# Diet is the sole cause of IBS.



## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

I just visited an experienced doctor and nutritionist recently who has cured IBS, and had a long discussion about IBS and the sole cause of IBS was diet and only diet. Basically, eating too much preservative foods, packaged foods and canned foods in North America induces too much chemicals into the digestive tract, which hinders the proper function of liver, small intestine, large intestine and colon. This temporary hampers the body's own function to heal itself by weakning the immune system. Hence to get back to the body's original state and reverse the process, the body needs to be kept from all these preserved and processed foods and also alcohol, caffeine, dairy products, fatty & fried foods for a long enough time for body's normal operation. Hence, avoidance of these foods for 1-2 months and keeping a diet which contains of homecooked meals, a lot of fresh fruits and cooked vegeatbles- specifically PAPAYA, NATURAL YOGURT are essential to the diet will return the body back to proper functional capability. But however, after healing, a long enough time span should be given before one can start introducing preservative foods occasionally (BUT ONLY in very minute quantities).


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## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

I'm sure diet plays a very important point but I have to disagree that diet is the main reason for it. For some of us I think that it is a hereditary type syndrome. It certainly runs in my family. I am in my mid 50s and have suffered with it my whole life. My mother was a nurse and we had a very good diet plus fresh food. There wasnt alot of highly processed stuff back then. I also think that many of us here on the BB take particularly good care of ourselves because there is so much hell to pay if the situation is aggravated by a very bad diet.


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## Sophie2009 (Feb 16, 2010)

I had an allergy and food sensitivity test over the weekend. After confirming I had issues with around 50 items including food and environmental ones, the nutritionalist suggested that I cut out everything I'm sensitive to for 3 months, then I'll have a re-test and slowly re-introduce those foods which I'll be able to tolerate. For me they think I have a yeast and bad-bacteria over-growth which has weakend my immune system. Pretty much what was explained above.A combination of poor diet/lifestyle, a bad course of anti-biotics, food poisoning and a stressful lifestyle whilst being at uni have all contributed to my IBS woes. The nutritionalist believes that in a year I may not have any IBS symptoms anymore. I just have to eat homemade food, nothing preserved/artificial and cut out those foods and chemicals which I'm sensitive to.I think that for some people it is diet and food sensitivities which are the main cause. In this case IBS may only be temporary! But for those where it's hereditary it's more than likely to be a life-long condition though don't quote me on it as I'm not a doctor and this is just my opinion. For me, my dad has IBS but only recently - he's only suffered with it for about 5 years so I don't believe I've got mine from my dad! I hope mine is temporary but only time will tell.Soph.


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## Diana63 (Oct 20, 2009)

Excluding all the different types of foods you mentioned and more did me no good.It made no difference to my IBS,if only!


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## Zanne (Nov 22, 2004)

Chris - I will try to reply calmly...but attitudes like - "it is just diet" - can really infuriate IBS sufferers. If only it was that simple. I was raised eating out of our garden and off the farm, we could not afford fast food or processed food, nor did my Mom believe in feeding it to us. As an adult I do not eat any processed or fast food or fried food or food with partially hydrogentated oil, etc, etc, etc. Due to my husbands food allergies (corn which is in all packaged food in the US) and my IBS -C/M/P, I prepare all our food from scratch - breakfast, packed lunch and dinner. We do not eat out. When we go on vacation, I still prepare all our meals out of necessity. Now you are right in that fast foood/processed foods will send me into agony, but they are not the root cause. Food is a trigger. There is not such thing as "healing" so that one can eat the processed food. There are also many very "healthy and natural" foods that are also major triggers for me.I follow an extremely strict diet, my doctors alway comment on how I'm am the most healthiest eater they know.I have struggled with CC since early childhood and IBS since I was a teenager. I could go on and on.You will find that most on this forum have figured out the hard way what their primary triggers are. But there are many times that no matter what you do you cannot control it. It is very frustrating. We already have doctors just brushing us off, please don't add fuel to the fire.I hope for you, it is as easy as just diet.Zanne


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Diet only causes IBS in that a lot of IBS starts after food poisoning but that can happen even with the most organic of diets and GI viruses passed from person to person can cause the same problems.Now some people do find certain diets relieve IBS symptoms, but no one diet works for everyone.A fair number of people with IBS do go into remission so if that happens to you then the diet you can eat will get broader as you no longer have the IBS so the food triggers go away.Diet and IBS is a funny thing. It effects some, but not others. If the only thing that caused IBS was processed foods then why is it a disease that has been described (with a variety of different names, just because IBS was the name coined recently doesn't mean it sprang into existence in the late 1960's) in the medical writings since the ancient greeks. Makes sense given we know GI infections start IBS in most cases and in the days before refrigeration and good hygiene there probably was as many problems with intestinal infections as there is today.I have met on here a fair number of angry people who are very upset their all organic no processed food has passed my lips in decades diet didn't prevent them from getting IBS.That being said. I'm glad you found something that worked for you. But IBS is too varied for there to be one size fits all cure nor do we all share the exact same triggers for symptoms once we get it.


