I am writing in respect of the treatment I have received for my Irritable Bowel Syndrome which has been ruling my life for the last 24 months.

I was diagnosed with the condition after exhausting all other possibilities and then set about reading everything I could and trying to find out how I could manage it. Nothing worked; diet alterations, stress relief, homeopathy, naturopathy -- all to no avail.

I was still having 8-10 bowel motions a day, the worst aspect of which was the urgency and immediacy that would hit me wherever I was. Going out for meals or a visit to the there after became a thing of the past.

By the time I was introduced to Ibsacol by my doctor, I was ready to try anything, although I was quite sceptical as I had already tried and failed with all other treatments.

The effect was almost immediate, in as much as the urgency and looseness of the bowels seemed greatly eased, although the frequency was still the same. However, even this seemed to be improving after a period of 2-3 weeks.

I am now 5-6 weeks into the treatment and my life has completely turned around.

I can now safely go shopping, walk the dogs, or drive into Auckland city without breaking into a terrible sweat and panic about where the nearest toilet is.

I conclude it was definitely the Ibsacol that has improved my condition so much that I have now become almost symptom free.

The anxiety and depression I had been suffering had been an effect rather than the cause of my IBS. It is still early days but I am feeling confident and happier than I have in months.

This week I have even been brave enough to re-introduce some of the foods that I have found irritate my bowel, and I am still symptom free -- I can't tell you how grateful I am for these wonderful capsules.

Thank you. Mrs J.C., October 1999, Auckland, New Zealand.

Update February, 2000

It is now nearly six months and I am delighted to say I have a normal life once again. And I have been able to halve the dose of capsules from when I began the treatment.

When I began taking the 4 capsules three times a day, I was very skeptical. In fact, when I got better at first, I thought it couldn't possibly be the capsules. I had become so used to living in panic, especially with the incontinence I had been enduring, it took me a month to accept the Ibsacol capsules were indeed working. In fact, I realized it definitively when I went away for a couple of days and forgot to take them and the worst symptoms returned with a vengeance. Now I have supplies everywhere.