# Manuka Honey for IBS-C has anyone tried it?



## redrachel76 (Jun 28, 2009)

Today I read in the British DailyMail that hospitals in Britain have started using Manuka honey b/c apparently it's bacterial killing properties are stronger than some conventional antibiotics against superbugs.I once took Flagyl to get rid of a parasite unrelated to my IBS. It made my IBS-C improve tremendously, only to worsen when I was forced to finish my course of meds. This makes me think the Dr Pimental is on the right course with SIBO theory in IBS. I also think that there is an immune system componant in IBS that is overlooked b/c it's just easier to make the profit shoving antidepressants at everyone.Anyway Manuka honey has been advertised as supplement for killing the bacteria heliobacter and for ulcers. They've started to advertise it as helping IBS as well. (?) I wondered if it would be as good for IBS b/c I believe in some of the SIBO theory. Ordenary Honey in itself is supposed to be a laxative - though it's too mild a laxative to work on my severe state. But the things in manuka sound like they might help a bit more (?) I just want to know has anyone here tried Manuka honey?Did it help or worsen your constipation?Any answer would be welcome


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## eternalpain (Apr 3, 2009)

Hi redrachelMy GP recommened Manuka honey to me when conventional medicines weren't helping my IBS-C. I've been taking it on and off since April: it certainly helps with the acid refux pain and seems to calm the digestive tract down. However, it didn't help at all with the constipation!I contacted one of my friends sons who works with the Professor at UWIC (University of Wales Cardiff) who has researched Manuka honey; he was very helpful but the professor herself was only interested in discussing the benefits of the honey on leg ulcers! I was told to make sure the Maunuk honey was at least +10 & must be active. The one I buy is from Sainsburys (their own brand) & not as expensive as some. Our Cornish Manuka honey was selling for £55 a jar & sold out in 24hours!Here is a good link about the benefits of Manuka honey for IBS:http://www.activemanukahoneyusa.com/Irrita...e-Treatment.htm.Hope this is of some help to you. Please let me know how you get on and if you find a remedy for constipation please let me know!!!Best wishesPatsy


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## janetmtt (May 28, 2007)

PatsyHave you tried flower and gem essences - someone I know who is a practitioner made up a remedy for herself for constipation and it took about 3 weeks to work fully but she said she now puts 10 drops of this essence in her tea or water every morning. She now has a daily bowel movement - I ordered some from her but with being on homeopathy at the moment thought I'd give that a go.Also the lemon and ginger tea first thing on a morning helped too. I find a glass of lemon water before bed (last thing before you go to bed) and hot water with lemon on a morning helps too but I still take one senokot - however one senokot wasn't even working but the last few days it's not been too bad.Another thing I found was rhubarb yoghurt!If you want the details of this woman with the flower and gem essence - please send me a PM and I'll give you the details.


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## IanRamsay (Nov 23, 2008)

HI Redrachel.Manuka honey has some very compelling research behind it. just type it in to google and you will be flooded with research responses, but take some of them with a pinch of salt! when i suffered from GERD it used to calm it down for a short period of time, but it diddnt do a thing for my constipation though.The symptoms came back when you stopped the antibiotics, simply because you stopped taking it and the negative bacteria established a foot hold again. did you take any probiotics while on teh course of antibiotics? cheersIan


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## redrachel76 (Jun 28, 2009)

Thank you Patsy for answering on the Manuka honey. I don't live in the UK but I plan to buy some off the internet when I have more cash later this month. To JanemmtI am really curious about the gem and flower essences you talked about so I sent you a pm asking for more details.The reason I'm writing this is I am just very very surprised that you said that lemon juice helps you. I deliberatly avoid lemon juice because it makes my C worse. I only take it if by chance I get diaroah - which is very rare. I suppose everyone is different. I'm still curious about the flower essences thing though. Thanks for answering.


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## redrachel76 (Jun 28, 2009)

IanRamsay said:


> HI Redrachel.The symptoms came back when you stopped the antibiotics, simply because you stopped taking it and the negative bacteria established a foot hold again. did you take any probiotics while on teh course of antibiotics? cheersIan


