Homeopathic remedies.

[AnthonyHa]

Are there any good homeopathic or herbal remedies for IBS that would deal with the pain that is affecting my wife please?

[janetmtt]

Yes but it is best to see a homeopath for a consultation

[AnthonyHa in reply to janetmtt]

Thanks for your reply.

[xjrs]

Please read this about homeopathy - please don't waste your money on these treatments:

nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/

If you mean natural remedies, your wife could try Alflorex probiotic which has reduced my pain considerably or enteric coated peppermint which I've heard helps with pain but I haven't tried this myself.

Your wife may be experiencing visceral hypersensitivity (functional abdominal pain) - there is info about it here:

iffgd.org/lower-gi-disorder...

It is where the brain interprets the normal activity of the bowel as pain - this is due to a wearing down of neurons in pain control centres of the brain which can be caused by PTSD, neglect or abuse in childhood, extreme stressful events etc. The first line treatment is nerve pain agents such as low dose amitriptyline. There is a theory that being on something like amitriptyline for 6-12 months can help the pain control centre neurons to regenerate. Unfortunately I couldn't tolerate these. I am currently on Linaclotide which is meant to help with intestinal pain, but is also for IBS-C (slow transit) plus Alflorex probiotic. In combination I am now mostly pain free and able to tolerate far more foods that I hadn't been able to dream of eating for years due to the pain they caused.

It also depends on whether your wife is constipation, diarrhea dominant or mixed. If diarrhea there are antispasmodics such as Colofac to consider or Linaclotide for constipation together with intestinal nerve pain.

I have always been against drugs, but some drugs are very useful and can improve quality of life immensely - for instance Linaclotide only acts locally in the gut and has other health benefits like reducing risk of colon cancer.

[Luisa22]

I know this is a very very old post (4 years old) but I stumbled across it tonight and would just like to add on my experiences.

There is nothing at all logical or scientific about Homeopathy. It makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever.

But I would just like to say that a couple of years ago I tried a homeopathic remedy, and suddenly started to feel really bad. Definitely linked to taking the remedy! I had just been feeling a bit "off" before.

I emailed a local homeopathic practitioner for advice about what I could use or take to "antidote" what I'd done. We talked for an hour then on the phone free of charge.

I decided to try an experiment with properly prescribed remedies. If nothing happened within 3 months I would stop and cut my losses.

I was willing to try anything. Even snake oil!

No, there were no miracles! But at the end of this period I realised I'd had no terrible flare ups either. My guts hadn't been great, but no horrendous dramas.

Then one evening I had terrible trapped wind. It was excruciating and I couldn't relieve it with anything I tried. I took one Carbo Veg pillule, and within 10 minutes it had disappeared. I didn't even believe it would work! My gut felt calm.

So an overview.....I continued with the consultations, and know for a fact that over two and a half years, I have made obvious yet gradual improvement (taking no other treatments or medications)

I still have less easy times, but get periods of complete normality, and sometimes those can last for weeks. I have been able to increase my range of foods, particularly vegetables, and re-introduce nuts, nut butters and seeds.

Really terrible bad flare ups are much rarer now. Maybe once a year? Possibly twice? The last one I had was on the day of the Coronation in May 2023. It's now December 2023

Okay, that could have happened naturally. I can't prove it didn't. And as I say, I am not "cured". But I have improved tremendously from the sorry state I was in initially.

I just have to say that.