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## Brianmay1975 (Apr 3, 2010)

"eating too much preservative foods, packaged foods and canned foods in North America" - well, there are IBS sufferers all over the world, not just in North America, even in places where people do not eat many packaged and canned foods.And preservatives are eaten by almost everyone today. There are preservatives even in the simplest things (e.g. bread) that one cand find in a supermarket. If preservatives were to cause IBS, a much larger percentage of the population would be sick. Not to mention, like Kathleen said, that IBS existed way before preservatives were invented...Personally, I did eat some fast food stuff during the time before my IBS symptoms kicked in, but I didn't eat in a fast-food as much and as often as my friends did. Even before having IBS, my diet was mostly comprised of healthy, homecooked food. I'm pretty sure that it's not the processed food that caused my IBS. If anything, consumption of processed food helped weaken my digestive system and now I avoid this kind of food. I seldom had any symptoms after eating processed food. Instead, some of the biggest flare ups I ever had happened after some fresh, homecooked meals. I wish it were that simple. But it isn't. It's frustrating when you keep trying to eat only healthy food and still have worse flare ups than ever before. If anything is even more frustrating, it's having to listen to people tell you that it's diet, just diet, and you should try harder and if you only had a proper diet, then you'd be fine. Except that you already are struggling hard to mantain a healthy diet and you're not fine.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Guys, I apologize if I am aggravating or angering anyone through my posts as I sincerely dont mean to do so. I am trying my best to attain as much information and share as much information to solve this IBS problem (both yours and mine).Sophie2009 I have also gone through a heavy course of antibitoics (6 different types in a span of 4 weeks) during the intial stages of my IBS, as the gastroentlogists thought it was a bacterial inection/stomach flu instead of actually IBS. Thus this misdiagnosis really exacerbated my IBS as the intestinal flora was continuously being diminsihed of the "good bacteria". However much much later while I was still suffering IBS, I started taking an enteric coated probiotic (more specifically I took a strong probiotic- 50 millions species- with 10 different kinds including Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactabacillus planatrum and bifidobacterium bifidius). However, after a month dosage I still did'nt improve. But the only reason I took it is to be sure that the lack of gut flora wasn't really causing my IBS and hence I was satisfied atleast there was enough probitoics supplements taken to override the yeast growth problem if that was the case. Then I started to try something else. If intestinal flora imbalance is your problem with excessive yeast & bad bacteria growth then you may want to try a strong probiotic like the one I mentioned above. As for in my opinion, I dont seem to agree with the fact that akin to celiac disease, lactose intolerance, IBS is something which comes with your genes. At many points you may have seen that anything you eat causes blaoting, constipation...so I mean even after one has found their trigger foods, they still see that non-trigger foods cause IBS, you cannot really inherit this sort of a thing , in where you get affected by every food you eat. No parent passes on a weak digestive system, weak immune system to such a broad spectrum of food to their kids. If you are affected by a food intolerane like lactose or maybe even if a food allergy like peanut its a different issue, but IBS at times is uncontrollable to any kind of food.Zenne, I dont mean to hurt your feelings in any way, but I have had my fair share of useless comments from various doctors too. Every docotor has told me "IBS is caused by STRESS", when I tried to explain to them that I have no reason to be stressful, and that its not causing me. NOBODY has ever told me that DIET is the sole cause, until recently, and this is coming from a HOMEOPATHIC DOCTOR (33 years experience) who has HEALED IBS sufferers completely without any reccurence. So your probably infamous phrase is "IBS is caused by DIET". I have great faith in homoepathy as many of my family members for various incurable diseases by conventional doctors have permanently been healed with homoepathic treatment, so my homoepathic doctor has told me which foods to avoid and which foods not to avoid as he said that my IBS will heal FOREVER by altering my food habits (75 % of IBS will heal thru food habits), however the remainiing 25 % will heal thru homoepathy medicine as the medicine will kick start the body's normal functional capability naturally. You may or may not believe in this treatment Zenne, but after going so many routes for treatment just like I have, you could try this one.Kathleen, you are bang on with the fact that IBS starts off with a food infection for those people were diet playsa major role cause I had the exact same case when my IBS started. I am not aware, of the different terms that IBS has been given over the past few decades as I am not sure about the history of IBS. Brianmay1975 But what I can say is that IBS is more strongly affected in some people than others with the food that caused IBS in the first place in them. Everyone's immune system and digestive system is different, so basically if I ate a certain food that caused IBS in me in the first place, I might be more strongly affected by it than someone else who had IBS with the same exact food. So the other person's fucntional organs may not be affected as much and might work more quickly to eliminate the IBS problem in their system than possibly in mine. My organs mite be affected in a such a way that it has temporarily lost its functional capability and in some sort come into a "COMA" stage. Thus it needs a kick start to get back to its normal operation(This willbe achieved by HOMEOPATHY MEDICATION. AND AGAIN I WANT TO MENTION I AM NOT PROMOTING ANYONE. I AM JUST SAYING THAT HOMOEPATHY HAS SOLVED A LOT OF MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS CHRONIC ISSUES.)


