What IBS Sufferers Don't Seem To Understand
#351800 - 11/08/09 08:27 AM
|
|
|
|
Windchimes
Reged: 09/05/09
Posts: 581
Loc: Northern California
|
|
|
I have found that IBS people keep asking the same questions of other IBS sufferers about tests to document their condition and seemingly are at a loss to learn much beyond what their practitioners say. These days we need to take care of our own personal health, as doctors seemingly know very little and whip out prescription pads. Good nutrition (tolerable to any specific individual) is key to getting a grip on their own symtoms.
IBS is a pan diagnosis, and the cause is different for most everyone. Some things some people need to avoid is not necessarily what others need to avoid. This can be a slow (personal) trial and error thing to rule out what aggravates their personal triggers.
Do claim power over your own body! Doctors and prescriptions are of little or no help if the patient takes control of their eating habits and introducing faithfully simple soluable fiber and supplements.
FIRST, one has to stabilize their own 'gut'. Next, they can slowly start introducing other foods one at a time... and do give such a reasonable time-frame as there can be somewhat delayed reactions. It doesn't always happen immediately nor overnight.
What works for another might very well NOT work for you! It is a totally individual path that needs guidance, not necessarily relay tests and further medical diagnoses after the initial colonoscopy.
We all need to find our own working path with this condition and share our successes.
You just absolutely cannot go wrong with Heather's products while you stabilize and start from scratch seeing from there what you can or cannot easily tolerate in the way of foods, and still be well nourished. This exploration doesn't happen overnight, and one thing at a time works best.
--------------------
Senior female, IBS-D, presently stable thanks to Heather & Staff
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Windchimes, I agree with some of what your saying and then some not.
The exact cause of IBS is not known, but there has been a ton of research on it in the last five years. It doesn't mean every IBSers has a different condition really.
However, foods don't cause it, they are a method of controlling it and not setting it off and management.
Certain foods are also well known to set it off.
They know for sure now that a good doctor pateint relatioship can be extremely benefical in IBS. But people are not getting enough time with their doctors to help explain it all, or they have doctors that just are not well educated on IBS.
Some meds really help people.
"Some things some people need to avoid is not necessarily what others need to avoid."
This is true for the most part, but there are specific foods most likely to set it in motion.
Both the brain and the gut are operational to cause the symptoms. Both are targets for treatments.
"Do claim power over your own body! Doctors and prescriptions are of little or no help if the patient takes control of their eating habits and introducing faithfully simple soluable fiber and supplements."
Work with your doctor, not against them. Its not just about foods. There is mild, moderate and severe IBS, and they might require different methods to treat it. It may not just be foods why the gut and brain are unbalanced, but a combination of factors.
I agree that Heather has put together wonderful products and dietary advise. It is important to keep good nutrition when you have IBS and not cut out all food groups. Some people with mild IBS maybe able to achieve very good results with just diet, but moderate and svere, its about diet and more.
Since I have suffered for thirty eight of IBS I wonder what role foods play in IBS. So I asked Dr Douglas Drossman at the UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility disorders and here was his response. This is not a substitute for seeking medical advise from your doctor on any specific conditions you may have, but for educational purposes only.
Dr. Drossman is a Co-director of the Center and Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at UNC-CH. He established a program of research in functional gastrointestinal disorders at UNC more than 15 years ago and has published more than 250 books, articles, and abstracts relating to epidemiology, psychosocial and quality of life assessment, design of treatment trials, and outcomes research in gastrointestinal disorders.
Dr Drossman's comments on foods for IBS Health.
Shawn,
To say that people with IBS may get symptoms from food intolerances is an acceptable possibility, since the gut will over react to stressors of all types including food (high fat or large volumes of food in particular). Furthermore, there can be specific intolerances. So if you have a lactose intolerance for example, it can exacerbate, or even mimic IBS. Other examples of food substances causing diarrhea would be high consumers of caffeine or alcohol which can stimulate intestinal secretion or with the latter, pull water into the bowel (osmotic diarrhea). The same would be true for overdoing certain poorly absorbed sugars that can cause an osmotic type of diarrhea Sorbitol, found in sugarless gum and sugar substituted foods can also produce such an osmotic diarrhea. Even more naturally, people who consume a large amount of fruits, juices or other processed foods enriched with fructose, can get diarrhea because it is not as easily absorbed by the bowel and goes to the colon where it pulls in water. So if you have IBS, all of these food items would make it worse.
