear!!

wicked~ I hope that we both get some relief with the band!!

I've had sever IBS since 2002. I had my gallbladder removed and the IBS symptoms started the following morning. I was diagnosed in 2005. My IBS was severe and I too knew where every bathroom was no matter where I was at. I would take up to 6 immodium AD's a day to control it. It did get to the point I could control it for the most part and I knew when and how much Immodium I would need before I needed it!!! My IBS was so bad that the meds I was prescribed for my IBS didn't help at all. Only immodium helped me and sometimes that failed. I've been banded 7 wks and my IBS is 90% better. Not sure why? My surgeon said that some people report its the same or better. I have not taken any immodium in 7wks and that is amazing. I bought this stuff in bulk! I've had a few bad days but even with bad days I've not needed any meds and have not had any URGENCIES or pain? What a relief.

Annabella~ I'm so happy to hear another success story.

Do you all still avoid your know trigger foods?

Hi Sherri, I was never able to pin point a "trigger" food. My IBS would flare up from the simple task of putting something in my mouth!! If I ate out it would sometimes get worse. The only thing I have cut out of my diet since surgery is sugar. Maybe sugar was my trigger food? My IBS flared up though no matter what I ate??

I hope you too find relief with your severe IBS. It sucks to live with IBS. It really puts a damper on your life style not to mention its embarrassing. You might not have a particular trigger food other than eating period! I SOOOOOOO wish you luck next month! I hope you find relief. KEEP US POSTED THOUGH. Iam anxious to know how it goes for you.

Bella

I've had sever IBS since 2002. I had my gallbladder removed and the IBS symptoms started the following morning. I was diagnosed in 2005. My IBS was severe and I too knew where every bathroom was no matter where I was at. I would take up to 6 immodium AD's a day to control it. It did get to the point I could control it for the most part and I knew when and how much Immodium I would need before I needed it!!! My IBS was so bad that the meds I was prescribed for my IBS didn't help at all. Only immodium helped me and sometimes that failed. I've been banded 7 wks and my IBS is 90% better. Not sure why? My surgeon said that some people report its the same or better. I have not taken any immodium in 7wks and that is amazing. I bought this stuff in bulk! I've had a few bad days but even with bad days I've not needed any meds and have not had any URGENCIES or pain? What a relief.

Wow you could have been telling my story. I can only hope that once I am banded (if I get approved) I have the same improvement. My symptons started after having my gallbladder removed and continued to get worse. I now have esophagous spasms with my flares. I take levsin every four hours and it only helps the pain. I hadn't thought about imodium. I too have not been able to figure out my real triggers because something that triggers today, won't tomorrow.

Anyway, I digress, congrats on your improvement. I hope the rest of us have the same improvement!:tongue:

Hi Slim-n-tn, I too hope you get approved and find relief as well. Your like me, I could get a flare up one day from a food but not the next time? Immodium was my best friend! I even had a bottle of the liquid in a cup holder in my car, just in case! I was put on Nulev for my IBS but I found it didn't work AT ALL! I even doubled up and sometimes tripled the dose and it never worked. After 4-5 bottles I quit getting it filled. The only thing that ever helped was immodium. I used to buy the no name brand from Wal-Marts in the bottle. You got 90 pills and they were MUCH smaller and easier to swallow than the reg. immodium. Its nice to be rid of the horrid almost unbearable pain and the embarrassment of running to the pot after every meal or snack! Let us know in this thread when you get approved. Iam anxious to see if the surgery helps you as well!!!

Hi Slim-n-tn, I too hope you get approved and find relief as well. Your like me, I could get a flare up one day from a food but not the next time? Immodium was my best friend! I even had a bottle of the liquid in a cup holder in my car, just in case! I was put on Nulev for my IBS but I found it didn't work AT ALL! I even doubled up and sometimes tripled the dose and it never worked. After 4-5 bottles I quit getting it filled. The only thing that ever helped was immodium. I used to buy the no name brand from Wal-Marts in the bottle. You got 90 pills and they were MUCH smaller and easier to swallow than the reg. immodium. Its nice to be rid of the horrid almost unbearable pain and the embarrassment of running to the pot after every meal or snack! Let us know in this thread when you get approved. Iam anxious to see if the surgery helps you as well!!!

