[ellis]

You're very clear, Wildfire.
I am a combination IBS-D/G
The gas is wickedly painful. I have to lie on the floor, which can be uncomfortable at parties.

[jenne1017]

Thanks all. I looked in one store and they had falxseed oil PILLS -- I guess gel tabs. This weekend, after payday, I will make it my mission to find some oil or ground seeds.

Thanks Wildfire. This has been going on for about a month or two now so I will keep watch. I do drink the metamucil so I will be sure to drink lots of water afterwards!

[Wildfire]

ellis, when you talk about this in front of groups of people, it isn't nearly as taboo. Everybody poops. Some people find the child's pose in yoga or lying on their left side can help with the gas pain. Yeah, I can see how that would be inconvenient at parties.

jenne, 20% of the population suffer from IBS. I hope you aren't one of them! Don't be afraid to talk to your doctor about it. If you fit the IBS criteria (also known as the Rome Diagnosis) and I see from your photos that age is not a concern, it may not be necessary for you to have any of the tests that everyone is afraid of, like a colonoscopy. (Even though you are totally out of it during the test, it's the embarassment thing that people dread.)

[jenne1017]

I hear IBS though is women in the upper 20's and into the 30's.

Believe it or not...I fit in there! I'm not 21 like my photos suggest!

Thanks again WF

[Wildfire]

I was 24 when I first started having symptoms of IBS. I'll be 35 this year. The founder of the IBS Self Help Group is a male and was 15 when he developed it. He is 43 now. We have members who have had it since childhood, and others who develop it in later years, too. Sudden onset after the age of 40 is usually diagnosed through a colonoscopy/sigmoidoscopy to rule out any other disease, just to be safe.

[ellis]

My sister was about 24ish when she started with it. She has it MUCH worse than I do. She's on a very careful diet... lots of fibre... she's actually passed out with the pain in the past. Our Mom has IBS, too.

[jenne1017]

Now I am worried....