# Any other nursing moms have experience with IBS hypnotherapy program?



## moneeky (Jan 22, 2003)

I am a returning member to this BB. Had a baby about 8 months ago and am nursing. IBS is really flaring up and I can't take meds because of nursing so I thought hypno would be a good start. I suffer from lots of noises, gas and seems like alternating d to c. Used to be just more d. I have so many negative emotions around this condition and am doing all the other things I can like therapy, started regular exercise this week. I've doine CBT in past and had some relief but also did SSRI's and antispasmodics that helped. I'm really tired and at the end of my digestive health rope. So, I am hoping to get some help for the spasms and other issues I suffer with from this condition..including anxiety and worry to boot. I'm hoping for something to bring healing and that is more permanent this time.If you've been where I am and have gotten some help from this program, I'd like to hear from you. I really need some encouragement. Thx.


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Hi Moneeky -Welcom back to the BB, but so sorry you are having so many problems with your IBS.Hypnotherapy is a great complementary treatment, especially for ladies who are nursing - I do recall in the past that pregnant ladies and new moms not only got benefit from relief or great lightening of the IBS symptoms , but help with anxiety and better sleep, which in turn was helpful in mothering - and no drug side effects!Take a look at the success thread on this forum, as well as the website: www.ibscds.com for info on the IBS Audio Program 100 CDs - I have copied a recent thread below for you, but just to say that my IBS symptoms first developed when I was expecting my first child, and so I can empathize with you - but that was in 1983, before Mike's tapes were developed! Perhaps others will reply to you as well.I am going to change your topic fromwaiting for tapes and some relief - to - Any other nursing moms have experience with IBS hypnotherapy program? - so you may get more replies... Take care - Here is my other post to newbies that may be encouraging to you...==========================Hi Everyone ~Most of the BB members who have been here awhile, know that I came to this BB in 2000 to get some help after having IBS over 17 years, and after trying every single diet, antispasmodic, OTC, RX, SSRI, etc. and to no avail. I was almost housebound with IBS, been to lots of GIs, Mayo Clinic, etc. Finally my GI said to search the Internet, he had exhausted his options.As a very last resort, I tried clinical hypnotherapy - at the urging of other BB members here who have been helped. At that time, the BB was only one single forum, so all the topics were seen by BB visitors. Now with the forums split up, many of the newbies don't realize that the information in the CBT/Hypnotherapy forum (link below) may possibly be helpful to some of you.Clinical hypnotherapy is NOT for everyone - it is not a cure, it is a tool that helps you cope with the anxiety, the brain-gut connection, and it has shown to help alleviate, and in some cases eliminate over 20 IBS symptoms - for me it helped with daily very severe and intense D and abdominal cramping, as well as urgency with travel. But it is not for those who have food allergies, intolerances, etc. or other conditions that are not solely IBS. Also, clinical hypnotherapy helps other areas that are pressing in your life - in my case, I had other health issues/surgeries that it helped with as well as the IBS.Many of you know, that as a result of being helped with the IBS Audio Program 100 of recorded clinical hypnotherapy sessions, I now work with Mike Mahoney of England, who developed this program.We were given the opportunity to exhibit at the IFFGD (International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders)Symposium this month, and clinical hypnotherapy was certainly one of the viable treatment methods presented during the CME Symposia there. We spoke with many physicians, gastroenterologists and medical professionals and we were very encouraged by their comments and validation. From time to time, those like myself, who have been given relief from IBS, have encouraged others on this BB to consider the IBS Audio Program 100 - most who have been helped move on from the BB. Not everyone is helped, and some are helped to different degrees than others depending on severity and longevity of their IBS, and stress factors, etc. and some see relief within 2 weeks of starting the program, others need to complete the program another time or two. However, that being said, clinical trials have shown improvement over and above conventional treatment methods used prior to HT, and lasting years beyond completion. This is a pretty good track record, and is especially attractive to those not wanting to be on meds so often. Clinical trials were conducted with patients who had already exhausted their treatment options, and then found relief with Mike's program.So anyway, just taking a long time to say - Come and visit the CBT/HT forum for more info - I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Read over the success stories, many may be similar to some of the symptoms you are suffering now- I was totally at the end of my rope with IBS - I never traveled, I did all my parenting through the "bathroom door" - it cost me my marriage and I missed out on the greater part of my kids lives and activities because of it - usually curled up in the fetal position with cramping and D for hours at a time - almost every day. I was put on every drug - even those for non-label use - I kept a diary and reading it now and looking back on it, I was in a similar state and feeling pretty much like many of you posting here are currently feeling - so I have been there.Thanks for taking the time to read this - hope it helped a bit!!! Sorry it's so long - Again, I am here to help if I can....a bit about my backround - I was in such a horrible place that I see myself in so many of your postings, and I hope I can help show how important it is to consider all the avenues of help here.Since this is a patient self-help BB, suggestions - even mine - should be always discussed with your doctor, and researched further. There are many options - and not all options are right for every person. It is a frustrating condition, because even the docs are going round and round with trying to find relief to help their IBS patients. So I am writing this to give you my insights after 17 years into this nightmare - which I now have conquered to the point of being back into the land of the living --- so for those of you in dire despair, please bear with me as I share - everyone is different, and free to chose what works best for your situation, but perhaps you will relate to my experiences...In years past, I was able to post more to individuals, and I feel badly that my time is more limited now, but I do talk with IBS patients all over the nation, and their desparation is always the same. And their gratefulness when I talk to them later after completion of Mike's program, is so heartwarming - I just gotta share stuff