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Liver Cleanse Aka Liver Gall bladder Flush
Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor first.
The liver cleanse has to be among the top on the list of accelerated healing methods.
When the liver dysfunctions, it puts stress on all systems, the liver being a primary organ of detoxification. Many toxins that the liver is supposed to, but does not address end up in the lungs, kidneys, lymphatic system and colon. The colon will reabsorb them if they are not eliminated from the body within hours of their arrival, hence colonics are very helpful as well. Once the lymphatic system gets saturated with toxins it takes perhaps weeks to remove them as the lymph is very dense and moves very slowly. Toxins reduce oxygen supply which makes the lungs less efficient and the heart work harder. A major food toxin to the liver is animal fat including pasteurised butter.
Spring is a particularly good time to cleanse . Living foods begin to surface from the ground in spring. We replenish our minerals and food enzymes with fresh raw organic fruits and vegetables in solid and fresh juice form. Raw is mostly better but moderate cooking is better than no fruits and vegetables at all.
This liver cleanse procedure has been in the public domain for many generations. It effectively and painlessly removes stones, gravel, crystals and debris that hinder healing and the ability to detoxify pollutants from the gallbladder and the liver and cleanses the liver bile ducts.
Purpose:
Cleansing the liver of gall stones dramatically improves digestion which is the basis of your whole health. You can expect many or all of your allergies to disappear, too, more and more with each subsequent cleanse. Each liver cleanse “cures” a different set of allergies, suggesting that the liver is compartmentalized – different parts having different duties. It follows that by getting all the stones out, all allergies will disappear! Well – incredibly, a liver cleanse has eliminated shoulder, upper arm, lower and upper back pain.
Introduction:
One of the top jobs of the liver to make bile, 1 to 1 1/2 quarts in a day! The liver is full of tubes (biliary tubules) that deliver the bile to one large tube, the common bile duct. The gall bladder is attached to the common bile duct and acts as a storage reservoir. Eating fat or protein triggers the gall bladder to squeeze itself empty after about twenty minutes (or after ingesting the liver cleanse solution) and the stored bile finishes its trip down the common bile duct to the small intestine and eventually to the colon (large intestine). Of course the gall bladder does not hold enough bile to neutralise all of the liver cleanse solution you have ingested and the empty gallbladder signals its master, the liver, to dump all available bile forcefully into the common bile duct as well and in this fashion the liver turns itself practically inside out and empties all of its available bile together with stones, gravel and crystals to condition that potent liver cleanse solution. The epsom salt serves to relax the tubules so that the passage of larger stones is painless and smooth.
For many persons, including children, the biliary ducts (tubing) are choked with gallstones. Some develop allergies or hives but some have no symptoms at all. When the gall bladder is scanned or X-rayed, nothing is seen. Typically, the worst stones are not in the gallbladder but in the liver. Not only that, most are too small and not calcified, a pre-requisite for visibility on X-ray. There are over half a dozen variety of gallstones, most of which have cholesterol crystals in them. They can be black, red, white, green or tan colored. The green ones get their color from being coated with bile. Notice in the picture (of Dr. Hulda Clark’s books) how many have imbedded unidentified objects. Are they fluke remains? Notice how many are shaped like corks with longitudinal grooves below the tops. We can visualize the blocked bile ducts from such shapes. Other stones are composites – made from smaller ones – showing that they regrouped in the bile duct some time after the last cleanse.
At the very center of each stone scientists found a clump of bacteria, suggesting a dead bit of parasite might have started the stone forming. Maybe it is the liver’s method to encapsulate parasite adults to avoid getting destroyed by such an invader. That’s fine for one or two, but how about thousands of such encapsulations?
Eventually the fine self-defense turns into an immense blockage that keeps the liver from detoxifying and eliminating harmful substances such as solvents and parasites. You see, as the stones grow and become more numerous, the back pressure on the liver causes it to make less bile which is of course the transportation medium for the undesirable substances. Imagine the situation if your garden hose had marbles in it. Much less water would flow, which in turn would decrease the ability of the hose to squirt out the marbles. With gallstones and liver stones, much less excess cholesterol leaves the body and cholesterol levels may rise.
Also, gall/liver stones, being porous, can pick up bacteria, cysts, viruses and parasite stages that are passing through the liver. In this way, “nests” of infection are formed, forever supplying the body with fresh irritating bacteria. No stomach infection such as ulcers or intestinal bloating can be cured permanently without removing these stones from the gallbladder and liver.
Preparation:
Cleansing the liver bile ducts is the most powerful procedure you can undertake in order to improve your body’s health. A liver cleanse is best done twice a year.
Phase I (optional):
Though some are not sensitive to amalgam fillings, those that are may do any dental work first, if possible. Your mouth should be metal free and bacteria free and all cavitations should have been cleaned. A toxic mouth can put a heavy load on the liver, burdening it immediately after cleansing. Eliminate any tooth problem first for best results. If this is not possible then go to the liver cleanse anyway.
Phase II (mandatory):
Drink fresh, organic un-pasteurized apple juice for three days preceding the liver cleanse. For these three days, eat frugally (little) if you must and then only small amounts of raw unprocessed fruit and/or vegetable salads, but every day take at least one full quart of high quality unfiltered (you should be able to see the sediments on the bottom of the container) preferable home-made organic apple juice. The pectin in the apple juice helps to soften and flatten the stones in the gall bladder and liver. This will also help their passage through the bile ducts. This semi-fast also empties the intestines of their food content and makes the collection of stones less problematic. Use a good juicer and make up 20-30 pounds of apples into juice and refrigerate. A Foodsaver with the Mason/Barr Jar adaptor will help the juice last longer.
Liver cleanse ingredients:
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Phase III – (Procedure):
Choose a day like Saturday for the cleanse so that you can rest the next day.
Take no medicines, vitamins or other pills that you can do without. They could hinder success of the cleanse. Stop any parasite or kidney cleanse the day before.
Eat a no-fat fruit breakfast and light fat-free lunch such as cooked cereals with fruit but no butter or milk. This allows the bile to build up and develop pressure in the liver. Higher pressure pushes out more stones.
2:00 PM. Do not eat or drink after 2:00 o’clock. If you break this rule you could feel quite ill later. Get your Epsom salts ready. Mix 4 tablespoons in 3 cups of water and pour this into a jar. This makes four servings, 3/4 cup each. Place the jar in the refrigerator to get ice cold (this is for convenience and taste only). If you are familiar with the procedure, take an enema before 4:00 PM with distilled (not chlorinated) warm water to clean out your large intestines of any fecal matter. The cleaner your intestines are the easier it will be for the stones to be eliminated.
6:00 PM. Drink the first serving (3/4 cup) of the ice cold Epsom salts water. If you did not prepare this potion ahead of time (at 2:00 PM), mix 1 tablespoon in 3/4 cup of water now. You may add 1/8 teaspoon of vitamin C powder to improve the taste. If you have no vitamin C powder then add a little citrus juice to improve the taste; but this is entirely optional. You can certainly drink a few mouthfuls of water afterwards or rinse your mouth.
Get the olive oil and grapefruit out to warm up.
8:00 PM. Repeat the above by drinking a second 3/4 cup of Epsom salts water. You have not eaten since two o’clock, but you won’t feel hungry. Get your bedtime chores done now.