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

A lot of the people who promote the "don't eat modern food" type of diets to "cure" IBS like to pretend that IBS is a purely modern disease that was never ever seen before processed food became common. So they propose returning the diet we ate 20 or 100 years ago will make IBS go away.The problem is IBS has always been with us. GI symptoms have always been common (look at any herbal medicine from any culture and people were always looking for lots of herbs to treat diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas, etc.).People get IBS when they eat NO preservatives. It is not modern food that sets it off (and strangely we get a few people who can't eat any fruits and veggies but are OK if they stick to pop tarts and other such "bad" modern food).Now there are lots of darn good reasons to eat real food rather than extruded food-like substances, but preventing you from ever getting IBS is not one of them. Nor does a whole food diet cure everyone.You are the one that titled the thread "Diet is the sole cause of IBS" rather than anything else. That is why I brought up that scientific evidence shows that GI infections not the preservatives in food is what sets IBS off in most people. Sometimes it is other things, but that is the most common cause of IBS.Now I know a lot of people don't use "cause" the same way scientists use the word "cause", but even if diet triggers your IBS symptoms, it didn't cause you to have the disorder.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Kathleen you are right in the fact that everyones definition for CAUSE is different. My statement that "Food is the sole cause for IBS" is a very generic one which includes the fact that the infections in the food, additives, coloring, prerservatives in foods can cause IBS. As for history of IBS, i would like to say soemthing cause in those days herbal medicine was the only form of medicine for any sort of illness, so there wasnt a simple solution to even something simple like a stomach flu, bacterial infection which overalps with the broad range symptoms of IBS. Thus, since they didnt have a quick fix for even a simple thing like a stomach flu or bacterial infection (which now is readily available thru antiobiotics), it turned out to be a chronic problem and hence we can misintrepret it as being IBS existing from ages and ages ago. You must be very much aware from previous posts by other users, that the North American food industry has a lot of food preservatives, additives, processed food, junk food than any other part of the world. So how would you explain, North America having the highest rate of IBS than any other part of the world. There is more scope for junk food in this part of the world than any other, thereby leading to great chance of being prone to IBS. People, like me who consitenly ate the wrong foods again and again, in my case I believe it was HOT DOGS from the vendor, I ate it continuously for 3 weeks, which basically was not accustomed to my system for such a long duration , ended up with me having weakened immune system. Thus, the processed junk preservative food in nature, in conjunction with possibly germs in food lead to person developing IBS.And for people, who develop IBS without junk food and from other food sources, it could very well be those food sources which they have not previously ingested, it could very well be a cuisine which they never had before and the germs, the ingredients, the spices, etc heavily affected their immune system therby causin IBS, cause I mean every food has germs, even fresh fruits and salads have germs, but the body is coated with enough bacteria and fighting capabilities to handle these germs, but sometimes certain species of bacteria from unknown and unaccustomed food sources have the potential to drastically damage one's digestive and immune system, that a chronic condiiton such as IBS can develop. But my point, is that most people who have IBS have through junk food, preservatives, however there is the likelihood of acquiring IBS from non-preservative foods like u mentioned before possibly due to the reason I mentioned above.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

