# My Long-Winded Post about How my IBS was helped and Why I'm still here! :)



## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

I posted this on the IBS Forum, which now has some comments and discussion going, so I will put the link to it here, but for those not wanting to leave this forum, I will include excerpts of part of my posts here for you that may be helpful.Take care, and thanks for reading!! All the best to you... http://ibsgroup.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/43110261/m/471103451================================================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.....to help show 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 Aloestron, a 5HT(3) antagonist 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 - http://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.....The CDs are $89 which includes an into session, 5 therapeutic sessions, and a companion session, a full symptom and informational booklet - and all of this also comes with on-line or phone support from Mike and his staff. Compare this to the cost of just ONE in-person therapy session, and I think it is quite cost effective. They are the very same sessions used within the clinical setting. You could never get this quality of sessions for this price in the "live" therapy world. Also- if you divided the cost by the number of days for the rest of your life of feeling better - that certainly would show some major cost effectiveness!The sessions last on average about 1/2 hour, and are used over the course of 100 days with a few days off here and there.You can listen to samples of the CD sessions on the website. Just posted this in case anyone wants to know! Take care....Just to briefly mention from another post - that the IBS Audio Program was exhibited at the IFFGD (International Foundation for Functional Gastrointesinal Disorders) Symposium in April, and also that Mike attended the Digestive Disease Week in Chicago. Physicians and health care professionals at both events provided encouragement and recognition of Mike's work in helping to provide another successful avenue of IBS treatment.Again, please do let me know if you have any questions - I will be happy to help....If you were to fall asleep during a hypnotherapy session, then you should not fight it, and let it happen. The optimal point for the subconscious to work is in that period just before you fall asleep, but your subconscious mind never sleeps, so sessions are still effective if you do sleep. As Mike says, some folks can sleep through a loud storm, but will awaken to a quiet wimper of a child - so your subconscious mind is always discerning and aware. So falling asleep is OK. However, if you were feeling uneasy and not relaxed, even if the message is getting in, it certainly is better to be relaxed of course.The program works for the majority of folks who use it, and usually it was used as a last resort - most everyone - myself included - wants to try everything else in the medical mainstream first, then the herbals, diets, probiotics, etc. The HT is almost always the last resort. Some of the other treatments do work for some, and other treatments work for others, and some treatments work initially and not later on, and other treatments don't work at all, and some work but have side effects.No one thing works for every single person. Not everyone will be helped with CHT (Clinical Hypnotherapy), but enough people have been helped now that it is a valid consideration for those at the end of their rope! Like I was! And then I had wished I knew about it sooner, before all the meds and time in agony had gone by. For those who did the program first, they were relieved not to have to go the drug route....I did the program three times - Yep - hard-wired neural pathway is right!!! My symptoms got worse - way worse - before they got better. I wanted to give up. But Mike and others here on the BB helped me through it and that is why I am probably the best person to tell people about the program - I took the LONGEST time for it to work for me- For most other people I have talked to, they improved way faster than I did! LOL That's the reason I am telling people it works - I thought I was going to be a hypno failure!In some ways, it is good to share our experiences, but in other ways, especially with CHT, it can color the expectation level for people. I probably discouraged a lot of people when I first posted how it didn't work for me - and I was almost house-bound! But now that I am so greatly helped, I can't stress enough that one should give it another try later on - in about 10 weeks or so, after completion of the program, you can give it a go again. The majority of folks see improvement after the 100 days and then continue to improve, but for those of us older folks who have had IBS for quite a while, it does take longer. So don't despair! In fact, we have had folks who did NOT expect it to work, but just sort of did the program as a last ditch effort, and they were helped! Many of those folks don't think about IBS anymore, and are no longer on this BB...OK - that's it! Long, isn't it??!!! But, hey, if I help one person, it's worth reading through it. Again, let me know if I can be of any help. Peace and caring.


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