Ricky Durham created the site in 2004 in honor of his brother, Keith. The site is geared to match people with special health needs to others with similar conditions. Whether this search is for friendship or something more is entirely up to the user.

Ricky’s brother Keith had Crohn’s Disease, a form of irritable bowel disorder. It could make meeting people for the first time awkward. That’s when Ricky came up with the idea for Prescription 4 Love.

“Deciding when to tell someone you have a colostomy bag is incredibly difficult,” Durham explains. “I thought if Keith had a chance to meet someone with a similar condition, there would be no need to have to disclose anything.”

Prescription 4 Love is set up like most other online dating sites. Users can create their own profiles, browse through the forums, and chat with each other in an open environment without a hidden medical history. Durham’s recently added instant messaging, blogging and virtual gifts to the mix.

Durham’s site began with a focus on just 11 chronic illnesses, but has expanded to include more than 30. Prescription4Love welcomes anyone from amputees to recovering alcoholics, people with diabetes or heart disease, people who have or have had cancer to little people. Durham has even added STDs to the list. In fact, HIV and herpes are among his most popular groups.

“One lady in particular called me who had cancer said that whenever she told the person she was dating she had cancer they stopped dating her within a matter of days,” he says. Now she can find acceptance in a community where everyone can relate in one way or another.

As of now more than 8,000 people have used the site, and although Keith passed away before the site was fully developed, he is still very much the driving force behind Ricky’s work.

“Keith is the inspiration behind everything that I do for Prescription4Love,” he says. “I have had phone calls and emails from different people thanking me for stating such a web site…the response has been great.”

This month is Irritable Bowel Syndrome Awareness Month and the perfect opportunity to clear up some of the confusion between Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

According to the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD), IBS, a disorder of the colon or rectum, is a common disorder that affects approximately 10–20% of the general population. While the cause of IBS is unknown, researchers have found that the colon muscle in people with IBS contracts more readily than in people without IBS.

• Abdominal pains or cramps (usually in the lower half of the abdomen)
• Excess gas
• Harder or looser bowel movements than average

• Chronic diarrhea
• Weight loss
• Fever
• Abdominal pain and tenderness (often on the right side of the lower abdomen)
• Feeling of a mass or fullness in the lower, right abdomen

• Diarrhea
• Severe bloody diarrhea
• Abdominal pain
• Fever