Bile Acid Malabsorption/Micros copic Colitis and not IBS?

Also the problem is we simply eat too much wheat. Wheat in bread, wheat in biscuits, wheat in cereals, wheat in cakes, wheat flour in Bisto, wheat flour in batter, breadcrrumb coatings, wheat in sausages, and so on...the blasted stuff is everywhere.

Exactly Anya! As long as one is sensible and eats a balanced diet. I think one of the problems is that wheat has been mucked about with for donkeys years in an attempt to 'improve' it (higher yield, more profit!!) that some of our bodies can't deal with it. Gluten itself may not always be the problem.

I have had chronic IBS for many years. About two years ago, I discovered the Fodmap diet. Together, with a properly trained Fodmap dietician I have finally discovered my triggers. It is very limiting foodwise but I have never felt more confident and healthy...... You do have to follow a fairly restrictive diet to begin with but then there is the opportunity to re-introduce 'banned' foods.... Really - it has made a massive difference to my life ?

If you cut something out of your diet and things improve then that sounds like a result to me.

Yes Nina I've read recent reports, too. I wonder if they were sponsored by wheat producers? - not that I'm a cynic!

Have any of you read the recent report (don't know where from) that people are going GF at an increasing rate even without diagnosis. They are warning this is not advisable, I can't remember why. If it helps I'm prepared to risk it. My s trips to the loo are the bain of my life.

Genevieve I was first diagnosed with IBS twenty years ago and have put up with it ever since. A couple of years ago, I did a coeliac blood test (over the counter, but it's the same one that hospitals use. Allegedly!!) and it was negative. I decided to go gluten free anyway just to see if it made a difference. I've also researched online for information and it seems that there are different levels of gluten problems and I appear to fit the 'sensitivity' one as opposed to 'intolerance'. I can only speak as I have found, but it's made a huge difference to my life - to the extent that the date on my pack of loperamide expired!

Hope you find something that works for you

Mebeverine did nothing whatsoever for me - I do not know anyone who has found it useful TBH.

Thanks MiniMouse. Were you checked for coeliac disease before you were diagnosed with IBS? This was one of the first things my GP did and it came back negative for me. However, I'm pleased that things are so much better for you now that you've gone gluten free.

Thanks also Ninathenanna and I hope that things improve for you. Maybe going gluten free will make a difference.

I empathise ladies I too take loperamide as a precaution before being away from home,( I do still have my gallbladder but was treated for stones many years ago) I've been like this for 2-3 yrs.
I found I have an intolerance to orange juice and avoiding that has helped but I may consider going GF

Genevieve489 Similar to you, I'm minus my gall bladder and was diagnosed with IBS years later - after an assortment of oscopies/ultrasounds/CAT scans etc. Two years ago I decided to go gluten free and the difference it's made is incredible. It's not an immediate effect, obviously, as your body needs time to adjust, but well worth it in the end. Of course, it may not work for everyone, but my 'comfort' visits have decreased dramatically and I no longer feel the need to take loperamide before a day trip away from home!! It was quite a steep learning curve! I was very surprised to discover that some of the foods, which I had considered to be 'safe', contained gluten!

Hope you find something that works for you - and you, as well, Lucky

Thank you Luckygirl. Thankfully, I'm not going to the loo 10 times a day, but, usually 4-5 times, which is quite enough! How terrible that he groped you while examining you. Did you mention it to anyone? My hope is that, if diagnosed, I can begin some medication which will make life easier. I take Mebeverine at the moment, which does absolutely nothing.

So sorry to hear that you've got bile duct problems, that sounds awful. I can empathise, as, when I was having my gallbladder problems, one of the stones slipped down the bile duct and then everything became infected. Not fun, and my gallbladder was still inflamed when they removed it.

I hope that things gradually improve for you.
All the best.

I was diagnosed with this many years ago after years of visiting the loo 10 times a day - I saw a guy in John Radcliffe in Oxford (who, incidentally, groped my breasts during an examination of my belly!) and had some weird scan with radio active stuff which brought this to light. I was put on Questran, which is a powder and took this for several years - it definitely worked and my life was very much easier afterwards. Eventually I was blocked up like concrete and gradually tailed it off - so far, the problem has not recurred, but I have ongoing bile/bile duct problems that landed me in hospital a few weeks ago - I fainted with the pain and went in in an ambulance. Once the pain was controlled I gradually got better, but get a lot of pain after meals and take gaviscon/omerazole intermittently.

Definitely worth getting checked as it certainly cured my "IBS" (that wasn't). I too have no gallbladder.