Switch your telephone to your answering machine and be prepared to stay by yourself for the balance of the evening. The timing of the actual cleanse is critical to achieve success. Do not be more than 10 minutes early or late for anything that follows next.
9:45 PM. Pour 3/4 cup (measured cup) of your high quality olive oil into the pint jar. Pour the prepared 3/4 cup of squeezed grapefruit and lemon juice into the measuring cup adding this to the oil. Close the jar tightly with its lid and shake briskly until well mixed, almost watery. Only fresh squeezed juice will do this.
Now visit the bathroom one or more times even if this makes you slightly late for your ten o’clock drink. Be ready to go to bed and STAY in bed. Don’t clean up the kitchen. Do it the next day.
10:00 PM. Take the olive oil to your bedside if you want but drink it standing up. Drink the olive oil. If you have them, take four Ornithine capsules with the first sips to make sure you will sleep through the night. Take eight if you already suffer from insomnia. Drinking through a large plastic straw might help it go down easier. Get all of it down within five minutes or less (less than fifteen minutes for very elderly or weak persons).
Lie down immediately. The sooner you lie down, otherwise gravity can invite too fast a transition of the Epsom salts liquids, the more stones you will get out. Put your knees up to your chest in a fetal position. Lie on your right side for at least half an hour. The oil will go to your gallbladder and liver. These organs will not know what to do with all that oil, so they will spasm and throw off all the available bile plus stones, gravel and crystals.
After half an hour you may turn on your back with a good thick feather pillow. Try to think about what is happening in the liver. Think loving thoughts – your liver is sensitive and responsive to feelings of resentment, vindictiveness and hate. Try to keep perfectly still for about half an hour or at least 20 minutes. Visualise the cleansing action taking place. You may feel a train of stones traveling along the bile ducts like marbles. There is little likelihood of pain because the bile duct valves are open (thanks to the epsom salts). Relax and go to sleep. Let nature do her thing. Tomorrow you will be cleaner, much cleaner and also healthier than before.
Next morning (early): Upon wakening, take your third dose of Epsom salts. If you have indigestion or nausea (highly unlikely and can often be relieved by sitting up and belching), wait until this is gone before drinking the Epsom salts. Don’t take this potion before 6:00 AM. It would be best if you don’t get up and have someone else give you this potion. This drink will act as a mild laxative and provoke a later bowel movement.
2 hours later. Take you fourth (the last one – Yupee!) dose of Epsom salts. Drink 3/4 cup of the mixture. You may go back to bed if you like.
After 2 more hours you may get up and take something into your empty stomach. Start with some fresh-made fruit juice. Half an hour later, eat some fruit. One hour later you may eat regular food but keep it light and natural. By supper of the next day (Monday) you should feel fully recovered and have increases in energy, stamina, clear headedness or reduction of all health issues that relate to the liver which is in varying degrees most of them. In short you should feel better all over.
How well did you do? Possible diarrhoea in the morning of the second day (Sunday). The ideal way to see what you are actually eliminating is to defecate into a white clear glass bowl or large white plastic bucket. The bowl or bucket is used to also see the reddish crystals which collect at the bottom of the bowl (the stones float on top) and those crystals would ordinarily be lost somewhere at the bottomless hole in the toilet and you would have missed them. The alternative is to use the toilet and look into it for the stones with a flashlight. Look for the greenish kind since this is proof that they are genuine gallstones and not food residue. Only bile (coating the stones) from the liver is green. The bowel movement (if there is any) sinks but gall and liver stones float because of the cholesterol inside. Count them roughly, whether tan or green. You may have to eliminate up to 2000 stones before the liver is clean enough to rid you of allergies or bursitis, joint or back pain. The first cleanse may rid you of them for a few days but as the stones from the rear of the liver travel forward they might give you the same symptoms again. You may repeat this gallbladder/liver cleanse at two-week intervals until no more stones come out. Never cleanse when you are ill.
Sometimes, the bile ducts are full of cholesterol crystals that did not form into round stones. They appear as a “chaff” floating on top of the toilet bowl water. It may be tan colored, harboring millions of tiny white crystals. Cleansing this chaff is just as important as purging stones. We don’t know what is the identity of the reddish heavy small crystals that collect at the bottom of the bowl.
How safe is the liver cleanse? Dr. Clark’s opinion is based on over 500 cases, including many persons in their seventies and eighties. None went to the hospital; none even reported pain. However, it can make you feel quite ill for a one or two days afterwards.
Conclusion:
The above procedure contradicts many modern medical viewpoints. Gallstones are thought to be few, not thousands. They don’t get linked to pains other than gall bladder attacks. It is easy to understand why this is thought: By the time you have acute pain attacks, some stones are in the gallbladder, are big enough and sufficiently calcified to be seen on X-ray, and they have caused inflammation there.
When the gall bladder is removed, the acute pain attack is gone but bursitis and other pains and digestive problems remain and get worse. Stones are not thought to reside in the liver but they do. If the liver is operated upon only the biggest and worst offenders can be removed – yet uncountable stones and gravel and crystals remain in the already clogged liver which has not improved at all. Repeated liver gall bladder cleansing is the answer.
People who have their gallbladder surgically removed still eliminate plenty of green, bile-coated stones with this liver cleanse and anyone who cares to dissect their stones can see that the concentric circles and crystals of cholesterol match textbook pictures of “gallstones” exactly.
Note:
If you feel waves of pain reaching up to your throat, you probably have a gallstone stuck in a bile duct (clay-colored stool is evidence of bile duct blockage). Epsom salts can relax that bile duct in 20 minutes. Take a tablespoon in 3/4 cup of water but only on an empty stomach or you may feel quite ill. Taking a large dose of valerian herb (6 to 8 capsules four times a day including bedtime) may also buy you a little time by relaxing the duct. If you do get relief, you can be sure it was a spasm of the bile duct system. The magnesium in the epsom salts relaxes spasms. It would be best to clean the liver a number of times (at two week intervals unless too ill) to try to dislodge the sticking gallstone.
DETOXIFYING ENEMAS
DISCLAIMER: Please consult your doctor first
What is an enema?
Enemas cleanse only part of the colon, as opposed to colon hydrotherapy, which cleanses the entire colon.
Enemas release old, encrusted colon waste, discharge parasites, freshen the gastrointestinal tract. They are especially helpful during a healing crisis, after a serious illness to speed healing, or to remove drug residues. Migraines and skin problems are often relieved with enemas. Adding herbs to the enema water serves to immediately alkalise the bowel area, control irritation and inflammation, and provide healing action to ulcerated or distended tissue.
Herbs for specific enemas:
Use 2 cups of strong brew to 1 qt water per enema.
Garlic helps kill parasites, harmful bacteria and cleanses mucous congestion. Blend 6 garlic cloves to 2 cups of water and strain. For small children, use 1 clove garlic to 1 pint water.
Catnip is effective for stomach and digestive conditions.
Pau d’arco normalises body pH, especially against immune deficient diseases like chronic yeast and fungal infections.
Spirulina helps detoxify both blood and bowels. Use 2 TBS powder to 1 qt water.
Lobelia neutralises food poisoning, especially if vomitting prevents antidote herbs being taken orally.
Aloe vera juice heals tissues in cases of hemorrhoids, irritable bowel and diverticulitis.
Lemon juice rapidly neutralises an acid system.
