# Question about hypnotherapy



## 14285 (Jun 13, 2005)

Hello everyone,I am new to the BB and I have IBS-D. I was wondering about hypnotherapy. What should I expect as far as improvement? I am quite convinced that a majority of my attacks are caused by the feeling of helplessness and panic that I experience when there are no bathrooms in sight (probably due to past experiences with "accidents"). Is this the type of thinking that hypnotherapy tries to eliminate? I know not everyone's IBS is the same, but I would like to know what kind of improvement to expect. I believe that hypnotherapy is a very effective tool (my grandfather quit smoking by hypnosis) and I hope that it can improve my life as well. Thank you for any input and help. It is greatly appreciated.Andy


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Hi Andy,You are right in saying that the majority of the IBS attacks are connected to the feeling of helplessness when no bathrooms are available. This is part of that brain-gut component I mentioned on the other post to you. Your subconscious mind has "learned" that whenever you are in a certain situation, eat a certain food, etc. that it triggers a response in your gut to go into spasm, D, or whatever your IBS symptoms are. I had this same connection - just the thought of certain situations would manifest in IBS, or at least the worry of IBS attacks.With clinical hypnotherapy - as with Mike's IBS Audio program, you break and strive to eliminate that connection - that type of thinking- the mind-set of panic and anxiety, that certain situations, places, events, etc. will bring on IBS and an "accident".One of Mike's patients was a professional soccer player. He had a full-blown IBS attack/accident while on the field in front of bleachers of spectators. And of course, he was in white, and everyone full well knew what happened as he had to walk the long trek across the field. Mike worked with this person to break that connection, and helped him eliminate IBS accidents.What can you expect? Well, everyone is different, and depending upon severity and longevity of the problem, it is hard to compare one person to another - but you are young, so most likely will have quicker results. The range of improvement can be at the least - better sleep and doing the program several times - to the best - walking completely away from IBS. We never say that HT is a cure, because it isn't - however, there have been many who have not had IBS symptoms after completion of the program. Clinical studies show that over 90% of the people who do the program see some relief, and that is usually 90 - 95% of symptom reduction on average - for over 20 IBS and related symptoms including anxiety.Another point - many people feel that food can be "triggers" for IBS attacks. What Mike has found (and I can attest to this myself as I now can eat popcorn and chocolate to excess and these were once triggers), is that food in and of itself does not cause IBS. Now, there are some folks who have food allergies or intolerances over and above - that is - in addition to IBS, and for them, these foods will always be a problem, as even some folks without IBS would have reaction - say, if you are lactose intolerant, etc. But basically foods do not cause IBS. Many persons have been helped with elimination diets, but most, like myself, eliminated myself down to crackers and water. I even asked the doc if I could just be on an IV for nutrition, because at one point all foods made me have an attack.You can find that out if sometimes a food gives you a problem, and at other times, it doesn't. But sometimes this backfires, because you can also "learn" to make a food a trigger - in other words, the food isn't really making you have digestive problems (remember, IBS is a functional disorder - not functioning properly), but because you may have an attack with that food, your mind learns to make you have an attack everytime you have it. It could be anything, it's not the food itself, it is the "memory" or the hard-wiring that connects your mind to the gut that gives that automatic response - an IBS attack. Sort of like when you hear a loud noise - you jump - well you have no control - it is an autonomic response. Same type of thing.Going back to improvement time frames - some see results within two weeks, most see improvement about a month into it or so, and the vast majority once the 100 days are completed, and some, with more severe IBS or other health/stress issues, complete the program again, and then continue to see results on an on-going basis.Read the success story thread here on this forum - many people who have been helped no longer come to this BB because IBS is now out of their thoughts - the HT had done its job!But hopefully someone will pop in!Take care, and let me know if you have any other questions! I would be happy to help.


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