There are several very old descriptions of whatever word they used for it at the time that reads exactly like the Rome Criteria for IBS that we use in the modern day.I don't think you can just decide that IBS is only from preservatives in food. Although it is a common belief. They have shown that people with a diagnosed proven Salmonella infection (they had it cultured and everything) get IBS afterward at a high rate where people eating the exact same modern diet that don't get any GI infection (food poisoning or GI-virus like novovirus) in the last couple of years do not.That is why I say GI INFECTIONS not just I ate a pop tart once in awhile is what science would call a cause.I do agree the modern food system of extruded food-like substances isn't good and people, in general, should eat more real food and less synthetic food-like things. I just don't think IBS is the main health issue people get form eating synthetic processed extruded substances.I cannot agree it is the one and only cause of IBS and the one and only cure is to not eat preservatives in food. A lot of the physical difference seen in IBSers vs healthy controls is just not what eating trans fat would do to you. It is what the fall out of fighting off a GI infection can do.I've always had a very good diet. I eat real food, I eat my fruits and veggies every day. I have since I was a kid and I did even when a poor starving student and everything. I got a GI infection. I got IBS. Didn't matter how good my diet was (and I had it evaluated by nutritionists a couple of times for other reasons and they were always shocked at how well I ate and I met all the guidelines for less fat, more veggies, fiber, etc).Now I did eat a pop tart or two in my life because no one is perfect all the time, but I really do not eat the standard all processed all the time US diet.Now probiotics in yogurt and some of the stool loosening propeties of some fruits can really help with constipation, but they don't usually cure it (you can stop eating them and never have another problem) and I'm glad that they and the fiber from the veggies worked for you. There are a lot of good things in real food, and I wish that was all anyone ever needed.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Kathleen you are absolutely 100 % correct in the fact that the "fall out of GI infection" is the process after consuming the food leading to IBS. But in essence there is no way to measure what the fall out is that is the true problem. Many like I said say that the intestinal flora gets disrupted and they recommend probiotics. But even after taking several probiotics nothing seems to work, either thru yogurt or thru supplements. What is it that the fall out really is? How can the body's original state be reestablished are questions one needs to ask themselves. Kathleen just to confirm, u said u knew people whose Ibs went away forever and that food spectrum broadened over the course of time, do u have any idea as to how long the time span was before they could eat anything and everything?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I wasn't particularly food triggered although larger meals and high fiber did tend to bother me when the IBS was bad.I did 3 months of CBT and things got better during that but then by about 2 years later I was basically symptom free (other than a couple of times a year I get cramps more related to stress than food).I know a couple of the PI-IBS (post infectious IBS) studies found that pretty much regardless of what treatments people used a good portion (like 60% or more) were not having any IBS symptoms in the 2-5 year range after the IBS started range. So it doesn't heal fast, but it does go into remission more often then not for those they could track the GI infection that started it so they knew it was PI-IBS.Now I always recommend everyone eat a healthy diet, so you never want to rely on a high fat or high junk diet. I also think that generally if you can find something that work or at least helps early on it can help with the eventually going into remission. Mostly because the depressed, anxious, frustrated, angry state isn't all that good for helping to reset the nerves of the gut and tend to reinforce the ways it misbehaves. (if that makes any sense). Being stressed out either from physical issuse like pain or from emotional distress never helps anyone heal over time, doesn't matter what illness it is.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Kathleen, another quick question for you. You said that those people with post-infectious IBS eventually have gone into remission after tracking their GI infection. But how is it that they actually tracked it? Various tests by doctors, be it stool, blood, ultrasound, barium x-ray, colonoscopy, gastroscopy show nothing when it comes to chronic IBS.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Usually if you are in a clinical trial for post-infectious IBS, or someone that is having their case followed for research purposes you are one of those people that was sick enough with food poisoning or novovirus or anything like that (sometimes from a major outbreak where a lot of people get tested and they were trying to track down what happened) where you went to the doctor at the time of the infection. Some sort of stool culture was done that verified you had a GI infection (or whatever test is appropriate for that disease) and you got enough follow up they know the infection went away and you were then diagnosed with IBS in the 6 months to a year after the infection that is in your medical records. And the IBS is what they use for clinical trials which usually is you meet either the Rome or other criteria and have had enough tests they ruled out anything else that needed to be ruled out.Problem is a lot of us just tough out the diarrhea and vomiting at home if we can keep enough fluids in to not need to see the doctor. So a lot of people can't be used for a PI-IBS study even if we are pretty sure that we had something that was likely a GI infection of some kind.Sometime they just collect people and do periodic questionaires. I know in the CBT study I was in they did a few follow up questionaires to see if people maintained the benefit or not. So collecting a group of people you can define well (and either doing something or just tracking them) and then following up for a few years is a pretty common research thing. Some studies do no follow up but there was one paper where they checked in on people with PI-IBS to guage remission rates. There are some other remission rate studies that have been done as well. So IBS is documented to go into remission for some percentage of people. It isn't always permanent every day for the rest of your life. Chronic just means lasts for awhile, not it can't ever get better. Something like 30% of people in any clinical trial for IBS that are in the placebo group get better during the course of the study (and every disease has a placebo cure rate).


