I have IBS with conspitation,i am on zelnorm,if i don't take it my stomach swells.I eat plenty of vegs,try to drink enough water.....any other help would be appreciated,i think it also slows down my weight loss

Lilacblossom,

I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Spastic Colon ten years ago after a very severe bout and *every* GI test imaginable.
I had to take Librax on and off for 3 years, but struggled with the horribly unpredictable illness until 2 years ago.
What changed?
Low-Carb *cured* my IBS!
I'm not kidding; Since beginning Atkins a little over two years ago, I have had virtually *NO* attacks. The only exceptions are when I have gone *off* my plan (planned or unplanned) for any length of time.

Case in point:I went on a cruise a while back and purposefully went off plan for about ten days. At the start of the ten days, I was sick because I was eating bread and sugar after avoiding them for so long, but eventually my stomach adjusted. The worst came towards the end (around day 7 or so) when my IBS returned FULL FORCE as though it had never left!
At first, I was caught off guard and couldn't figure out what was wrong, then I realized that returning to a carby diet had signaled the return of all my symptoms.
It took about 2 weeks of re-induction to rectify the situation and once more, I am symptom-free.
I don't know if IBS is a mild form of Celiac disease or what, but I know a LOT of people whose IBS was also *cured* by switching to low-carb.
I hope you, too, will experience this wonderful benefit of eating this way! Best of luck,

Summer


www.herstorygirl.com

I was diagnosed with IBS about 10 years ago and my symptoms come and go. As I got older I realized that food/stress really impacted my symptoms. About 1 week after going on Atkins my symptoms disappeared. Like Summer said, the symptoms are in direct proportion to the amount of "bad" food I eat. Good luck.

I'm another IBS sufferer (like you I have the constipation type) that low carb has virtually cured, literally overnight. I started this woe nearly a year ago when I turned 40 and I had been suffering from IBS since high school. Everyday I walk around marveling at the fact that I feel nothing going on in my tummy region. Hey, this must be what "normal" feels like! Like Summer and Hooven, the only time I have problems is when I eat my trigger foods which turned out to be grains. Ironically, I used to eat alot of them because that was what was recommended to me. No wonder I was in pain by mid-morning when breakfast used to be a hearty bowl of oatmeal.

Esther

I will add that I was an IBS sufferer. I say was, because since I started doing LC, I don't have the problems anymore. At least every day I had to stop at a gas station on my way to work (which is about a 30 minute drive) because I was going to be sick. If I made it without stopping I considered that a good day. I used to be up for hours in the middle of the night with cramps/diarrahea. It was awful.

Now, I sleep like a baby, I don't have to worry about the bathroom issue on the road anymore. I feel pretty good.

Karen