Hi All. Just wanted to say that I've been using the Nerva gut-directed hypnotherapy app for just over two months now and have had really positive results. I've have IBS-D for a few years and which I follow a FODMAP diet for (initialised by an NHS dietician). My IBS has never been very severe, but before I started using the app I'd had over a month of multiple bouts of diarrhoea every morning, even whilst following the FODMAP diet. The app aims to stop the link between anxiety/tension and the gut response. Mine is triggered a lot by anxiety, so it's been great for me. I'm now having normal texture bowel movements almost every day, just sometimes a bit looser, but nothing like the liquid that it was before. I'm also usually only going once per day, maybe twice, rather than three or more times before, and with no urgency, rather than running to the loo. The app says that it doesn't work for everyone, but I thought I'd share my results in case anyone is thinking of giving it a go. The app is on the Google Play store and the website is here: try.nervaibs.com/get-starte...
PS: I'm in no way affiliated to Nerva and am not getting anything from them for this review! I'm just a happy user!
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Jane_T1D_IBS-D
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I just started the nerva app and have just finished week 1. It is definitely helping as it's the first week in a long time, where I've had a few really good days. Glad it's helped you too.
Hi. I'm glad you have started the app. I'm just starting week 3 now. I definitely feel a lot better, although I still have some symptoms. I have such a long history of IBS and have a lot of problems with anxiety. The app definitely helps me to relax, which helps and I do think it is working. Hope you start to notice some positive effects on your IBS in the coming weeks.
Hi Jane, I am pleased you are benefiting from this app. I have IBS-C which I believe has been triggered by stress & anxiety, follow the low FODMAP diet too. I have had a quick peek at the link, but do you know if the app is recommended for IBS-C to?
They don't make any differentiation between IBS-D and IBS-C, so it's for both. It's aiming to break the link between anxiety and the gut response - whatever that response is. Good luck!
I have had IBS for 35 years and it has little by little taken over my life, to the point I don't have a life. I coped well with it, in my opinion, when I was younger. I commuted to London everyday for several years working long hours. Then I gave up work when my son was born nearly 29 years ago. My son has ADHD, it was very difficult to discipline him and keep him under control, but we acheived it. We didn't have any back-up as we had no friends or family near us. His was very bright and went on to get a PhD in Quantam Physics. But when he left home, I put my heart and soul into what I was doing wrong as my IBS just seemed to get worse as time went on. I have tried keep going to the loo and not going to the loo but I cannot find an answer. Neither seems to work anymore.
When I was pregnant with my son, I had a couple of sessions of hypnotherapy with a GP, who was a friend of my GP. This didn't really help at all. Later on when my son left home, I tried the hypnotherapy CDs by Michael Mahoney. These just made me angry, as he kept telling me I was feeling better and I wasn't. They were very repetitive, I believe (after googling) that the Nerva app is much the same. Do you think it would be worth me trying this app as a last ditch attempt.
Thanks for reaching out. Sounds like you've had a pretty rough ride of it, I'm sorry. It's no wonder you're dispirited. Never think that anything is your last chance, though - new things are being found all the time that work for different people.
Obviously I can only speak from my own experience with the app, so I'll just say a bit about my experience of the app through the lens of some of your concerns.
It takes time. The first stage is six weeks long and you have to do it every day. There's a little bit of reading to do - only maybe three or four short paragraphs - then the hypnotherapy track, which lasts between 15 and 20 minutes. After a couple of weeks they add in five minutes of deep breathing as well, so you have to be able to commit to about half an hour per day. It is repetitive - there are about six tracks that you go through (one each day) and then they repeat. I have mildish IBS and it took about four weeks before I saw a difference.
They do not tell you you are feeling better, but say things like that positive changes are happening within your body and you won't have various symptoms any more. You have to just let it all flow over you, though - the idea is that the track is relaxing you and planting ideas in your subconscious, calming the nerve signals between the brain and the gut, rather than talking to your conscious brain. The reading explains how it all works. It's not something that you can listen to and then those things will take effect immediately.