However, it is important to separate factors that worsen IBS (e.g., foods as above, stress, hormonal changes, etc.) from the cause or pathophysiology of IBS. Just like stress doesn't cause IBS, (though it can make it worse), foods must be understood as aggravating rather than etiological in nature.
The cause of IBS is yet to be determined. However, modern research understands IBS as a disorder of increased reactivity of the bowel, visceral hypersensitivity and dysfunction of the brain-gut axis. There are subgroups being defined as well, including post-infectious IBS which can lead to IBS symptoms. Other work using brain imaging shows that the pain regulation center of the brain (cingulate cortex) can be impaired, as well as good evidence for there being abnormalities in motility which can at least in part explain the diarrhea and constipation. So finding a specific "cause" of IBS has grown out of general interest in place of understanding physiological subgroups that may become amenable to more specific treatments. Hope that helps.
Doug
http://www.ibshealth.com/ibsfoods2.htm
People might also want to read this in regards to an IBS diagnoses. Scroll down
Diagnostic Testing in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Theory vs. Reality
http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/Autumn_2009_Digest.pdf
I agree about being your own health advocate, about good nutrition, but also a good doctor pateint relationship if possible. That goes both ways.
--------------------
My website on IBS is www.ibshealth.com
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Quote:
Windchimes, I agree with some of what your saying and then some not.
The exact cause of IBS is not known, but there has been a ton of research on it in the last five years. It doesn't mean every IBSers has a different condition really.
However, foods don't cause it, they are a method of controlling it and not setting it off and management.
Certain foods are also well known to set it off.
They know for sure now that a good doctor pateint relatioship can be extremely benefical in IBS. But people are not getting enough time with their doctors to help explain it all, or they have doctors that just are not well educated on IBS.
Some meds really help people.
"Some things some people need to avoid is not necessarily what others need to avoid."
This is true for the most part, but there are specific foods most likely to set it in motion.
Both the brain and the gut are operational to cause the symptoms. Both are targets for treatments.
"Do claim power over your own body! Doctors and prescriptions are of little or no help if the patient takes control of their eating habits and introducing faithfully simple soluable fiber and supplements."
Work with your doctor, not against them. Its not just about foods. There is mild, moderate and severe IBS, and they might require different methods to treat it. It may not just be foods why the gut and brain are unbalanced, but a combination of factors.
I agree that Heather has put together wonderful products and dietary advise. It is important to keep good nutrition when you have IBS and not cut out all food groups. Some people with mild IBS maybe able to achieve very good results with just diet, but moderate and svere, its about diet and more.
Since I have suffered for thirty eight of IBS I wonder what role foods play in IBS. So I asked Dr Douglas Drossman at the UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility disorders and here was his response. This is not a substitute for seeking medical advise from your doctor on any specific conditions you may have, but for educational purposes only.
Dr. Drossman is a Co-director of the Center and Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at UNC-CH. He established a program of research in functional gastrointestinal disorders at UNC more than 15 years ago and has published more than 250 books, articles, and abstracts relating to epidemiology, psychosocial and quality of life assessment, design of treatment trials, and outcomes research in gastrointestinal disorders.
Dr Drossman's comments on foods for IBS Health.
Shawn,
To say that people with IBS may get symptoms from food intolerances is an acceptable possibility, since the gut will over react to stressors of all types including food (high fat or large volumes of food in particular). Furthermore, there can be specific intolerances. So if you have a lactose intolerance for example, it can exacerbate, or even mimic IBS. Other examples of food substances causing diarrhea would be high consumers of caffeine or alcohol which can stimulate intestinal secretion or with the latter, pull water into the bowel (osmotic diarrhea). The same would be true for overdoing certain poorly absorbed sugars that can cause an osmotic type of diarrhea Sorbitol, found in sugarless gum and sugar substituted foods can also produce such an osmotic diarrhea. Even more naturally, people who consume a large amount of fruits, juices or other processed foods enriched with fructose, can get diarrhea because it is not as easily absorbed by the bowel and goes to the colon where it pulls in water. So if you have IBS, all of these food items would make it worse.