Acidophilus relieves gas, yeast infections and candidasis. Mix 4 oz powder to 1 qt water.
Coffee enemas detoxify the liver, stimulating both liver and gallbladder to remove toxins, open bile ducts, increase peristaltic action, and produce enzyme activity for healthy red blood cell formation and oxygen uptake. Use 1 cup of regular organic strong brewed coffee to 1 qt water. Also often effective for migraine headaches
Procedure for effective detox enemas:
Place warm enema solution in enema bag. Hang bag about 18 inches higher than body. Attach the colon tube and lubricate its attachment with vaseline or vitamin E oil. Expel a little water to let out air bubbles. Lying on your left side, slowly insert the attachment about 3 inches into the rectum. Never use force. Rotate attachment gently to ease insertion. Remove kinks in the tubing so liquid will flow freely. Massage abdomen, or flex and contract stomach muscles to relieve cramping. When all the solution has entered the colon, slowly remove the tube and remain on the left side for 5 minutes. Then move to a knee-chest position with your body weight on your knees and one hand. Use the other hand to massage the lower left side of the abdomen for several minutes.
Massage loosens old faecal matter. Roll on to your back for 5 minutes, massaging up the descending colon, over the transverse colon to the right side and down the ascending colon. Then move on to your right side for 5 minutes, in order to reach each part of the colon. Get up and quickly expel into the toilet. Sticky grey-brown mucus, small dark crusty chunks or tough ribbony pieces are usually loosened and expelled during an enema. These poisonous looking things are obstacles and toxins interfering with normal body functions. You may have to take several enemas until there is no more evidence of these substances.
Supplier: Archturus Limited, Strathenry House, Leslie, Fife KY6 3HY, Scotland. Telephone: 01592 620 865 Fax: 01592 620 965. I am not their agent.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Solutions
LEGAL NOTICE
The Publisher has striven to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this report, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the internet.
While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, the Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or organisations are unintentional.
Table of Contents:
- Chapter 1: Symptoms and diagnosis
- Chapter 2: Treatment overview
- Chapter 3: Stress is a factor
- Chapter 4: Your diet’s role
- Chapter 5: Understanding the medications
- Chapter 6: Alternative IBS treatments
- Chapter 7: Prevention
- Conclusion: Your IBS to do list
Introduction
Irritable Bowel Syndrome, also known as IBS may affect the entire digestive tract. It is a condition where the rhythmic muscular contractions of the digestive tract become spastic, thus impeding or speeding up the movement of food and waste. If you have not yet seen your doctor, it is time to consider heading to him/her to exclude other possibilities. The cause for IBS remains unknown at the time of writing.
Chapter 1 – Symptoms and diagnosis
If you suffer from any of the following symptoms, you may wish to consult your doctor, especially if they are recurring:
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There are several things your doctor may consider:
Does defecation relieve the discomfort?
When you feel this way, is there a change in the frequency of your bowel movements?
When you are experiencing this pain, is there a change in the form or the way that your stool looks?
Then, (s)he will compare the differences and answers found with what is considered normal against what is not.
If you have more than three bowel movements per day or you have less than three movements per week, this is considered abnormal.
If you have hard or lumpy stool or you have a very loose and watery stool, this is considered abnormal.
If you are straining, or you have an urgent need to go or you feel like you cannot completely finish, this too is abnormal.
If there is any sign of mucus, this is abnormal.
In addition, pain in the abdomen or the feeling of being bloated is considered abnormal.
Your doctor is likely to ask for a blood test as part of the diagnostic process. Finally, your doctor may thoroughly examine you, to rule out any other possibilities.
Your doctor may find that your symptoms are other than IBS. These symptoms can include blood on or within the stool, weight loss, fevers, diarrhoea or pain that gets you up at night. These might lead to other diagnoses.
It is also believed that those suffering from other conditions are more likely to experience IBS. These conditions include chronic fatigue syndrome, stress, chronic pelvic pain and fibromyalgia.
Some doctors have found a link between irritable bowel syndrome and mental conditions. They link IBS to having both neurological and psychological components. In addition to this, some conditions can worsen it. For example, menstruation usually exacerbates the symptoms.
Chapter 2 – Treatment overview
Irritable bowel syndrome is not something that has a 100% cure rate. In most cases, you and your doctor will work at determining how best to tackle the symptoms. Without the cause being known, little can be done to remove the pain and discomfort. It should be noted is that irritable bowel syndrome is not a progressive condition, and is not life threatening. Much can be done to improve your quality of life.
How To Manage IBS:
Possibilities include medications, home remedy solutions and alternative therapies. You may get some relief by implementing just one type of treatment. But, most IBS sufferers will want to consider doing more than just adding one treatment to their regimen. With a constant eye on several key factors, you can find a number of benefits in health related costs.
Treatments to be considered:
There are several available treatments. In later chapters, we will go into detail of each of these so that you can adapt them to your lifestyle and find relief :
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Each of these avenues should be carefully considered. In addition, the degree of severity of your condition is an important factor. Those who suffer the most are going to need more help than those who do not. Your treatment should therefore be based on just how extreme your condition is. In effect, the treatment for a mild case of IBS is not going to be enough for those with severe symptoms. Likewise, the treatment for severe IBS is not going to be beneficial to those that are suffering from a mild condition.
What’s what?
Your doctor will work with you in diagnosing and then determining the IBS severity level. For each person, this will mean meeting with and following up on your doctor’s diagnosis. But, you can learn more about your condition by monitoring the levels of your condition on your own. Once you know to what degree you are suffering, there is a simple set of tools available for your use.
If you have mild IBS, your goal may be to work through management of stress factors and to make changes to the foods that you eat and to your overall lifestyle. For those suffering from moderate conditions, there is a need to make the changes noted above for mild conditions, as well as taking fibre supplementation, as appropriate, anticholinergic medications (or those similar to them) and possibly over the counter relief.
If you have a severe form of IBS, you will need to follow both the mild and moderate conditions, but in addition, you will need to talk to your doctor about further medications. These can include tricyclic or SSRI antidepressants or other types of medication.
How do you know?
The biggest question is how do I know what to do? The best answer is to speak with your family doctor first. If you do not find answers there, move on to working with a specialist in the field.
Through a series of tests, your doctor will help you to fully understand your condition, including the severity of your symptoms. Once this is done, (s)he will help you make the right lifestyle changes, and, in cases, you will also be prescribed medications to manage it.
The recommendations of a specialist in the field are by far the very best way to go. He or she will aid you in providing the right treatment for your specific condition, not just the symptoms that are most common to irritable bowel syndrome. But, it makes sense to keep yourself completely updated and educated as to what is happening in the world of IBS.
In the following chapters, you will learn various methods of managing your IBS condition. In most cases, you will want to consider making the necessary changes to your lifestyle. Dedicate your time to improving your lifestyle and diet, and you will most likely find relief.
As for the medications chapter, make sure that you discuss with your specialist the types of medications that can help in your specific situation.
Chapter 3 – Stress is a Factor
One of the first things that you and your doctor will talk about is stress. The stress factor can damage many other aspects of your physical, emotional and mental health.
First and foremost, do not make the mistake of thinking that stress of itself can cause IBS. Stress is generally brought into our lives by a troubled lifestyle. Remember that we do not know what actually causes IBS. In effect, all we can do is to treat its symptoms.