No I did not take probiotics while on the course of antibiotics. In the past I took some probiotics called "Symbioflor, Probioflor" which are a German brand of probiotics in liquid form. They helped a short time then stopped working. I tried them again and they constipated me the 2nd time. Maybe it was just the ups and downs of IBS generally. It seemed useless.I'm thinking of having another go on another brand. I recon that maybe if I try things it will eventually help. What brand do you take? You say you had GERD. I only had it a short time and it went, thank goodness. In my case, like the IBS it is probably connected to my fibromyalgia and ME. The thing that might be relevent to you is that I noticed my GERD was connected to my constipation. Whenever I got a bowel movement the GERD would usually improve. (Well not always but usually.) Therefore I concentrated on just finding things to help my constipation. Maybe in case your case the GERD is also connected to the C. Maybe it isn't, I just thought I'ed mention it. It's not always easy to make the connection between these things.Another thing that I *think* helped the GERD for me was Boswellia tincture in alcahol. I would put it in hot water and the alcahol would dissolve a bit first. I heard of if being experimented with in Inflammatory bowel desease so I thought I'ed try it for the C - I figured it would do no harm, it's only an anti inflammatory herb. It did not help C but seemed to help the acid. I also took a lot of TUMS calcium supplement antacid and changed my diet. In my case I was lucky that the GERD easier to get rid of than the constipation.


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## janetmtt (May 28, 2007)

They say hot water with lemon and honey on a morning is a good constipation remedy. But I've just been having lemon water - I'm sure that having a glass of lemon water last thing before I go to bed has been helping and then having it on an empty stomach first thing has also helped.But the ginger and lemon tea also helped. I found some Potters Herbs too that have slippery elm, cloves, cinnamon and peppermint and you chew them after a meal and they can make you go too - slippery elm is good for constipation.


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## EvEy (Jul 5, 2009)

Not sure about the constipation .. I have IBS-D ... honey help with the Gas , Bloating , bacteria ,acid .Any brand will do .. honey all so help with cold's Flu's .. i found with having IBS-D I was always getting a cold or the flu every outher week... Sence i started taking Honey i have not had a cold or the ful in over 2 years now YaY Me !Kids come home with it and i break out the honey... Before the kids would say MOM that dont work .. (talking back to the kids.. ok but take it anyways ) Now they come to me mom i fill like i'm getting SICK can i have some honey !!!The next day they are fine.. I take it first thing in the Am and about noon time and before bed..


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## IanRamsay (Nov 23, 2008)

Hi RedrachelI take a strain of bifidus, you may want to try a probiotic with Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 in it, and Lactobacillus Plantrum 299V it has a good amount of research behind it for ibs sufferes. the 229V also seems to work very well for women as well for reasons that are as yet not clear. it may help, it may not, but give it a shot. you should especially take some probiotic suppliment when ever you take any kind of antibiotic, just to give teh good guys a foot hold in the gut.Yes, i also found that when i was constipated, the intestines slowed down, which in turn made teh stomach emptying slow down, which made the GERD worse. if something further down the gi slows down, everything else in teh chian also slows down.cheersIan


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## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

redrachel, I am on a course of 2 broad spectrum antibiotics for a post endometrial ablation infection. I have always noticed that when I'm on a course of Flagyl I always have normal Bms. I wish I could stay on it forever but of course I can't do that. I do take a probiotic during the course of antibiotics and eat yoghurt everyday with live bacteria. I do definitely think there's something to the bacteria causing constipation but the problem is that once the course is over the bacteria comes back I guess. I pretty much keep things in check with magnesium and zelnorm but the Flagyl works best. The latest probiotic I got from my apothecary shop that compounds my estrogen vaginal cream and my very lose dose of testosterone which I have to say is the best thing I've ever found for my fatigue, libido, etc. but that's another story.


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## janetmtt (May 28, 2007)

IanCan you give some names of the probiotics with the Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 and Lactobacillus Plantrum 299V? I'd like to find a probiotic that helps with C. Why do you say one is good for women? What's the reason for that and why women and not men?


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## IanRamsay (Nov 23, 2008)