However, it is important to separate factors that worsen IBS (e.g., foods as above, stress, hormonal changes, etc.) from the cause or pathophysiology of IBS. Just like stress doesn't cause IBS, (though it can make it worse), foods must be understood as aggravating rather than etiological in nature.
The cause of IBS is yet to be determined. However, modern research understands IBS as a disorder of increased reactivity of the bowel, visceral hypersensitivity and dysfunction of the brain-gut axis. There are subgroups being defined as well, including post-infectious IBS which can lead to IBS symptoms. Other work using brain imaging shows that the pain regulation center of the brain (cingulate cortex) can be impaired, as well as good evidence for there being abnormalities in motility which can at least in part explain the diarrhea and constipation. So finding a specific "cause" of IBS has grown out of general interest in place of understanding physiological subgroups that may become amenable to more specific treatments. Hope that helps.
Doug
http://www.ibshealth.com/ibsfoods2.htm
People might also want to read this in regards to an IBS diagnoses. Scroll down
Diagnostic Testing in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Theory vs. Reality
http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/Autumn_2009_Digest.pdf
I agree about being your own health advocate, about good nutrition, but also a good doctor pateint relationship if possible. That goes both ways.
Sound advice here! Not just promoting Heathers products like some, Amen!
Personally, I have tried all sorts of diets and none have been able to control my IBS. I am better to some degree now that i eat healthier etc. But i have not even come close to solving my IBS problems. Saying to ignore Doctors and prescriptions because they only cover the symptoms is the same thing as saying change your diet, your still not necessarilly getting to the cause, you may still only be covering the symptoms unless you truely have food allegies. If IBS is really indeed caused my some sort of nerve disconnect between the brain and gut then no diet is going to fix that.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
That does not seem to help enough. I don't really like tea but is that what I need to do? get peppermint tea, etc?
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
If you happen to live in a city where there are specialists who understand IBS, you are fortunate. I happen to live in a rural are where no such thing exists.
I do believe in Heather's products as a means of calming the gut down, then one needs to go from there to expolore their own food sensitivities. It's a trial and error thing that does not necessarily require diagnostic tests that seniors living on a very small and fixed income need to bear the outrageous cost of, and stress out about that.
There are answers!... and they DO vary from person to person. The end result may be the same, though the dietary 'triggers' DO seemingly differ from person to person. Stress is a known trigger for a number of medical problems.
For me, pumping the soluable fiber helps significantly. I have no vested financial interest in Heather's products, though have found them to be extremely helpful in stabilizing and staying on tract.
In reality my blood pressure has dropped with more soluable fiber, and so has my cholesterol count! Rather amazing, don't you think? Apparently these things are all somehow related and I'm so very grateful for the improvements.
Thank you for your personal input.
--------------------
Senior female, IBS-D, presently stable thanks to Heather & Staff
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I find the peppermint capsules extremely helpful, though one does need to take them as directed.
I am of Scandinavian descent and thought I would NEVER be able to give up coffee. Now I find teas very helpful. Tea is an acquired taste, just like coffee. I now thoroughly love my tea every day!
Give this a fair go and see what happens. I'd rather give up coffee and learn to enjoy tea than spend a good part of my day on the toilet feeling weak and horrible, malnourished.
--------------------
Senior female, IBS-D, presently stable thanks to Heather & Staff
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
windchimes, which is why its good to have these support groups and research studies and help.
There are good and bad doctors. Most want to help I believe, and then some aren't helpful.
Again foods are just one part of the bigger picture.
"It's a trial and error thing that does not necessarily require diagnostic tests that seniors living on a very small and fixed income need to bear the outrageous cost of, and stress out about that."
Why I posted the excellent article on diagnsoing IBS, did you read that?