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## SunNsnow (Mar 22, 2010)

Your statement has no evidence, scientific or even anecdotal to back it up.I wish it were true then anyone who chooses to life such a lifestyle couldbe cured.I personally eat no dairy, no caffiene, no meat, no preservatives, mostlyorganic, homecooked usually, tons of vegetables, etc. I've also tried gluten free, vegetable fasting, etc. Some foods trigger IBS but even without spicy foods, dairy, alcohol,and the common 'triggers' people still have diarrhea or constipation. Sorry Chris, you are wrong. But I wish you were right.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

SunNsnow, if you see my previous replies, you will see that I did say that IBS symptoms can also occur with non-trigger foods and at the same I did mention about homeopathy to reestablish your bodily function and bowel function. Please, don't blatantly deem my case to be false. I do understand what your suffering through as so am I. But I only want to help, and thus one needs to control diet and take homeopathy medicine at the same time to be on the path of the healing curve. Trust me together by controlling diet and taking homoepathy we can both fight IBS!


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## SunNsnow (Mar 22, 2010)

Where is the scientific evidence suggesting that homeopathyis a cure for IBS?The first example they used in statistics was to use homeopathyas an example of the impossible. The dosage is so small that itmakes no sense, except placebo.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Not everything has to be scientific to be true. All the North American doctors I went to they totally disregarded homeopathy and said that its not science. Several chronic cases in my family have been healed with homeopathy. It may not be popular in North America, but that does not mean it doesnt work. Not everything has to be scientific to work. Homeopathy is a naturopathic treatment which doesnt just supresses ure symptoms, but eliminates the root cause of the problem. Look at acupuncture, its a form of naturopathic treatment, its not scientific in nature, but it has helped so many people in so many things. If North American doctors, who cant cure IBS and who dont have a solution of IBS, why should I continue to trust them. I dont want to just continue living in agony for the rest of my life and keep believing that sooner or later North American doctors will come up with a cure., when there is alternative form of homeopathic treatment and doctors who have healed IBS sufferers. I have been taken homeopathic medicine from childhood, and I have always been healed with it and thus I believe that this chronic case of mine which has been cured for previous IBS suffers will be cure for me too. After all its me who is suffering and not the North American conventional doctors who only seem to believe that only their conventional allopathy treatment is correct. The dosage might be small, but that is why you have to atleast give it a month, before the accumulated effect of it can be felt. You need to be under the guidance of an experience practioner to see the correct results.


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## Patman75 (Mar 9, 2008)

ChrisJenas said:


> I just visited an experienced doctor and nutritionist recently who has cured IBS, and had a long discussion about IBS and the sole cause of IBS was diet and only diet. Basically, eating too much preservative foods, packaged foods and canned foods in North America induces too much chemicals into the digestive tract, which hinders the proper function of liver, small intestine, large intestine and colon. This temporary hampers the body's own function to heal itself by weakning the immune system. Hence to get back to the body's original state and reverse the process, the body needs to be kept from all these preserved and processed foods and also alcohol, caffeine, dairy products, fatty & fried foods for a long enough time for body's normal operation. Hence, avoidance of these foods for 1-2 months and keeping a diet which contains of homecooked meals, a lot of fresh fruits and cooked vegeatbles- specifically PAPAYA, NATURAL YOGURT are essential to the diet will return the body back to proper functional capability. But however, after healing, a long enough time span should be given before one can start introducing preservative foods occasionally (BUT ONLY in very minute quantities).


Sounds like a great start to me. Do you plan to adhere to this type of lifestyle change?


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Yes Patman75 atleast temporarily, until I go into the remission stage, and then I can slowly add all types of food to my diet.