Why stress hurts:
Why stress affects your IBS is clear. For a healthy person in an ideal situation, stress is controlled by the body. Your body has a pain inhibition system that turns on when it is struggling with pain, to help you to cope with it. But what can happen with IBS sufferers is that this hypersensitivity does not function. The body does not turn on the right pain inhibition system and you feel the muscles of your gut hurting.
For example, it has been a long and stressful day; you are looking forward to a good meal and sleep. If you are experiencing prolonged or repeated episodes of stress, you will find it not so easy to relax. Instead, you go home and eat a meal. No matter if you eat during your stressful event or afterwards, your will have that awful discomfort in your abdomen that comes with IBS.
It does not have to be food:
Do not think that the only reason that the IBS discomfort is brought on is that of food either. In fact, there have been studies to prove this. For example, when your body experiences a normal emotional response to a situation, the experience is not strictly emotional; your body reacts in many ways. If you are afraid, nervous or sad, your body reacts physically as well as emotionally. Your heart starts to race. Your hands are sweaty. You feel the need to use the restroom. You may even get the ‘stomach of nerves’ feeling. In IBS sufferers, these symptoms intensify the stomach discomfort. We know that the body reacts to emotional feelings, and stressful situations bring out pronounced pain in the stomach’s walls.
In these examples, you understand that no matter what the stressful situation is, your body plays a role in making your symptoms far from ordinary. In effect, your IBS is made worse by these situations. For this reason, the avoiding of stressful situations can be quite helpful in reducing the number of painful episodes that you go through.
The question is, then, how can you avoid all the stressful events in your life? What you need to remember here is that it is not just a matter of avoiding stressful events to stop IBS, but to lower the body’s reactions to them. So, you need to avoid stress and you need to do things that help to relieve stress that you are already facing. When you do these two things, you can find relief from some of your worst IBS situations. The question is now, how can you do this?
Removing stress:
There is no doubt that removing stress from your lifestyle is going to be challenging. And, there is no doubt that each of us will face stressful situations no matter what we do to avoid them. But, it is not all about avoiding these situations.
In many ways, doing things that will relieve your stress will help your IBS to find less of a reason to act up. You see, it is the piling up of stress in your body that makes IBS react, not necessarily just one or two stressful situations. Although, in an extreme case, this is all it will likely take to have a reaction. Here are some of the best ways for you to work on relieving stress in your life.
NLP and EFT: Stress is not caused by external factors, but how you react to them. For example, some people find flying stressful; others find it enjoyable. This stressful reaction can be negated with neurolinguistic programming and/or emotional freedom techniques. Results are immediate with no side effects and do not require medication.
Avoidance: Of course removing yourself from situations that are always stressful to you will work. However, if your job is causing you to lose sleep at night or to worry about it, then this will lead to IBS reactions. Since your job is an ongoing thing, it builds up and causes reactions all the time. In situations like this, the only thing that you can do to find relief with a constant stress causer is to remove it if possible.
Exercise: Believe it or not, your body can relax and find benefit from exercise. This is a great way for you to reduce the stress in your body. Try to get in a walk each day after dinner. Or, sign up for membership at the local gym and go up there and do some laps in the pool. Getting into physical activity does much more than just help you to stay fit. It also helps to stimulate the brain which in turn helps your body to reduce stress loads.
Meditation: For some, mediation is a great way to find relief from stress. Focusing on the good things instead of always worrying about the bad things is the perfect way to find relief from stressful events. If you do not feel that meditation is right for you, try yoga. This will combine both meditation and exercise to provide ideal stress relief to your body and to your mind.
Do something fun: Even when things are really looking bad, your mind needs to focus on other things that are beneficial. If you can get out with your friends for a night and have fun, that will help to take some of the stress away. Everyone needs to find things to do that take their mind off the stress they are under.
Get enough sleep: A very important part of fighting stress is taking care of your body’s physical needs. Sleep is not an option but a requirement for good health. By getting enough sleep so that you feel rested when you wake up will help your body cope with stress as it goes through your day.
Use these methods to help you reduce stress loads. Keep in mind that there are plenty of other ways that can reduce the stresses of your body. You just need to maintain a healthy living environment. If you do not take the time to reduce and avoid stress in your daily life, IBS will be a constant factor. Remember that stress is not the only thing that you need to think about. Pair stress reduction or removal with other necessary considerations and you will quickly experience the rewards.
Chapter 4 – Your diet’s role
Like stress, your diet does not bring on IBS, although many people think that they have caused this condition by eating less than healthy foods. Yet, it is well known that foods can contribute to making irritable bowel syndrome worse.
The problem with food is twofold. First, your body may react to some foods in a more intense way than others would react to that food. In addition, the body experiences increased levels of intestinal muscle reaction and sensitivity with IBS than otherwise. Just the fact that you are eating can make the symptoms of IBS show themselves. It may not even be a specific food that is causing it, or a general overreaction to food.
The problems with foods:
The first thing to work on is the simple fact that you can control what you eat. In this, you can have some control over how your body reacts. Some of the foods and drinks we know are problematic for those with IBS include fried foods, alcohol, caffeine and foods that are high in fat. In addition to this, when too much food is consumed at one sitting, problems can also arise.
Diarrhoea and cramping in your abdomen can be caused by some specific types of sugars that cannot be fully digested. These include sorbitol which is a sweetener in diabetic foods, gum sugars, candy sugars, and fructose. The consumption of these sugars will lead to the inability of the bowel to absorb them and will lead to diarrhoea.
The gas symptoms of IBS can be brought on by some foods as well. For example, beans, legumes, cauliflower, lentils, brussel sprouts, onions, bagels, cabbage and broccoli all can bring on the more intense gas like symptoms of IBS, including bloating.
With these foods being behind the onset of IBS symptoms, it is important for you to consider how they affect you. It is essential for you to understand that foods affect each person in a different way. What affects you and causes intense symptoms of IBS does not have the same effect on another person with IBS. For this reason, it is critical that you find out how foods affect you.
Tracking Your Diet:
One of the best first steps for you to do in managing IBS is to track your diet. Although you may think you know what you are eating, you may not realise the correlation between your diet and your IBS symptoms. The goal is to learn what worsens your symptoms. You should track your diet solidly for two to three weeks. This means writing down everything that is eaten for a full two weeks at least. You will also need to monitor what you felt like before and after these meals as well as what IBS symptoms you experienced. A tracking chart can look something like this:
Day:
Symptoms AM:
Symptoms
Lunch:
Symptoms
Dinner:
Symptoms
Evening:
Foods consumed
AM:
Lunch:
PM:
Snacks:
Food reactions
noticed after meals
(up to 2 hours after)
AM:
Lunch
PM:
Snacks:
A tracking chart similar to this one will aid you in tracking the foods that you eat each day and the way you feel before and after each meal. By doing this, you will be able to see that certain foods seem to bring on your IBS symptoms more so than others.
Elimination diets:
As you work through this type of monitoring of your food intake, you are likely to find common areas where there is a food that you are consuming that seems to be causing additional or worsened IBS symptoms. When that type of food is found, and there is no doubt that when you eat it you feel bad, remove it from your diet.
The first concern is that the individual is losing quality of life by not eating all of the foods that he or she would like to eat. If this is done without a positive benefit on your lifestyle such as reduced IBS symptoms, then there is no benefit to you.
