Diane
I, too, have had this problem since childhood, as have my sister and brother. I am now 48, my sister is 45 and my brother is 37. In each of our cases, it's a combination of both lactolose intolerance and IBS. My brother takes Levsin and Metamucil, my sister takes Metamucil and a stool softner, and I take Lactulose syrup (it has nothing to do with lactose)and a stool softner. We all also try to eat as much bran and wheat as we can. I wish you the best of luck in dealing with this all too common problem.