So what is IBS? Insanely beautiful specimen? Nah, irritable bowel syndrome. (Not so glamourous)
It's a funny old thing, okay not that funny, it's actually bloody annoying and horrible but there's actually no real known cause for IBS although stress and anxiety has been proven in a lot of cases to play a big part in it. It is also apparently common in anyone who has had a trauma or highly emotional stressful blip in life to develop IBS so maybe loosing my dad plays a part in it but I'm not really sure. It's effects around 10%-15% of people, that's a fair big number, if you think about it.
There isn't a cure nor an answer for how IBS is caused but stress definately plays a massive part in it for me.
Ever since I was a little dink I can remember having a tummy ache and bathroom troubles. And then I finally saw a doctor about it a few years ago after a break up that ended up turning my stomache into a big evil mess and then came the possible answer of IBS.
Thanks to my wonderful mother, I'm pretty sure I've got it from her as she too suffers big time and my symptoms are becoming worse and worse and apparently genetics and a history of IBS in the family can maximise the chances of having the condition (yay).
Anyway, so IBS has many symptoms such as bloating, severe stomach cramps, heart burn, the runs (cos I can't spell the actual word), constipation, feeling full very quickly, feeling sick (also can't spell the proper word, I'm so special) and in worse cases back aches and headaches/migraines. It's to do mainly with the large intestines I believe that can spasm or something (I'm a little useless) and something about a connection from your brain to your gut. I'm not really a medical wizard as you can tell 😏
Some people get these symptoms once in a blue moon, others everyone week or few days. Me? Pretty much every time i put food in my mouth (why am I not skinny yet then). It sucks, like really sucks. I've tried everything from going vegetarian, dairy free, bread free, gluten free, red meat free, acidy foods free. And now im completely alcohol free now too. Not that I've ever really drank, it makes me serious sick, even after one and doctors have said from other medical mishaps that I have a irritable liver/kidneys so it's best just to stay off it completely. (Lucky boyfriend, I'm a cheap date, ha)
So, travelling with IBS.. You can imagine right? Fucking awful at times. Especially having to know where the closest toilet is just incase, which if you've seen African and Asian toilets, you'll understand that it could be QUITE INTERESTING 😏
I carry around numerous amounts of different meds with me from rennie to herbal calming tablets to others I can't pronounce to save my life.
The big factor in mine is stress, I am a stress head, it sucks and I've not quite worked out how to deal with it when it gets bad and another thing to add to it is I totally FREAK out if I get sick. I mean, I know nobody likes being unwell but I totally loose my shit (excuse the pun 😏)
Throwing up scares the hell out of me, I have to have someone there, near enough everytime I'm proper sick I end up panicking so much I pass out. So my mum or my boyfriend have been the lucky ones to try and calm me down and be there if I have blacked out for a minute.
This all came into play when me and Callum were seriously unwell with the common Thailand food poisoning last week in Pai (blog to come) after having some street food for dinner. You can imagine, what a mess.
Anyway, so when I feel my symptoms coming on, I panic about it.. And then my stomache cramps more and then it gets ten times worse and it's just a vicious circle. I come across quite out spoken and confident and self assured, but the people who know me best know I'm also a little stress head and worry about absolutely everything. Soz 😏
For example today, we had an incredible day with some Asian elephants, litterally the best day EVER. But before the day had even started (the night before) I had already played the "what if my stomache sets off there, will I miss it, will there be a toilet, what will people think" blah blah blah. So since the night before, up until we met other people on the same elephant tour, my stomache had given me so much pain I couldn't walk or stand or even move. And then I panicked because the bus was coming to pick us up and it all got abit too much until there was other people and there was something to take my mind off it.
Okay so you get my point now? Vicious circle of IBS. It's a bastard.
Another example was when we were working on a cattle station in the outback. Every single morning I was there for about 45 minutes id be in such pain I wouldn't be able to move from my stomache upset and cramps. No idea what it was that was setting it off, I thought maybe it was eating beef because I had literally just started eating meat again after going veggie for a couple months before hand. But I reckon stress played the biggest part, because I was always worried about the fact there wasn't a toilet in the bush, just... Bush.
Which there's another funny story (it's funny now but definately wasn't at the time) but when we were mustering all day and I was feeling so ill I was actually unwell in the bush with my horse tied up just watching me chuck my guts up along with a couple hundred cattle thinking what the hell is this two legged freak doing in my paddock. Not fun.
Airplanes, trains, coaches.. Any form of transport with IBS acting up is hell. Nights out, meals out, sleeping over a friends house or your boyfriends place, cinema, shopping. Normal things can turn from great to rough in approximately 0.7 seconds.
I've tried meditation, I had this app on my phone and it was all going great until the lady speaking said "now breathe into your ankles" and after that I was totally done, nope, couldn't handle it.
I think I need to start doing yoga.
So things that set my IBS off...
- stress, anxiety, any type of negative emotion
- lack of sleep
- alcohol
- so far pretty much ALL bloody foods!
- being in a new place
- travel sickness (which makes me nervous cos of the whole being sick thing which then brings on my stress to then bring on my IBS, Wooo so much fun)
Tips for travelling if you also are a lucky devil with IBS..
- always carry loo roll (a lot of Asian and African toilets don't have toilet paper, sometimes not even a toilet 👍)
- rennie, it tastes good and seems to work for even a short period of time if I start feeling a turn coming on
- always find out where the closest toilet is
- travel with someone, they can help by taking your mind of things when you feel yourself sliding to the gates of hell (Callum has to tell me stories to calm me down sometimes, once upon a time...)
- eat plain foods, drink a lot of water (something I have to force down me)
- always carry those sachets incase you get really ill and can't stop.. Y'know.. Being unwell 😏
- when you feel it coming on, distract yourself or read about it on google, it makes me feel less alone.
- lie down on your left hand side (apparently it can settle cramps a little)
- try to relax, it's normal and I feel silly writing this because I'm THE WORST at staying calm, but it's a common thing and you're not alone.
- make sure your travel insurance covers IBS
- find a pharmacy if you get really stuck.
- enjoy it all as much as you can, it's something you can't cure, so just try and deal with it as best as you can ☺️
Oh and I wrote this blog post to distract me from me having a flare up 👍
Laters.
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