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Follow-up on column about nasty ailment
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Posted by editor Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:52:48 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments Although I seem to have an unlimited capacity to gross people out, I thought I had gone to the far edge a few months ago when I wrote about irritable bowel syndrome. My wife, who censors my columns to eliminate really disgusting stuff, let that one slide by with a warning that it would probably offend nearly everybody.
That didn't happen. I got more feedback from that unsavory article than from any other in recent years and it was not adverse at all.

What I learned is that IBS is a misery that afflicts a large proportion of the population from time to time. That fact isn't fully appreciated because most IBS victims would rather talk about their arthritis than confess that there are days when its risky for them to leave the house.

My readers proved to be candid about their IBS problems once I came clean about mine (perhaps I should rephrase that). After that issue of the paper came out, it quickly became obvious that finding the causes of IBS in specific individuals is about as uncertain as pinpointing sources of allergies. 

Based on what I was told by other victims of IBS, there is no one-size-fits-all remedy, largely because it is so hard to figure out what brings it on. Cutting out dairy products works for some (sort of) while taking Metamucil works for others (sort of). If you need further proof that every human is unique, talk to people who are trying to solve the puzzle of IBS.

As an example of how logic isn't much help in conquering IBS, one of my sources mentioned an IBS trigger that in my opinion lacked any semblance of credibility. She said she had traced her problem to diet soda. Not the regular sugary kind, only diet soda. I couldn't imagine any scientific basis for that so I pushed it out of my mind, partly because I had been free of IBS for several months and for unknown reasons. Later, when I was hit with another bout of the nasty ailment, I wracked my brain to remember if my eating or drinking habits had changed.

Bingo! I recalled that after a family affair at our house somebody had left a couple of cases of diet soda. While I don't especially like any kind of soda pop, I'm cheap enough to resist throwing anything away even when I don't like it much.

Remembering the unlikely story that diet soda was the culprit for at least one reader, I left the stuff alone for awhile and my IBS cleared up. A few weeks later, I absent-mindedly resumed drinking the leftover diet soda. Welcome back, IBS. But again, it went away when I tossed out the diet soda and hasn't returned. That noise you hear is me knocking on wood.

This is what researchers call anecdotal evidence, meaning that it most likely wouldn't stand up to rigorous examination. I think that's pretty much the situation across the board when it comes to finding causes and cures for IBS in specific people. I'm afraid the solution lies in that shadowy area known as whatever works for you.

Sorry I can't offer you anything more helpful but is my sympathy worth something?

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