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## SunNsnow (Mar 22, 2010)

Honestly, from your first post on the forum, it sounds like you areselling something. Do you sell homeopathic remedies?Or multi level marketing. It just seemed unusual thatyou post your number to a forum. Anyways, I agree that something does not have to bescientifically proven by researchers and published ina medical journal to be effective. I agree with that100%. But homeopathic companies have attempted to conduct scientificresearch and they failed. And I also agree with you that allopathic/osteopathic medicinehas little to offer for those who suffer from IBS. They laughat IBS constantly. GI specialists hate when they get IBS referral,even though it is a huge percentage of their annual revenues. I all about nutrition as I've helped thousands of people eat healthier.I'd like to think that a healthy way of eating can conquer IBS but thats not the case. It simple is not a cure. It may helpsome people but in general, it appears that for MOST people (not all)the mind is more powerful than the food they eat.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

SunNsnow I cannot emphasize any more that I AM NOT TRYING TO SELL SOMETHING, I am trying to get across in this forum that there does exist something called HOMEOPATHY as many people in North American are unaware of this sort of treatment. I wont gain anything other than the satisfaction of helping IBS sufferers in this forum. I didnt post my number, I had posted my email which I have already removed if it bothers anyone. I am not sure about where you read about homeopathic studies, but I have know people personally who had suffered IBS and have been cured permanently. It doesnt happen overnight, but it does happen eventually though. Diet like you said plays a big part, but to get ure body working in its original state it needs that KICK START from homoepathy. I had given homoepathy a chance, and I was cured in a couple of months, but My problem was as soon as I got healed, I stopped the medicine and started eating everything and anything and within a month my IBS symptoms recurred. Thus, currently now I am on a controlled diet and am under homoepathic treatment and now will continue to be under the guidance of my doctor and will only stop the medication when I am told to do so and will change my diet according to the doctor.


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## Patman75 (Mar 9, 2008)

ChrisJenas said:


> Yes Patman75 atleast temporarily, until I go into the remission stage, and then I can slowly add all types of food to my diet.


best of luck to you! Eating healthy can reduce the toxic load on your body and improve you immune system. I don't have IBS but I have been eating healthy for over 2 years and it has helped. However I have found that my rabbit hole goes a little deeper than diet. Bacteria flora, heavy metals, mercury fillings, chemical sentitivies, contaiminated water, etc.Again, best wishes on your journey







Pat


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Thanks Pat!


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## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

Hi ChrisJenna, I guess you can tell that we are sort of a sensitive bunch here. We have experienced many people trying to sell snakeoil and such! Anyhow, welcome to the BB and I'm so glad that you found something works for you!! Tiss


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## Brianmay1975 (Apr 3, 2010)

ChrisJenas: you say that the largest percentage of IBS sufferers are located in North America. I think that it would be more accurate to say that in North America lives the highest percentage of *diagnosed* IBS sufferers. Well, maybe people in North America are more willing to go see a doctor if they have GI issues and therefore get diagnosed, whereas in my country (Romania), many people won't go to a doctor unless their symptoms are very bad. Many people would be ashamed to talk about GI issues or they might think it's not that important and if they take care of their diet, they'd be cured. I personally know somebody who's struggling with chronic constipation for 4-5 years and totally refuses to see a doctor, she doesn't even know what exactly is causing the constipation... Besides that, Romanian people just don't like going to see a doctor for any kind of issue and many try to avoid doing that as long as possible.I myself waited a year and a half before I decided to go see a doctor. And when I decided to, there were people around me trying to persuade me not to go, because it'd be useless (and the only thing I needed was a better diet - except that I already was doing that and it wasn't working).Now about the homeopathic medicine... Those are medications that haven't been scientifically tested. And I am wondering, what guarantee do I have that some herbal medicine would help me, instead of doing more harm to my already weakened dygestive system?


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Brianmay1975 you do make a valid point and I totally understand your viewpoint. North America, has the necessary tools to diagnose IBS and that may very well be another reason that it is more prominent in here.As for homeopathic medicines, my family members have had chronic illnesses cured by homoepathy, when conventional doctors didnt have a cure for those illnesses. Thus, when it comes to somehing like IBS, its the personal experiences of the IBS sufferers is what counts the most. What works for u, u gotta cling on to. In my previous post I did say I got cured by homeopathy (but I stopped the medicine which solely I am to balme for). Hence, I am taking it more seriously this time and giving it another shot. I believe in this form of treatment, whether it is scientific or not is not important to me. There are so many home remedies for so many different small acute illness and people seem to get cured with those home remedies, where is the science in that. Sometimes u just gotta stop listening to what conventional doctors say when they dont have a cure for anything and learn to find ure own solution cause ure the one who is suffering. Thus, I have stopped going to walk-in clinics, stopped sitting in emergency wards in hospitals for hours and hours, giving blood tests, etc etc cause at the end of the day they are just gonna diagnose u and say u got IBS and say we dont have any cure.I cant guarantee u that homeoapthy will work 100 % as I still am under homoepathic tretament and on the road to recovery, but I am hopeful. But one thing I can guarantee is that homeoapthy has no side effects and it will not weaken ure current digestive system any more.


