Hopeful at last IBSC

[Skyline4]

Maybe I have started a recovery from IBSC. I was so desperate I paid to see a Gastro last week and had already decided to cut most sugars and lactose from my diet. I wasn’t eating a lot of sugar, but the difference is good. The awful discomfort I felt for years under my ribs from constant bloating has subsided. I am now more consistent with laxatives (docuease or cosmocol for pref) and I’m referred to a recommended nutritional therapist. Not the full story, but I wanted to tell you in case this could encourage anyone.

[xjrs]

Glad to hear that you are doing well.

I would be very wary of nutritional therapy, since they are not medically trained. Many people have had a awful time with them including me:

ibsresearcher.com/my-journey/

Official stance from The Association of UK Dietitians who are legally regulated in the UK:

bda.uk.com/about-dietetics/...

[Bracondale in reply to xjrs]

Yes, not all nutritional therapists are competent, but then neither are all conventionally trained doctors! I've made most (in fact all of my) progress by looking into root causes (along functional medical lines which strongly recognises the importance of nutrition).

[xjrs in reply to Bracondale]

My issue is that if you have IBS, every single one says that you have SIBO and they then go about destroying your microbiome. I've heard this from many other sufferers too. I disagree with their approach, their '5 R Programme', and them basing practice on limited studies.

[b1b1b1 in reply to xjrs]

My gastroenterologist, who is at a major teaching hospital in NYC, and is highly recognized in his field, also says all IBS is SIBO. I do agree with you, though. that this is not true. I have had SIBO and it is very different from IBS. b1

[Bracondale in reply to xjrs]

I totally agree! IBS is merely a label to describe a cluster of symptoms. It says nothing about the cause. And I also very much agree that it's not all due to SIBO by any stretch. The 5 R programme is never going to work if gut motility is not addressed by looking at vagal nerve tone in addition to stomach, pancreatic, liver and gall bladder function, and any nutritional deficiencies that may underpin all the hypofunction. But I also have an issue with over-insistence that everything has to be evidence-based, simply because not everything has been studied or is it ever likely to be. In an ideal world, of course everything would be evidence-based, but in the meantime, some lateral thinking about human physiology, common sense based on likely evolutionary mechanisms and thousands of years of observation go a long way.

[Skyline4 in reply to xjrs]

Many thanks. I am forewarned and very wary. However, I will be relieved if my MRI shows nothing sinister and I will proceed from there and at my speed. I can’t continue as I am, so something has to change. I’ve had a few good days but a blip today…. (but maybe I know why.)

Is this what we all do? Tell ourselves that no-one else is experiencing being me and so I must have the key to what might help. The “human condition” results in us needing to make our own understanding. Professionals sometimes help and sometimes don’t. Sharing with fellow sufferers helps but can be scary too.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

[xjrs in reply to Skyline4]

Indeed. That's why I ended up doing my own research. Good luck tomorrow.

[Bracondale]

So good to hear that you're making progress!

[Starfush]

Even fruit sugars? Do you get enough vitamin D and magnesium. I can drink few glasses of milk and cheese but if I don't have any vitamin D or magnesium I'll suffer.