# Nearly cured, huge improvement, a MUST read for sufferers.



## mylifeisover (Jan 10, 2014)

*Please read the red text before reading or jumping to conclusions on my post, it is important I ensure readers are not in a mindset of short attention spans and can focus carefully. Do not read if you are travelling or in-between actives. When you have time to relax and focus, come back to this post.*

Yes I am aware this post is long. I had been suffering with ibs and 'LG' for over 4 years and it had completely ruined my life because I fell down into an endless cycle which I will explain in more detail. If your health is not worth this 5-10 minutes of reading then please continue looking for the quick 'magic cure' which are just sucking your money away. However, if you're motivated and striving to get better and move on with your life then please read this post in great detail. *It could save your life*. I am an English Psychology student, studying at one of the most academic universities in the country, which as a sufferer of this horrific health condition enables me to not disregard it as a simple delusion, but understand it does exist, however complicated by our mindsets.

Im going to make this as simple as possible as Im aware many sufferers are across the world.

First please recognise that this disorder is an *umbrella term*, so the causes for my disorder may be different from others, however I am certain a majority of you will find improvement through following my advice.

Please also read this entire post before jumping to conclusions. Leaky gas is a collection of physiological and psychological problems, so yes your problem does exist and you have a physical issue, however it is being psychologically amplified.

*1) Anxiety is in the drivers seat*
When you're in a crowded place whats the first thing on your mind? When someone sits next to you on the bus, whats the first thing you think about?
If you instantly jump to the paranoia of them noticing your health condition, you're in a state of *anxiety*. Now Im certain every single person on this website reacts the exact same in these situations, so theres no denying that theres a psychological problem alongside it. When you're alone at home its no mystery ibs is nearly none existent.

How to fix:
Overcoming denial that you have anxiety is the first step. Realise the ibs health condition has caused you to develop this and you are the victim, it is perfectly normal and acceptable for ibs patients to develop anxiety. However, you need to remove the anxiety first as it will put you in an endless cycle of disruption to your ibs.

I have quickly drawn an example of anxiety on the brain. Please ignore the misspelling of 'root'.
Please click here to view.

The diagram represents what anxiety actually is. Its a tangent, or even a 'rabbit hole' which is *not normal* to fall into. When you notice yourself falling into this mind frame, asking yourself such questions as listed on the image, then cut it off at the root of the irrational thought. Do not allow it to control you or consume your thought processes.

What you need to ask yourself is, does thinking like this benefit me in any way? *Not in the slightest. *

Then ask yourself does it affect me negatively in any way? Yes, the irony of anxiety for ibs patients is it kicks in your flight and fight response which is known to 'switch off' your digestive system. The saying 'I was so scared I sh*t myself' is an exact example of how our mind and body works. There is no real threat when, for example, someone sits next to you on the bus. The only fear you have is that you will embarrass yourself, yet worrying about this and letting your anxiety take over will ironically cause this embarrassment to happen. (You are shooting yourself in the foot).

Easier said than done of course, which is why you may need assistance to help overcome it, especially if you have been suffering for a long time. I had been suffering for 4 years so I know exactly how it feels to try cut off such a powerful thought, however eventually it becomes incredibly easy.

I recommended Therapy. Cognitive behaviour therapy allows us to overcome anxiety and challenge our irrational thought processes. I am from England, so I was able to get help free on the NHS, so Im unsure if its expensive in other countries where health care is not free.

I also recommend purchasing a hypnotherapy for ibs which again allows us to slow our racing anxieties down and better understand why our ibs can get bad in certain situations. Obviously this is your choice whether you want to purchase it, I am not trying to sell anything, Im just recommending what helped me. There is actually large talk over this website about how others improved through hypnotherapy. Click here to read more about it.

(If you want anymore information/answers on anxiety please post on this forum and I will message back as soon as possible.)

*2) Depression alters our brain functioning*
If you do not suffer from depression or low mood mind sets then you can skip this information. However it may still be useful.

