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We went away this weekend again (Really, for someone with IBS, I seem to do a lot of car traveling). The trip itself this time was ok. But once I got there, just thing after thing after thing piled up until I felt horrible Saturday afternoon. I take the meds at certain times, which have to be followed by food at certain times, to be most effective. I am used to eating like this:
5:00 am – alarm goes off. booooo….
5:30 am -Take pill
6:00am – Breakfast – two waffles with syrup and juice
9:00 am – bagel
11:30 am – take 2 pills
12:00 pm – lunch, usually a sandwich
4:00 pm – snack – usually more waffles, they are a wicked staple in my diet
5:00 pm – take a pill
5:30 pm – eat dinner
Now that you all have more info than you will ever need – Hahahahaha Needless to say, the routine up there is waaaaaayyyyyyyyy different. Not even close. But I won’t bore you. I started to type it and was boring myself. Bad sign.
So anyway, this weekend :
1. I got off my schedule. Eating and sleeping where all messed up time wise and Whoa! My body doesn’t like that.
2. I had to eat someone else’s less than healthy cooking. Chicken that had baked and created an inch of grease around it. EWW. My poor tummy. But it tasted good.
3. Crappy sleeping. The Kid has to room in with us while we visit. So every little noise he makes, I’m awake. Plus, it’s a lot harder to pretend that I am asleep so the Hubby will get up with him when he wakes up at 5 A.M. (Not that I ever do that. Nope, not me. Well, ok. Maybe I have done it once or twice. But I always end up getting up anyway if I am really awake because I feel bad that he is up and I’m not). So after two nights, I was a little low on sleep. I never feel good when I don’t get enough sleep.
4. I walked too much. Experts say that exercise is good for bowel health. HA! It’s helps with mobility. People with IBS-D (or in my case IBS-Combo) do NOT need help in that area. So I walked around the mall, and then walked around outside and then had to do some seriously lengthy sitting still on the Throne. blah.
So come Sunday morning, I was ready to go. Ready to get home. I had to go while the going was good. But I am glad we went. And am equally glad that I am home.
ok, so I’m bored and I am playing around with how the site looks. so don’t be surprised if it keeps changing for the next few days. let me know if you have a favorite! Right now I have a picture of a beach in Maine. Peaceful. But I don’t know if it’s “right”. *sigh*
Sex.
That is what is missing in my life.
Because really, how does one get “in the mood” when you have a constant dull pain in your belly. Or when you are trying not to fart (because that is just sooooooooo romantic). Or when any pressure on your belly makes it hurt.
My poor husband.
He took the day off yesterday, to have a day to ourselves while the Kid was at daycare. I had grand plans if you know what I mean, and of course, I had a stomach ache all day. Regardless of what I ate, or what I did, my tummy just didn’t want to have a good day.
Damn it. *sigh*
A big thank you to the 79 people who read my blog yesterday and helped push my total views to over 1,000! cool. Not bad for the amount of time I have been blogging. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but that rocks! 
I hope everyone has a great day!
1. Steak/red meat - I used to live on steak. Every time I went out I had steak, medium well with lots of A1 sauce. But a couple of weeks ago we where over at a friend’s house and they made steaks for them and the Hubby and EWWWWWWW it smelled so gross. This is one thing I am glad to be over. I am really getting used to the turkey burgers. They’re good! And both my Hubby and I agree that the turkey sausage I buy now is much better than “normal” sausage. I am slowly trying to find recipes that I can substitute ground turkey for ground hamburger. (any one have one they can share???) We have found one thing that it does not substitute in - tacos. We used to have tacos at least once a week. We tried to make them about a month ago, and yuck. We had to throw them out. But the turkey makes a yummy Shepard’s pie and super yummy meatloaf.
2. Ice Cream – I steal a bite of my Hubby’s ice cream every once in awhile. And, wow, it tastes gross lately. I used to love Cookies and Cream ice cream. And the caramel sundaes from McDonald’s (hey, what can I say, I grew up on McDonald’s, my Dad loved to go there all the time). And my absolute favorite, the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. mmmmm…. I am pretty sure I would still like that one. But over all, ick. Yay!!!
