This forum is an interesting resource. Seems many people here are doing what I'm doing: trying to identify dietary and medicinal solutions as well as identify what foods/drinks to avoid.
I'm 45 and spend way too much time on the porcelain throne. About 5 years ago, I did the Atkins diet for about a year. Used Splenda for everything. I started having lots of diarrhea and abnormal stools, resulting in painful fissures. Instead of losing weight, I gained weight because I didn't feel like doing any exercise. It hurt to ride a bicycle.
My doctor sent me for a colonoscopy and the specialist attributed my condition to Splenda usage (supposedly excessive use of Splenda cleans out the good bacteria). The colonoscopy found a few polyps, but nothing more. The doctor never mentioned Crohns, IBS, or anything else. He just told me to stop using Splenda. I later found a message forum dedicated to so-called victims of Splenda...seems other people were blaming their IBS on the sweetener.
Meanwhile I sought out probiotics via medicines and yogurt in hopes that I could restore the good bacteria. For a while, the Digestive Advantage probiotic for IBS actually helped. Stools were normal more often than not. That is no longer the case. I am back to abnormal stools.
Warning...what follows is a graphic description of the worst part of my stool problem: after pooping or distributing diarrhea, smaller pieces of stool will stubbornly remain in the rectal channel. This, of course, irritates the fissures that never seem to heal. I go through most of the day feeling like I need to poop because of those small fragmented pieces irrirating me.
Only solution that has worked: whenever my dentist or doctor prescribe an antibiotic, I have found that my stools come out normal! Recently I had a tooth infection. For the entire 7 days I was on the antibiotic, I experienced normal stools. My tooth hurt like crazy, but by golly I wasn't stuck on the toilet.
Not sure what to do now other than continue to read through the many forum posts to gather ideas on what might work. One post mentioned changing up the probiotic, so maybe I'll try a different brand for a while.
If anyone in the Dallas/Plano/Frisco/Allen area has a good doctor they recommend for diagnosis/treatment of IBS, please let me know.
Lastly, this whole experience has a negative impact on my family life. My kids make jokes about how I live in the bathroom. But not so funny when we are on vacation and the kids are ready to go see/do stuff and I'm stuck on the toilet. My wife keeps begging me to seek treatment. She's the one who suggested that I might have Crohns.
-Phil
I'm 45 and spend way too much time on the porcelain throne. About 5 years ago, I did the Atkins diet for about a year. Used Splenda for everything. I started having lots of diarrhea and abnormal stools, resulting in painful fissures. Instead of losing weight, I gained weight because I didn't feel like doing any exercise. It hurt to ride a bicycle.
My doctor sent me for a colonoscopy and the specialist attributed my condition to Splenda usage (supposedly excessive use of Splenda cleans out the good bacteria). The colonoscopy found a few polyps, but nothing more. The doctor never mentioned Crohns, IBS, or anything else. He just told me to stop using Splenda. I later found a message forum dedicated to so-called victims of Splenda...seems other people were blaming their IBS on the sweetener.
Meanwhile I sought out probiotics via medicines and yogurt in hopes that I could restore the good bacteria. For a while, the Digestive Advantage probiotic for IBS actually helped. Stools were normal more often than not. That is no longer the case. I am back to abnormal stools.
Warning...what follows is a graphic description of the worst part of my stool problem: after pooping or distributing diarrhea, smaller pieces of stool will stubbornly remain in the rectal channel. This, of course, irritates the fissures that never seem to heal. I go through most of the day feeling like I need to poop because of those small fragmented pieces irrirating me.
Only solution that has worked: whenever my dentist or doctor prescribe an antibiotic, I have found that my stools come out normal! Recently I had a tooth infection. For the entire 7 days I was on the antibiotic, I experienced normal stools. My tooth hurt like crazy, but by golly I wasn't stuck on the toilet.
Not sure what to do now other than continue to read through the many forum posts to gather ideas on what might work. One post mentioned changing up the probiotic, so maybe I'll try a different brand for a while.
If anyone in the Dallas/Plano/Frisco/Allen area has a good doctor they recommend for diagnosis/treatment of IBS, please let me know.
Lastly, this whole experience has a negative impact on my family life. My kids make jokes about how I live in the bathroom. But not so funny when we are on vacation and the kids are ready to go see/do stuff and I'm stuck on the toilet. My wife keeps begging me to seek treatment. She's the one who suggested that I might have Crohns.
-Phil
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