IBS and Cruising--How Do You Deal?

Hello, fellow IBS sufferers. You know who you are!

I have some questions for you guys.

1. How do you deal with excursions when there are no bathrooms readily available (ie: jeep tours, snorkeling, etc).

2. How do you deal with long tender rides? (I almost fainted when I found out there was a 30 minute tender to Belize)

3. Have you had any problems on the ride from the airport to the ship? (Usually there are no restrooms on the bus)

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How do you deal with it at home?

Surely, there are occasions when you're not close to a bathroom at home.

Is your IBS responsive to Pepto or Immodium AD?

Does avoiding certain foods and/or alcohol help?

T

Take your Zelnorm

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I have IBS,and am only in my 20's. I am taking my first cruise on September,and am a little nervous about the IBS acting up. I do take citracel every day,and that helps alot.

Limit the salads and foods that set it off. Begin a food diary so you'll know what to avoid. On our last cruise one woman at our table met with someone from the ship each evening at the end of dinner to plan the next evenings meal. They were more then happy to accomodate her!

I take Zelnorm twice a day as well as try to avoid different foods.

If we have a day where we will be outdoors for a long period of time, I usually skip breakfast, or make sure I have a light meal at least an hour before leaving home. That goes for car travel, air, excursions, etc.

I sympathize with you. I've had IBS for about 15 years and it's a daily challange.

MaryW

MaryW,

How is the Zelnorm working out for you? My doctor does not want to prescribe it for me,as she said there were problems with it,I don't know what she meant by that. Taking Citrucel every day works for a while,but then every few days I have a bout. It is a daily challenge,I am so nervous about going on my first cruise in September,it seems that it only acts up when I am away,like last weekend at a Yankee's game. I might push for the Zelnorm at my next office visit.

Brenda

I've been taking Zelnorm for about six months. So far...so good. I only take it once a day, although, twice a day was recommended. I did that because I was leary of the side effects. I still have to be careful of my diet. I avoid red meat, salads, most green veggies and dairy products.

A big problem is not knowing how something is prepared when eating out.

I was taking dicyclamine (sp) and it wasn't working. That's why I changed. I still continue to worry about having an "attack" when away from home. It's not a pleasant way to live.

I'd be interested in why your doctor didn't want to prescribe it.

Mary

MaryW

I do not have IBS but I do have medical issues. I always check to make sure the tour I go on has washrooms on board the boats (for snorkling). The beaches I go to always have a washroom within easy distance (I'm disabled). I also take shorter excursions so that I do not get to tired.

For the ship, I locate on the map where all the washrooms are that are easy to get to and useable. I talk to the Maitr'd as soon as I get on board and he/she allows me to get the menu one day ahead so that I can pre-plan my meals. I phone down once I have chosen and they tell me if it is good or not. They may say they will make it without the one or two ingridents that I can not handle or make a suggestion as to what is available. They may suggest plain chicken with rice and carrots rather then the peas that everyone else is having that day. All sauces can be put on the side. Also by pre-ordering your tabvle mates will not even know about it. I was always given a menu and just told them to make it the chef's choice. The Chef's choice was my signal that my meal was pre-ordered.

Do keep a diary now that you can take on the cruise. Give this to the Mait'd to read and he/she may put a star by your name so that the waiter will ask for more info. Talk to your waiter to as they know some of the ingreditants and will steer you away from some things.

You can eat at the buffet BUT ask before you take anything that is in sauces or you are not sure what it is. The staff do try to aid those of us with problems.

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This was also a concern of mine, but I don't want to just stay on the ship. Right now I take RX NuLev (no side effects -- what it does is slow down the churning of the bowel) 2 times a day before breakfast and dinner. However, since I'm also lactose intolerant, I take Lactaid also, if there is anything I want to eat that has dairy products in it. Most days this works. On the rare occasion it doesn't, I will take an over the counter med called IBS or a teaspoon of pepto in addition. Everyone is different, but I find my IBS is worse if I don't eat regularly. If I skip a meal, there usually are problems as soon as I do eat. Many days, I eat something every 2 -3 hours: breakfast and then fruit snacks or crackers for example. Have actually lost weight doing this. This is working for me & I'm living a "normal" life. Haven't tried this, but some persons who go to third world countries take 1/2 pepto tablet each morning to avoid problems with Montezuma's Revenge -- wonder if it would work for IBS?