3. Candy bars – mmmm snickers. and peanut butter cups. They sound good, but I think I am getting over it. I hope.
4. Orange Juice – I used to drink over a gallon a week. But I am getting used to my replacement juice. Now I drink cran-raspberry juice, much easier on the tummy. But every once in awhile…. mmmmm
5. Alcohol – I wasn’t a big drinker before, I had maybe a drink a month. But they where always orange juice concoctions. Alcohol and orange juice - no third strike needed. Two strikes, they’re out.
6. Dunkin donuts – I loved their donuts and their iced coffee. But it’s just not worth it anymore. Feeling ok is better than the chocolate glazed yummy-ness we used to enjoy every Sunday. I am able to drive by the bazillion DD around town with out feeling depressed.
I am on vacation all week. It’s school vacation week. So I get to sit around and not get paid! Yippie! Gotta love losing half a paycheck. So there may be many weird rambling posts that have little or nothing to do with IBS as I strive to entertain myself. But don’t worry, this one will be connected. I think.
So anyway, I have to find things to amuse myself with all this time off. Because laundry and cleaning the kitchen are no fun, I am reading a lot of blogs. I am also job hunting (more on that later I’m sure). But yesterday I had to go grocery shopping because the Kid had no milk. And the Hubby had no butter. So off I went all by myself, just me and my huge sweet tooth. BIG Mistake. Big! Huge! I bought chocolate. Bad me. Someone smack my hand. I bought brownies! I haven’t made them yet. But there is no milk in the mix. Just oil to watch for. So I will have to make them and have a small brownie, only half the pan. And perhaps a whole bottle of fiber. mmmm. yummy. I’m going to make them this afternoon.
I also bought Andies mints. yummy chocolate and mint. mmmmm….I love them. I wish I could only eat one. But that is just not how I am hard wired. I wish the Hubby would eat more of them…
I bought some yummy yummy pork chops. I had half a chop, the Kid pretended to heat the other half, and the Hubby got the rest. It was great to have something that wasn’t turkey or chicken. Pork seems to be a hit and miss with me. So far so good, no bad reactions. Yet. Every once in awhile you just have to take a chance. But only in the privacy of your own home.
The worst thing though, was the box of Corn Pops that some how materialized in my shopping cart. Their big problem is all the sugar. I love the yummy sweet crunchiness. But my blood sugar doesn’t. So I may get light headed soon (hopefully after I am done with this post). I should eat some protein.
So, what does all this mean??? I am so off my normally very boring and predictable diet. This could be disastrous. Or it could be ok. Gotta love to total lack of predictability that is life with IBS. Good thing I don’t have anywhere to be this week. But tomorrow I have to get back to normal, because we are supposed to go to the in-laws this weekend. We want to leave Friday. So I have to be able to travel. I’ll have to send the brownies to work with the Hubby. So sad. But maybe some of this stuff will trigger a bowel movement. I had a little one yesterday, the only sign on movement since Friday, when I unfortunately had to take a little bit of Imodium. Imodium is not good for me, system is way to sensitive to it. So I am sure there will be a horrible day around here any time. It has to happen before Friday. Has too – because I said so. I want to go away this weekend, I have lots of cool Pampered Chef stuff to pick up.
For the record, I feel fine today.
Ha, famous last words.
Have you seen this? The short version of the story: Woman accused of shop lifting blames her actions on irritable bowel syndrome. WHAT?!?!?! Are you kidding me? It was reportedthat she took a plastic bag out of her purse, filled it and then walked out of the store. She told the cop that she can’t wait in line because she has IBS.
Any one else ever been driven to larceny because of their IBS??? I, for one, have not. I didn’t realize it was an excuse to be a criminal! Maybe I should try it… (can you feel the sarcasm oozing out of the screen??)
I have had attacks while grocery shopping and it sucks. I have left the store more than once with only a fraction of what I went in there to buy. It’s just one of those things. I try to always take the Hubby with me so he can finish the shopping if I have to take up refuge in the bathroom. Besides, he always pushes the cart.
I wonder if she really expected to get away with it.
2 AM is not my preferred time to be awake. But there I was this morning, wide awake all of a sudden thanks to sudden horrible cramping and an urgent desire to run to the bathroom. Lovely.
