Anyone run with IBS? (Read 1557 times)

What does his diet consist of?

I heard a school teacher cured the common cold. And I didn't even have to use google for that one. You know nothing about your doctors' frustrations. That the medical system is screwed up has nothing to do with your doctors any more than it has to do with their patients. You want change? Stop being mad at well-intentioned, hard-working, underappreciated people who are just as caught up in a screwed up system as you are. All that money you paid? It does not likely go to the docs. It goes to administrators and lawyers (sorry) and insurers and politicians and lobbyists* and other special interests. Your doctors want the "system" changed far more than you can possibly imagine. Destroying your life being mad at the only people who tried to help you, despite their perhaps limited knowledge (can you hold 2 million facts** in your mind? Really?) and even more limited time, will not help you get better and does nothing to help those around you. All it does is stink. You want change? Stop your bitching and start a revolution. * The AMA is partly a lobbying organization, not as much an organization that somehow embodies doctors, with all their diversity in backgrounds, training, knowledge, skills and cultures. The AMA likely had almost nothing to do with your case, with advocating for or against knowledge, or with your specific doctors' approaches to your case. **A study in about 1980 estimated that the limited field of internal medicine alone contained at the time 2 million facts that had to be mastered. Add in the rest of the medical fields and the expansion of knowledge that has occurred in the nearly 20 years since, and we are probably up closer to 10 million facts. The human mind is simply not able to hold that much information, and you would be foolish to expect anybody to do so. Given that breadth of knowledge, relatively uncommon diseases and poorly defined syndromes are, by definition, going to be difficult to identify and manage. And gut dysbiosis (which many believe does not even exist since it cannot be proven to exist) ≠ IBS. Modified to correct grammar.

You want change? Stop your bitching and start a revolution.

Amen. greggar - I'm positive you aren't the only one who struggles with health issues that defy even the brightest minds. Bitching about it on a running forum doesn't do anyone any good.

There's an expression that goes something along the lines of "...we get the government we deserve.." which implies that we get the government we deserve by OUR actions and how we CHOOSE to engage the system. I believe that to be true as well for medical care. There are many physicians who choose not to participate in the company-payroll-funded medical system we've asked for created and supported. You can leave the system, and you can get great medical care. I know, I do it for both my medical and dental care.

RunnerJohn, thanks for the kind words and I am sorry for your frustrations. Every profession has bad apples, and medicine is no different. By and large, though, people go into medical school to with good intentions, many wanting to stamp out disease and help the sick. Folks primarily wanting to earn the almighty buck go elsewhere. You know, where they actually can earn said buck without all sorts of middle-men fighting for every spare nickel. Over time, many docs do become disillusioned and dispirited due to frustrations with reimbursement that does not cover costs, excessive paperwork and administrivia, the push from administrators to see more and more patients in less and less time, the growing complexity of medicine and expansion of knowledge beyond what any person can manage, and sadly, the explosion of good and bad information on the internet that requires time to learn (or unlearn). An informed patient can be your and their own best advocate, but it can be very difficult for people to discern good information and misinformation on the internet, and to determine whether and how it applies to a specific case. On drug paraphernalia, I agree. Drug company crap has no business in doctors' offices (although arguments can be made for samples to be given to needy patients or patients wanting to try a med before committing to a full prescription). That is a rant for another day. Suffice it to say that it is unfortunately fairly difficult for docs to keep them out. Most docs don't own or set the policy in their clinics. Kickbacks generally don't happen anymore, and when they do and folks get caught, docs generally lose their license (drug companies don't usually have any penalty, which is why they still go on). At our institution, the drug companies are completely barred. MilkTruck, I have oft thought of doing exactly that. The problem is, it does not well scale to the entirety of our society. Many simply do not have the resources to chose in that way.

