How can I combat IBS?

Question

My girlfriend has been diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and recently she has been having really bad stomach pains.

What is a good treatment to prevent this or to stop the pain?

Answer 1

Hi Britsurfer

Here is an action plan.

Causes
IBS can be caused by a variety of factors, including poor diet and nutrition, food allergies, imbalanced levels of hydrochloric acid, impaired immunity, infections, lack of exercise, pharmaceutical drugs, and stress.


Quick Action Plan for IBS

1. Avoid all sugars, refined flour products, and carbohydrates, milk and dairy products, processed foods that contain preservatives and artificial sweeteners, alcohol, hydrogenated and trans-fatty oils, as well as foods that are common allergens.

2. Emphasize organic, fresh vegetables and non-citrus fruits, organic grains, as well as organic, free-range meats and poultry and wild-caught fish.

3. Drink plenty of pure, filtered water throughout the day.
Cleansing and Detoxification therapy such as short fasts, elimination diets, and colonics.

4. Enteric-coated peppermint oil and aloe vera juice.

5. Soothing baths two to five nights a week, as well as alternating hot and cold water packs placed over the abdomen.

6. Use Probiotics and soil-based organisms.

7. Therapeutic juices include wheatgrass juice; cabbage, papaya, and carrot juice.

8. Stress reduction techniques, such as biofeedback, hypnosis, and meditation.

9. If you are a smoker, stop and refrain from taking aspirin or other NSAIDs.

10. Examine the possibility of withheld emotions as the cause of your symptoms and get support through emotional and physical expression, especially movement therapies such as NIA, Qi gong, Yoga or Total Integration Therapy to name a few options.

Best of health to both of you

Answer 2

Try to watch what foods bother you. Especially moderation in fatty foods, nuts, seeds, popcorn, spicy foods,soda pop, caffeine, salads and greens, whatever...

The dry foods tend towards constipation pains and the salads and soda pop and caffeine tend toward diarrhea pains..

That doesn't mean eliminate foods necessarily, just moderation...stress can make the pains more frequent also.

There are sometimes medications that doctors give you...anti-spasmotics and maybe anti-anxiety meds if you need them, but diet controls a lot of it and stress seems worse when you are younger (you get a little better at dealing with it as you get older)..

Also sometimes people with IBS have a habit of eating large meals and then going a long time between meals and this might add to the problem..

Here is a link and there are books at the library on IBS also
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/ibs_ez/

Answer 3

Wait, does she have ibs with constipation, or diarreah? Thereis a BIG difference in prevention and treatments so take prior answers with caution!

Answer 4

They do offer medicine that you can take before you eat...It helps control the stomach pains. If she's been having it for awhile, she may also want to take Prilosec to prevent heart burn...because IBS can sometimes lead to pretty bad heart burn.

Talk to a doctor.

Answer 5

A healthy diet works wonders:
http://www.chetday.com
http://www.drmcdougall.com
http://www.phifoundation.org