On The Mend: Status 2

Ok, so I agreed to give an update once I have taken a course of antibiotics. Keep in mind that I continued with Endep, the FODMAP diet, Vitamin D and daily exercise which consists of a walk around the block, reps, squats, star jumps and stretches.

Just to fill you in my gastroenterologist prescribed a two week course of rifaximin 500mg. There have been studies showing that 40% of patients with IBS that took rifaximin had symptoms improved. Symptoms improved for a period of two months, sometimes longer.

I am at the end of my second week of taking the antibiotics and unfortunately I did not get the results I was hoping for, however, I have appeared to improve a bit overall over the past month.

- I have not been spitting out bloody mucus. I have come to conclude on this that perhaps at times I may have scratched my throat somehow causing a mild infection which developed the bloody mucus. Not so worried about it. And just incase if the bloody mucus was caused by reflux my mum suggested that I drink half a glass of raw cabbage juice every morning before breakfast for two months. Refer to post "Benefits of Cabbage Juice" for more details.

- The abdominal discomfort and pain and chest discomfort when going to bed does appear to have reduced a bit. I still sometimes have discomfort. I also assisted this by eating a bowl of rice bubbles with little milk and sugar before bed. Thought that this might assist with keeping acid levels low.

- I still have excess flatulence, but overall pain levels have seemed to reduce a little.

Although things appear to be going in a positive direction I still have my off days where I just feel utterly fed up, hopeless and just want it all to end. I sometimes feel as though I will never feel normal again, but all I can do when this happens is try to block that thought out of my head and distract my mind with TV, or piano, or something else.

I am now going to take another course of VSL #3 (a strong pro-biotic filled with 450 billion good bacteria). Each package of VSL has 30 sachets, so the course lasts for a month. At the end of this month I will let you know how I have progressed. If I'm still having problems I am going to try drinking aloe vera juice every day for one to two months. Refer to post "Benefits of Aloe Vera Juice" for more details.

Shikz