I AM NEW TO THIS PROGRAM AND HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH IBS FOR YEARS.I AM INTERESTED TO TALK TO SOMEONE WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY USED THIS PROGRAM
TO MAKE SOME PROGRESS OR HAS CURED IBS.

I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. I have made great progress with my IBS. But it took some time, and also some pretty serious diet changes.

First of all, I won't get on my soap box about dairy, but for me and many others, it makes IBS about 10 times worse. (I never consume it in any form, and I was raised on a cattle ranch in the middle of dairy country, so I must really feel strongly about it.)

Second, remember, those episodes are mainly caused by adrenaline imbalances, which are brought about by our own thoughts, if you can imagine that! Once you get your anxiety under control, those thoughts don't come around so much, so your adrenaline levels aren't as sporadic and your system has time to lose some of that sensitivity.

I used to see a gastrointerologist who told me once, "If you get diarreah every time you get nervous, your problem is not diarreah. Your problem is your nerves." And that about summed it up for me.

I hate to make it sound so simple, when it's really a rough road, but once you get that anxiety under control, everything else seems to just fall into place. I haven't had a major "butt attack" as my darling hubby calls it, for about 6 months. So, if I can do it, you can do it.

I always recommend Acidophilus also. I take two twice a day and it helps a lot. Really take a hard look at your diet. Are you ingesting stimulants like sugar, caffeine, etc? Is your diet low on real food and high on processed food? That honestly has a lot to do with it.

Good luck, keep working on the program.

Leslie

PatrickF,

Yep. Yep. Yep. I agree with everything LeslieAnne says.

IBS is a malfuncion of the way in which the contents of the digestive system - the food you eat - moves through your intestines. It is linked to the way your intestines reacts to both diet and the stresses of everyday life. It affects between 8 and 17 percent of the population.

For me, diet was paramount (Lesson 5). Changing my diet (eliminating diary, sugar, and chocolate/caffeine) did wonders, and make sure you eat REGULAR, healthy meals.

Two other things that helped were the relaxation response (relaxation tape 2x per day) and exercise (Lesson 5 again). I find when I get stressed/anxious the ole' IBS kicks in, but if I use the learned relaxation response, I can nip it in the bud and I won't have as severe a bout as I used to. And, exercise helps me in a number of ways - from proper digestion of food to using the adreniline/cortisol chemicals that are in my system from being in constant flight-or-flight mode.

I think generally, the whole program helped me with my IBS. I am now an underreactor and I choose how I want to be. Being more relaxed helps mellow out the intestines so I don't have the IBS as much any more. But, I will admit, I'm still working on it. Occasionally, it'll pop back up and when it does, I realize that I need to stop and work on my anxiety (revisit some of the tapes) and its okay. I use the IBS as a indicator for how I'm doing. Its more of a positive that way.

Hope this helps.
Zair

I concur as well. I had a lower GI inspection where they stuck a tube up my back end, and didn't find anything. I had diahrea (spelling?) for a long time before I realized the relation to my nerves/anxiety.

I've also started watching my diet as well, and getting more exercise, and both of these have helped.