New IBS Book - Sophie's Story: My 20-Year Battle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

I found out about this book when Sophie emailed me, complimenting my blog (that will get you a mention on The ICIE anytime you're promoting a product I like or think is valid - you Viagra people and your ilk can forget about it).  Sophie noted that I also live with IBS, and asked me to link to her book on my blog. You can check it out on her website mentioned in the next paragraph.  I haven't read the book yet but from the excerpts, it sounds good and so far it has 5 stars from ten reviewers on amazon.com. 

Sophie also has an excellent website called IBS Tales, with lots of "I've been there too" stories and helpful info including a page about the book that includes a sneak peek at the contents and introduction.

Rosalind Joffe of Working with Chronic Illness interviewed Sophie yesterday and has written up a nice article titled One Person's Story. This interview really touched me because my experience with work and an extreme IBS flare was similar to Sophie's.  I didn't talk about the problem in the right way with the right people because I was embarassed and I ended up being forced to resign from the job.  It was hard for me to tell people in authority, whether they were male or female, that I was having violent and frequent diarrhea and cramping and that it was so iffy as to whether I could make it to the bathroom in time or not that I was wearing sanitary napkins.  Long story short I was having to spend a lot of time in the bathroom.  And that was when I was sitting at home relaxing in my recliner, a few feet from the bathroom.  Shall I mention the horrible smell that traveled way out of the bathroom no matter what kind of air freshener I used?  Maybe if I had gone into all this at my job they would have been more willing to provide the accommodations I was asking for...  Live and learn.

An aside:  We can all thank (or blame) WEGO Health's slide presentation titled A Health Activist's Guide to Effective Online Advocacy for the honesty in the previous paragraph.  

While we're on the topic of IBS, the website I have so far found to be the most helpful with my IBS symptoms is Help for IBS by Heather Van Vorous, an IBS sufferer since age 9.  She also has a line of products called Heather's Tummy Care.  I've ordered lots of things from her site and have always found the quality and service to be excellent.  The quality of the organic peppermint tea is so different from what I buy in the store that it's almost not even the same product.  I carry the IBS Diet Cheat Sheet in my purse at all times so I'll always have it at the grocery store or restaurant when I need it.  You can get a copy for free on the Help for IBS home page.

Back to Sophie's book.  Good luck to Sophie with sales, and I know it's going to help a lot of people!