[sajalsapra]

Here's a question, what if your IBS symptoms are aggravated due to food sensitivities and not anxiety. Do you guys think Mike's tapes would be helpful then?Hypnotherapy directly combats anxiety but does it helps for symptoms due to food intolerances also?

 

[Charbeaner]

I just came upon this post and I have to add to it. Two days ago, I, too, received "Mike's Tapes" in the mail. I had also purchased them as a last resort. I have had "d" for 3 months straight. The first night I used these tapes, the severe pain I was feeling in my gut disappeared upon the completion of the introduction and 1st session. Did the pain return the next day? Yes, but gosh, just to have relief for the evening was wonderful. The 2nd nite I did session 1 again just before going to sleep. I slept like a log until the alarm went off this morning. Am I sympton free after two days? Nope--I took my Bentyl and my Imodium as usual, but I FEEL better. I know these tapes are going to help me. Hopefully, I will be able to get off sleep medication (which I have been on for 4 years) and help with this "D". Thank God I was "desperate" enough to buy these tapes, and thank you, Mike for recording them.

 

[nmwinter]

I think if it's a true food intolerance, then no. for instance, I am also lactose intolerant and wouldn't think the tapes would help with that - I continue to use lactase. but if it's a case that certain foods cause more problems than others, then I would say for the most part yes. I'm one of those people with few true food triggers. If I'm doing well, then I can eat just about anything - ice crea, greasy food, etc. If I'm not, then anything can set me off although there are food that are more likely.

 

[eric]

Just fyi, but the HT is for all symptoms of IBS, that it reduces anxiety is more a side effect from the process.But you don't have to have physcological issues for them to work on IBS, it still works on the physical problem of IBS.

 

[kac123]

Hi theguynextdoor, An actual food intolerance or fool allergy is an somewhat different ballpark and may need to be approached differently. In that situation, the symptoms or reaction that you get to eating certain foods is caused by an immune response in your body which makes you feel terrible -- think of a food allergy in the same light that you would a more common allergy - like one to dust or pollen; exposure to these things causes coughing and runny nose - things your body does to try and get the irritating object out of it! So with an actual food intolerance, eating a trigger food does the same thing to your GI tract. That said - personally i have had problems eating foods outside of my "safe food zone", not because i am intolerant to any of these foods in a scientific sense but because i mentally associate some foods to getting an IBS attack. For instance, I have no allergy to orange juice, but mentally i associate it with something my stomach may react to. Mike's tapes have helped me deal with this sort of thing recently. Quick story to illustrate: my doctor recently put me on potassium supplements (not ibs related) and i was terrified to take them because "what if they cause an IBS attack?" - so i took one and was trying to be calm but my stomach started gurgling and churning so i ran upstairs and got my favorite session of Mike's tapes and listened to it and it completely calmed me down - didn't have a single IBS problem that night or any other night with them. In fact, after i listened to the session my boyfriend and i went for a walk around the neighborhood. And, using the tapes in a similar way, i have gotten myself to drink a glass of OJ every night too -- small step but at least its a step in the right direction for a change!I hope all that made sense

and i hope you are feeling well today!-kac

 

[eric]

One thing here, regardless of foods, is HT and relaxation techniques in general, help boost a persons immune system.This is also a good information on food allergy and intolernces. But these conditions are seperate from IBS. You can have both however, like some people have lactose intolerence or fructose intolerence and IBS.Food Allergy and Intolerances http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/food.htm

 

[eric]

It should be mentioned also that CBT for IBS can be an effective treatment for IBS as well. Just fyi.

 

[kac123]

I've been thinking about trying the CBT for IBS - are there any good books on it you could recommend Eric as i seem to be having trouble finding a therapist that uses this method for IBS?-Thanks,Kac

 

[trbell]

Kac, you might check out what bonniei has ben doing in this forum. she is doing this from the perspective of somebody who suffers from IBS. These days any licensed professional is ethically required to only treat conditions they know how to treat so you should be safe with anyone your doctor or insurance company refers you to. if there are problems there are appeals or you can let me know. you also might want to get some feedback on what to do from k. if you are having problems fdinding someone you can drop me a PM or email and I'll see if I can help.Bada

 

[bonniei]

The CBT book discussion we are having is based on Feeling good by David burns and Breaking the Bonds of IBS by Dr Bolen. You are welcome to join us if you like.