Elimination diets, as these types of diet setups are often called, can be a problem in and of themselves as well. For many individuals there is a health concern in the removal of necessary nutrients from their diet. Some individuals can suffer from anaemia, osteoporosis and can suffer vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In addition to this, those diets that actually recommend removing entire food groups should be avoided. This includes diets that remove all fats, all proteins or all carbohydrates t, or most of them. This is just not healthy in any type of diet.
If you will be using an elimination diet to help you find the foods that are not good for your IBS situation, you should be doing so only with the help of your doctor or dietician and with his or her guidance in that regard as well. If there is some reason for you or your doctor to believe that food is behind your condition to an extreme level, he or she will use tests such as allergy testing, upper intestinal endoscope, and lactose breathing testing.
There are some conditions in which your body will have intolerance to the food which is likely to cause you to feel IBS symptoms more readily. Through testing your doctor will determine if you are suffering from one of these conditions as well.
Some that are common with IBS include:
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Through testing, your doctor with your help will determine if you have any of these conditions.
Monitoring intake:
In addition to the types of foods that you consume, also take note of just how much you have eaten. Learning what portion sizes are recommended is also essential to the patient with IBS.
With IBS, symptoms can be brought on or made worse by the fact that you are consuming too much food at one sitting. Although most Americans do not realise it, most of the foods they eat are far too much for one sitting. Not only does this contribute to being overweight but it also causes problems with digestion. Remember the example of eating a full meal and feeling the symptoms of IBS coming on just from eating? This is due to the oversensitivity of your body due to IBS. Because your body does not stop the pain reaction as it should, you can experience extreme pain from just overeating.
The question that many have to face then is what is the right amount of a food they plan to eat. One way of learning this is to use packaging labels to help. Learn how much food is considered to be one portion. Food labels make this easy by allowing you to divide the serving size amount the noted servings. For example, if the package says that there are 4 servings in that package, divide the finished product in four before serving to yourself or others.
Common portion sizes:
Here are some of the portions you may want to take notice of when it comes to monitoring your IBS symptoms. This is a great way to estimate how much you should eat.
Fruit: One cup. One cup looks like the size of an adult’s fist.
Salad: One cup.
A slice of bread is one serving.
Pasta, rice or potatoes: One ½ cup is a serving.
Pancakes: One pancake is a serving and looks like the size of a compact disc.
Meats: Fish, poultry, beef, pork or other meats, 3 ounces is one serving and is the size of a deck of playing cards.
Grilled or baked fish: 3 ounces is a serving and will look like the size of a cheque that fits into a chequebook.
Ice cream: One ½ of a cup is a serving.
Milk: One cup.
Cheese: 1 ½ ounces is a serving. It looks like four dice stacked.
Oils used for cooking or greens: Serving is one teaspoon, which is the size of the tip of your thumb.
Now, look at these sizes. How often do you eat the right portion of meat or pasta? How often do you overeat on these foods and find yourself with the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome?
That’s not enough!
Many people will react to this portion control measure with the fear that there is no way that the amount of food within a portion is enough to fill them. There are some things that contribute to how much food you should eat. Yes, for some, there is a need to eat more. Here are some factors that play a role in how much you need to eat.
Men need to eat more than women due to size and muscle mass.
Those that get more physical activity than 30 minutes per day need to increase these amounts somewhat to compensate.
Children and teens need to consume more as they are growing.
Elderly individuals may need additional calories depending on what they are doing physically during the day.
How can you know how much is the right amount of food for you? The best way to monitor the food intake you should be consuming is simple. Ask your family doctor how many calories you should be consuming per day. The physically active male should consume about 2200 per day. The physically active female should consume about 1800 calories per day.
Tips for eating less:
Worried that you will not be able to control the amount you eat? Here are some great tips for making sure that every bite counts but does not hurt in the process. Here are some tricks:
Pay attention to how much you are eating.
Do not sit down with a large plate of food. Use eight inch plates instead of larger plates as these smaller plates will not allow you to eat so much in one helping. They trick the mind.
Eat slowly. Take the time to taste each bite of food you eat.
Instead of bringing all the food to the table, leave all food dishes at the counter and come to the table with just a plate of food. You will not be tempted to eat what is left over.
Pay attention to how frequently you are eating. Are you consuming more than you realise with bites of snacks here or there?
These tips can help you reduce the amount of food you are eating. Paying attention to this, in turn, helps you to reduce the amount and the intensity the IBS symptoms.
Over limiting yourself:
Did you know that you can damage your health if you overly limit yourself when it comes to IBS dietary restrictions? There is no need to go to such lengths as to be on very specific diets. When you limit yourself to such a degree, you only set yourself up to actually fail. Diets or plans that are too strict and limiting to you are much harder to follow and stay on.
In addition, some of these diets require the replacement of full food groups. That in itself is not acceptable because it limits the nutrition that you are getting as well.
Instead of these things, you will want to take into consideration which foods bring on IBS symptom severity and limit or remove those from your diet. Otherwise, a well balanced diet is the other ingredient to a healthy lifestyle and should not be restrictive in the process.
Even still, there are many suggestions of very strict diets for IBS patients. Unless your doctor recommends one of these for your severe irritable bowel syndrome conditions, it is not advisable to use them.
The best IBS diet suggestions for all:
It all comes down to understanding what the best possible foods for you to eat are. While each person will experience additional specific controls with their doctor’s help, most can benefit from these specific changes:
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Doing these things is likely to help improve your diet and therefore improve your overall health, including the reduction in IBS symptoms. Your doctor may have more detailed and specific directions for you to follow as well. Follow anything he says closely for the best results.
Considering fibre:
When it comes to IBS, many individuals need to carefully manage their fibre intake. Too much fibre leads to diarrhoea whereas not enough can cause constipation. What do you need?
The best thing to start with is to consume a variety of different types of fibre. You should consume fibre from fruits, whole grains and from vegetables. The best way to actually get your fibre and benefit from it is through these natural resources.
Your body needs fibre for several reasons. For example, the gas that is produced by fibre is necessary to stimulate your colon muscles as well as to help soften your stool.
But, for some individuals with IBS, this does cause a number of problems in the process. Adding too much fibre is usually the reasoning behind the discomfort you experience. For this reason, you should start to consume additional fibre to your regular diet slowly, monitoring how much you are getting in any one day.
The best ways of getting these specific fibre additives is to consume foods that contain them, including citrus foods, flaxseeds and legumes.
Conclusion:
The end result is that the foods you eat, both good and bad, affect the way that your body reacts. By finding out what foods cause you to suffer and removing or limiting them, you experience benefits in the long term when it comes to your overall health. By eating a well balanced diet and restricting foods that trigger your IBS symptoms, you can improve on how often and how severe those symptoms can be.
Chapter 5 – Understanding the medications
Irritable bowel syndrome is a condition with several medicinal choices for relief. In most cases, these medications are not given to everyone, but to those with a moderate to extreme level of IBS symptom severity. In other words, they may not be the right choice for you.
These medications come in several forms and you may have heard a lot about them when you visited your doctor and were ‘diagnosed’ with IBS in the first place.
If your doctor did not mention them, or you are not sure if they are right for you, talk with him/her. Your individual situation may warrant a different medication or just lifestyle changes to meet your symptoms.
