Symptoms of IBS

Are you someone who must plan their day around where the closest washrooms are?  


Do you have changing stool frequency – alternating from diarrhea to constipation and vice versa? 


Do you have relief or worsening of abdominal pain related to bowel movements? 


If you answered yes to some of these questions, you may have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).  


On average it takes an individual 7 years to get diagnosed with IBS. SEVEN YEARS! This equates to MANY painful, uncomfortable hours and days that could be reduced. Symptoms of IBS greatly affect a person’s quality of life. A study reported that the majority of patients would give up 10 to 15 years of life expectancy for an instant cure for their condition.(1) 


Did you know that Canada has one of the highest rates of IBS in the world? And that IBS affects more women, than it does men? IBS symptoms tend to be worse for women during their menstruating years, and the symptoms tend to be worse after ovulation and just prior to menstruation. This is thought to be because of the connection of various hormones.  


Subtypes of IBS

There are 3 different subtypes of IBS which include IBS-D (diarrhea predominant), IBS-C (constipation predominant), and IBS-M (mixed between diarrhea and constipation). If you predominantly have diarrhea, it is important that you get tested for celiac disease and IBD (irritable bowel disease).  


Causes of IBS

There are many potential causes to IBS, however, it is believed that it is mainly alterations in your gut microbiota, combined with visceral hypersensitivity, which is when someone’s threshold of pain is lowered. The same amount of gas for one person results in no symptoms, yet for another person with visceral hypersensitivity, they experience pain and a sensation of bloating. 


Managing IBS

Many individuals turn to a low FODMAP diet to get some relief. This is a diet that is low in fermentable short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that many individuals with IBS will have a hard time digesting. By reducing these fermentable foods, it can temporarily provide some relief from many unwanted IBS symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas and pain. While a low FODMAP diet is fine temporarily and to determine which foods are troublesome for you, staying on it long term is not a good strategy. Over time, it decreases the diversity and richness of your microbiome which is the opposite of what we want to achieve.  


If you are someone who has been on a low FODMAP diet for a while, we need to develop a strategy to get those foods back INTO your diet. Our goal for you is to eventually have you eating a wide variety of food again, with less abdominal discomfort, and less overall stress.  


In addition to a short term low FODMAP diet and reintroduction, we need to incorporate stress reducing, mindfulness strategies to the treatment plan. This is imperative because we now know IBS is a gut-brain interaction disorder, and stress makes it worse.  


At Ember Naturopathic, how do we treat IBS? We focus on proper education and give you the support that you need. We discuss food strategies, we focus on stress and sleep, we incorporate mind-body treatments, and finally, we help your microbiome thrive.  


Need some help with your gut? We would be happy to help! 



References 

1 - Creed, F. (2001). Health-Related Quality of Life and Health Care Costs in Severe, Refractory Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Annals of Internal Medicine, 134(9_Part_2), 860. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-134-9_part_2-200105011-00010