the IBS variant Functional Diarrhea
I've had IBS-D for years but there was no abdominal cramps or pain, none at all. The FODMAP tests/diet did nothing no matter what I ate or did not eat. All other causes were ruled out. I googled IBS-D without pain- it's Functional Diarrhea. Look it up.
It's just is what it is. I manage it with pepto bysmol and immodium. Also, use Beano if you eat those kinds of foods. Its an enzyme that we don't make ourselves that digests beans, onions and cabbage type vegetables
Hi, you can try Low FODMAP Certified Digestive Enzymes: These enzymes aid in the breakdown of food, making digestion easier and helping to alleviate IBS-D symptoms. Here's the link. https://casadesante.com/products/fodmap-digestive-enzymes
Thanks so much for that advice and link! I had never heard of those enzymes before. I'd like to try them. I just hope I can get them in UK. Many things available in US, are unheard of here, and ordering off Amazon dot com works but shipping takes ages plus cost!! But that sounds interesting, and worth a try. Much appreciated. 
If you end up purchasing and trying those, I'd love to know about your experience! I really hope they work for you.
All the best, Karina
Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm sorry that diet isn't helping you at all. You mentioned in another comment that you've had this issue since 2015. Did something happen at that time that might have caused the symptoms to start?
We've noticed that some community members start having issues during a stressful time in their lives (that was the case for me), or after trauma or grief.
Karina (team member)Thank you for your kind concern. That FODMAP diet-- I'm overjoyed it does not work for me. I am a vegetarian, have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for 40 years because I love animals. I have 6 hens and 2 milk cows. We are blessed to have a little orchard of delicious apples, plums and peaches and a table grape vineyard. All my favorite foods and fruits and vegetables were verboten on the FODMAP diet. But if I ate them or did not eat them it made no difference what so ever. YAY!
I'm a retired nurse. Seems like the 'dia-rear' started in 1015 when I was in Oregon although I lived in Texas. I was there building a little cabin. Actually, it was an 10'x20 portable building that some people built and brought there readymade so I was not stressed but quite happy. I would stay there for months in the summer. The water supply there is a spring. So I came back in 2015 with this endless diarrhea. So I thought I had picked up giardia or cryptosporidia from the spring so I had an O&P (ova and parasites) done - negative. Tested for lactose intolerance - negative. Occult blood- negative. Pancreatic insufficiency- negative. Celiac disease-negative. I'm not doing a coloscopy. I've assisted with those. They give you sedating drugs then what happens should not happen to a dog but you don't remember who to sue. So I get mail in DNA tests for colon cancer- negative. OK I thought, I've got IBS-d. Everything else was ruled out.
I kept reading that IBS-d causes pain and cramps. I've never had those. So I looked up IBS with no pain. It's functional diarrhea. It is just the way it is. No cure, no known cause, managed by managing the symptoms. I use Immodium 2 tabs to start with then a pill after every diarrhea (no more than 8 a day. Seems like a total of 4 pills usually shuts it down. Pepto-Bismol I keep by the toilet and now I've added Bentyl. It is an anti spasmotic, it makes the dia rear less explosive. Yes functional diarrhea does flare when people are stressed. That cabin in Oregon? Last summer a forest fire burned out of control for a month and came within half a mile from it. That was a huge prolonged stress.The location of the cabin sounds really beautiful and I very much admire all the hard work you put in to create it.
8.5 acres of forested mountainside... how wonderful. I can smell it in my imagination.
I had to fix my toilet flushing mechanism today, just simply because I didn't want to have to pay a plumber! Fortunately, the job worked. Fingers crossed it will keep working! (Plumbing is not one of my greatest talents!) but compared to what you did at the cabin, that was a mere drop in the ocean!
And also fortunately, that is not my only toilet!
It's great you have a good filter on the water supply.
You are so right; the miracle of indoor plumbing is taken for granted by most people. When you've had to dig and work for it, you appreciate it a lot more!
I talked about the dog situation with my friend and we would share the dog if that scenario happens (unsure what's happening yet) My friend and I really see eye-to-eye when it comes to animals, so I know that would work out really well. So sometimes the dog would stay with me, and sometimes with my friend in town. But I may well turn up to "go walkies" if required. If even I wasn't well enough, my friend would 100% understand as she once had IBS (amazingly, hers went away!) And of course, each of us would be back up if something did happen to one of us.
Plus we would pool resources when it came to any health needs with the vet. I feel that would work nicely.
My friend has a huge house and amazing garden mostly lawns and mature trees, and I have access to literally hundreds of acres of lovely land, plus my own. The neighbouring farmer knows me well and doesn't mind wherever I go. He knows I never go in fields with livestock, with a dog or without.
Your German Shepherd sounds like a good dog. A German Shepherd was the first dog I ever knew when I was a very tiny child, and we were very fond of each other.
It's great that you know your animals would be safe and loved if or when you and your husband passed.How did your friend recover from IBS-d?
In case the collie situation doesn't turn out, maybe you could get a rescue middle age Chihuahua. The amount of love in a tiny dog equals the love in a bigger dog.
Meh, the fire wasn't so terrifying. We live in the next county. But I drove over there and got everything of value when the fire was a 1/2 mile away. It was strangely beautiful. The sunlight was red because of the smoke. Little flakes of white ash were falling like snow. They fought that fire burning in the mountains with minimal containment for over a month. Then a 7" or 8" rain fell and put it out. This was one of God's jokes.
No I never did get tested for bacterial pathogens. So, does the FODMAP diet make any difference for you?That must have been quite an experience! The Low FODMAP diet did help me a bit, but just like said below, I can have some High FODMAP foods and some foods that should be safe aren't. What helped me a lot was going gluten-free though! Even though I tested negative for Celiac. It's obviously not necessary for everyone, but have you tried that yet?
Karina (team member)
