# progress?



## 23448 (Jan 26, 2007)

hi just wanted to ask anyone who does the cds a quick question??? basically i rated my symptons at the start and now was just looking at them as on about day 15, thing is i was severity 5-6 with d when started, but now whilst i might have d every couple of days its say once a day? like today i had 1 normal bm and 1 loose bm- which considering id cooked a 3 course meal last night and had a glass of wine i was pretty ok with. but does that still mean im severe if its happening every day or every few days? i dont know what 2 expect, but what constitutes an 'episode'? because i might have a loose bm once a day or every couple of says, but i dont think my symptons are severe, def improving and not sure if once a day is an episode??? confused!!!!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

"Episode" has no real hard definition with IBS, so pretty much however you define it as long as you are consistent would work.When I did CBT we did track symptoms. # of BM's and quality per day as well as pain levels.They didn't try to track episodes.Some people's IBS is very consistent others have that vary between normal and IBS at some frequency.K.


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

The tracking is basically there for you to do three times - at the beginning of starting the program, at day 27 and at the end. That is really the only times you "need" to be aware of how you are to actively rate your IBS. The episodes describe a generic term of an IBS incidence - what you personally consider to be IBS symptoms for your own personal case.CBT works differently - with hypno you don't keep track of your symptoms everyday, because you are actually moving away from them and thinking about them actively. Mike has the rating system there because he found that many folks "forgot" what they were like when they started. It is only a guideline and there is no need to do the rating thing on an ongoing basis - in fact - for hypno - it is not advisable to do this.Having said this - when you do come to a rating day - as Kathleen says - the rating would be as you define IBS - some folks have d several times a day, but it is not painful, so they dont consider it a problem; others may have d once a month, but when they do, it is an all day painful affair - so the second situation for that individual may be severe - but your booklet gives you guidelines - remember, you are taking into account frequency and severity - so if you started with d many days a week and several times a day, to every couple of days, you still may consider that severe, if it is very painful and disruptive to your schedule - however if you feel it is not as severe and it is an improvement, then rate it as such, because you are only tracking it against your definition of your own symptoms - the chart is just a general guide to assist you.Hope that helps - if you definitely feel you are improving, then rate yourself a bit lower when day 27 comes along.Take care.But the bottom line is, don't worry about the ratings thing too much - it is only there as a guide for you - nothing to worry about.


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