with ya.I see so much confusion regarding IBS and its causes and treatments here on this BB. I know that for myself, I also went through a period of thinking it was something I was eating - I started cutting out foods that I ate previous to an attack - but I found that sometimes I would eat something and be fine, another time I would be out of commission and miserable. So then food after food would be eliminated, until I was down to crackers and water! Unless I was really hungry, then I would eat and sometimes again be fine, othertimes be miserable - but with some foods it would happen every time! And of course add all this to the fact that everyone - those without IBS - gets gastro symptoms from time to time as a part of life - so hard to sort it all out!!So the various diets I tried, and keeping food diaries didn't help in my case. And I was not showing any allergies or intolerances to any foods. For many here on the BB, I think some individuals do have true IBS alone, some have food allergies or intolerances alone which is manifest in IBS-like symptoms, and some have both IBS along with food allergies and/or intolerances. So this is something to consider. If you have food allergies/intolerances alone, then I believe that IBS treatments may be only a band-aid to the problem. And another factor comes into play here - the placebo effect - you could be on a diet thinking it is helping, but it isn't the elimination of the food, but the belief that that elimination is helping - thus no IBS symptoms. But it is hard to know what is going on.Then there is my experience with meds. I was put on Flagyl for possible parasites even though I was tested several times and was negative each time. The GI at the time thought that my severe D had to be caused by something other than "just" IBS - so "just in case" it was missed, I was given this course to take as a precautionary measure. Was futile, as I still had IBS.Was then prescribed a calcium channel blocker which regulates muscle activity in the heart - the premise being that the intestinal peristalsis (contractions) would be regulated more smoothly as well. Didn't help. Was given Seldane (now off the market) which was for sinus and the side effect (off-label use) caused constipation - so that helped a bit for a short time.I was also taking for a time, Prozac, then Wellbutrin, Paxil for the SSRIs, later Amitryptiline (Elavil), which helped quite a lot - but only for a few months - Donnatel, Levsin - several versions of Levsin including SL - Sublingual (under the tongue) - Belladonna Tincture, and OTCs such as calcium, immodium, etc. which helped at times, but not always.Each one of the Rx meds either didn't work at all, or worked for a short time but not without side effects.When I started researching IBS in 1988, and then going to the Mayo Clinic in 1993,(I was asked to be in the alesteron trial, but was too incapacited to take part)- there was not as much info then on IBS as there is today. I was introduced to the IFFGD - International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders and got their publications from my GI and from there I found this BB in 2000.When I was encouraged to try Mike's program I thought it was bogus! Yep. I did. But at that point my life was "hell" so what could one more try at getting better hurt - so I tried it, but not without first being a pest and a nusiance to Mike with tons of questions and worries - but it proved helpful - and you know the rest of the story as above.The one thing nice about the program, is that you can still continue to take any medications, follow any diet, etc. along with doing the program if you want to. After completion, I started introducing foods I thought I could not tolerate, and now I can eat them with no problem, so in my case, food issues were not really a factor at all. I am not on any IBS Rx meds, though I have other health issues, and the program has helped me cope and deal with those along with managing the IBS.I can't stress enough how this has helped change my life around. The docs have been researching the use of clinical hypnotherapy for years now, and it is now known as one of the most helpful treatment methods for IBS - it is also especially helpful in breaking that mind-gut connection - that "OH NO!! Not here!!!" sweats and cramping thing - as well as addressing over 20 IBS and related symptoms.Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions - I am happy to help, and I am in direct contact with Mike and can pass along any concerns if I can't address them.Also, here is a link to some success stories that may be helpful to you - http://ibsgroup.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/72210261/m/10210344And here is the link for more info - www.ibscds.comI hope this info is encouraging - I know how I felt so lost when I came to this BB, and now I have so many dear friends here who have helped an encouraged me to feel better and get the help I needed - so I am passing along their kindness. Thanks for reading - ===========================From Me-TooMarilyn: I want to go on record as one of those helped by Mike's tapes. I followed the printed schedule completely two times and found them most helpfulin getting rid of the pain and discomfort. They were worth the time I spent listening to them.==============================Some folks see improvement within the first two weeks, and at the other end, after completion of the program twice- and everywhere in between. Patients also continue to feel improvement for years after completion and are able to reduce or eliminate their medications..Hope you are feeling better soon - and that this info helps you a bit.


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## moneeky (Jan 22, 2003)

Thank you Marilyn for your quick post. I liked your editing. I was going to delete my post, but since I see someone has already looked at it, I feel good about leaving it. I guess I'm feeling kind of vulnerable and didn't feel like leaving something out there that wouldn't possibly get responded to. I did order Mike's cd's yesterday. I really am excited to try something different. I have a long history of anxiety and other stress related illnesses that have come and gone since I was a teen. The IBS has stuck now for about 8 years and I'm so sick of it. I've done just about everything else with doctors, psych's and currently an MFT trying to end my suffering and symptoms. It feels bigger and more complex than anything I have overcome in the past, so I know I need another approach.I relate to your story and have some big similarites with the avoidance behaviour and anxiety type conditions. I'm glad to hear from someone recoverying on all levels from these things. If I can just get my symptoms managed and stop avoiding things for fear of humilation by my noisy gut (bathroom runs aren't the problem for me, although I get d several times around my nerves), it would be huge!I will take some time here and there (with an 8 month old, it will be spotty!) and read the success posts. I will be around on this board for sure..thanks again for reaching out, it means a lot.


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