Depression too has an adverse direct effect on ibs in the long term. Its not surprising that after suffering from a chronic health condition and possible anxiety disorders that you have become in a continuous state of depression, low mood and hopelessness.

When depression starts to kick in, parts of your brain become less active. The most important one to mention is your hippocampus.

'Global study finds the more episodes of depression, the greater the reduction in hippocampus size, but it was very likely damage was reversible'

The hippocampus part of the brain is infact responsible for our autonomic nervous system. This stands for our bodies functions which are unconscious, such as breathing, our heart beat and our digestive processes. The more you fall into a hopeless mindset and let depression plague your life the more our ibs symptoms in the long term will become effected.

Here is an image of MRI scans of a normal brain compared to a depressed brain. 

Quite a different and again no mystery why our bodies are therefore being effected because of this. Once we can get past depression, our brains become more active in other regions and our digestive systems can become normalised again. Realise this is proven and tested research, do not overlook this and believe your ibs is due to something else. This is directly effecting you and you can improve it.

How to fix:
Again alongside anxiety, therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy is the main professional guidance to overcome your negative state of mind. Do not be embarrassed to seek therapy therefore overlooking it. If anything I have spoke about linked to you, you need to overcome denial and get your life back. Take it from me, I always overlooked therapy and believed it was a 100% a physical problem which was out of my control, it was only when I was on suicidal thoughts that I finally accepted I need help, and it allowed me to get past my mood disorders and hugely bring back healthy functioning of my digestive system and get my life back.

This video is incredibly easy to follow on how depression works, skip to 3:15. It also shows how our thought processes and perspective effect our lives and health.

*3) How physiological odour incontinence can overlap with delusions/paranoia*
Again let me make this clear, yes you most likely have a physical predisposition to having LG like symptoms. What this third point in this post is going to explain is how it can be often self misunderstood leading to slight delusions and paranoia.

You likely have memories which you pull out like evidence when people mention its all in your head, remembering times where someone directly spoke to you about your LG symptoms or other times where you heard people commenting/laughing behind your back. Im sure you also notice the odour incontinence from time to time yourself, however majority of the time you have likely become accustomed to it like how you dont notice your body odour after a run, or notice the unique smell of your house compared to others.

However, it is obvious this disorder also overlaps with something called 'Old Factory Reference Syndrome'. This is the thought/paranoia when you constantly worry in social situations that you smell. I actually got to the point where I believed anyone walking within in a 3 metre radius could smell me which I can laugh at and realise how much my mind was becoming irrational. When you see someone in public touch their nose, or sniff, or move seats do not jump to the conclusion its related to your ibs/lg. The rational, logical reason is they are scratching their nose, or they have a cold or they are moving to a new more spacious seat which has become available. Our brains will become so paranoid we begin to use any signs of body language and use it against us.

How to fix:
This too links with the anxiety and how it can ironically cause you to start having ibs attacks. Do not allow your mind to be so fixated on your ibs that you start to believe irrationally. You are just falling into the rabbit hole of anxiety which you need to cut off at the root of thought, it cannot benefit you in anyway.

Just remain relaxed, allow your mind to slow down in such public situations. When you hear someone sniff, instantly challenge your thoughts and realise majority of events you usually are convinced are directed at yourself are due to other motives.

Again, cognitive behavioural therapies are needed to professional guide you past this abnormal thought processing.

Click here to read more about Old Factory Reference Syndrome and how it may be overlapping with your physical condition.

*4) Intolerance testing, dietary structure*
It is important to try to get as many tests for intolerance done. As stated earlier, I am from England so they are free on the NHS. 
The main 2 tests would be the hydrogen breath test for SIBO and the Celiacs disease test. These can allow you to see which foods to eliminate from your diet and also put your mind at ease if you aren't sensitive to such products.

