One day at a time: irritable bowel syndrome

Living with irritable bowel syndrome doesn’t mean you can’t live life to the fullest. The first step is a healthy diet, avoiding foods that aggravate it.

Tilting her chin to the sky, she lets loose a throaty laugh. Rosanna Mendez is in the midst of discussing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), not generally the funniest of topics, but the
47-year-old singer and mum of one finds the humour all the same.

“It’s one of those things,” she says with a grin. “You just have to learn how to deal with it and get on with life.”

It’s a strong statement, but when it comes to IBS, Rosanna knows more about dealing than most – after all, she’s lived with the syndrome for the past two decades, having been diagnosed not long after the birth of her daughter, Jessica, now 20.

“I guess it is a long time to have a condition like this,” Rosanna muses, her tone turning serious. “But I’ve seen so much in my life… physically, mentally and emotionally. IBS is a scratch on the hand compared to many things.”

Her attitude towards IBS is a practical one, but back when she first developed the syndrome, she panicked, spending hours worrying about her symptoms and what they could mean. “I was very concerned,” she says. “I went from feeling okay to being bloated and in pain. I was always having to ‘go’ and I felt terrible. Then I got it into my head that maybe I had bowel cancer.”

Rosanna booked in to see a gastroenterologist for a full examination. Given her fears, she was relieved when the doctor said she had IBS, not cancer. But, her relief turned to dismay when he added that there was no cure and no particular treatment, either. “He didn’t seem too concerned,” she says. “He basically said there was nothing anyone could do and to accept it.”

And that’s pretty much what Rosanna has been doing ever since. “In some ways, I guess I have become used to having IBS,” she says. “It’s become a part of my life.”

But while Rosanna may have adjusted to IBS, her symptoms have not eased. Like the majority of people with IBS, she suffers uncomfortable bloating and belly pain and has diarrhoea much of the time. She also occasionally experiences an IBS-related condition known as spastic colon, which involves intense spasms.

“It doesn’t happen very often and only lasts a few minutes, but that is a long time when you’re in agony,” she says. “I’m not joking when I compare it to the pain of childbirth. It’s horrific.”

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