• Are you tired?
•  Does your stomach hurt after eating?
•  Do you have other symptoms like nausea, cramping, bloating or gas?
•  Are you suffering with diarrhea, constipation or both?
•  Are you irritable?
•  Have you gained or lost weight?
•  Are you emotionally eating?
•  Have you developing anxiety around food?
•  Are you sleeping poorly?
•  Does stress make your stomach issues worse?

All of the above symptoms are related to IBS, which is very common and believed to affect 1 in 4 women. It is often a label given to someone who is having stomach problems but no obvious cause is known. 

There is a connection from the gut to your brain and more than 90% of the nerves in the gut go to the brain. So when your gut is unhappy your brain is unhappy, therefore irritability, mood swings, anxiety and depression often accompany digestive issues.

It is important to rule out serious conditions such as IBD (irritable bowel disease’s) like Crohn’s and Ulcerative Collitis and other autoimmune conditions such as celiac disease.

Many people who have had tests come back normal are still suffering with symptoms that make them feel bad and affect their ability to lead a normal life.

There is no medication for IBS so people often feel that there is nothing they can do to feel better.

The good news is your symptoms can be used as a diagnostic tool to identify dietary triggers and guide natural interventions and monitor recovery.

Whilst food testing is available much of the testing is sub standard and a food elimination/reintroduction is actually the gold standard for identifying food intolerances. Whilst the premise is simple identifying food triggers can be difficult as symptoms from ingesting foods can take up to 3 days to develop.

The most common food triggers are gluten, diary and eggs. Additionally eating highly processed foods can be inflammatory for the gut and also cause symptoms. However In my experience triggers are unique to each person and for some even some healthy foods can be problematic. 

Stress makes all digestive problems worse. This is because stress activates the sympathetic fight and flight response and switches off the parasympathetic and therefore your ability to digest foods properly. It reduces stomach acid production, down regulates the SIgA, part of your immune system which plays an important role in gut function and even reduces blood flow to the gut so it will not function well and slows down any healing.

We hold stress in our body, perhaps you can feel it in your shoulders, in your head or in your neck. Anxiety, past trauma and pain is often held in our stomach, if this is the case for you then your IBS could have psychosomatic element.

Hypnotherapy is the most effective therapy for psychosomatic conditions. It reduces stress, helps recovery from past trauma, anxiety and depression, curbs emotional eating, eliminates pain, increases confidence, self esteem and will relax your body and mind.

What will it mean to you to recover from IBS?

71% of patients find relief of irritable bowel symptoms with hypnotherapy alone but I find that by combining hypnotherapy with dietary interventions which, address all the triggers affecting IBS it will allow your gut to heal and you to find a long lasting solution.  For the more complicated cases Function medicine is a good approach.