Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Even worse, it seems the same to me now as it was in the '70s!

I hear ya -

I have had several internal med docs and several GI docs - a few were good and actually asked ME to do research for them because they did not have the time themselves and to report back!

Most tried everything under the sun, even off-label use of drugs for me - I have been on at least two drugs that are off the market now... scary.

One GI I had was from Mayo Clinic, now in UCLA and is very vested in IBS research and very well respected.

She presribed a very strong antibiotic - FLAGYL (as for a possible parasite infection, which I tested negative for, but told me to take it anyway) and a beta blocker (thought to control heart muscle rhythms and hoped it would also control intestinal muscle contractions) for me in 1993.

Fast forward to 2005, and I saw her at the DDW (Digestive Disease Week) Convention that Michael and I attended - she asked me what she did with me back then, and was appalled saying they never would do that now!

When we were at the IFFGD symposium, we had the GIs fill out info cards for us. From that we found out that GIs see between 30 - 50 IBS patients a month on average. I dont know if those were new or ongoing cases, but needless to say, IBS patients are a good part of their caseload.

I have presented IBS and hypnotherapy info at several hospital community service IBS info events, and though their power point presentation treatment charts always list hypnotherapy as a treatment, most of the time they dont actually suggest it in the real world.

The lecture glosses over it, and the same things are suggested - the questions people ask afterwards and the doctor's responses make me cringe.

When I present the info about the hypno, the nurses and patients are vastly interested; come up after to me with questions - because I have lived it - and my IBS was just as severe or more so than they are!

Over the years, we have had a few GIs routinely refer their patients for the hypotherapy program, but most rather keep their same protocol they've used for years. Even respected info medical websites still suggest pretty much the same mainstream stuff as a rule.

I do a lot of writing regarding IBS and came across some stats about CAM in both the US and EU - cant find it tonight, but basically, why do Americans and others spend so much money on CAM products to treat their conditons - it is because conventional medicine treatments do not always work! And people dont want to be on drugs forever either!

Some docs want to try new things and are open, others do not - just as it is with all walks of life and professions, I guess...

But I have met some very devoted and good docs and GI investigators too - there is hope!

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My Journey and Success with the IBS Audio Program Hypnotherapy Program: www.helpforibs.com/messageboards/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=hypnotherapy&Number=224850

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