It is also important to document your diet in a diary form. Write down your meals and times very carefully and ensure you keep this documentation detailed daily, do not give up or skip days. This documentation allows us to see how we felt emotionally/physically each day and look for correlations to our diets. It can spot if it gave us diarrhea/constipation, allowing us to make eliminations, and most importantly in my opinion make sure we are not fooling ourselves. So many ibs sufferers are actually living a very unhealthy diet lifestyle with small periods of extreme dieting. Document daily for the long term and ensure you find what suits you, then stick to it.

Ensure 6-8 glasses of water are consumed each day too, it may be worthwhile avoiding large fluid intake during meals as it is known to dilute the digestive acids. Peppermint tea is also great to reduce bloating and aid digestion. Here are some tips to aid digestion, try follow whatever can help you.

Supplements can then be used to combat the symptoms which may be consistent:
-Loperamide can reduce b/m's each day, greatly decreasing faecal odour incontinence. 
-Probiotics can reduce gas, bloating and aid digestion.
-Digestive enzymes can also break food down easily and put less stress on the digestive symptom.
-Chlorophyll can reduce odour in our colon and stool.

I advise to see a dietician who can work with you alongside this dietary process, who can also offer advice and ensure you don't stray back into bad eating habits. (Which if you suffer from depression can almost be compulsive). 
Physical exercise is also important, such as brisk walking 20-30 minutes a day depending on your age or weight.

*5) Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Testing *
You may also need to be tested for any physical dysfunction of the pelvic floor. This is linked to flatus incontinence, aswell as difficulty evacuating stools. You would likely be given biofeedback and exercises to strengthen your muscles, however this takes time and dedication. You would need to consult your doctor for reference.

For me, I went through some bullying at school in my early teenage years which made me incredible anxious to go to school. I began to get emotional ibs due to low self-esteem, anxiety and stress which was at first in the form of diarrhea each morning. However, I overlooked this at the time. Eventually my pelvic floor became weaker due to the chronic diarrhea so was not exercised correctly.

Please read about pelvic floor dysfunction, it includes causes and treatment options.

*6) Trimethylaminuria (Extreme cases)*
If no matter your emotional state, diet, fitness or physical assessments, you are still experiencing extreme unaltered symptoms, you may have an uncommon genetic disorder which causes strong body odour such as fish/garbage/faeces.

Read about it here.

However, TMAU is very rare and would need to be tested through reference by a doctor to be proven.

*Any additional questions about anything on this post please post below, I will reply as soon as possible.*


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## Kane the Undertaker (Feb 15, 2016)

Thank you for all the information .


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## violetshard31 (Feb 4, 2016)

I can feel a lot of your effort to reduce this fkn symptom from this post.

It is analytical post which can help many people like you and me.

thx for this information.


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## flossy (Dec 8, 2012)

Beano and simethicone can and do reduce gas. Also a couple of charcoal pills after (...or was it before?) each meal definitely helps reduce the odor.


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## mylifeisover (Jan 10, 2014)

violetshard31 said:


> I can feel a lot of your effort to reduce this fkn symptom from this post.
> 
> It is analytical post which can help many people like you and me.
> 
> thx for this information.


What people need to realise is its a combination of psychological and physiological problems. We have the predisposition, but until we can normalise the way we are thinking can we cut off this cycle and focus on the physical problem if still preexisting, which for many it may not be.


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## oceanblue141 (Apr 14, 2012)

Have you done any stretching to relax your pelvic floor muscles and adjoining muscles(glutes, adductors, hamstrings, quads)?


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## mylifeisover (Jan 10, 2014)

oceanblue141 said:


> Have you done any stretching to relax your pelvic floor muscles and adjoining muscles(glutes, adductors, hamstrings, quads)?


What kind of stretching would you recommend?

Currently for my pelvic floor I tighten the muscles around that area for 10 seconds, relax for another 10 and repeat for 20 minutes.

I document how many times I do this and the truth is I really underestimate my consistency, I skip several days between sessions so clearly wont see results that I expect.

From reading your post on another forum I believe we both have the same factors causing our issues; Depression, anxiety and predisposition of a pevlic floor related abnormality. Diet of course can also cause issues which should be monitored carefully.


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