have seen my GI this morning, need some advice

[harma]

I went to see my GI this morning. Nothing special, this regular checkup, how things are going.

Since I am back in the Netherlands, my bowels are not behaving so well. I don't have diarrhea, but other things. I call it "uncomfortable feeling" since I don't how else to describe it or "restless" bowels. I can't say i am really constipated, but it feels quite often the stuff inside is not moving. As if the colon is not working, the stuff is not moving forward. Normally I go to toilet once or twice in the morning. If I don't go the second or even worst a first time, the rest of the day I feel like crap, with all that crap inside me. Getting gassy, can't have anything tight around my waist, it goes a bit like blurp blurb and a bit of a swollen up belly. I am not really constipated, it does come out, like the next day and it is moving forward, but not well and quick enough.

I had Brussels sprouts last weekend, that was a disaster, gassy, bloating (even worse than with gluten), blurb blurb going through my whole GI, didn't sleep very well. But once they were out, it was okay again.

Also I ate peanuts about three weeks ago and not a little but almost a whole bag (I was out, did not bring my food it was more or less my dinner). Since than, the problems as I described above started.

I also remember from the last year, as soon as, I add something to my diet, I get in trouble and it takes me a week to get my colon back to normal.

I discussed that with my GI. Would do you think? In his opinion it has nothing to do with the CC, it is IBS. And here I get confused and I would like some advice. For the GI, MC is only diarrhea and not bloating, bowels that don't empty themselves 100% when you go to toilet, gassy, well all the classical IBS symptoms.

When I was just diagnosed with MC, and just started the diet, I would have blamed the gluten. But I am 100% sure I haven't had any gluten in almost 14 months (or any other of my food intolerances).

From my point of view, my IBS symptoms are MC related. I think the whole bag of peanuts caused a small flare up, I don't get diarrhea because of the entocort.

My GI's motivation that it is IBS was, because his other MC patients don't have this problem (he sees about 5 a year). But am I wrong when I say, that lot of those "other" bowel problems as restless bowels, gazzy, bloating, a "lazy" colon, going to toilet and the feeling not everything’s comes out are part of the MC for a lot of people here?

And do I still have these IBS like problems, because my bowel is still not healed yet

[Zizzle]

Harma,
Before the onset of my current mini-flare (explosive emptying and lots of loud gurggling, but only 2-3 times/day), I had what you were describing. More gassiness and incomplete emptying, some stools even pencil thin, reminiscent of my pre-MC IBS days. So yes, it sounds like IBS symptoms, but I don't think IBS exists, so I attribute it all to MC. That's why I don't take immodium - because I know I'll feel like crap if I try to "put a stopper in it." When my body decides to empty as if I just drank drain cleaner, it's usually for a reason now, so I let it happen.

My son asked me last night why I never fart (he and his Dad are avid farters!). I realized that I don't because most gas-like sensations usually land me in the bathroom with D. I suppose the closer I get to remission, the more gas I'll experience.

I've been eating a good deal of peanut butter lately on Udi's bagels, so I'm starting to suspect the peanuts, but it could be the yeast etc. in the bagels. I tolerate beans, hummus, green beans, etc. just fine, so I don't think it's a lectin issue for me. Other nuts are generally fine too, so maybe it's something about peanuts??

[tex]

Peanuts do that to me, too, ever since my symptoms first began. They don't cause me to have D, but they cause me to feel cruddy, as if I'm constipated. I suspect that they just irritate the intestines.

Peanuts contain a lot of fiber - twice as much as almonds, and more than half as much as bran meal, which is promoted as a source of fiber. I never had a problem with them before my symptoms began, but they simply don't agree with me, any more.


Zizzle,

It's good to see that someone else here doesn't believe in the existence of "IBS". I have always believed that "IBS" is just exactly what it appears to be - a way for doctors to put a legitimate-sounding name on a disease that does not exist, so that they don't have to say, "I don't know what's wrong with you", to a patient. Doctors can be so vain, sometimes. The silly thing is, no one seems to question the legitimacy of a "disease" that cannot be confirmed by any diagnostic test. (There is no diagnostic test to confirm "IBS"). The primary diagnostic criterion seem to be gastrointestinal distress, that cannot be attributed to any known "disease". Well duh! That doesn't sound like a new disease - it sounds like inadequate/incomplete diagnostic procedures, IOW, failure to track down the real problem.

Tex

[Zizzle]

The silly thing is, no one seems to question the legitimacy of a "disease" that cannot be confirmed by any diagnostic test.

That doesn't sound like a new disease - it sounds like inadequate/incomplete diagnostic procedures, IOW, failure to track down the real problem.

Tex

I for one think that many people, including doctors, question the legitimacy of IBS. That's why most IBS sufferers never see a GI specialist. We are quick to label ourselves, not seek help, and deal with it on our own, because we all know it's not a true disease. I told my OB/GYN every year for many years that I had IBS symptoms. His answer was always, "don't we all!" He never once suggested seeking medical care for it. My PCP suggested more fiber and sent me on my way too. I don't fault them for doing it - I agree!! My symptoms weren't bad enough yet to require intervention.

I have COUNTLESS friends and family with self-diagnosed IBS and no one does a single thing about it. They probably don't even think to mention it to their doctors, probably in fear of discussing potty habits and getting a colonoscopy. I think they all accept it as the expected consequence of the Standard American Diet (SAD).

Unfortunately, I feel the debilitated "IBS" sufferers, the ones in true pain, are being brushed off for the same reasons. There should be a threshold of suffering that once you cross it, all bets are off and you need a colonoscopy, breath tests and more answers. But that line is too vague right now, so very sick people sit home with terrible "IBS," feeling blamed and helpless.

[MBombardier]

Since my GI did about 25 biopsies throughout my colon, I felt comfortable telling him the joke about the difference between IBS and MC is a few biopsies. He thought it was pretty funny.

I had a three-day romance with peanut butter, and had a headache for two days. The second day was to confirm that it was the peanut butter. The fiber didn't bother me that much, surprisingly.

[tex]

But that line is too vague right now, so very sick people sit home with terrible "IBS," feeling blamed and helpless.

I agree completely.

Tex

[MaggieRedwings]

Peanuts also seem to affect me in the same way for the headache result.

Maggie