If you're going to a specialist, the Doctor DOES make a HUGE amount of money, at least in the U.S. Around me, Gastroenterologists straight out of residency are making $200K plus (and this is AFTER their practice pays their malpractice insurance (which is only insanely high for certain surgeons, BTW). Slightly more experienced specialists of various types make make upwards of $300K ... and this is in the middle of nowhere, PA. Now, if you're going to a family practitioner, chances are they make relatively little ($80-120K). But if you have IBS/IBD/etc and don't see a specialist you have no business complaining about your care. A family practitioner is trained to treat minor issues and refer out. Human nature wants to ignore things we cannot change unless it impacts us directly. It is difficult for a GI doctor to place a high priority on a patient who has complicated, yet relatively minor issues (compared to the emergency cases they see). I have IBD (Ulcerative Colitis I believe), and every single doctor said basically the same thing "here's a prescription for XYZ med ... if your flares don't get better we'll have to remove your colon". They did not want to help ... they were NOT frustrated ... they wanted to work within the rules defined for them by the medical practice so they could say "I followed the standard protocol" Here's the problem - say one of these doctors said "instead of taking drugs, stop eating all sugars and refined carbs - beef up your protein and fat intake and take some natural anti-bacterial/anti-fungal foods". If he had said that, I would have gotten better immediately (this is what I did on my own). However, if I had taken said advice and gotten worse, he could have lost his license due to following a course not accepted by the mainstream. To a board or jury, me dying during an unnecessary colonoscopy is better than being alive with worsening symptoms under an alternative approach. That said ... one of the MAJOR problems with alternative treatments is the lack of studies. Seriously, have you ever seen the studies done for some alternate treatment protocols? Most are laughable case studies, or 5-10 person non-randomized studies. Money exists for these things, but those interested in testing the alternatives typically are too skeptical of the mainstream medicine to utilize their methods, too scared of poor results, or just too inexperienced at putting together a good experimental design to create something that mainstream medicine would embrace. And they would embrace it. Most doctors now suggest a multi-vitamin, many now suggest probiotics, many suggest a balanced diet (vs. high carb), some suggest fish oil supplements or foods with higher Omega-3s, and some talk about Aloe Vera juice. All of these alternative treatments were considered worthless or fringe until studies showed them to be effective. Even treatments like Chiropractic and Acupuncture are now recommended by doctors, even though the AMA waged a war against DCs for decades ... once again, a shift after studies showed some level of benefit. Doctors look at facts, not case studies or websites, to determine their treatment protocols. If we want to change the way doctors treat patients, we need to fund REAL research into non-pharmaceutical treatment protocols. Unfortunately, many of the well-funded studies have showed limited benefits or even harm ... suggesting that the 'works for some, not others' nature of improvement could be the placebo effect in some cases. Alright, I'll shut up. Geez.

I heard a school teacher cured the common cold. And I didn't even have to use google for that one.

great, i'm sure that will come in handy.

You know nothing about your doctors' frustrations.

why would you assume that? did i write something about not listening to my doctors that would lead you to believe this? if so, i don't know what it is. but, i do understand the frustrations of medical professionals. i do because i live with a charge nurse who works on a stem cell transplant floor. meaning, she treats people that have cancer and one foot in the grave. every couple/few weeks, i hug her as she sobs uncontrollably over a patient lost to celestial discharge. and it's ironic that we're debating this now. why? because one of my best friends is coming here on the 15th to have me put her through the same cleanse/probiotic protocol that saved me. why is this ironic? she's an internal med doc. so, no, i don't agree with your statement that i fail to understand the frustrations of those attempting to treat me.

That the medical system is screwed up has nothing to do with your doctors any more than it has to do with their patients.

that argument is just absurd. the healers aren't to be blamed for failing to heal the sick? that's like saying the passengers on the bus caused the bus to crash, not the driver.