JanetWe dont actually know why the 229V has better results for women than for men, there just hasnt been enough research in to it at present, but mayo clinic has noticed that in the few trials that they have done, and also a trial by Doctor hunter in cambridge showed that women responded better to teh 229V than men. for now it is a mystery. Personaly i think it is because that particular bacteria has a direct relationship with estrogen. (i cant prove this and it is a theory based purely on observation).here is a list of OTC porbiotics and what they contain.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProbioticAlign and VSL#3 are generally good ones that have some clinical data behind them. sadly though, it is a personal thing, you may have to try quite a few different ones before you find one that works for you. here is some general info on taking probiotics and getting teh best from them.the following strains have teh most research behind them in IBS studies with good positive outcomes in studies.L. bulgaricus, L. reuteri, L. plantarum, L. casei, B. bifidus, Lactobacillus Plantrum 299V, S. salivarius, and S. thermophilus and the yeast Saccharomyces boulardii. Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 THERE ARE MANY MANY OTHERS though!here is some general info on taking them, if you dont already know it!They are best taken in the morning on an empty stomach, 30 minutes before food. ideally they should be taken for at least 3 weeks as it may take that long to see any results. although some people have a very good reaction in days. after 2 to 3 months they should be stopped for a while. if after a few days you start to notice that you can feel a physical difference or a worsening of your symptoms, start taking them again. other wise, there is no need to continue taking them untill you feel that you do need them. there isnt any harm in taking them as a permanant suppliment if they are taken is small numbers like in actimel or activia yoghurt, but if you are taking 10 billion cultures a day, it is good to give the body a break every now and then.also If at all possible, replace the FOS prebiotic with natural fruit and veg if you can tollerate it. FOS can play hell with the tummy in some people while it dosent bother others.After you start to take the probiotics, you may feel initially worse for a day to a week or so. this is called the herx reaction and unfortunately is perfectly normal. (Google it to get more detailed info). some people are not affected by herx and some are.if it gets too much though, just stopp teh probiotics for a few days and re start them at a half dose for a two weeks, then a three quarter dose for two weeks and then the full dose, and see how you get on with that.The Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 are showing very good results consistently for IBS and there is also emerging studies that may show it does good things for SIBO as well, teh Lactobacillus Plantrum 299V seems to get on very well with women for reasons as yet unknown (although i am hatching a theory or two!)if you can, try and avoid supermarket own brand probiotics and get them from a good healthfood store. if they are astronomically expensive, your probably paying for the name of the brand rather than anything else, so check the strains and ingredients against other brands so you dont spend more than you have to. personally i think all probiotucs should be free for all._*If you are seriously ill, suffering from pancriatic disease or illness or suffering from any serious illness that impares your immune system function, you SHOULD NOT take any probiotic suppliment before taking specific advice from your doctor or specialist.*_CHeersIan


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## janetmtt (May 28, 2007)

Thanks for that Ian - will certainly look into some of the probiotics. The link you gave was excellent and I've bookmarked the list - brilliant.Why do you say to try to stay off prebiotics - do they make you bloat more?


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## redrachel76 (Jun 28, 2009)

Tiss said:


> redrachel, I am on a course of 2 broad spectrum antibiotics for a post endometrial ablation infection. I have always noticed that when I'm on a course of Flagyl I always have normal Bms. I wish I could stay on it forever but of course I can't do that. I do take a probiotic during the course of antibiotics and eat yoghurt everyday with live bacteria. I do definitely think there's something to the bacteria causing constipation but the problem is that once the course is over the bacteria comes back I guess. I pretty much keep things in check with magnesium and zelnorm but the Flagyl works best....


I spent a few years thinking I was the only one who got normal bowel movements on Flagyl by fluke until I found this board, Pimental's research and read posts like yours. I also wished I could stay on Flagyl forever when I was on it.I wish they could force all gastrologists and reserchers to read this board. Thanks Ian I will use your information when next shopping for a probiotic.


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## Adi (Aug 15, 2007)

HIJust had the worst pain / stinging flare up for 2 weeks now , tried some 20+ honey and it really worked for me.


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## vegangothkittie (May 20, 2009)

I've been taking it for almost a week now and have no change. I take 1 t. 4 times a day 30min before I eat with tiny piece of fresh white pita bread. It tastes gross but I bought it for $ 40 hoping it would work since NOTHING with help my severe IBS C that much. I'm lucky if I go twice a month. I'm in hell. It might help you since everyboy is different and most people have mild IBS.


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## janetmtt (May 28, 2007)

My regime that has been working well for the last few months has been the following:-Good handful of raw spinach just before dinner time3 senokot before bedAnd I soak All Bran/Weetabix in loads of water overnight so the next morning it is very sloppy - no milk I eat it just like thatThis has worked for me - if I think I'm having an off day I'll have a little bit apple juice or Honegar - apple cider vinegar that has honey in it - spoon in warm water and that is very good.Hope some of this helps.


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## Diana63 (Oct 20, 2009)

I think if you are only going to the bathroom twice a month,you should go to your doctor and have a chat and see what else you could try to see if it helps you.Do you have plenty of fibre in your diet and you have to drink lots of fluids every day also.I have to disagree with you as i dont think mostly everyone has mild ibs,my symptoms are severe and have ruined my life and there are many more people who suffer on a daily basis.I hope you find some relief in your symptoms.


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