The great thing about what I posted is, it can't hurt you unless you are a diabetic with starch-exchange worries. Oh I guess the oats, in some forms, could bother diverticulitis, but the basic plan helps just about every kind of digestive problem there is. Following it is one way to help the doc know that what is was, was indeed IBS. Cuz if it ain't-- that regimen won't help much.

A few of the signs it ain't IBS-- blood, barf, blues, fever, and fainting spells. Any of that going on-- go to the ER. I'm sure others can add to that list, and my post is NOT meant to be a medical diagnosis or treatment plan.

My secret info is that this person Bobert wrote about has had IBS before and is confident that's what's up now.

And about food allergies-- that's a catchall term. There are true allergies-- where a little will set off a list of symptoms, no matter what else you do-- and food sensitivities-- where with the proper management, one CAN handle the item in small quantities.

A LOT of IBS sufferers get into a mindset of "Oh poor me, I can't eat this, or this, or that. I can't go out, I can't do this, or that, or anything.... . I need help from YOU because I gave in to a craving and ate something I KNOW sets me off...." This becomes a sentence of victimhood and deprivation, and one can talk oneself into this quite easily in the same way bulimics talk themselves into a body-image that requires them to purge. But the reality is, they CAN eat all that, and DO all that, IF they are ALSO eating and living in balance. People like that blame the food, when really it's their stress or lifestyle choices causing them problems. (I'm not referring to Bobert's friend or anyone in this thread, but to people I know and am related to!) They brag about having IBS instead of dealing with it and overcoming it.

IBS used to be called Spastic Colitis, and the stereotype was nervous women with psychosomatic symptoms-- people used to the victim role for attention. Looking at it as a disorder of one's habits, which one can easily change, is just a much more empowering approach.

~S~