Living With IBS: It Can Get Better

This article is for everyone who feels like life with IBS isn’t worth living. Because I’ve been there.

Trying every treatment

My journey to diagnosis was filled with doctors’ appointments, tests, more tests, specialists, and numerous treatments that never worked. Every time I felt like this time, I would finally find the solution to my problem. And every time I was disappointed. Nothing I tried, no doctor I saw could alleviate my symptoms. I barely got by, doing nothing but forcing myself to go to work every day.

My IBS diagnosis felt like the end

Before that point, any illness or problem I ever had was temporary. When the doctors told me that IBS would stay with me forever, I felt like that was it. My life was over. Never again would I be able to enjoy food, travel, or friendships the way I did before. The rest of my life played out before my eyes like a battle for survival. Struggling to make it to work, unable to enjoy hobbies or relationships. Everything would be centered around the bathroom.

A first step to improvement

Luckily, there was a positive side to being left alone with no help: I decided to take action myself. I researched everything I could about IBS and came across the low FODMAP diet, which was the first step that actually gave me some relief.

Thanks to the Low FODMAP diet, I was finally able to reduce my flares to once every two days. Feeling fine at least some mornings helped me be a little more present at work and generally in my life. However, I also became obsessed with avoiding triggers.

Not only did I completely forgo the reintroduction phase of the Low FODMAP diet, but I also religiously cut out every food that triggered even the slightest IBS flare. For several years, my diet consisted of a short list of safe foods and my food fear was quite extreme. But at least, I felt like I might be able to exist as long as I could find a way to quit my job and never have to leave the house again.

Staying home

Seeing how miserable I was, my then-boyfriend finally agreed to leave the city where we were living. He found a new job in a small town, where we moved, and supported me in my quest for a work-from-home opportunity. I eventually found one.

There, in a little town, with a new job, two cats, and barely any necessity to leave my home, my life finally began again.

Without the daily stress, my flares became milder, my food fear more manageable, and my diet expanded. However, every time I had to leave my comfort zone, it all came crashing down again.

Finally taking responsibility

This situation went on for years. Then, I finally came across information that made everything click into place for me. IBS is extremely individual. For me, it was caused and continued to get triggered by my growing, unmanaged anxiety. And the fact that I ate a horrible diet for years didn’t help.

For the first time in my life, I started learning about nutrition and listening to what my body needed, not which diet was currently trending. I started cooking foods I liked and that felt good to me, with as much variety as possible. Food became a way to take care of my body, not the necessary evil it had always been. I learned about herbal remedies and started using them to support my body. And most importantly: I finally started working on my anxiety.

No longer hating my body

Throughout my years with IBS, I was mad at my body for not functioning properly. I had never thought about the possibility that I didn’t even give it a chance to heal by starving myself and living in a constant state of stress.

Of course, my IBS isn’t cured now. But it’s so much better. Most days, I feel good enough to do most of what I want. My flares are milder. And when stressful situations or bad symptoms happen, I try my best to support my body, not get angry at it for flaring.

It can get better

All that is to say: it can get better. Your symptoms might never go away completely, but they don’t have to disrupt every day of your life.

Despite my IBS, I was able to have 2 kids, start traveling again, go out and do activities. Not every day is a good one—but that’s okay.

So, if you’re currently in the thick of it and you feel like your life is over, I want you to know that it’s not. While there is no quick solution to managing IBS, learning about your triggers and how your mind and body work can absolutely give you your life back.