I.B.S Relief That's Safe and 100% Drug-Free!
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (I.B.S for short), a disorder of the digestive system: symptoms are broad and far-reaching. Ranging from mild discomfort through to severe fetal-position cramping. Bowel movements can be as diverse as volatile diarrhoea one day and full blown constipation the next. Mildly annoying to life altering.
As with many disorders, there don’t seem to be any hard and fast rules.
Many IBS sufferers get to a point where they stop engaging in social activities due to the diet & bathroom constraints. For many, dating is especially out of the question. While Doctors may make the outcome seem bleak, it doesn't have to stay this way, there are other options available for you.
Medications, diet changes, probiotics, and of course hypnosis. The latter 3 are the healthiest options and are best for a long term solution.
Medication (most common but least effective).
With such a vast range of symptoms, there isn't one single pill that can treat everything. Doctors tend to treat each individual symptom with its own medication, such as anti-diarrheol, pain meds and laxatives. All of which have their own associated side effects, some of which can even trigger your IBS symptoms. For example, a laxative might relieve constipation, but it might be the trigger for diarrhoea which frequently follows. And many pain medications have been known to cause constipation...
And then the vicious circle starts all over again!
Diet Changes (FODMAP)
Dieticians will often recommend going on the FODMAP diet, a highly restrictive elimination diet. The FODMAP diet can be an excellent method to rule out legitimate allergens, but it really does suck. All the fun foods disappear! Plus, many people discover that the results aren't consistent anyways. One day they can eat a food without issue, the next day that very same food lands them on the toilet for an hour.
With that being said, it's always a good idea to rule out dietary intolerances or allergies which may be contributing to the symptoms. If you haven't already done so, I would recommend seeing a dietician that specializes in digestive issues. Many of our clients have had success working with Joanne Rankin.
Probiotics
Probiotics are good for us, especially if you've had to take antibiotics, which I think most of us have. Probiotics have been found to be beneficial to the gastrointestinal tract and health in general. A quick Google search of Probiotics will lay it all out for you. However, they alone won’t sort out your IBS issues. I always recommend clients look into including a quality probiotic in their diet.
Hypnosis
Once allergens and intolerances have been ruled out the next step is to look at the psychological options. Commonly referred to as the mind-body connection, or even the brain-gut interaction. This is where hypnotherapy steps in with what is known as “Gut Directed Therapy”.
Gut directed hypnotherapy has been shown in many clinical trials to be an effective method of reducing IBS symptoms. And as an added bonus, there are none of the negative side effects of standardised medication (see above).
How does hypnosis benefit Irritable Bowel sufferers?
Well, the answer to that is multi-faceted. First, the Gut-Directed Therapy side of things is focused primarily on directing your body to return to its smoothly-running conditions (no matter how stressful life gets). This can involve the use of metaphors, visualisations and such. The next level of benefit comes from a reduction in stress. And as you know, increased stress levels intensify IBS symptoms, this also works in reverse; reduce stress and the symptoms reduce as well.
Typically we'll see a client 5-7 times (one session every 2 weeks), the sessions are a combination of an IBS protocol combined with our Stress Management program. You will also receive self-hypnosis MP3's to support your progress in between sessions. Learn more about our rates here.
Hypnotherapy is one of the most successful treatment approaches for chronic IBS. The response rate to treatment is 80% and better in most published studies to date.
Read what a recent client said:
I was struggling so much with IBS symptoms related to stress. This lead to persistent inflammation which is very detrimental to health physically and emotionally.
I regularly listen to my hypnotherapy sessions that Kary has shared with me to calm and centre my mind and subconscious mind. This has been so life changing for me!
Kary taught me about how very powerful our subconscious mind is and how we can literally heal ourselves. Our body is so intelligent and powerful, our attitude and energy contributes directly to our health mentally and physically. Kary taught me many techniques for managing major and minor everyday stressors and this has proved to be an invaluable tool dealing with my cancer prognosis now.