ANONYMOUS’S PERSONAL STORY

I’m a 29 almost 30 yr old female. I’ve been suffering from IBS-C since my mid teens, and it has become progressively worse since then. My symptoms aren’t consistant. I go through phases where my pain and other symptoms it’s unbearable, to times where it’s tolerable.
The worst symptom of all is the terrible abdominal bloating/cramping. (I look like 6mos+ pregnant) I can’t wear any clothing that restricts my abdomen even slightly or I will be in agony. I haven’t been able to wear jeans comfortably in almost 5yrs. I finally had to start wearing maternity jeans because I’m so sick of wearing nothing but tights, yoga and sweat pants. Sometimes I also have sudden severe adbominal muscle spasms originating near my large bowel that cause my whole body to spasm and it stops me dead in my tracks.
My doctor has me on 4 different laxatives, which work at times. I’ve tried increasing my water intake (2.5L/day as instructed by my doctor). Doesn’t make a difference. Neither does increasing or decreasing my fibre intake. I started on a portion/calorie controlled diet several years back to lose weight, and hoped that maybe as a fringe benefit my IBS symptoms would decrease even a slight bit in severity, but no such luck.
I’ve tried eliminating things from my diet one at a time (gluten, artificial sweeteners, dairy, etc), and each time most of the symptoms disappeared or lessened for 2 weeks, and then returned with a vengance (almost like clockwork – two weeks exactly each time!)
On top of IBS I also have ADHD and a non verbal learning disability, and suffer from depression, anxiety, asthma (thats worsened by my allergy to dust mites and seasonal allergens), psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and have had a life long battle with my weight.