So I've been doing research this morning regarding diets for IBS. There is so much conflicting information out there. Web MD says one thing. Mayo says something similar but slightly different. This other web site says a lot more and contradicts some of what Mayo says... It boils down to this - cutting red meat, only eating white meat poultry no skin or lower fat fish. No nut butters, but if I finely ground nuts, I can have them, so they say??? No coffee, not even decaf. No caffeine. No beans unless I blend them up. No solid chocolate, only cocoa powder. No veggies unless they are cooked. Some websites say to peel the skins off fruit to make them easily digestible. Others say to leave them on for the fiber. One web site recommends a severely limited diet with very few foods. Another recommends eating veggies of all sorts for fiber. Can't I just eat what tastes tasty as long as it is 'healthy'?

All I know is that I am tired of being afraid of wandering too far from a bathroom. The things I am doing consistently do nothing, though have reduced my headaches. Others I am doing inconsistently definitely aren't working. I'm about to give up and go back to enjoying food and damning the consequences.

Food and the way it affects my body has become this horrible enemy that I want to conquer. But according to some web sites it may not be a food issue at all. It might have more to do with anxiety. If that is the case, why have my doctors not suggested this. I had no idea IBS triggers were stress and anxiety. Duh?!?! I have generalized anxiety disorder!!! Could all of my digestive problems be solved by me taking a stupid antidepressant or anti anxiety med? Seriously?

I am in pain daily. My stomach hurts daily. For the past several months I have had diarrhea at least 2-3 days a week. Sometimes my digestive system stops working and I don't go for several days. I oscillate wildly between an overworked digestive tract and one that doesn't work at all.

I am seriously at my wits end with all of this. I need answers. I need some real solutions. I want to enjoy food again. I want to enjoy life. I don't want to be so consumed with what I can or can't eat. I just want to live... And dang it, I want a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich on my favorite Arnold Oatnut bread with a giant glass of skim milk. I miss real milk. I miss real bread.