Heh. ND and I had a very frequent-flier-geeky conversation in the airport, about upgrades and status and the TSA...

My trip to China a few years ago started out as a mileage run. But then a friend also wanted to go and it ended up being a month-long trip instead. But it was largely because I wanted to make 100,000 miles on United that year. And then I stayed 1K for three years.

While the status was extremely useful at times, my United experiences for the most part left a lot to be desired and they no longer get my loyalty. I am flying to Boston using Virgin for Valentine's Day and I am excited about trying a different airline.

Yeah. I have had more than a few bad experiences on United.

One of my coworkers has discovered she has IBS, and she is asking what else she can do for herself besides taking Probiotics. Am I remembering right that several Bitches have found it useful to eliminate wheat and/or gluten?

ETA: Are there any books or websites that might be useful for her? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry I went to bed before I read this!

Symptoms of gluten intolerance and/or lactose intolerance are virtually identical to IBS symptoms. And, of course, IBS and gluten/lactose intolerance can co-exist.

However, if someone has IBS, that doesn't automatically mean they're gluten/lactose intolerant. At least, I wouldn't assume that. I don't avoid gluten because of my IBS; I avoid gluten because I'm intolerant to it.

Honestly, I would try treating the symptoms of IBS first, and if it doesn't improve in a couple of months, then try eliminating gluten and/or lactose to see what happens. I mean, dealing with IBS is annoying enough; if all she has is IBS, then she doesn't have to deal with the aggravation of avoiding gluten, too.

As far as treating IBS, about the only prescription drugs that do anything (and they aren't awesome, but they do help) are Bentyl (generic name: dicyclomine) and Levsin (also called Levbid; generic name hyoscyamine). When my IBS flares up I take Bentyl 3 times a day.

OTC stuff -- honestly, get a really good probiotic. I recommend the "Pearls" kind, made by Enzymatic Therapy, particularly the Pearls IC (IC = intensive care) in the beginning, to get stuff back in balance. After a month or 2 of those, I usually switch to the "regular" Pearls.

Align is a fairly good probiotic, too.

Fiber REALLY helps. She should shoot for 25-30 grams a day, BUT if she hasn't been getting that much before now, she needs to increase her fiber intake gradually, because sudden increased fiber is a recipe for pain and weeping.

Obviously, it's possible to get enough fiber through food (oatmeal, REPRESENT!), but fiber supplements can help as well. So far, the only fiber supplement I've tried that doesn't cause gas and bloating (which are already present with IBS, so why take a supplement that adds to it?) is Citrucel (or its store-brand generic equivalent, which would be methylcellulose). Other fiber supplements -- FiberCon, Metamucil, etc. -- can really aggravate bloating in people with IBS.

Oh! Activated charcoal is *excellent* at reducing bloating. Charcocaps is one brand, but any health-food/natural-food store will have other brands, too. I take the Solaray brand.

About charcoal -- THIS IS IMPORTANT -- it should NOT be taken at the same time as other drugs/supplements. Because charcoal can pull them out of your system if they're taken together (this is why charcoal is given in the ER for an overdose -- it yanks the stuff out). You need to take it 1-2 hours before or after any other supplement. So the timing can be a pain in the ass, but it works REALLY well for the bloating.

Gas-X (or the store brand generic equivalent) can help with bloating and gas, but not in a huge way. (At least, that's been my experience.) I still keep it on hand, because sometime even a little help is better than nothing.

If she has painful cramping, lying down with a heating pad on her tummy helps. And if she doesn't have time to lie down, sticking one of those ThermaCare heat thingies in her undies, like you would for menstrual cramps, works pretty well. That got me through a bad flare when we had to take the nieces and nephews to a movie and dinner.

Oatmeal. When I eat it regularly, my innards feel SO much better.

I'll dig up some Web sites when I have a chance.

Man, that was a huge post! I sure am talky meat when it comes to my innards.

Teppy, thank you so much. Is it ok if I CC&P that to her?

Oh, sure. That's why I posted it.

Thanks again.

You're welcome! I'm just sorry I wasn't around last night.

It's a funny world when you avoid the stress of life by hiding out at work. (Not personal stress. More 'the government wants to kill us all' stress.) I have got a lot of paperwork done today.

Sending you even-keel~ma, Anne.

One of my coworkers has discovered she has IBS, and she is asking what else she can do for herself besides taking Probiotics. Am I remembering right that several Bitches have found it useful to eliminate wheat and/or gluten?

It can help, but it depends on the person. Cutting out lactose also helps certain people. Steph's info is what I want to say only better! I've benefited a lot from cutting right down on gluten and lactose, but I suspect that's because they were aggravating my symptoms, rather than causing them.