Anonymous Personal Story: Navigating IBS-D
I had been through a lot of stress and bereavement. I thought I was coping. I think I got signs of IBS a few years ago, when I had occasional bouts of unexplainable constipation out of the blue. But that was always better in 2 days by eating some more fiber food.
Then in later 2017 I got 2 or 3 times when I woke up too early and just “had to go”, but it wasn’t diarrhea. I was always okay later then the following days.
But in 2018 I got some feeling like I caught flu. Then 8-9 days of very loose bm’s. That ended and I was fine until spring 2020, just before I caught Covid, I had sudden IBS-D symptoms. They cleared up but kept coming back.
I got tested and there was nothing abnormal. Nothing could be found.
Since then I have had IBS-D. With a few rare constipation episodes in between, usually gone in 24-48 hours. Sometimes I am fine and normal, and that can last for days or weeks of normality.
I tried low Fodmap diet but nothing seemed to make any difference, kept a food diary but can’t trace what I eat to flares that happen suddenly even though I’ve eaten low Fodmap food!
Then I might try HIGH Fodmap like honey and chocolate and be just fine for weeks on end!
It’s unnerving because I never know for sure when I’ll get a bad flare up, or be okay. Bad times come out of the blue and my gut can be upset for days or a month or so afterwards.
I am 68 now and always had a healthy diet with lots of fiber, and had healthy normal bm’s all my life.
Now I have to make excuses to friends and family about foods I can’t eat any more. They don’t understand, and I hate having to explain myself. Worst times…Christmas. I can eat NO Christmas food! They think I have gone anorexic.
If I stick to a number of very plain simple healthy foods I can manage. But I can’t eat much fruit any more, and only 10 veggies, meanwhile no meat, only fish fingers and boiled eggs for protein. Even “real fish” doesn’t always suit me. Why fish fingers? No idea. Too much fiber upsets my gut.
Sometimes I am scared by the suddenness of when symptoms hit. And not always because I have eaten anything I shouldn’t.
It makes me sad and I cry sometimes, because I miss the old days when I was okay. And I miss loved ones who have passed away very much. I feel so alone with a scary world.