Story · YouTube
Individual experience, not evidence.
Living with IBS-D: J Adulting on food triggers and peppermint oil capsules
J Adulting on YouTube, symptoms since her late teens; diagnosed about 2 years before recording.
- What they tried
- Peppermint oilOver-the-counter peppermint oil capsules taken before meals likely to contain dairy or gluten; also strict dairy and gluten avoidance and a prescription medication she found helpful but costly
- Timeframe
- symptoms since her late teens; diagnosed about 2 years before recording
- Outcome
- Reported that strict avoidance of dairy and gluten at home, plus peppermint oil capsules before riskier meals, reduced the severity of her reactions; she says the capsules lessen rather than remove symptoms and that cross-contamination still makes her sick.
- Caveats
- Self-reported. Dairy and gluten sensitivity were identified by her own elimination; a gastroenterologist diagnosed IBS and separately found gastritis and reflux. The name of her prescription medication is unclear in the recording.
Original: J Adulting on YouTube
J Adulting, a US creator with IBS-D, describes a long run-up to diagnosis. She was lactose intolerant as a baby, began noticing bathroom trips an hour after milk at lunch around age 17, and cut milk, then certain cheeses and ice cream, on her own. In her mid-twenties a severe reaction to sandwiches made with ordinary white bread, with loss of colour vision and hearing, pointed her to gluten.
A first gastroenterologist told her to treat dairy as an allergy and found gastritis and reflux on a scope. A second, after a period of stress and weight loss when almost everything made her sick, diagnosed IBS and explained that stress changes how she reacts to the same food on different days. A further test found a gut bacterial problem that was treated with medication.
What she does now: only certified gluten-free products at home, a dedicated cupboard of safe foods, and careful restaurant choices. She was prescribed a medication she found very helpful but expensive, so she turned to over-the-counter peppermint oil capsules. She says the cheaper brands require eight or nine capsules to blunt a reaction, while a pricier one works with two. She still eats dairy or gluten about once a week, plans for it, and accepts that the capsules minimise rather than prevent the episode. Severe attacks, she says, still bring sweating, a drop in blood pressure and ringing in her ears.
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Individual experience, not evidence. Results are not typical and may not apply to you.
TreatIBS has no relationship with the creator and did not verify these claims.