IBS & Probiotics

Just wanted to share a little about what has been going on with me lately.

As you may or may not know, I have had IBS on and off for the past year and have had Fibromyalgia for almost three years. My doctor told me that there are medications I could try to help manage my IBS but not being very fond of medications, I opted to first try to manage symptoms with diet changes, etc.

Things were going alright but I still would suffer with bad symptoms during times of stress or travel. I think we can all agree that those times are the worst to be dealing with IBS.

A few weeks ago after having a flare up for 3 days I was close to calling my doctor to get some medication. Later that day however I was at the pharmacy to pick up my next bottle of Amitriptyline and I mentioned my IBS problems to my pharmacist. He knows me and my family well as he has been our pharmacist for years.

I mentioned to him that I don't like to take a lot of medications and he suggested that I try taking a daily probiotic acidophilus tablet. Well, it has been 2 weeks since I started on these tablets and WOW!!!!  The difference is just amazing! I haven't had stomach cramps, abdominal cramps or the need to rush to the washroom several times a day. My bowels are functioning pretty much like normal again. I had forgotten what it was like to have a normal digestive system.  Of course I am still being careful about what I eat and trying to manage stress better but the changes in only a few short weeks have just been incredible. Sometimes my IBS would be so bad that I would have colon spasms immediately after only a few bites of a meal. This problem has gone away completely as the back aches I would suffer during bouts of bad IBS....of course I still have back aches from my Fibromyalgia but it's better than aches from two problems!! Haha

Anyways, I just wanted to share my story. Hopefully other IBS patients out there can find some relief with probiotics. Of course you should talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting just to make sure the caplets don't interact with other medications you may be on.

Thanks to probiotics I feel GREAT! They even make the caplets in a form that do not need to be refridgerated, this is excellent for me when refridgeration may not be an easy option such as staying in hotels or camping.