Hiya! IBS absolutely sucks--it’s a chronic disorder that not many people know much about, and is often dismissed by the medical community. There is a wealth of information out there online about ways of treating it, but it’s all over the place and you never know what’s true or not. SO, Imma share some tips and stuff I’ve found throughout my health journey that works for me.
NOTE: this is primarily focused on IBS-C, though some stuff might help for any type of IBS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Get yourself a hot pad of some kind! That sucker is a lifesaver for cramps and stuff. If you can’t buy one, make your own by filling a big ol’ sock with rice and heating it in the microwave.
- If you have reflux and you need to sleep, try lying on your left side rather than your right or your back. Because of the way most people’s stomachs are made, this prevents acid from leaking out into your throat as much.
- Try not to crunch your stomach (i.e. slouch over too much) if it’s bugging you, as the extra pressure can make it feel worse. Try sitting up straight, or using a wedge pillow.
- If you wear a bra, loosening it up can help with discomfort as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MEDICINE (make sure you consult a doctor/naturopath before trying anything new, I am not an expert):
- If you know that the meds you’re on or are going to be taking have constipation as a side effect, stock up on extra laxatives and things beforehand so you don’t get backed up as much.
- DGL tablets (deglycyrrhizinated licorice root), help your intestines and esophagus to produce more mucus, which allows the lining to heal and be protected from acid and other irritants. They can be really helpful for upset stomachs, too!
- Diovol is also magical for stomach issues as well, and some of them even come with gas relief stuff as well! Not sure if this is sold in the US or other countries, however.
- Ginger tablets are good for stomach upset/nausea as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOOD (consult professionals before trying a restrictive diet):
- If you have just discovered you have IBS, you may want to try an elimination diet to heal inflammation and work out food sensitivities. Make sure you do your research, though!
- Low-FODMAP is a common choice for IBS sufferers. It eliminates specific sugars that cause problems for a lot of people.
- Another option is Autoimmune Paleo, or AIP. This works on eliminating common foods that cause problems for a certain period of time, and then gradually reintroducing foods to see which ones cause problems.
- A lot of people have problems with dairy and gluten (there are a suprisingly large amount of people in the world that are actually lactose/milk protein intolerant), so you may want to start by just eliminating those.
- If you are on a diet, try to relax about food in general if you can, because your emotional state actually affects your immune system and how you digest food. In fact, if you stress out too much, you can actually cause a reaction! So if you have anxiety/mood issues, try to treat those as well as your IBS symptoms, or they’ll feed into each other.
- Your body may have a harder time digesting food than most people, so make sure you chew your food enough (some people say about 20 chews, but it’ll be different for each person/food). This gives your saliva time to break down the food so it’s easier for your stomach to digest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE NITTY GRITTY (be careful with meds and supplements):
- Make sure you know which kind of laxative you’re on and how it works. Some of them should not be used often because they can actually make IBS-C worse by causing your body to rely on them in order to poop.
- Osmotic laxatives such as Miralax and polyethylene glycol are safer for long-term use.
- Senna (either in tea or tablet form such as Sennakot) can be helpful for stimulating the muscles in your colon.
- Both Vitamin C and Magnesium supplements can actually help you to poop, as well. Gradually build up your dosage over a few days until you get loose stools, then go backwards a bit. Don’t worry about taking too much (unless it’s an excessively large amount), because your body clears out the excess vitamins through your waste.
- If you are using an osmotic laxative and it’s not working, make sure you’re drinking enough water. These laxatives work by drawing water into your stools to make them easier to pass, so if the only water you drink with them is the stuff you mixed it in to, you aren’t going to get much results. I find the laxatives work better if you drink a lot of water right around the same time you take them.
- Prune juice is another thing I’ve found to work. It is high-FODMAP, however, so if you’re on that diet, you may want to avoid it. Otherwise, I drink about 4-8 oz in the morning once a day.
- Make sure you drink lots and lots of water throughout the day! Your stool will be drier if you are dehydrated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- If you aren’t getting help from a doctor, try going to a naturopath. Some people are suspicious of natural products for healing, but a lot of it really works, and a good naturopath knows a lot about more obscure conditions and how your body works.
- I mentioned this before, but the mind and gut are very connected. This is part of why for women, being on their period often makes IBS worse. If you struggle with anxiety or depression, it’s important to treat both that and the IBS, otherwise they’ll feed each other and you won’t make progress.
IBS is really hard, and besides the physical part of it, it can be very depressing as well. Foods you used to enjoy are now your enemy, and you feel like a burden wherever you go because you can’t enjoy the same things other people can without pain. And to top it all off, we’re told that it’s a chronic condition with no cure.
However, IBS is a set of symptoms, not a condition itself, and those symptoms are often caused by another underlying problem, and this problem will be different for everyone. But if you can solve that problem, it’s totally possible to have complete or near-complete healing! It’s a journey, and it’s hard, but there is hope, and it’s important to keep fighting--for ourselves, and for others, so that they can experience healing too. <3
