My IBS was stress induced, a problem with plane tickets, the night before I was due to fly on holiday. Although this was resolved quickly and efficiently by my airline, the problem persisted throughout the holiday. Boston was where I first lost my dignity, by having to knock on a closed restaurant door and ask the staff if I could use their toilet.

The stress was only doubled as this was a fly drive holiday, and I was concerned about getting caught in traffic and not being able to use the toilet. As you can imagine a lot of the holiday was spent close to the hotels as I was having to run back to use the loo.

The problem seemed to fade slightly once home but a couple of months later it showed itself again. This time I went to the doctor. He told me it was more than likely a nasty bug that had probably not cleared up. So off I went, telling myself "Pull yourself together!".

Then one night very close to Christmas, I woke up with the most excruciating pain in my stomach ever. Honestly, I think having kids will be a breeze, if I can endure that. With hindsight, I know now it was colic, but you can imagine my shock and worry when I noticed blood in my stool. Apparently I had swelled and twisted so much inside it had caused tears in my intestine. So off to casualty I went.

The upshot is, I have IBS, and at this point making any kind of journey or going out for the evening was a no-no. I was not going to get stuck in traffic and suffer the pains, or be out somewhere for a nice evening and have to rush off to find a toilet. I started to turn down all invitations.

This carried on for a long while whilst I tried a number of remedies I found in help books. Unfortunately, none worked.

Then one day I cam across IBSACOL on their website and thought. Well I've wasted money on other stuff, even if it doesn't work; it has to be worth a try. So I did. WOW. After 3 weeks I noticed the effects, now I have completely turned around, eating everything I used to eat, going out again. My life is back on track.

I wont lie and say I am completely cured, because the main problem is psychological. I still worry in traffic, but not to the point where I start to get stomach pains if the cars ahead are braking. It rears it's head now and then, but only for a day or so and once in a blue moon.

Thanks for all your help at the Meracol Corporation.

14th December 2004

BEFORE IBSACOL:

1. When did your IBS begin? September 2002

2. What were your worst symptoms ? Bleeding from the rear after severe colic

3. What current medication were you taking? Tried various remedies. But nothing specific

4. What other forms of treatment have you tried with or without success? I tried peppermint oil, prescribed pills from the doctor, acidophilus tablets.

5. Did you need to adjust your diet ? When I was ill, I had to adjust my diet, after the IBSACOL my diet has returned to as it was before the problems.

AFTER IBSACOL:

1. If we measure your IBS symptoms before using Ibsacol as 100 on a score of 100 to 1, by what amount have your IBS symptoms decreased since using Ibsacol ? I am now on a 10. Occasionally it plays up, but I can now easily control it.

2. If your overall quality of life was 0 before using Ibsacol, on a score of 1 - 10, where would you mark it now ? I would say a 9.

3. Do you currently take any other medications for IBS other than Ibsacol ? If so, please name them. None

IBS-D