It cannot be stressed enough that the most benefit to managing IBS symptoms comes not from medication treatments, but rather from lifestyle and dietary changes. Making changes to your stress levels helps as well. If these changes are not enough, then you may be eligible for medication. For those individuals, let’s break down the available options.
The first line:
The first line of medications is over the counter. In many cases, where IBS symptoms may be mild, there is no need for prescription treatment. Some of the medications and treatments that may be helpful to you include these:
Fibre supplements: As we mentioned earlier, fibre is a critical part of maintaining health. In the case of IBS, the right amount of fibre is required to provide the individuals with necessary help in relieving constipation. Fibre supplements may be the best route to this. There are two types, psyllium and methylcellulose.
Anti diarrhoea medications: These are medications for the opposite effect. They will work to control diarrhoea. You can purchase loperamide, brand name Imodium, to help with the diarrhoea that your IBS symptoms may produce.
Prescription medications:
As mentioned, there are a few options when it comes to providing relief for IBS symptoms by way of prescription medications.
There are a few used in the same way as anti diarrhoea medications and fibre.
Anticholinergic Medications: These medications can help with problems with your nervous system. For some individuals with IBS, there is a need for medication that can help regulate the activities of the nervous system. These are called anticholinergics. They provide relief from uncomfortable and even painful spasms of the bowel.
Antidepressant medications: For some individuals, there is a need for this medication because of the depression and pain that they experience. If this is found to be the case, your doctor may give you a tricyclic antidepressant or a serotonin reuptake inhibitor which is also called an SSRI. These help with the depression symptoms and also help with controlling the intestines through the neurons within your brain. This includes tricycle antidepressants for diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Others, such as Prozac and Sarafem and Paxil are used to help with depression as well as pain and constipation. In addition to working with your doctor about your IBS condition, you may also benefit by working with a counsellor . This is a common situation for those that cannot find help from the antidepressant medications. In some cases, relief can be found for these needs through counselling.
Medications designed for IBS: There are a number of medications that can be helpful to those with IBS. These medications may or may not be right for you. Your doctor will work with you to determine which ones are the best possible tools to help relieve your severe IBS symptoms. There are two drugs currently being used to treat IBS. They are Alosetron, with brand name Lotronex and Tegaserod which is branded as Zelnorm. Alosetron is quite controversial in its use. In November of 2000, the Food and Drug Administration removed it from the market. Before then, there were at least 197 individuals who experienced severe side effects from taking this medication and there were four deaths that were attributed to it as well. It was only on the market for a mere nine months. But, the FDA decided to once again allow Alosetron on the market with some restrictions in place in June of 2002. This medication is to be used as a nerve receptor antagonist. Its goal is to relax the colon enough and slow the movement of waste through the lower bowel, thereby helping to relieve many of the symptoms of IBS. Today, it is only strictly prescribed to patients. Only women are able to get this medication as men are not approved for it. In addition, only doctors who have received specialised training with the drug’s use can prescribe it. And only to patients with severe cases of diarrhoea predominant IBS. And furthermore only to those where any other method of treatment of their IBS symptoms was not helpful. If your doctor prescribes this medication to you, it is essential to talk to him about the possible side effects and to monitor your condition closely to ensure that you are not suffering from anything that could be life threatening or drastic.
Tegaserod: The second type of medication that is used to treat IBS is tegaserod. It is well known by its commercial marketing of Zelnorm. This medication has been shown to be effective in helping with IBS in several ways. Those who have constipation IBS will find this beneficial. The medication works by imitating the action of the neurotransmitter serotonin. This helps to get the nerves and the muscles in the intestines on the same track and therefore relieves constipation. Some studies have shown that tegaserod can result in severe side effects in some individuals. If your doctor prescribes this medication, you should monitor your condition for any side effects. Should anything severe be found, it is essential that you talk with your doctor as soon as possible to ensure that the medication was the right choice for you.
If you do begin to take any of these medications for your IBS treatment, it should be done only after you have successfully implemented lifestyle changes, dietary changes as well as stress management.
In addition to this, you should have seen a specialist in the field and he or she should do the prescribing of this medication. This is very important because they are so potentially worrisome to some individuals.
Other Options:
There are some additional medications in the works for IBS suffers. A drug similar to that of Alosetron is currently in clinical trials.
In addition, the medication Kappa-opioid Agonish (Fedotozine) is in studies and may be available in a few years. This medication is a synthetic narcotic which will help reduce intestinal pain. It is similar to an opiate.
Another medication called Alpha-2 Adrenergic Agents is in the works as well. This medication should be available in a few years if approved by the FDA. It works by making bowel function normally as well as relieving the pain associated with IBS.
Is medication for you? There are still other options available help you fight IBS. Read on.
Chapter 6 – Alternative IBS Treatments
We have talked a lot about the medications and the lifestyle changes that you need to make in order to manage irritable bowel syndrome. It goes without saying that it can be one of the most challenging conditions to deal with because there are so many concerns with the medications.
There are some excellent alternative treatments and herbal remedies that have been of help with handling the symptoms of IBS.
As with all alternative treatments, there is no guarantee that these will work for you. Some treatments seem to help others more so than most. Yet, when it comes to finding relief from IBS, it goes without saying that any type of treatment that has the potential of helping should be fully explored.
In this chapter, we will dive into some of those alternative treatment options. In many cases, you will be able to pair them alongside your other treatments for added benefit from IBS.
Why use alternative treatments?
There are many different alternative treatments for all conditions out there. From the common cold to fighting cancer, and yes, for IBS too, there is an alternative treatment that can be helpful to you.
Why should you consider using alternative treatments, then?
There are many reasons and the main reason that others find it important to use alternative treatments is simple. Most alternative treatments, especially herbal remedies and the like do not have the harsh side effects that chemical medications do. In the wake of many of the different problems with IBS medications, more and more individuals are looking to alternative methods of managing their IBS other than through prescriptions.
Complementary therapies:
You will want to consider complementary therapies when looking for alternatives to the medications for IBS. As the word implies, complementary treatments can safely be taken with other medications or other changes in your lifestyle. In many cases, they are taken in addition to medications which make the end result just that much better for the IBS sufferer. Some of the complementary therapies that you may consider implementing into your daily lifestyle to fight IBS include:
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When used in virtually any health consideration, there can be benefits from these therapies to the patient. In many cases, there are no adverse side effects or unbelievably difficult procedures to go through.
Complementary treatments allow you to be treated as a whole person rather than treating only the symptoms that you are experiencing. There are many people who do not agree with what their doctors says or just do not like the approach that is being taken. In many ways, using complementary treatments allows you to stay in control of your own treatment.
Now, let us break down the various types of complementary therapies that you can consider for treatment of IBS. Remember, using any or all of these methods can improve your overall health and well being.
Herbal therapy:
Herbal therapy is a therapy that uses naturally found plants and plant products to aid in making someone feel well. In many cases, the herbal remedies that you will find have been used for thousands of years by ancient Chinese civilizations. Some of them have worked, some have not.
In the herbal therapies designed for IBS, there are generally more than one set of ingredients or therapies given. This is because of just how the therapies are used. Instead of looking at the disease and its progress, ancient remedies instead look at the pattern of symptoms that you are facing and address this.
Of course, it is important to realise that most of the herbal treatments available today have been modified over time not only because of the ingredients available but also as the condition has changed over that period of time as well.
