I have a friend with that diagnoses. Her doctor told her to take Miralax, every day. It is over the counter, and best price is at Walmart.

I have a similar problem, and was prescribed Miralax too, but you don't need a Rx.

Good luck.

Sue

I stopped coffee, chocolate and nuts and that helped me. I can eat a few nuts now, and a tiny tiny bit of chocolate, but try to avoid it. Also cannot eat popcorn, and avoid anything with tiny seeds. Your dr should have given you some suggestions.

i take 2 stool softeners daily and drink iced tea with three teaspoons of soluble fiber mixed in. so far, i can maintain my ibs with just doing this.

Make sure you have a colonoscopy.
My mom thought she had IBS, but it was
just a symptom of something worse.

My husband has IBS. It often goes through cycles of constipation and diarrhea. He uses Konsil daily, and that really helps a lot. But you do, of course, want to discuss with your dr.

You have been tested for everything else, right? IBS is really a non-diagnosis, it's what they tell you you have when you've been tested and negative for all other things like gaul bladder trouble, ulcers, Chrone's (sp( disease, Celia, etc. One should, of course, never accept a diagnosis of IBS until all other possibilities have been ruled out.

One thing many drs don't mention to IBS suffers is the role sugar plays in the disease. Sugar seriously irritates the digestive tract. You will probably find you feel a lot better if you cut out as much sugar as possible. My husband actually has more trouble with sugar (which they don't warn about, but you can research and find the connection) than he does with fat--which is one of the things they ALWAYS tell IBS sufferers to cut back.

Hope you feel better. It's not a serious condition--it's not usually life-threatening--but it definitely is a life-altering disease. Good luck.

Consider that it could be related to gluten-intolerance from wheat, barley, etc, which are in so many products. A gluten-free diet and taking acidophilus supplements may be to your advantage.

I read a great book called Wheat Belly, which goes into detail about how wheat has been altered over the last 50 years and our bodies do not process it as well since it was changed to increase production ti feed more people. The author discusses heart disease, diabetes and other ailments and how he believes wheat and gluten are responsible for the uptick in illness.

I agree with Azzalea, sugar is the main culprit of my IBS. I can eat nuts, small seeds, but sugar will cause a flare-up.

Frugal, I've been suggesting this for some time as well; there are soooo many people, especially young people, who have suddenly developed an aversion to gluten for there not to be some connection.

My daughter has had a bad stomach for quite some time and had a REALLY bad time this past year. She's had all the tests, and as has been mentioned above, is labeled with ibs as the default diagnosis; I had to remind her this is maybe a good thing considering all the nasty possibilities, but she badly wanted something that could be cured. :) She went on the FODMAP diet (you might want to research that,) with the help of a dietician and is very, very careful about what she eats. She's vegetarian so quinoa is a staple for her, and she's found out the hard way that some prepared foods, even healthy ones, often have gluten in some form in them. For the last month or so she's been following a diet written by a woman who advocates fewer carbs (even healthy ones,) as they are turned to sugar and as has been said above, sugar is a definite irritant. The author advocates the consumption of good fats: olive oil, avacado, butter, (yes!) raw whole milk (yes! even though she hasn't had milk all year,) etc. as she says they serve a purpose in keeping the sugar level even in the blood. (I hope I got that right.) This author is not a doctor, but dd has done a ton of research on the subject and is very careful--she decided to give this theory a try. Her gastro doctor told her that once the gut is messed up, it will never be the same. That isn't to say she won't improve, but it will always be touchy.

Nuts, I accidentally hit "submit" before I meant to. I second the ideas above: stop intake of ALL gluten, as much sugar as possible, up the protein intake and if that doesn't help, stop dairy as well. I can hear your husband: "Well then, just what exactly am I supposed to eat??" It does take some getting used to, preparing "whole" foods, but it is doable and he will feel soooo much better. Many good wishes to you in that endeavor.