Weird ? but... Newlyweds w/ IBS - ?

i am the nerve queen - i suffer from IBS - and used to take the prescription 'donatol' - which is an anti-spasmatic pill - it was cause your nerves not 2 get the better of your belly. you could ask your doctor about that - you can drink with it. but drinking is not recommended when ever you got anything wrong with your stomach - alcohol is hard to digest and can irritate your stomach's lining.

and i swear by immodium- they make a liquid now too - but yeah - a few of those should help you out on your big day as well...

yeah - really ladies - where were all of you when i was in HS and felt like a feakshow????

there are so many women who suffer from this disease. too boot - i am also a tooth grinder - my docotr told me our age group (women ages late teens - through early 30's) have the higest incidents of Stress/nerve related ailments. we are all so busy with life - it takes its toll on your body in other ways...

I have IBS, too, though I have gotten it somewhat under control. It was really bad when I was in grad school - I lost 25 pounds in a short time, I couldn't eat, I couldn't be farther than 5 feet from a bathroom, it was horrible.

Here is what I did:
1. went to MD. No help other than the diagnosis.
2. Freaked out because MD was no help.
3. On my Aunt's suggestion I saw a naturopath. I live in Seattle, so, unfortunately, I can't recommend anyone in NY.
4. CAMOMILE TEA - works WONDERS for me. It totally calms my belly down - I can actually feel it get less gurgly when I have the tea. I think that drinking tea also forces you to sit and relax and take a whole 15 minutes or so for yourself which is helpful too.
5. The naturopath had me on a very different diet that my usual at the time. I stopped 'processed foods' and ate much more healthily. As a note: Raw vegetables are very hard on your GI tract and a salad would send me running to the bathroom, doubled over in pain. I ate 'steamed salads', which sounds bizarre, and was, but then I just ate only cooked veggies.

6. Bland foods help. The naturopath had me stay away from white rice and pasta (which had been a mainstay when I could actually eat, before I saw her), but brown rice and whole grain pasta, like quinoa pasta, was ok. But I would have plain chicken or fish with vegetables. No spicy and no fatty foods.
7. I also started taking Pilates. I had a great teacher for a mat class that was held in a dim-ishly lit room and was very relaxing (and also a great ab workout). It forced me to leave my lab for an hour a week and actually focus on me and my body and my breathing for a little while and it really helped me relax. I took a painting class too.

After a while, I got myslef back to normal (normal for me anyway). To be honest, I have been really stressed lately with the wedding and work and everything else and I've been slipping again. This reminds me to go buy some more camomile tea and to make myself relax!

FM me if I can help!

ETA: I never went anywhere without pepto and immodium. I found (and I feel that I am an expert in this field!) that pepto would help the immediate problem without the 'long term effects' of an immodium. Immodium would mess me up for a week after, but, in an emergency, it was my BEST FRIEND! You can get pepto in a pill and a chewable. The chewable turns your mouth pink, though.

Oh, and I will add, that I was at my worst for my brother's wedding and I was a BM. In a light blue dress.

I drank a gallon of camomile tea (actually I figured out that it helped the day before the wedding when my SIL took the girls out for high tea and manicures).

I had the vegetarian meal.

Also, cutting out caffiene is key (it is a stimulant and gets your bowels moving....). I had also cut out alcohol.

But, FWIW, I am now I diet coke head again and I drink (and I'm still a really cheap date after a year of not drinking!).

I have it really bad and I made it through the wedding just fine. I ate very carefully the day before the wedding.. avoided everything that would cause and stomach pain, bloating, etc. The morning of my wedding I ate a plain bagel with nothing on it. I was so preoccupied with the day that I didn't think about it once that day! I was so nervous in the weeks leading up to my wedding though. There is also a website that has helped me alot with diet. Website There is a 'what to eat when you can't eat anything' diet that is very boring, but do this for a few days before the wedding and you should be fine.
Link