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## Thai (Aug 22, 2007)

Chris... you state....I cant guarantee u that homeoapthy will work 100 % as I still am under homoepathic tretament and on the road to recovery, but I am hopeful. But one thing I can guarantee is that homeoapthy has no side effects and it will not weaken ure current digestive system any more.[/quote]And yet the topic title of your original post is "Diet is the Sole Cause of IBS"????????????????????????


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Thai, I dont seem to understand what is it that is bothering you about my posts as you seem to pinpoint every single detail I am mentioning. I am not a docotor to be guaranteeing u something, I am merely an IBS sufferer.Look at the previous posts and they all talked about diets major role in IBS. DIET IS THE ORIGINAL CAUSE OF IBS, but it affects the digestive and immune system in such a way that just by eliminating the diet u wont get back to normal state, u need that kick start from homeopathy how many times will i have to say this. And this kick start from homeoapthy has worked for me previously, but everyone is different so it may take longer for it to work on somebody else. I am speaking from EXPERIENCE, I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL HOMEOPATH. IF you had experience with homeopathic treatment before and how it works, u wud understand my viewpoint and u wud understand that homeopathy doesnt have any sideffects.


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## Sophie2009 (Feb 16, 2010)

Hi Chris,yes I am begining to take probiotics - specifically Bio acidiphilus forte plus multi vitamin and minerals. I'm cutting out all produce which I'm sensitive to; including food and cosmetic items. I begin the new lifestyle on thurs - doing a clean sweap. I'm seeing my specialist tomorrow (Weds) so hopefully I can also get more medical information and a confirmed diagnosis.As regards to everyones comment I think I can sum one thing up: everybody's body is slightly different in how it responds and acts therefore treatment which may work for some may not work for others. So just because one person didn't find success with something doesn't mean that it won't work for others and vice versa. There is no definitive cause and cure for IBS mainly because everyone is different! IBS is chronic, but for some it may be temporary, for others unfortunately life-long.The main advice is: do your research, find out what works for you, if it does brilliant, if not move on and try something else. There is no one majical miracle drug which will cure this. The three best things are patience, determination and time. Yes it sucks - believe me I've know as I've suffered with it for 14months and have been going through phases of depression which were primarily caused by it!I think the main thing is don't shoot down people who have found a new idea which they've found to be successful but then don't be naive in thinking it will work for everyone!Hope my adivce offers some clarity,All the best to everyone,Soph.


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## Thai (Aug 22, 2007)

Chris..It is me that doesn't understand...really.My last post was my first post on this thread so I take offense to the statement below.I did NOT pinpoint every single detail. I mentioned ONLY one.Were I to pinpoint every single detail, it would have indeed been a very lengthy post, don't you think?Perhaps you have me confused with someone else?And as to how many times you have to re-iterate your statement on your beliefs....my answer to that would be.....lose the attitude and you may get someone to listen.You came on here like gangbusters, with cram it down their throats approach and this does not sit well for many.Believe me, there is no one happier than me, that you have found a way to deal with this.Every success story I hear gives me hope.But, I might suggest that you should have come on the forum, telling your story and let people respond to it as they see fit.Not .....THIS IS THE WAY......THIS IS THE ANSWER FOR EVERYONE....LISTEN TO ME


ChrisJenas said:


> Thai, I dont seem to understand what is it that is bothering you about my posts as you seem to pinpoint every single detail I am mentioning.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I understand that people get really excited when they think they have found the answer.It can take awhile to see that no one answer is the one true miracle for everyone, and the answer they found is just their answer. I do ask people try not to make those that take a different path wrong. There are many paths to healing. Some are well established scientifically. Others come from other disciplines. Sometimes even the least likely of things will trigger someone's ability to self heal (which is why they do placebo controls in clinical studies, sometimes people just happen to get what they need to heal).Let's all try to get along. It isn't always easy, but I do like to think everyone is trying, in their own way, to be supportive and share what works for them.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Thai, my approach to this forum might be somewhat unconventional and possibly disturbing to some, but believe me, my intentions are sincere and I only want the best for everyone. Let me conclude by saying, that I have suggested Homeopathy as a form of treatment which has helped me in the past and I hope it helps me overcome my IBS in the near future. I hope my discussions about homeopathy has helped people become aware of such treatments and if anybody ever does decide to consider this for IBS, I wish you the best of luck and hope it gives you the desired results.