You want change? Stop being mad at well-intentioned, hard-working, underappreciated people who are just as caught up in a screwed up system as you are.

why? while i appreciate their intentions and work, their skill is what i need. if they don't have the skills, they fail. and, yes, i will hold them accountable for this. look at it this way: i work in distribution, which is a high-falootin' way of saying i ship boxes. the environment we work in has no HVAC. meaning in the winter it's sometimes 30 degrees and in the summer it's sometimes 100 degrees. if we don't deliver our customers' products because it's too hot or too cold to work, noboby cares. at all. we could have the best intentions, but if we lack the ability to get the job done, no matter how awful and hard as it is to do, no excuse is acceptable. why on earth would somebody with 4x the education and paycheck as myself be held less accountable? again, that would be absurd. now, don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to say docs should make me invincible. but they failed, and i'm not talking one doc or two. i'm talking about every doc for 30 years, under several health care providers, and in several states. they all utterly failed. and here is the crux of my argument: then i found the cure at whole foods. are you kidding me? all those tests, all those procedures, all those doctors, all those hundreds of thousands of dollars my insurers spent, all that time, all that pain, all that misery... ... and the answer was on the shelf at the grocery store next door? yeah, that's crap. that's a level of inability that is not only unacceptable, it's outrageous. and i mean that in the most distilled sense of the word outrageous: it causes rage.

All that money you paid? It does not likely go to the docs. It goes to administrators and lawyers (sorry) and insurers and politicians and lobbyists* and other special interests.

yes, the money goes to many people other than docs, that i don't doubt. but that doesn't mean docs don't make good money. how do i know? cuz my friend that is the internal med doc has other people research and purchase her cars and sporting goods for her. 'if i give you my credit card, can you just take care of this for me? don't worry about how much, just get what seems best.'

Your doctors want the "system" changed

this is where we agree.

far more than you can possibly imagine.

again, what makes you think you know this about me? i'm a trained writer, therefore, i can imagine more than you can imagine (don't freak out, that's a joke, sarcasm, humor, etc.).

Destroying your life being mad

yet again, why do you make these assumptions? my life is not being destroyed. not by my ire for western medicine, not by posting on this board, not by debating with you. where do you get this stuff?

the only people who tried to help you

you're assuming that nobody ever helped me. i suppose that's understandable considering those are the only people we have discussed, but it's incorrect. several docs have helped me. the docs with skill. they also happen to be docs the AMA has run out of business.

despite their perhaps limited knowledge (can you hold 2 million facts** in your mind? Really?)

and that is the problem. there aren't 2M things to recall. to whit, here is the list of diagnoses i have received in my lifetime (or, at least, all that i can remember): chronic bronchitis chronic conjunctivitis asthma ulcers IBS whipple's disease celiac disease lupus chronic fatigue syndrome gout rheumatoid arthritis morbid obesity there are three or four more, but i can't recall them. the point is, i cured myself of all of them. and all i treated was gut dysbiosis. no need to recall 2M facts.

and even more limited time

here we agree.

will not help you get better and does nothing to help those around you.

yes, it did help me get better. make no mistake, my recovery was in part motivated by spiting the incompetent people who were paid good money to fail. no doubt, i wanted to prove them wrong... because i knew they were wrong all along. and as far as it not helping those around me, eh... please go back and reference my friend the internal med doc who is coming here in two weeks so i can help her recover her health.

All it does is stink.

all revolutions do before public sentiment is changed.

You want change? Stop your bitching and start a revolution.

again, here we agree. you don't think this discussion is for my benefit, do you? i went down this road years ago. i'm typing these words for other people.

* The AMA is partly a lobbying organization, not as much an organization that somehow embodies doctors, with all their diversity in backgrounds, training, knowledge, skills and cultures. The AMA likely had almost nothing to do with your case, with advocating for or against knowledge, or with your specific doctors' approaches to your case.

yes, i realize this. i'm not a complete fool; i know the AMA doesn't have a most wanted poster with my ugly mug on it. the problem is the AMA fails to recognize gut dysbiosis. but they will, and it will happen in our lifetime (mark my words on this one). don't believe me? click here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=autism+probiotics&aq=f&oq=

And gut dysbiosis (which many believe does not even exist since it cannot be proven to exist) ≠ IBS.

not yet. see above.