The most commonly used herbs for irritable bowel syndrome include:
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When you purchase them, it is likely that they the herbal product will contain five or more herbs in one form. When purchasing these, it is of the utmost importance to pay attention from whom you are purchasing them and to the quality of the product.
Without the highest quality, purest forms of these herbal treatments, it is unlikely that you will experience their full potential benefits. If you do not believe that they work, then you have nothing to lose in trying. In fact, there have been some studies that have actually shown improvement in IBS patients receiving a daily dosage of herbal products over time. Most of them came back to be reassessed with improved symptoms.
Here are some additional herbal supplements that have been shown to provide some improvement for IBS.
Ginger: Ginger is a common food to be consumed with regard to relieving IBS problems. Ginger can be used in several ways. For those with IBS, a treatment can be to use ginger extract. A few drops of this consumed daily can help by providing anti inflammatory conditions as well as improving the quality of the lining of your gastric system and helping the intestines to do their job.
Peppermint Oil: This is a common treatment for gastrointestinal conditions. You should be careful when consuming large amounts of peppermint oil as it can cause heartburn. But otherwise it has been beneficial to IBS sufferers. When used to treat IBS, peppermint oil is helpful in several ways. It can help to decrease the amount of muscle spasm in the GI tract. In addition, it can help with the other common IBS symptoms, such as relieving bloating and pain in the abdomen. Add a few drops of peppermint oil to your drink and you will have a nice tasting treatment for the IBS symptoms that you could experience that day.
Artichoke leaf extract: Throughout Europe, artichoke leaf extract has been useful in treating IBS. It has shown some improvements in the secretion of bile by the sufferer. There has not been a lot of study about this treatment as of yet, though.
Others: There are other herbal products that you can take to help you with constipation. Most common is rhubarb root. Others include senna, cascara and aloe. Consuming just a small amount of these elements through extras or supplemental pill form will aid in the relief of constipation.
Movement Therapy:
Another helpful alternative therapy for IBS is movement therapy. In this type of therapy, individuals have the ability to use their body to gain relaxation and help in dealing with the symptoms of IBS. Some of the best to consider include yoga and tai chi. Most individuals can benefit from adding one or both of these to their daily or every other day routine.
Doing yoga or tai chi can be helpful in several ways. The movements of the body can help to relieve conditions such as pain in the abdomen, bloating, gas and diarrhoea. There have been a few studies to show this, mostly with benefits on a small scale being seen.
But doing movement therapy is beneficial in other ways as well. For example, yoga can be beneficial not only to IBS but to improving the body’s overall health and helping to maintain the right weight. As we discussed in earlier chapters, stress reduction is one of the most important things for you to take into consideration. When it comes to using movement therapy to treat IBS, you will be tackling the stress end of it. With these types of improvements, you can see benefits across the board in your health.
To add yoga or tai chi to your lifestyle, visit a local recreational centre or gym. Sign up for a beginner’s course. Doing this allows you to learn the true forms of these therapies and will give you the best possible result. Daily yoga is recommended, but any amount of it per week will show some benefits to you.
Mind Body Therapy:
As discussed earlier, there is a connection to your emotional state and the IBS symptoms. With the help of mind body therapies, you can actually improve your overall well being and reduce the amount and severity of IBS symptoms.
Meditation is one of those types of activities. Meditation allows your body to relax and allows your mind to be put at ease. These things are imperative when it comes to fighting IBS. In addition, daily meditation allows for stress relief which can by itself aid in the reduction of IBS symptoms.
Another type of mind body therapy that has proven to be quite beneficial is hypnotherapy. Even in some clinical trials, hypnotherapy has shown to be a tool to aid in the reduction of IBS symptoms. For it to be beneficial, you will need to visit and have a hypnosis session each week. You will want to do this over several months for best results.
During hypnosis, the individual will experience progressive relaxation. Soothing images as well as sensations are used to help alleviate the individual’s symptoms. With effective hypnosis, there are several benefits, including pain in the abdomen being relieved, constipation and bloating reduced and an overall improvement in quality of life. It can be a costly alternative to other methods of treatment of IBS. Nevertheless, both of these mind body treatments can be quite beneficial.
Acupuncture:
For thousands of years, acupuncture has been used to help in healing all types of medical conditions. There is no doubt that you will experience some benefits from this ancient Chinese method. Today, it is widely used around the world and is growing in popularity.
What is acupuncture? For those who do not know, it seems like something out of a strange wizard’s book, but in truth it is fairly simple to understand. It works on the principle that there are channels of energy called meridians. Energy is called Qi. These channels course through the entire body. On these meridians there are 360 different acupuncture points. When you are healthy, the energy flows through the body easily through the channels. When you are ill, the energy flow is somehow disrupted. This is what causes symptoms like those of IBS.
Acupuncture is then used at specific points around your body to help release energy and then bring back the flow of the energy throughout the body.
What can acupuncture do for IBS then? There are several things that it can help with. Some individuals find relief from pain in the abdomen. Nausea and bloating can also be relieved through acupuncture. Often times, acupuncture is made even better when it is paired with the correct ancient Chinese herbal remedies that have been used for centuries. Please visit www.naturalsolutionstherapies.co.uk for acupuncture.
Probiotics:
Probiotics can be helpful in treating IBS as well. They work by altering the intestinal flora. Probiotics are organisms that can help to regulate the bacterial balance within the intestines. Probiotics are used to keep the GI tract working correctly. In addition, intestinal flora, which are actually organisms that are throughout your intestines, also help with keeping your immune system healthy and providing for the secretion of fluids. The idea is that the natural bacterial benefits can be used to help treat IBS as well. For this reason, probiotics have been used to simulate the intestinal flora. In some studies, probiotics have been beneficial in reducing the amount of pain that an individual experiences in the abdomen. The reduction of gas is also evident with the use of probiotics. For some individuals, benefits have been seen in the function of the bowel.. You can purchase probiotics in health food stores both online and in your local area. It is widely thought that they could be potentially beneficial to those that suffer from IBS.
Are complementary therapies for you?
The choice of all of these different options is up to you. For some individuals, sticking with just the traditional medications is the only way to go. For others, the biggest benefit will come from the ability to avoid the use of medications that usually have harmful side effects. Yet, the bottom line is that it is a choice you need to make.
Remember that many of these complementary therapies can be used in conjunction with the medications and lifestyle changes that your doctor has recommended. If you are unsure of how an herbal remedy will work with the medications that you are currently taking, ask your doctor about it first. Better even still is to talk to your herbal specialist.
It is essential to find any and all relief that you can get from IBS symptoms. Complementary therapies can be just the right choice.
Chapter 7 – Prevention
Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to irritable bowel syndrome. We cannot stress this enough.
IBS is nothing to worry about when it happens. It is something to think about and plan for before the symptoms set in. Because we do not know what causes IBS in the first place, it is even more important for each of those that suffer from it to do what they can to stop it from happening in the first place. Prevention is the best tool to make that happen. There are several things that you need to keep in mind when it comes to preventing the onset of irritable bowel syndrome symptoms.
In many ways, it is up to what you do and how you react to your condition that will determine just how severe and how often your symptoms arise. We cannot cure irritable bowel syndrome yet, but there are things that we can do to prevent the symptoms from coming on.
Here are some of the best tools available to you to fight IBS through prevention.
