Do You Sometimes Feel That Your IBS is Cured? Me, Too!

My IBS-C never really goes into remission. It will, however, flip-flop to diarrhea. This is a result of taking laxatives every day, a necessary treatment. On rare occasions, though, it has settled down for a few days. That is when magical thinking begins. I believe my IBS is cured.

I suffer from constipation most days. Every evening, I take 3-4 bisacodyl tablets (Dulcolax). It usually produces several bowel movements within 8-12 hours. The first one is solid, and each BM after that is looser than the previous one. After 3 or 4 BMs, it stops, and that signals that my bowel is empty. My distended abdomen visibly shrinks, and the scale shows a 2–5-pound weight loss during the same day.

But there are days when my bowel will not move, and constipation will set in for the next two or three days, even if I double up on laxatives. This is my situation, day after week after month.

When I'm normal. I tell myself I'm cured

However, there are days that are exceptions. I have had brief interludes with normal BMs every day for a few days, without taking OTC supplements. It rarely occurs, but when it does, something interesting happens: I convince myself my IBS is cured, and I will continue to evacuate normally every day for the rest of my life.

Oh, the happiness, the cheerful abandon I feel during those precious few days. Free at last! My colon has, like Persephone, returned from the Underworld and brought spring along with her once again. Only this time, I’m convinced she is here to stay! No more darkness and cold. The season of warmth and light, like hope, will spring eternal, inside and out. How do I know? I feel it in my gut.

Then, my IBS returns

But then the constipation resumes. It is like a small death, and I must grieve the loss of that illusion. I thought my healthy colon had been restored. But, like Persephone, my colon has descended to the Underworld for yet another long, dark season.

What is maddening is that it wasn’t always like this. A year ago, my bowel would move on its own after 2 days of constipation. No need for an intervention with stool softeners or laxatives. But even that was a change from earlier in the year, when I did need to help things along. I could take a couple of stool softeners and have a gentle, productive BM without cramping and diarrhea. Which—no surprise here—was a change from the year before that!

IBS symptoms seem to change frequently

What’s more, if I think all the way back to when it turned a corner 13 years ago, my IBS changed frequently. Constipation for a time, then explosive diarrhea, then IBS-M, and most recently, IBS-C for the past 2 years. But these 2 years of constipation have been the worst, the hardest to treat.

It's not as if I haven't tried everything. For a year now, my daily diet centers around high fiber, raw vegetables. That seems to have worsened my constipation. And I've tried probiotics. Despite taking the right strains in the proper strengths, they haven't made one lick of difference. I also walk 45 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

I am now considering asking my doctor about prescription drug treatments. I do realize there is no magic pill that will make it all go away.

Still, after all that I have been through, I remain a pie-in-the-sky optimist. A dreamer. Heck, an out-and-out fantasist. Why? Because of that old chestnut: CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT. It’s true, after all. So, a return to normalcy is in the realm of possibility.

What about you? Do you ever feel like you’re cured when your IBS settles down?