Stressors, both physical and mental are very important in IBS and because of the close connections to the bodies stress system and digestive functioning. Its no longer about what came first, its about both. A lot of people don't fully realize or appreciate this major aspect. The fight or flight responce goes off around 200 times a day in normal people. Its connected to IBSers.
Its great to hear Heathers products and advise has helped you and your feeling better and have seen other improvements such as the blood pressure and cholesterol count. That is a good thing for sure 
Its also important that just the "act of eating itself" can trigger it in a large proportion of people.
FYI, from the chat with the experts and why Heather and basically all the experts recommends eating smaller meals.
"Dr. Drossman: Shawn - eating causes stretching of the stomach when the stomach strecthes it releases hormones or peptides that stimulate the lower bowel. Because people with IBS overrespond to stimuli (like peptide release) you get an exaggerated motility response and pain, so smaller meals reduce this"
------------------------------------
The the gastro colonic reflex?
It is altered in IBS, so just the act of eating can bring on symptoms in 15 minutes. This is not from a specific food in general, but like I said the act of eating.
In the middle of this page are two graphs of a normal person sigmoid colon 15 minutes after they eat and an IBSers sigmoid colon. You will see the IBSers is off the chart.
http://www.webpotential.com/falcon/uploadpic/
"Postprandial abdominal discomfort may be attributed to an exaggerated gastro-colonic reflex (the colonic contractile response to a meal), the presence of colonic high amplitude-propagated contractions, increased intestinal sensitivity (visceral hyperalgesia), or a combination of these. Fat ingestion may exaggerate hypersensitivity."
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec02/ch021666/ch021666a.html
Basically what this means is the act of eating itself can cause a problem. The stomach sends a signal to the large intestines food is on the way and the lower intestines can overreact, casuing d. Part of this reaction, a big part actually is the amount of calories in the meal and fat. Fat is a big trigger to the reflex.
-------------------------------------------
This is one reason why a lot of IBS sufferers sometimes think that a particular food is the culprit to symptoms.
"gastrocolic reflex
This is the reflex system that tells the colon to empty when food hits the stomach, or even in anticipation of a meal. This is why baby poops every time he nurses. It is also why kids with constipation complain of their belly aches right around mealtime. "
"Medical Dictionary
Definition: increase of muscle movement in the gastrointestinal tract when food enters an empty stomach; may cause the urge to have a bowel movement right after eating. "
In IBS this reflex is exaggerated. -------------------------------------------------------
"Why Symptoms Occur During normal digestion, foods are broken down in the stomach and small intestine so that their nutrients can be absorbed into the body. Undigested or partially digested portions -- mostly in liquid form -- then enter the large intestine colon where most of the water is reabsorbed. Movement through the intestines results from peristalsis, a wavelike contraction of muscles in the intestinal walls that propel their contents forward. When all is well, the end result is stool that is solid but soft enough to be excreted easily.
Diet, eating habits, stress, and various environmental factors can disrupt the normal function of the intestines. If the intestines squeeze too hard or not enough, the partially digested food can travel too rapidly or too slowly through the digestive system. Movement that is too fast will result in diarrhea, because not enough water is reabsorbed. Movement that is too slow can result in constipation, because too much water is absorbed. Overly hard squeezing (spasm) can result in cramps. However, the diarrhea of IBS can also occur without pain.
IBS symptoms occur after eating because of the gastrocolic reflex -- increased movement of the intestinal contents in response to food entering the stomach. The strength of this reflex can be influenced by the volume and temperature of the food and the number of calories. Large meals particularly high-fat meals and large amounts of cold beverages can trigger IBS attacks."
also it could help to limit carbohydrate intake.
IBS Diet
http://www.aboutibs.org/site/about-ibs/management/ibs-diet/
IBS and foods
http://www.ibshealth.com/ibsfoods2.htm
Heather wrote this for me and my siite on the second page.
http://www.ibshealth.com/ibsfoods.htm
IBS is a very complex condition and there are many factors that trigger it and can help it. " Understanding it some or a lot helps as well for a lot of reasons.
--------------------
My website on IBS is www.ibshealth.com
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
Posts