I treat it as half an hour of relaxation per day. I do get anxiety and find that that half an hour of being totally relaxed would be worth it even if it weren't helping my IBS. I would urge you to try it, but also try to treat it as a new experience which may or may not work. Try to not expect anything from it but half an hour of having a relaxing time, then if it does work, it's a bonus. It'll be different to having hypnotherapy sessions in person, so try to divorce it from your previous experience. It does say that it doesn't work for everyone and that if you haven't found perfect results after the first six weeks, you can repeat the initial six weeks again. It sounds like you've had IBS problems and deeply ingrained stress for many years, so I should imagine that anything like this may take a bit longer for you to see an effect. I found that I had good results after the initial six weeks and I've carried on listening to a track pretty much every day since then and things have improved more, although I've had a few blips.
I hope that helps and if you do try it that it works for you! Good luck!
Thanks Jane for your very kind and informative reply. I think perhaps I will give it a try, I have nothing to loose, and I think I am worth the money. 🙂
Hi Maureen I know I am replying to an old post but wondered how the Nerva treatment turned out for you. I too bought the Michael Mahoney tapes many years ago but as you said found them disappointing & repetitive. Didn't realise at the time that similar videos were on Youtube for nothing. I now use the Youtube ones daily & I do find they help me.
Hi, I did it for quite a while (well for me anyway), but it clearly wasn't doing anything for me, so gave up with it. It wasn't so in your face as the Michael Mahoney tapes at telling me I was getting better but she was still intimating that I was feeling better, which I clearly wasn't, so I stopped it as I just find it frustrating and annoying being told I am feeling better when I am not! After this I got the curable app which is for pain but this was even less helpful but was cheaper! At present I am trying a new thing which I had to order from the US as not available over here yet. See link below:
It cost nearly £400, in total but I still don't think this is going to help either. Been using it for about 3 weeks now. It's a gadget you put in your wrist (or ankle) like a watch but it sends vibrations up your arm and is supposed to calm the nervous system down. It's not recommended for IBS specifically but I thought I might as well give it a try as I was trying everything else and my husband was quite happy to pay for it! It is quite calming and I haven't got anything telling me I am feeling better. I try to only do it when I am not feeling too bad, so that I don't associate it with feeling crap, if that makes any sense to you. I will eventually put a post on here about it when I have given it a longer trial period.
Hi Maureen I share your name & the amount of time you have suffered from IBS & have probably shared all the so-called "miracle cures* that you have. I hate to think how much I have spent over the years but if just one thing had relieved or alleviated my symptoms I would have been a happy bunny but I am still looking for the elusive cure. This wrist watch thingy sounds interesting but so expensive but I would be very interested to hear how you get on testing it. Regards.
I haven't spent too much on things over the years, my son has ADHD so was pretty hard work when he was young, so had to be on the ball to keep ahead of his antics, so tried not to try different things, just kept to my routine which kind of got me through! I have tried numerous things since he left home for university about 11 years ago, but not one thing has really helped, everything I try seems to make it worse. Also I think I might have had COVID when it first kicked off because my IBS seems to have changed out of all recognition to what it used to be like. But yes, I will let you know how I get on with it, but it isn't looking that promising. Story of my life! 😊
Hi Jane, just to let you know I got the app last week. Finished the free trial yesterday and started on the first 3 months today. I'm not sure it is doing anything yet but time will tell and I am finding it quite relaxing anyway, so that is good. It's better than the CDs I had years ago, she doesn't rush you, you feel you can do it at your own speed and that you are not a failure if it doesn't work straight away. Glad you put your post on here, as I had been thinking about it, and it just gave me that push to give it a try. I will see what happens in the next 3 months but even if it doesn't help the IBS (it would really surprise me if it did) it is still a relaxing thing to look forward to each day which you can do as and when you can and as often as you want. Sometimes I fall asleep and do it again later on! So thanks for the "push"!
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