I spent the next 45 minutes in the bathroom and the next hour after that laying in bed wishing my belly would stop hurting so I could fall asleep and not have to be back in the bathroom.
Apparently that worked because it went from 3:30 to alarm time at 5:00 very quickly. But I still felt horrible.
This, I think, it payback. My body’s way of reminding me who is in charge. You see, I went for my follow-up appointment at my GI doctor yesterday. And I told him how great I had been feeling and how I hadn’t had diarrhea much at all in the last month and how things in general where much better. And then my intestines decided to laugh at me.
They have a cruel sense of humor.
Maybe it is because I spend so much time in bathrooms. Maybe I am just neurotic. But my absolute biggest pet peeve is people who do not knock before they try to open a bathroom door! ARGH! It makes me boiling mad every time. If you knock, I assure you I will tell you I am there. Don’t people realize how rude that is????? And besides, locks fail! ARGH! I know everyone goes to the bathroom and when you are sitting down there really isn’t much showing but still! Totally embarrassing. Especially if I am having one of my bad days.
Public restrooms with multiple stalls are the worst - Check for feet before you push the door open people! Easy, simple. Takes 2 seconds to be polite and maintain the allusion of privacy we pretend to have in public restrooms. I also hate that they all have little gaps between the door panels. Sometimes the gaps in the doors are not so little. I always feel like people can see me, which of course they can. When we are in there for a 2 second pee it’s not big deal. Where you are in there for a painful 20 minutes marathon session, it sucks. Especially when there is a long line and you know people are waiting for you to get the hell out of their way.
How many times have you been walked in on? I have lost count myself. But my most mortifying experience? Well that would be the time that the person who didn’t knock was my father-in-law. Yep. That was a blast. The Hubby and I where visiting and because of small children that where running around at the time, they keep the bathroom door close. I closed the door and locked it but it didn’t engage. So now I am obsessive compulsive about checking the lock. I lock it, rattle the door to make sure it is really closed. I check the door at least three times before I start. If someone walks by, I cough. I don’t even mean to do it, it just happens – my new defense mechanism I guess. I want there to be no mistake – the closed door means occupied.
I hate big bathrooms. The ones where the door is so far from the toilet you can’t reach out and stop it from opening if someone tries to come in. I feel very, um, exposed. Vulnerable. There is not place to hide in such big rooms. I hate it. The TGI Friday’s in Florida where I used to live has wonderful stalls. Small, dark, and with doors that go all the way to the floor and way up over my head. The thick solid doors that block noise are a huge bonus. I worry about their flushing mechanism, but privacy is never an issue.
Work seems to have the highest number of No-Knock Offenders. And it just so happens that I hate those bathrooms with a passion. One – they are too big for my taste. Too much space for sound to echo around in there. Two – the door opens out into a hallway. I work in a high school. The faculty bathrooms are along the halls where kids walk past and bang into the door every 45 minutes. It’s hell getting stuck in there when classes change. Every time it sounds like someone is trying the door handle, my heart stops. And for some reason, people like to stand outside the door and talk. What are they doing out there so close?? Listening?? Come on! Have a little common sense. Do you want people standing two feet from the door while you are taking care of business? Teachers do it to. Stand right outside the door so I literally run into them when I walk out. It’s a huge hallway people. You can stand a few feet away and still be in line for the bathroom. Sheesh.
New information on Crohn’s and a genetic link for those who may be interested and haven’t seen it yet.
I have an undergraduate background biology. So stuff like this catches my eye and is always fascinating to me. Maybe if they can identify the genes at work here, some day it will lead to better treatments and better quality of life for those that suffer with these diseases. Truthfully though, hearing that they are finding genetic components to some of these diseases freaks me out a bit. I am worried that I have passed on some crappy genes (ha.ha.) to my son. I hope I haven’t condemned him to a life of dealing with IBS or something worse. I want more children and honestly I pray for boys because there are so many things I hope I don’t pass down to a daughter. I hope that by the time he is a young adult there are new treatments and new ways to help the quality of life - just in case I passed down the wrong X chromosome. Articles like this show that the medical community is working on these diseases and gives me hope.
