What about a local gig maybe delivering fuel or shunting around town where you could pop into a gas station?
I'd explain the situation. One of my friends has a similar condition and he pretty much has to get to a toilet almost instantly after eating. Over the years, I think he's planned his meals better, I'm not sure if IBS can be manipulated that way, but explain to you trainer and whichever company you get with so proper accommodations can be made.
Good idea. @gprimr1 This is probably your best option, especially if you get on a regular route where you’ll eventually know where you can stop if you need to.
@MACK E-6 when I did P&D in Charlotte, I found that it was HARDER for me to find a bathroom at a gas station/truck stop/rest area than it was for me when I was OTR. Keep in mind 90% of the time I was pulling a 53 footer in a daycab, and the other 10% of the time I just had a single pup on me. It might be different if you got a dedicated P&D route and pulled a pup instead of a 53 footer most days. Of course Charlotte is absolutely terrible for truck parking, so in other smaller (and also populated at the same time) towns, like a Davenport, Iowa or something, it probably wouldn't be a problem. That said though, I did find that for whatever reason when I did P&D that the local warehouses were usually a lot more accommodating with letting drivers use the bathrooms if you asked the forklift driver very politely, and especially if you told them that the situation was urgent. Which is kind of messed up when I think about it, because OTR you're usually waiting 1-2 hours in a dock, while P&D you're usually in and out within 15 minutes for each stop. And yet being OTR they very often seem to get very aggressive with telling drivers we can't use the bathroom (that they have for their employees anyways so it's not like they don't have one). Anyways, my $0.02 on that.
OP hasn't logged back in since he asked the question but I thought I would give this suggestion to him and others who have stomach issues. If you're going out with a trainer for several weeks to a month doing OTR, definetely explain the situation to the company you're signing on with and let dispatch and your trainer know what the deal is. That said, during the training period, perhaps you could use an enema when you go for your showers? To "clear you out" at a convienant time? They work better than laxatives in that it's usually over in 1 hour and you'll be cleared out, where laxatives it can take several hours to produce a bowel movement and then several hours after that for your stomach to stop producing bowel movements. I have a weak stomach but I don't have IBS so I'm not sure how effective this tactic would be. I would think though that if you ate very lightly during training and used an enema at a schedule that would work for you (Perhaps everyday, perhaps every other day or every three days), that you would be able to control when the stomach aches/bowel movements would occur, at times that would be convienant for you, when you had access to a toilet. Just a thought.
I always thought you could greatly reduce. Or almost eliminate symptoms of IBS. Through strict diet and medications.
You can. A good gastroenterologist can help make IBS very manageable . He can also tell you if the IBS is masking a different and more serious condition. I'd see one before I'd start screwing around with home-brew remedies and enemas.
So how my day is going….. at Sinclair in flagstaff I go to let me little dog go potty. He’s walking around like he’s got to poop. I keeping telling him go potty go potty ( oh and it snowing ) then it hits me I gotta go and I need to go now. Looking at the truck at the pumps ( my husband is pumping fuel ) I know I cannot make it so I go down in that wooded area and drop my drawers and do my business. Totally embarrassing. 52 yr old women ####ting in the woods. Thank goodness it was snowing so not a lot of people out side. I get back to truck take my shoes off and through my other sock in the trash because I know it no longer is a pair. i figure some would get laugh out of this that’s why I posted.