Your Diet: Improving your diet is one of the best steps you can take to improving the quality of life you experience. There are plenty of opportunities for you to do this. Take our advice and get through those eating diaries. Find out just what is causing the most pronounced IBS symptoms for you and avoid those foods. While elimination diets can be helpful, you will also find that an overall
well balanced diet can also be helpful in relieving IBS symptoms.
You should also consume the right amount of fibre for your needs. Those with constipation are the most likely to need an additional source of fibre.
Counselling: There is no doubt about it, you need to work with your doctor to plan the treatment that is right for you but you also should consider counselling. When it comes to IBS, it is essential to meet the emotional needs as well as the physical. In that, you want to consider talking to a psychologist or a psychiatrist. By investing in a few sessions with a skilled psychologist, you will be better able to reduce the levels of stress that can bring on IBS symptoms quickly. They will not only help you reduce stress but also help you handle the events that life brings on. They will teach you how to handle and relieve stress in such a way as to relieve your IBS symptoms.
Get your exercise: There is a need for your body to have physical movement. You need to get in physical movement and exercise daily. This can include such things as yoga, regular walking or aerobics, or other forms of physical activity. Adding in the physical exercise keeps your body healthy as well as helps to reduce the amounts of stress you are under. It is easy to take a walk here or there, or to sign up for yoga classes before work each day. By doing these things, you could stop the symptoms of IBS before they even start to happen.
Mind Therapy: While we mentioned getting counselling, there is a lot that you can do on your own to help reduce or prevent IBS symptoms when it comes to your mind. Meditation is a great tool for this. Get in the time necessary to allow yourself to clear your mind. It will help to relieve your stress and give you time to relax.
A great way to do this is to just come home and take a relaxing bath. Or find time before or after work when everyone is in bed to relax for a few minutes, alone with your thoughts.
Biofeedback: This is an excellent technique to learn to help you reduce the amount of stress you are under. In this regard, you will learn how to accomplish this with the help of a machine. What it does is helps to reduce muscle tension and helps you to slow your heart rate. Although a machine will help you to do this at first, the goal is to show you how so that you can manage stress more effectively on your own. Talk to your doctor about biofeedback opportunities. In most cases, they can be done in your local medical centre or you can often find out more through your local hospital.
NLP & EFT: Stress removal can take but a few minutes in cases. There are no side effects. The agreement is that if stress is not abated within the one session, and you will immediately experience this, you have nothing to pay.
Breathing: There is no doubt that the correct breathing techniques can also be quite helpful to those with IBS. Learning to breathe correctly is going to be a big difference maker. Right now, as you are reading this, you are probably breathing from your chest. But, you can control your stress levels and relax easier if you learn to breathe from your diaphragm instead.
What does this have to do with IBS? Sit up straight and breathe so that your stomach expands. When you breathe out, you will naturally have your stomach muscles relaxing. During this relaxation, you will find that you allow the muscles of your abdomen to relaxing, which in turn reduces the strain and pain being brought on by IBS.
Prevention is your goal when fighting IBS. Even if you cannot manage to get in all of these various techniques to help you to find the relaxation and stress relief that you need, put aside just ten to twenty minutes per day for doing something that is relaxing. No matter what it is that makes you relax, do it. This in itself will help you feel better and reduce the frequency of IBS symptoms. Doing just one or two of these preventative measures will make the ultimate difference in your well being and health.
Conclusion: Your IBS to do List
Irritable bowel syndrome is a condition which is likely to be something you face for many years to come. But, with a few effective tools and methods, you can manage your IBS in a way that lessens the frequency and the severity of your symptoms.
Here’s your to do list to make this happen:
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Keep yourself educated and manage your own health. Keep up on the newest studies and the latest treatments for IBS. Manage your own healthcare by handling your symptoms through a whole body treatment. Preventing IBS symptoms is not impossible; it is a challenge. Your best bet is to start with step one and work through all of them. Do not try to implement a lot of change at once either. Instead, work on improving your health by simply changing one thing at a time. Soon, you will find that irritable bowel syndrome is something you can conquer.
GAS/WIND:
Normal daily gas passed: 400 – 2000ml, passed between 3 and 40 times
Common causes:
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How to eliminate gas
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CANDIDA – THE LABORATORY COMPLETE INTESTINAL COLONISATION TEST
There are different candida strains, which, given a favourable environment, send out filaments that steadfastly cling to the intestinal wall. A low sugar diet will cause them to become dormant, only to flare up again later.
Apart from candida albicans, there are other strains, such as candida parapsilosis, tropicalis, glabrata, krusei, geotrichum and others. These different strains and their virulence cannot be identified at a colon hydrotherapy session, because the individual cells are not visible to the naked eye. So, only a laboratory test can identify the organisms and their virulence with certainty and regimens specifically targeted for continued misery to be avoided.
The complete status of intestinal colonisation is the ultimate stool test for anyone suffering from intestinal distress. It analyses all yeast (including candida), moulds, and the representative strains of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and virulence. A free mouth swab is included.
The human intestine is host to many different kinds of bacteria, some beneficial and others detrimental to health. Their growth depends on what we eat, so that an unbalanced diet will enhance the growth of some and inhibit others.
A fat and protein rich diet will favour putrefaction bacteria, resulting in excessive gas, causing abdominal pain and bloating. Also, harmful metabolites from these bacteria enter the blood stream, often resulting in headaches, migraines, joint pain and chronic fatigue.
The beneficial intestinal flora is weakened by antibiotics, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and consumption of foods and substances which cause allergies. Damage to beneficial intestinal bacteria ultimately results in new allergies and other intestinal diseases.
Who does the screening?
Testing is at the German Dr Hauss laboratory, run by micro-biologist Dr Reinhard Hauss, PhD and Dr Helga Hauss, MD, Dermatology Consultant. In Germany, laboratories are under the supervision of the health authorities.
Symptoms that may indicate a disturbed intestinal colonisation:
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How long for the test results to arrive?
About a fortnight. Laboratory cultures have to be made.
What will you receive?
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Location and Travel:
Natural Solutions is within easy reach by bus and train, in Thornton Heath on the north side of Croydon in Surrey. Thornton Heath train station is about four minutes’ walk from the practice. From Thornton Heath station, trains run to Victoria, London Bridge and East and West Croydon.
Directions if coming by train:
From Thornton Heath train station, turn right, pass Iceland, then the fishmonger. Melfort Road is at the next corner, at the mini-roundabout. Walk for about 3 minutes to the next junction with Brook Road. Natural Solutions is at the corner, by the zebra crossing.
If you are travelling from central London:
Take the train from Victoria, usually platform 11. It takes about 20 minutes to reach Thornton Heath. Look for the train to East or West Croydon via Norbury.
If you are travelling from London Bridge:
Take the train to East or West Croydon via Norbury. Journey time about 20 minutes.
The Northern Line tube station stops at Balham, change here for the train going towards Croydon via Norbury. Alight at Thornton Heath
Buses:
- Bus number 50 stops in front of the practice, Brook Road stage, This bus services Stockwell, Streatham and central Croydon.
- Bus number 198 goes to central Croydon, Shirley and West Wickham.
- Bus number 250 goes to Central Croydon, Streatham and Brixton.
- Bus number 450 for Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace and Sydenham.
| Public transport links: We are in zone 4 |