Blog For Your Bowels

I am really stuffed up…like a turkey on thanksgiving. I took way too much Imodium over the weekend.

On to the cake. I turned 27 years young this past Saturday and yes, the gray hairs continue to grow. I feel distinguished and if anything, my colon recognizes that, and put me through the wringer this weekend. Real quick, I had my first colonoscopy 10 years ago, and upon coming out of anesthesia I was told that I had an “elongated colon”. Yeah, okay, so what? So my colon looks healthy but is too long? Anyways, that pissed me off, and now I wonder if my colon continues to grow in spite of me.

The birthday celebration started with a BBQ with some buddies at Rizzo’s Bar, out on Long Island, and boy can this kid cook. Filets, lamb chops, veal on the bone, and even some bacon to decorate each delectable entrée. We ate a lot, drank a lot, and so in time came the urgent need for the “John”. A quick dash past two wild, flesh-eating puppies led me to the well-known and frequented mirrored bathroom, where I was able to evaluate every possible angle and expression of this supposed “involuntary” motility function. A doosy, it was.

Up next was bowling, where every movement your body makes plays a role in the success of each roll. While completely uncomfortable, I managed to bowl two games around the 150 mark, a feat of which I am proud.

On Sunday morning, to celebrate a few births in my immediate family, I woke up, blurry-eyed and robe- with-tie in tow, and hobbled downstairs to see an Italian feast at noontime. I knew I was in BIG, BIG trouble, but I wasted no time in devouring the contents of each hot dish that lay out on the dining room table. ALAS, I ate breakfast and lunch in the same meal! On to dessert. Out comes this hilarious looking cake, which looked noticeably different than your usual birthday cake. In fact, I was insulted at first glance. How could my sister bake me a cake that looked like a giant poop?!

Well, she didn’t. Our dog Holly, an evil reincarnation of our old lab Molly, ate half the cake, luckily before it was iced.

The lesson from the weekend is…there is no lesson. If you eat and drink the entire weekend, you are going to get sick, no matter how old you are, or how long your colon is.

Contact Info

All, please email me your thoughts, comments, suggestions and stories from the toilet at blogforyourbowels@gmail.com

Coffee or Tea?

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee. There is such an obsession with coffee these days it makes me sick. I recently gave up coffee back in December, and haven’t touched the poison since. I say poison because coffee is well-known as an irritant, instigator, whatever you want to call it, that gets the gut MOVING. For an IBS patient, coffee is a complete no-no, just like alcohol, fatty and greasy foods, etc. Part of treatment is the ability to identify triggers in one’s diet that can lead to the onset of symptoms, and we all know what symptoms I am talking about, the coffee sh*ts. Because IBS is both brain-gut motility and food related, it is difficult to isolate the true factors that can cause discomfort. Since the start of the new year, I have been keeping a record of all the food I eat, my beautiful niece Taylor has named it my, “Poop Journal”, clever and great. I do this more for sanity and scheduling reasons than I do for investigatory reasons, as I already know what makes me sick.

A brief bit on tea. Tea is great. Should I feel any less of a man if I order tea from a restaurant? Hell no. People of ignorance will name call and bust balls, but the truth is tea is easier on the stomach, is a good source of anti-oxidants, and provides caffeine. I drink a few cups of assorted teas each day, and green tea is a personal favorite because of its ability to strengthen the immune system with a very high source of these anti-oxidants.

So in closing before the weekend, drink as much tea as you want. If someone makes fun of you, take out the hot tea bag and smack it against their forehead.

Pork Chops and Baby Wipes

To all friends and family, parents of infants, depends’ wearing senior citizens, do me a favor and wipe your butt with a wipe that is alcohol free. We all know that “sting” and “burn” you feel when alcohol enters a fresh, open wound, it freakn hurts! Would you like that same feeling on your bum? NO, I didn’t think so. It is as tortuous as a baby as it is as an adult.

Side Note- Don’t eat pork chops then sit through a movie.

Don’t hold it in!

It’s been a while, and I admit things have been going quite well. BUT, I had a tough time at the movies last night. I went on a date with a “gal pal” and finally saw the much talked about, academy award winning Slumdog Millionaire. It was an incredible, inspiring movie with incredible acting, an entertaining soundtrack, and Frieda Pinto who is gorgeous. HOWEVER, we went to a quick dinner beforehand, I decided to eat pork chops, sweet potato fries, and a glass of red. The usual “post meal” intestinal contractions started almost immediately after dinner, and I did not want to miss a line from the movie, so instead I held it in! That could be one of the worst things to do, it just doesn’t seem healthy, and natural, and I was uncomfortable for the entire length of the movie, which fortunately was only 2 hours.

On another note, I wanted to give an update on my current IBS Health status. There have been good days and bad days over the last month, but on average I am doing better, and I relate this to a combination of Imodium Chewable and pill form tablets. I am taking 6 pills per day, along with my usual medication of lotronex and amitriptyline, which I just looked up in Wiki as the following, “Amitriptyline is now used in the United States and UK to prevent migraines and vaginal swelling only in very small doses.” Vaginal Swelling, who would have thought!! Anyways, I wanted to share a usual weekday diet which I feel complements an IBS-D sufferer well, and that is rather healthy too!

7am- Important to start the day with soluble fiber- banana
8am- 1 cup oatmeal with 1 cup lactaid milk, yogurt, regular tea with milk, and 2 charcoal tablets to aid in overall digestion and prevention of bloating and gas.
10:30am- A few scoops of cottage cheese, celery and carrots
11am- banana, Danactive fruit drink (good source of probiotic)
12:15am- Sliced Chicken breast with Swiss on Whole Wheat, apple, a few baked lays chips, peppermint tea (also helps with digestion)
3pm- bowl of salad with Lite Ranch dressing, apple sauce, 1 cup of granola
5:30pm- 2 cans of tuna with a bit of mayo, salt and pepper
6pm- power/protein/fiber bar (on the way to the gym of course)
8:45pm- 4 egg whites, 5-7oz burger, 1 can of ensure

As you can see, eating small meals (one might not consider the above lunch and dinner small meals) is crucial when fighting IBS. When the stomach gets too full, triggers are sent to the brain to begin normal GI motility functions, however with IBS-D, these aren’t normal functions, they are rapid and more frequent, causing urgent and rushed bowel movements. I have a very fast metabolism, so there is a trade-off of being skinny, and having to run to the bathroom every now and then!!!

Till next time….

Another Trip to the Restroom

Drinking on Sunday night for the Super Bowl has really done it to me…

Hello, my name is Kevin Kurz. I have been suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome “IBS” for about 10 years now, with minimal success at finding treatments and solutions, whether it be through medication, stress and diet management, or a combination of all three. I hope to create a forum for sufferers of IBS to be able to feel comfortable talking about their problems and issues from the disorder.