Irritable Bowel Syndrome Woes

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Woes – Have you ever had to lie about your IBS in order to save yourself embarrassment?
If you suffer with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS, you may have been in situations where you lied about your condition in order to save yourself embarrassment.
One of my past IBS sufferers recalls the time she had an appointment at the hairdressers.
She only went once a year, because her IBS was so severe, she could not bear the thought of being “tied” to the chair and perhaps having to rush out with sudden tummy urges and pain.
But the annual appointment day arrived, and right on cue, so did the IBS attack, keeping her in the bathroom for hours and making her late to the appointment.
Once there, she apologized at the front desk for being delayed and made an excuse that her babysitter was late, but then decided to tell the truth – just in case she had another attack.
She then explained that she was late because of irritable bowel syndrome.
The response to this was kindness and understanding, but the frustration of having IBS almost every time she needs to leave the house was taking its toll.
If you have been diagnosed with IBS and nothing has helped so far, this scenario may be quite familiar to you.
The fear of anticipating having IBS symptoms for many sufferers then actually brings on the IBS symptoms – this is then “memorized” by the brain in the gut, and the next time a similar situation comes about – having to leave the house, for example, the gut reacts with the “appropriate” learned body response attached to the situation – an IBS attack.
This is what happened to our sufferer when she knew she had a hair appointment: going out = getting symptoms – and once this happens over and over again, it becomes so ingrained as a brain-gut connection, it is difficult to actively get out of it.
IBS symptoms can also appear without any apparent reason. You may be reading or relaxing, and suddenly, you get an IBS attack – and even though there is a strong brain-gut connection, sometimes the appearance of your symptoms cannot be explained!
What can help? Gradually, physicians in practice are becoming aware that there have been over 25 years of clinical research studies showing that gut-specific clinical hypnotherapy can effectively address the brain-gut connection in IBS. The NICE guidelines for IBS treatment include clinical hypnotherapy as a treatment option.
Since 1991, my original gut-specific clinical hypnotherapy protocol has helped IBS sufferers by actually allowing the body to create new neural pathways in the brain that will reduce or eliminate symptoms.
The IBS protocol used in my clinical setting is also incorporated in the IBS Audio Program 100®. If you can’t come to see me in person, the IBS Audio Program 100® provides helpful recorded sessions on CDs or MP3 that can be listened to in the privacy of your own home for about a half-hour per day over a period of 100 days.
If you start this month – April, which is IBS awareness month – you could be feeling better by this summer! And like our friend who successfully used the IBS Audio Program 100®, you will have no more need to lie because you will no longer be embarrassed by IBS symptoms! You know where I am!