Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Is this really IBS or something else

Hi mrae,

Have you tried or are you taking the acacia? This is your best bet to get things to calm down and stabilize. Work up to a maintenance dose of 1-3 tablespoons/day to stabilize diarrhea and loose stools. Only increase the dose by as much as you can tolerate without getting increase gas and bloating, usually � to 1 teaspoon added to the daily dose every 3-4 days will be safe. Also, does stress seem to make your IBS worse? You might be a good candidate for the IBS self hypnosis program to get things to calm down while you are interviewing etc. http://www.helpforibs.com/shop/books/hypnoibs.asp

If you followed the instructions for the acacia and have made the dietary changes Heather talks about in her books but still didn't see total improvement, you probably either don't have IBS or have something else like food sensitivities going on at the same time. This can make it difficult to stabilize IBS. This is very common and can cause a lot of IBS-like symptoms. Or, sometimes people think they have IBS when it really is just food sensitivities alone. Conventional doctors, like the ones you've been seeing, will not talk to you about this because they don't even acknowledge their existence. They haven't developed a good validated lab test for food sensitivities, which means they can't test and get objective findings for a diagnosis. The gold standard for diagnosis and treatment is a dietary strategy called the elimination diet. Food sensitivities are an immune response just like a true food allergy (example peanut allergy) only it involves a different antibody and is less severe. They talk about it in immunology textbooks; it is a very real thing that affects a lot of people including me. You'll need to find a good naturopath, holistic nutritionist, or other provider familiar with elimination diets to help you identify foods that may be causing these types of reactions. Once you remove the offending foods from your diet, you may be able to get everything under control. I attached a list of helpful websites where you can locate a provider in your area that can help you with identifying food sensitivities. Here's some more information from great website http://www.womentowomen.com/inflammation/allergies.aspx

Fructose intolerance/malabsorption or salicylate sensitivity are additional common culprits that would be work checking out. Here's some information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption and http://www.webmd.com/allergies/guide/salicylate-allergy

Also, make sure your doctors have checked you for parasites such as giardia (stool sample test) http://www.cdc.gov/Ncidod/dpd/parasites/giardiasis/factsht_giardia.htm and also celiac (gluten intolerance) http://celiac.org because these can cause similar symptoms as well.

The best type of provider to help you sort all of these issues out would probably be a naturopath. You can learn more about this type of provider and find a good one here http://www.naturopathic.org.

I wish you the best and hope you can get stable!

Erin

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Erin Dudley, MS, CN
Certified Nutritionist
Heather's Tummy Care / Heather & Company for IBS, LLC
IBS Education, Support, & Products
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LEGAL DISCLAIMER - This email is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a doctor-patient relationship. Any application of the recommendations in this email is at the reader's discretion. Heather Van Vorous and Heather & Company for IBS, LLC are not liable for any direct or indirect claim, loss or damage resulting from use of this email and/or any web site(s) linked to/from it. Readers should consult their own physicians concerning the recommendations in this email

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