 

[trbell]

And actually I find that when it comes to CBT a lot of people are helped more just by reading the books even though I like to see them a couple of times to make sure the book is what they need. I'm admittedly one of those greedy psychologists you read about.Bada

 

[eric]

Kac, I have not read the one they are working with here for the most part, but Dr Bolens book on IBS and CBT is excellent. http://www.irritablebowel.net/

 

[kac123]

Thanks everyone! While Bonniei's discussion does look interesting i have found that i have a more "do it yourself" mentality about these sorts of issues - which is why i enjoyed mike's tapes so much - did those at home without having to deal with "real time" therapist -- thank you for the book ideas - time to jump on over to amazon

 

[nmwinter]

kac - I've looked into the Feeling Good books some. They seem to very active and not passive - I think I would check out the handbook one since it has a lot of exercises and such in it.oh, and use the amazon.com link for this site if possible since the site gets some money from it (although I think the bn.com site has these books cheaper - I've shopped but not yet bought!)

 

[trbell]

actually it might be great if K could post something on this as she went through a recent study. The actual article is probably copyrighted but I would think anything she picked up could be posted? Maybe jeff needs to do some research into what's 'fair use for educational purposes' but in general CBT seems to work better if done from a book on put on by a non-expert. Bada

 

[AZmom1]

CBT is a very active process. It takes a lot of work and practice to have it truly be effective. It is a good technique for stress and anxiety reduction. Hypnotherapy is better for IBS. It is easier and more effective as it works on the subconscious mind which controls the autonomic nervous system. A lot of people here have used Mike's tapes and been helped with symptoms. I do things now that I avoided for over 25 years. It has helped my panic and anxiety as well, just as Eric said, as a pleasant side effect. I would encourage you to read about hypnotherapy and ask questions. We'll be glad to help.AZ

 

[matrixd]

just in response to you matt. the session i done was with a therapist here in ireland. she was'nt an ibs specialist and when i went to see her i was seeking help more in relation to my nerves and anxiety in social enviroments and nerves situations which all inturn would greatly increase my ibs symptoms. i was'nt and still aint comfortable talking to people about my ibs. thank god for this board. i kinda mentioned some of my ibs symptoms as an after-thought to her.so basically she hypnotised me there and then and recorded the session for me to listen to every night before bed. being truely honest the feelings of confidence and happiness i felt after that session was probably the best i've felt in years. i still remember and its been about 2yrs since the session.i stuck to the tapes for a good 2 or 3 weeks and i remember going into work feeling like a new person. it felt good inside that finally i was been myself without fears, anxiety or nerves. even my co-workers were shocked at how i was no longer the quiet shy person they knew.but i got complacient and stopped listening to the tape found it hard to find the time and would find myself getting easily distracted. sure enough my nerves and anxiety came back full whack and ibs along with it.as i said i was'nt using this tape to cure my ibs at the time, but the slight mention she did give in her tape in relation to the information i mentioned about my ibs to her did help somewhat. i was definetly 85% ibs free that evening after my first session.at the moment i'm kinda leaving it as my last resort, i think mainly because i'm afraid to try it again and this time it wont work. if it works for my ibs as well as it worked for my anxiety then i'm looking forward to leading a normal life again.i am apparently lactose, dairy and yeast intollerant so i'm trying to limit these trigger foods as much as possible.also on the topic of foods i had baked tinned beans tonight and they seemed to have a very bad effect on me alot of gas wise and in my BM. anyone else have problems with beans?i really wanna believe that mikes tapes will do it for me but before i go for them i may exhaust al other optionsi'm seriously thinking about ibascol, seems to work for alot of people. been trying calcium, multi-vitamins, digestive enzymes, green tea,, chinese meds NONE seem to wrk for me. not even calcium. they only thing which has seemed to help my symptoms the most is imodium. this i'm gonna go back on as soon as possible. i also take inderal for high anxiety situations but i really dont like taking this drug it seems to have a bad after effect on me like i feel depressed or something. any recommendations instead of inderal? and does anyone know how inderal works scientifically in stopping the nervous spasams? i feel my ibs-d is really 65% anxiety and my nervous system malfunctioning related and 35% food intollerant related, in this case is mikes hypno tapes simply the best way about going in curing my ibs anyone?also do any of his tapes help with social anxiety, confidence and nervousness?