When my marriage started breaking down and my life was at its lowest point, that’s when my Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) began. This is my IBS journey…
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had toilet issues. I would always sit there a lot longer than most people. Sometimes I couldn’t go and other times I just didn’t feel like I was finished. But things got bad about ten years ago. Life really wasn’t good and IBS made it so much worse.
My IBS journey started with random stomach pain, mainly in the mornings and evenings. One night, it hurt so bad that I passed out for a few seconds. The doctor put me through multiple tests and didn’t find anything so they said I must have IBS. There’s no way to officially test for that, it’s just a process of elimination.
According to stats online, IBS affects about 10-15% of the world’s population and up to 30% see a doctor about IBS related symptoms. Those symptoms include painful bloating, excessive gas, diarrhea or constipation, sometimes even nausea. For me, the main symptom started on a trip to see my family in Canada.
My now ex-wife made me feel extremely guilty for going without her and the kids, but we really couldn’t afford it and I missed my family. So because of that, I was very stressed out. Most of the time I was in Canada, I was regularly in the toilet with bad diarrhea and had trouble feeling like I was finished.
When I got back, those symptoms continued indefinitely. I would spend so much time on the toilet and still not feel done. Plus the consistency was not very nice. This affected all aspects of my life, including time with the kids and even getting to work.
Finally one doctor told me about the FODMAP diet. That gave me a little bit of control over my symptoms. I started avoiding certain foods, especially garlic and onion. It made life more manageable and I highly recommend it for anyone with IBS. https://www.monashfodmap.com/
Things have not gotten any easier over the years. The only thing that helped was taking a certain prescription medication most doctors won’t prescribe as it’s addictive. I got one because it helped with my regular headaches, but found it actually helped me so much with my IBS symptoms. So I’ve been on that for a long time now.
As I mentioned, IBS affects all aspects of my life. Even when I don’t have symptoms, I worry about getting them when something important is happening. All these years, I’ve been waking up at least four hours before I start work so I have plenty of toilet time. So I’m always tired. I would still be late for work or sometimes not even make it in. My social life suffered too as I worried about going out for dinner or being somewhere for a long time. It made it very frustrating too when my kids are here for the weekend and I can’t do something with them because I feel miserable.
Since I started changing my life two years ago, I was hoping my IBS would get better. Going to the gym regularly, drinking more water, and doing yoga were all things I thought would help. I’ve had my stretches of feeling okay, but longer stretches where it was really bad. Some mornings, I’ve been in tears on the toilet. That’s partly because of the pain of constantly going, but mainly because I can’t believe how much worse it makes my life.
Recently my IBS journey took a turn. I decided I would request my doctor refer me to a gastroenterologist. This specialist did some tests to ensure nothing else had changed and that was all clear. So he referred me to The Mind + Gut Clinic. IBS is their main focus and it began with a dietician appointment. She was amazing, just wanted me to incorporate more fiber into my diet as that would improve my consistency. She even gave me some easy meal ideas as I live by myself and don’t really enjoy cooking. https://www.mindgutclinic.com.au/
They also suggested gut directed hypnotherapy. Dr. Simone Peters, who founded the clinic, also created an app called Nerva. For a yearly subscription, I could use that instead of expensive one on one appointments. It starts with a six week stretch of daily hypnotherapy sessions. My initial six weeks has just finished…
Am I completely symptom free? No. Has my life changed? Yes!!! It’s amazing how much better I feel. I’m spending less than half the time in the toilet each day. I don’t constantly feel like I’m not finished. My symptoms don’t bother me throughout the day anymore. It’s like I’m a new person. I will continue to do the hypnotherapy daily and can’t wait until I’m completely symptom free. My IBS journey may be finally coming to an end. If there’s one thing I’ve learned through all the hard times, it’s that I’m a fighter. I’m looking forward to this next chapter of my life…