Thanks! I will keep you posted!

I have suffered from IBS for 10 years and my symptons went away completely for about 2 years until I got banded. All of my symptoms have returned with a vengence and I find that for me it is worse because the band is wrapped around my stomach trapping in the excess gas that I produce. My stomach is always rumbling and growling and I stay extremely bloated and I either have the runnies or I am constipated (sorry). I have to take Levisin 4 times a day and if I don't there will be hell to pay. I am also very sensitive to artificial sweeteners and they tend to make me extremely bloated as well.

My doctor says some peoples symptons will go away and for others they will still have problems. I hope your problems will go away for you but I wanted to let you know that its a possibility that they may not. Wishing you all the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sherri -- I had severe IBS from 1982 to 2004. Like someone else mentioned, I've been in every public restroom in Dallas county!! It wasn't so bad when I had toddlers -- I mean if you go rushing up to a waitress or store clerk frantically asking "Where is your restroom"? with a toddler in hand, they assume you're potty training. <VBG>

Anyhow -- I just wanted to mention what happened to me. Numerous colonscopies, very med under the sun, high fiber, no fiber, low fiber, no dairy, etc., etc. -- nothing helped. I assumed I would spend the rest of my life dealing with it. (People are amazed that although my "baby" is 19, I never leave home without baby wipes in my purse. Little do they know....

Anyhow, when I moved to Houston in 2004, my first visit to my new doctor, he looked at my chart and said, "So you have Fibromyalgia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome...?"

"Yessir."

"So why the HELL aren't you on Paxil?"

Unitmidated, I replied, "Because no one ever suggested it."

He went on to explain how SSRI's work and a lot of yadda, yadda which I 'got' easily enough. I was game to try it. Shoot -- I'd tried everything else doctor's had thrown at me.

God as my witness, I NEVER had another bout of IBS while on the 12.5 mg of Paxil. Instead of it being a food or some phsyiological abnormality in my intestines -- it was neurotransmitters in my brain setting my guts on PUREE like a blender and ... well, you know the rest...

Anyhow, I took it faithfully up until my Lap Band surgery, last August and have been winging it without ever since. I've had maybe a half dozen "episodes" in a year. (Had that many in a WEEK, before Paxil!)

I won't go so far as to say I'm "cured", but for now, it's not a problem. If it does become one -- I'll head straight back to get my Paxil refilled!!! That's no way to live!

I've had IBS my entire life and I was also very scared it would make it worse. But it is so much better. I used to have a lot of nausea. I haven't had it since being banded. I used to have awful flare ups and even get fevers with the flare ups, but I haven't had one since surgery. (My surgery was May 22). I still do have some diarrhea, but not like before.

Thank you so much, everyone, for sharing your stories!

I definately have some known triggers....caffeine, artificial sweeteners, leafy greens, dairy...to name a few.

I take Levsin (sublingual) every 4 hours while awake and I have some Lonox (that's the generic) for controlling diahrrea. I also take chewable benefiber daily (or the stir in kind when I make soups).

The SSRI info is especially interesting. I wonder if other AD drugs have similar effects? I was on Wellbutrin XL for 2 years and recently weaned off of it.....about a month before my IBS symptoms worsened??

I don't know about the SSRI's. I took Celexa for a long time and it never seemed to help with my IBS.

I think there are several different "classes" of SSRIs. (My terminology might be off, but I know not all are created equal.) I just know that it worked like a charm for me.

So well, in fact, I'm pretty sure stocks dropped in whatever company produces Imodium!!! LOL