How I cured my IBS in 40 days

[Jem_Stone]

Hi,

I'm Jem, a 47 year old male from the UK, and I would like to share my recent experience with you. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, and would love to receive some feedback from anyone who tries the following plan. If I can improve the suffering of just one person I will be a very happy man! I'm sorry for the long first post, but wanted to include all the information I fell is relevant.

My symptoms:

Dyspepsia, nausea, chronic diarrhoea, migraine, neck pain, chronic fatigue, joint pain, bloating, gas, abdominal pain, brain fog, fever like chills.

Tests in last 12 months:

Stool sample for parasites, ultrasound for gall stones, colonoscopy, MRI scan of my small bowel, coeliac screen, thyroid function, haematinics test, inflammatory markers and full blood count, endoscopy, hydrogen breath test, SeHCAT scan for bile malabsorption.

Diagnosed conditions:

Hiatus hernia, oesophagitis, and bile salt malabsorption.

Prescribed drugs:

Loperamide, cholestyramine and Citalopram

My 40 day treatment plan:

•Detox

•Starve and kill any bacterial/fungal infection with natural antibiotics and antifungals

•Crowd bad bacteria with probiotics

•Repair intestinal lining

•Maintain gut friendly diet (indefinitely)

Day 1

1.Start 40 day juice fast :

Personally, I stopped all prescribed medication at this point, as well as ibuprofen, as I was aiming for a total detox. I have to admit that I didn’t seek advice from my doctor or consultant gastroenterologist with regards to embarking on this treatment plan, but by this point I had lost all faith in their ability to treat me. The loperamide and cholestyramine helped with the diarrhoea but the antidepressant just made me feel worse, and was not something I would ever consider long term. I had been told that I had had all the tests available and I had to learn to live with, and manage, my “incurable IBS”.

1st 7 days daily exclusive consumption :

•At least five pints of filtered water (half with freshly squeezed lemon )

•Min. 3 litres of juiced fruit and veg a day (as much organic as possible), no more than 25% fruit. Aim for predominantly green veg juices. Must be a juicer that extracts the pulp, not a smoothie maker

.

•My choices: Oranges, pineapples, kiwis, papayas, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, apples, cucumbers, spinach, celery, kale, carrots, beets, coriander, parsley, mint, bell peppers, fennel and tomatoes. (You need a LOT of produce, for me approx. £15 per day).

•As much herbal tea as you like

The first 3-4 days are the toughest of the juice fast, especially if are a coffee/tea drinker. You will experience hunger, headaches, food cravings and general malaise. These symptoms all went by day 5/6, and a lot of my IBS symptoms were significantly reduced.

2. Start 30 day course of non-prescription natural antibacterials/antifungals:

Daily dosage (split morning, afternoon and evening):

•3 x 500mg berberine

•3 x 400mg neem plus

•3 x 200mg allicin plus

•3 x 25mg oil of oregano

At some stage expect bacterial/fungal die off symptoms, it happened to me on around day 20, and lasted for two weeks. You are likely to feel as bad as you did before you started the treatment plan during this period

Day 8:

1. Introduce l-glutamine powder to repair the gut lining:

30 grams per day blended into juice. I added all 30 grams to my morning fruit based juice, but you could split the dosage if you prefer.

2. Introduce supplements

These were my choices:

•Tablespoon of coconut oil blended into morning juice

•Add fresh ginger, hemp protein, ground almonds, chia seeds and ground flax to 2 juices.

•1 mug per day of homemade salty vegetable broth.

Daily tablets/capsules of cod liver oil with vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin B complex.

•Organic raw cider vinegar

Day 30

Finish course of antibacterials/antifungals.

Start probiotics:

You will need a high quality, high bacteria count, multi-strain, brand that is stored and delivered chilled. I ordered VSL#3 direct from the manufacturer (450 billion bacteria per sachet, 8 strains), which was delivered with an ice pack in the box. Store in the fridge.

I used a dosage of one sachet per day and mixed it with two fingers of juice in a tumbler, downing it like a shot (the taste is pretty nasty).

