Can post-infectious IBS be cured by taking antibiotics?
Also, what are the links between serotonin levels and GI track activity? Would a person with clinical depression and anxiety issues have an imbalance of serotonin in his or her intestines that could cause IBS?
Would weight loss, rest and change of diet be likely to improve the irritable bowel symptoms of somebody who is experiencing IBS because of one of the two aforementioned reasons?
Should they drink diet soda or not?
NO DIET SODA. That is unhealthy for a healthy person!
Secondly, there seems to be a link where the bowels are concerned and the brain.
Changing your eating habits requires that you keep a diary of what you eat and your bowel movements.
IBS has several different types: mixed bowel movements between runny and normal or hard stools, runny stools, large soft or hard stools.
Refined Sugar can definatly upset the serotonin in the gi tract. There are other foods out there that can cause IBS as well, but on individual basis. Everyone is different.
What happens in IBS is that the intestines are lacking enough or are void in the two types (different than the types in the brain). When this happens, the regulation of serotonin in the brain begins to wax and wane.
As an example, for those with IBS that do not have a bowel movement for three or more days:
leading up to a bowel movement can be painful. once the bowel movement takes place, mood seems to improve.
Right before a bowel movement a person can "explode" in fits of anger, cry for no apparent reason.
Often IBS will mimic ADD, Depression or Bi-Polar illness. IBS is often overlooked. Sometimes a doctor will prescribe an antidepressant like Zoloft, sometimes it works, on others it may make the situation worse. The doctor will often try different anti-depressants which really do no good. Not only that, but anti-depressants, over time can actually change the chemistry and how they relate to one another in the brain. They do more harm than good in the long run.
If it is truely IBS, diet in combination with Polyethelyne Glycol 550 will do the trick. It will help keep a persons IBS under control, but it is only used for a few months, but this doesn’t "cure" you so to speak….a person once diagnosed with Ibs will always have episodes, sometimes stressful situations can cause it, other times it was something you ate.
FYI: If you have been diagnosed with IBS and have other issues you feel are related, it could be you have some underlying liver issue. I suffered from IBS as well as other off and on again intestinal issues and decades later I was diagnosed with chronic hcv infection. I went undiagnosed because my alt and ast levels always appeared normal (or slightly elevated at times). Once I did antiviral chemotherapy (time release interferon-MADE with polyethelyne glycol *it made the medication time released) I have only had a few flare ups in the last 6 years. Lettuce seems to be the culprit for me.
As for post infectious Ibs, antibiotics probably wont do the trick- infact it can add to your problem because antibiotics strip the intestines of all the good stuff along with all the bad stuff. A great article is found at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irritable_bowel_syndrome
(it lists artificial sweetners as a no-no).
Try Stevia- it is not a sugar, but it is sweet and a little bit goes a long way. You can find it at places like GNC. It’s expensive considering the amounts they sell it in, but like I said, a teeny bit goes a long way.
As always, check with your doctor before adding anything new and keep a food diary- you will quickly learn what aggrivates the issue.