:) Hi, IBS'ers!!

Never thought I would see this subject in print!

I have had IBS for years! I do worry about the same issues that you all have....but the less I worry, the better it is! I have found that more fiber in your diet works wonders! Also, I take lomotil (two, about 2 hours before a stressful event) it is excellent (prescription) No coffee, sodas...actually the diet works the best for me. Try to eat green veggies, chix and fish! Nothing fried, EVER! Europe is the worst place for restrooms...I find that most people are very kind to help you locate a "pot" Good luck and don't let this glich spoil your cruise!:cool:

Just an FYI to those of you who take Zelnorm. An FDA Medwatch alert has been published because of post-marketing complications. See below from the FDA website and ask your doctor how it affects you. Even if the drug has been working for you very well, you can suddenly have very serious side effects.

Zelnorm (tegaserod maleate)

Audience: Gastroenterologists and other healthcare professionals

The FDA and Novartis notified healthcare professionals of an important drug warning and prescribing information for Zelnorm, a serotonin 5-HT4 receptor partial agonist indicated for the short-term treatment of women with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) whose primary bowel symptom is constipation. This new information relates to a Warning for serious consequences of diarrhea and a Precaution for rare reports of ischemic colitis in post marketing use of Zelnorm.

[April 26, 2004 Letter - Novartis] http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2004/zelnorm_deardoc_042604.pdf

[April 28, 2004 Drug Information Page - FDA] http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/zelnorm/default.htm

I don't have IBS, but I do worry about the bathroom situation. I've found there are alot of excursions where the bathroom situation is addressed quite frequently. But, I do tend to take the excursions where there are a lot of older folks and they know they need more frequent bathroom trips.

I did find out that on some buses they may have a bathroom, but have it locked and don't want you using it. (If it is used, it has to be cleaned, so they tell you we will make bathroom stops instead.) I don't know what would happen if you make a issue about it - whether they would let you use it in an emergency. I am betting, they would say they didn't have a key.

I would talk with the people at the excursion desk about the specific details of rest stops - and I would post your specific excursion on the specific cruiseline site - and ask pit stop quesitons. The ones who've recently been on the excursion are the ones who will have the best answers for you.

Thanks assam for posting the info about the zelnorm. My doctor would not prescribe it for me due to the complications. I just take my citracel religiously and hope for the best!

Yes, it is a worry. I live on Imodium when I'm out and about...works for me.

I'm not a doctor, but I'm just throwing this out for those of you who may be suffering from anothier condition... Celiac Disease. New studies have shown that 1 in 133 Americans suffer from this condition. 80% of these are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed and in almost half of the cases as IBS. My daughter has Celiac Disease so I read up on it constantly. Hope this helps someone...

Your post just shows how many people have this problem . I've been dealing with IBS for over 20yrs . It's a royal pain in the behind ( forgive the pun ) . Everyone's IBS is slightly different ( mine is the diarrhea kind ) . Here's what works for me : Get up early and drink a full glass of water , take 1/2 Immodium AD after 1st trip to the bathroom , wear the lightest mini-pad you can find , avoid salads, beans and soft drinks , limit ice cream, chocolate and alcohol ( maybe 1 glass of wine once or twice ) , don't skip meals and don't eat too much at one time . I don't go on morning excursions or take tenders early in the day since getting through the mornings is the toughest part . I hope this helps . Good luck .

I don't have any wise words - mostly I just avoid excursions and never leave the house without lorazepam and immodium "just in case". I have never tried 1/2 immodium, I always take 2! But then that has an opposite and undesirable affect also. Just wanted to mention there is a good support system at www.ibsgroup.org

I know this thread is old, but wanted to see if there were any cruisers out there with any updated advice.

I have been dealing with terrible IBS now for 7 months in addition to a dead gall bladder. I have another ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow as well as a colonoscopy scheduled in the future. The doctor said it 'sounds like IBS' but still dealing with numerous tests to eliminate other possibilities.

I am taking about a dozen over the counter supplements and prescription meds including a healthy dose of Citrucel daily.

Are there other precautions I should take onboard with meals in the MDR or buffet? Any other cruisers out there dealing with this mess? I have already booked early dining to avoid late night gastric reflux when I go to bed which also seems to be a huge issue.

Tips and advice:

http://ibs.about.com/od/livingwithibs/tp/Travel-Tips-for-IBS.htm