Day 40

By day 40 I was a new person. All of my symptoms had disappeared, with the exception of the bloating (although it was greatly reduced). I had lost 21 lbs and felt better than I had in twenty years. Not only had my IBS symptoms gone, but I had more energy, no slumps during the day, more focus, clearer thinking, and was insanely happy.

Breaking the fast

On the last day of the fast I had a salad made from the veg I had been using in the juices, and for the next three days replaced 2 juices with salad and steamed vegetables.

Going forward

Since ending the fast I am following the following dietary rules, based on the Paleo diet:

Disallowed:

•All grains and grain derived flour

•Sugar, with the exception of moderate fruit and honey, but including fruit juice.

•Potatoes

•All processed food/drinks/oils.

•Legumes, with the exception of moderate use of gram flour

Allowed (no restrictions on consumption):

•Healthy fats (coconut oil, olive oil, organic butter, avocado)

•Vegetables, organic where possible.

•Wild caught fish. I haven’t eaten meat for 20 years, but if you are a meat eater then you can add organic grass fed meats.

•Free range eggs

•Herbs and spices

•All coconut products (oil, flour milk)

Allowed (moderate consumption)

•Hard cheeses

•Nuts and seeds

Allowed (low consumption)

Coffee (1 cup per day)

Alcohol (infrequent, and no grain based drinks, I may have the odd cider, red wine or vodka)

Exercise:

•3 x weekly low intensity cardio sessions

•1 x weekly high intensity cardio session

•2 x weekly calisthenics sessions (eg push ups, sit ups and pull ups)

Supplements:

I’m still using all the supplements mentioned, and intend to start reducing the l-glutamine dosage, and maybe the probiotic dosage, in 6 months and see how it goes.

Digestive Enzymes:

Since ending the juice fast I have been taking 1 x Betaine HCL with Pepsin tablet (324mg Betaine Hydrochloride, 5mg Pepsin) before meals, to a maximum of three per day.

At the time of writing I finished the 40 day plan 10 days ago and continue to feel better with every passing day.

Suggested resources:

The documentary “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” available on Netflix.

juicing-for-health.com/

siboinfo.com/

drhyman.com/

anewibssolution.com/

[Skyrooms]

I am overwhelmed by your post. You need to write a book. Are you a writer?

U are a brave soul. I could never do anything like that on my own.

Thanks for sharing!

,I will look for the movie and maybe get a juicer instead of a blender.

I wish you the best of luck. I hope IBS stays forever gone.

Best,

Sky

[Jem_Stone in reply to Skyrooms]

Thank you so much for your kind words Skyrooms. No, not a writer, just really want to help as many people as possible who suffered like I did.

[kick2007]

The principles sound quite similar to the Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates where the focus is on the bacteria in the gut. Well done!

[Jem_Stone in reply to kick2007]

Personally, I believe a large proportion of IBS cases are caused by a gut flora imbalance. I was given PPI's in my 20's after being diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and also used to glug a lot of antacid solution to combat heartburn. I now believe this was the catalyst for the IBS I developed later on, further exacerbated by courses of antibiotics over the years.

[Hidden]

Awesome and well done to you

[trekgirl44]

Wonder if you continue to have good results after your juice fast?

[rich-d-t]

How you getting on now ?

[FabioCC]

It's a good idea to use natural antibiotics, but I do not approve of this restrictive diet as well as paleo diet. The microbiota needs some fundamental complexes, like prebiotics. I think that such a diet does not stimulate (indeed hinders) the good bacteria to regrow and causes the serious risk of food shortages.

In my opinion the following simple approach is useful: try taking probiotics and natural antibiotics, together with prebiotics. The natural antibiotic is less aggressive, so it allows the good bacteria to regrow slowly without too many obstacles, keeping pathogenic bacteria at bay. I am not a doctor and this is just a hypothesis of mine. I suffer from IBS and want to try my approach.

[Bella4372]

Hi Jem,I found your post and have started on your 40 day plan this morning. I am a woman of medium build,may I ask in your opinion if I would need as many litres a day as you used?

[Hidden]

Jem you are a breath of fresh air 🙂🙂

[Kdw1]

Well done you sounds like alot of hard work but glad it has helped you .