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## Gmonkey (Dec 4, 2009)

ChrisJenas said:


> Thai, my approach to this forum might be somewhat unconventional and possibly disturbing to some, but believe me, my intentions are sincere and I only want the best for everyone. Let me conclude by saying, that I have suggested Homeopathy as a form of treatment which has helped me in the past and I hope it helps me overcome my IBS in the near future. I hope my discussions about homeopathy has helped people become aware of such treatments and if anybody ever does decide to consider this for IBS, I wish you the best of luck and hope it gives you the desired results.


You sir are a complete bellend.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

'You sir are a complete bellend' SAID THE WISE MONKEY.


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## Brianmay1975 (Apr 3, 2010)

Ok, I do understand that you believe that homeopathic treatments have no side effects whatsoever, but I would like to know the reasons which your assumption is based upon. Can you please explain to me WHY is it that homeopathic products have no side effects, what exactly makes them harmless?


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Brianmay, I have been taken homeopathy all my life, and everyone who is used to this sort of treatment and has been taken it often knows it. Its a known fact..Homeopathy medicine are made from natural herbs by diluton procedure. The herb uses the body's natural ability in a holisitic way to heal itself akin to acupuncture. It eliminates the root cause of the problem. Ask anyone, who has ever undergone homeopathic treatment. They may tell you that it may have not have 100 % worked for them, but they will definitely not tell you that it negatively affected them in any which way. Its just how homeopathic treatment works, you could go ask any allopathic doctor which knows about and respects homeopathic treatment and even they will telll you that homeopathic medicine has no side effects.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

According to this article: http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy


> the side effects and risks of homeopathic treatments are not well researched outside of observational studies


So apparently there is a lack of research right now in the area of side effects. Perhaps in the future there will be more more research done.BTW the above article is very informative about Homeopathy for those of you wanting to learn more.


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## IanRamsay (Nov 23, 2008)

HiIm afraid that i cant agree with you that Diet is the sole cause of all IBS. i know for a fact that mine was caused by bacteria following a gut infection. Diet did help to make the IBS slightly better over time, but that was because i was eliminating things that my damaged gut could no longer accommodate. i tried all kinds of homeopathic remedies in the beginning and nothing made it any better. I also fail to understand the scientific methodology of "water memory" in relation to the equivalent of one drop of source liquid to the same volume of water as there is in the pacific ocean. although something that is usually a poison or toxin in one way or another can be made safe by dilution, dilution on that scale leaves a trace of something like one part per 400,000,000. even on virgin bacteria and/or cells in ideal conditions the concentration isnt enough to register an effect.BUTIf you believe it works for you, i guess that is all you need as faith is a very powerful thing. and if it makes you feel better, it cant be all that bad.IAN


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## IBD/IBS Author (May 24, 2007)

I'll agree that to make a blanket statement like: Diet is the sole cause of IBS is most probably wrong for many of us. But, take a step back, and read between the lines of what this poster is saying. Diet _can_ be a problem for many IBSers and they may not realize it, so making diet changes could be helpful for many. For the well-read and researched on this site, this is most likely obvious. But for those who are new or not-so-well read looking into what they are eating _could_ be useful inormation.My recommendation to Chris is this: there are 55 million+ Americans, alone, who have IBS. If changing diet were a true cure-all for IBS, then at least probably 1 million of them would be cured by now. I like where you're going with the diet thing, it has helped many of us quite a bit, but it's typically not a cure-all, but rather a part of a potential solution. From now on, maybe give a new thread a less potentially inflammatory heading, like: changing diet has helped _my_ IBS 100%. Because, really, this is your experience. And this forum is all about sharing personal experiences so that others can learn from them. Really glad this is helping you so much.


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## ChrisJenas (Apr 15, 2010)

Thank You Elizabeth for your kind words, I am really trying my best to be as informative as possible and hoping that my experiences help out somebody else too.


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