Um,I havent tried it,but my sister eats it every week and she swears by it. She kept trying to get me to eat it,but I was skeptical. One thing I noticed that helps alot with constipation is increasing fluid intake. I've been drinking alot of iced tea lately (flavored with splenda) and have had no issues at all.

What yogurt doesn't work? Every brand I've tried, I open it up, take a bite or sip, enjoy the taste for awhile, and then swallow. They've all worked as intended.

Hi woodnymph, You know....my IBS started up after I had a horrible flu and pneumonia in l995. But in retrospect, I was on antibiotics for 2 months, and now I wonder if they damaged my GI tract. I really dread being on antibiotics now because I seem to lose more and more of my GI function. I think antibiotics are more injurious to our intestines than we know. I've been tempted to have a stool test run by one of those places (Smokey Mountain labs??) to see if I didn't develop some sort of overgrowth back then, but haven't done it yet. I keep hearing that those places are sort of unreliable. And it seems like conventional docs don't believe in them. (But they don't always know everything, right?) But it sounds like you might have developed your problems from the antibiotics, just like I did. How much calcium are you on? What kind do you take? For many years, before the diarrhea got too bad, most of my symptoms were just rumbling and feeling like I had a small animal living in my chest. I hate it. It seems to come and go and come and go, and I can't always know what sets it off. Fortunately, the calcium has helped me alot. If I miss 1 or 2 doses, I get the diarrhea back. And it seems to happen at the most inopportune times! I got one of those "Magic Bullet" small blenders. Its really great for slushie-type drinks. Several mornings a week I make one for breakfast. I usually put in rice milk or almond milk, part of a banana, blueberries, and a tablespoon or 2 of ground flax seed. I coudln't believe how much this drink slows me down (with my diarrhea). Maybe you could try it a few days and see what happens? Try to find organic flaxseed. I forgot to do that and wished I had gotten it. I got mine at the grocery store where they have all those "Bob's" fresh ground flours, etc. Another interesting thing with me......the doc finally talked me into having a colonoscopy last June. I had it and was relieved that all was normal in there.......but it made me feel awful for months afterwards. I think the clean out really messed up the balance of good bacteria in there. I was nauseous and dizzy for 2 months. Finally, after a couple months on probiotics, I began to feel better. I think some of us just live with marginal GI function. There are several interesting books out there on the digestive system....like "The second brain", and "Digestive Wellness". The second one has alot of good suggestions. I use pepto bismol sometimes and it helps get me through the day sometimes. Good luck woodnymph!

Interesting stuff about Activia, Lydia! No, I wasn't eating it, and yes, I have a problem with dairy, so I don't drink milk. It's not a digestive problem, though; I'm allergic to a protein in milk. I don't eat cheese either, but that's because I have to avoid saturated fat. Funny, I was taking l-lysine just before this happened. I felt sick on Thursday, and had trigeminal neuralgia. I thought it was warning me of a herpes simplex outbreak, and started pushing lysine immediately. The symptoms went away, so I thought the lysine had worked. Then on Saturday I came down with the fever. Yes, my yogurt is definitely real. I was buying plain, non-fat Dannon or Greek yogurt, in quarts. I'm an inveterate label reader. BBoston, your experience really does sound similar (except for the "both ends" part). Like I said, if things haven't drastically improved by Monday, I think a visit to the doctor is in order. I tried to last until 4:00 without eating, but couldn't do it. I just had some food and am waiting for my blood sugar to rise. It's an awful feeling when it gets terribly low. So I'll go to the reception, bringing the food and wine, and if it turns out that I'm unable to stay, so be it. I gave it my best shot.