# Diet modification plus hypno tapes rock!



## leslie204 (Feb 1, 2003)

As with all IBS 'cures' I'm taking this latest with a big grain of salt. However, I have (for the past 3 weeks) eliminated all fat and most carbs from my diet with great success and started Mike's tapes about 10 days ago. I have gone from 5-6 bad days (diarhea) out of 1 or 2 good days to almost ALL good days with completely normal bowel movements with no discomfort, pain or urgency. So far, I am very encouraged with Mike's tapes and am a big believer that the mind is the mechanism that keeps us well.Leslie


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## Samot (Apr 21, 2004)

Hi Leslie,Great to hear that you are doing so well! Maybe there's hope...Could you please tell me a little bit more about your carb- and fatfree diet. I mean, what do you and don't you eat? I try to do as much sports as I have the energy to, and since I understand that carbs is actually the fuel that muscels run on - how do you get the energy to do anything if there are no carbs in the diet? Or am I way off here?I did the tapes but am sad to say they haven't done anything for me so far, finished the program two weeks ago. Have been thinking about a diet change but simply do not know where to start.Have a good one!Samot


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Hi Leslie and Samot,Leslie, great news, and all the best in your journey...Just to say that IBS and diet have been areas of confusion to the IBS world and what works for one person may not for another. Diets have helped some IBS patients, but many times, it is short - lived, or the diet is continually modified as more and more items are eliminated.That is because IBS is NOT a condition that is caused by food or diet. You may have a food sensitivity, descretion, or allergy that is independent of the IBS - that is - alongside the IBS. The reason being, a diet works as a placebo for the true IBS patient, you are better for a time because you are doing something different - (provided there are no food allergies, etc.) Many IBS patients have followed various diets and have done well because they had a food indescretion which manifested itself in IBS symptoms, and in that case was not really IBS.Many patients who completed Mike's program are now able to eat once "forbidden" foods, and are not on any restricted diet. It is not diet or foods that cause IBS, and you may be feeling better as a result of change. But whatever works for you to feel better, continue with it, and as the program progresses, you may find you can eat as you did before.Samot, I did the program over a few times because the IBS was really hard-wired and I had other outside stressors. Consider doing the program once again in a month or so ~ we have had a few people that did this and had exceptional results.However, if you do want to investigate the diet side of things, you can go to: ...com and look at the information there.In the big picture, just do whatever is needed to feel better, but this info is pretty much what has been found with the thousands of IBS patients who have tried this approach.All the best to you both... Take care.


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## whitepjs (May 19, 2004)

I couldn't agree more with this post.I'm very sceptical of the diet change = IBS cure. Yes some foods can be more difficult to digest(eg gluten, brassicas, dairy etc), but I think that's only made evident because IBS is messing around with the gut's proper function. If the food is hard to digest, then the gut not working properly will make it even harder, and cause more violent reactions and symptoms. Of course some people are genuinely intolerant of some foods (eg celiacs) but most aren't. I think diet change success stories have more to do with the patient taking control of an illness than anything else. This form of empowerment helps with the psychological problems associated with IBS. I know this from experience of MS. There are great success stories of people with MS taking certain dietary supplements, but on the whole it's been proven to be due to the placebo effect.To be honest though, if it works for a patient, then that's really good. I'd love to exclude some simple foods and be symptom free. I just think that the exclusion diets aren't really addressing the real psychological issues surrounding IBS, they're only working on the periphery. And the symptoms will inevitably return in the long run.IMHO the key is remove the stress/anxiety that we don't always know we're carrying around.RgdsDavid


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Thanks David - stress and anxiety play a role in IBS and can make it worse- doesn't always "cause" it - some folks with IBS don't have excessive stress initially until the IBS situation gives it to them - sort of the chicken or the egg scenario. And some do. I never had bathroom problems, then as I had more and more IBS attacks closer and closer together, the stress of worrying whether I would have an attack made things even worse. But in the beginning, I never even thought about bathrooms or urgency...I agree with your comments also on placebo effect, and there is a bit of that going on with anything taken for a condition in the very beginning - it is the ongoing continued improvement overlasting the placebo affect that you/we are after, and Mike's program has shown that through follow up trials.Thanks for the validating post! Regards too.


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## whitepjs (May 19, 2004)

No problem. I think you're right about the chicken and the egg. Especially the egg, which does make my stomach cramp But seriously, I'm convinced that the research into serotonin levels in the gut/brain etc and the use of serotonin enhancers/modifiers is going to solve or help this problem in the long term. I know that when I'm happier or much more relaxed, my symptoms subside and I can reduce the level of drugs I take. By the same token, a stressful event can trigger an attack in a day or a week's time and the attack can last for days or weeks. It's almost like a brick being dragged by a piece of elastic. It takes a while for the brick to move, but when it does, it's difficult to stop it. Just as the IBS attacks seem to take a little while to build up, and longer to stop. Probably because of the ongoing anxiety that the attack itself causes.Rgds


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