Hi Gutguy,I am not sure if I ever posted that the program works after the 100 days as a routine thing - and you are right - that WOULD be an extraordinary claim. However, we did have one BB member awhile back who did not see relief while doing the program, but then began to eliminate her IBS symptoms and related anxiety months later, and there are many others who saw relief after doing the program a second time - but if I ever mentioned this as being the norm, I apologize. It is absolutely true that IBS can wax and wane, and that symptoms could have been reduced via other means, however, for those anectotal stories, the indivual had no other relief after years of problems and treatments, and the nature of the improvement was in-line for how hypnotherapy works. For those people who have not seen any relief whatsoever, not even necessarily IBS reduction, but perhaps better relaxation, or sleep, then Mike has found that these folks will not see any IBS improvement - this is based on his clinical studies as well as his general patient outcome. Never in any studies, be they Mike's or other clinical studies, is there a 100% cure for 100% - quite simply, hypnotherapy processes do not work for everyone, whether in the beginning or later on, or even with several rounds - not everyone is helped. But the studies show that the majority of people who do this method do come away with some level of improvement.So gutguy, I apologize if I or any other poster has misrepresented a claim that hypnotherapy and/or Mike's program will work after the 100 days - there is NO study to show this, but it has happened a few times - but no formal claim is made. You are well within your rights to ask, so thank you for bringing this up,because no way would we want to mislead anyone into thinking this is a magic cure-all that spontaneously helps you out of the blue for every single person that hasn't had relief upon completion of the program.Gutguy, since I communicate with so many folks, I can't remember when you started the program - did you go through the 100 days and are you on your second or third round with them - I note that your hypno posts are of this prove it nature, and if Mike or I can personally help you a bit, please let me know - Mike is away for a bit, but in the future, I am sure he can answer any questions you might have regarding the issue of IBS symptom reduction after the 100 days - he does see this in his practice, but most folks begin to notice some difference a month into it. Again - no clinical studies for the time frame thing, except for start of program to end evaluation. You can read those studies posted on this forum, and online.I am so sorry you haven't seen much progress - have you seen any difference at all? None? Not even sleep or relaxation improvement? I was the same way - I was really slow and wanted to chuck the whole thing - a few times I did just give up and not listen - and I wanted proof too... so I can understand your concerns.So again, my apologies if any of my posts were misleading and made it sound like wild claims, and, unfortunately as it is, there are those who are not helped the least little bit through hypnotherapy - they just do not respond at all - there are those who do not respond but give up prior to finishing, or don't entertain doing another round (can't blame them, as I was almost in this category), and there are a very few who don't see improvement at first, but later on. But none of this is in any research study - just experience borne out of Mike's practice. Clinical trials are expensive but do serve to try to be impartial and controlled - and I wish that there could be more of them to test all the aspects like delayed time improvement, etc. but they just aren't out there.It may well be that you are searching for these answers because of the lack of progress you are experiencing. I feel very badly about that, but it may well be that you are in that smaller percentage that won't find relief. I hate to say this, as maybe in time you will be better, but as you know - there are no guarantees because everyone is different - some folks just don't respond to hypno, some don't really have IBS alone, and all and every factor in between. So does it come down to the fact that the "product" is faulty and makes wild claims? No. Does that imply that the person doing the hypno is "faulty" - No. Is it up to the patient if they don't succeed - sometimes! Surprised? There is a term called non-complient patient - and this is where a patient takes, say, an antibiotic for a few days, then feels better, so doesn't finish the whole dose. The patient then gets a relapse. Is that the fault of the antibiotic? Sometimes it is - bad reaction to the med, etc. and sometimes it is the fault of the patient. However, this doesn't mean that every person who fails to find help using hypnotherapy is at fault or is a failure, it just means that this method is not the one for that person for various reasons - but it doesn't take away from the fact that we have had people tell us they were helped later on down the road in that their thought processes were different, when they felt an attack coming, they could dismiss it, etc. Could their success be contributed to something other than the IBS program? Certainly it could, but the manner of improvement lines up with those seeing improvement while doing the program - but no - not clinically proven - so you are right there. So what I am seeing in your posts is a message - that the program is not working for you and you want clinical proof that is does work after the 100 days. There isn't any to my knowledge. So if you want this clinical proof to help give yourself some hope other than "testimonial" stuff, it isn't there - if you are trying to somehow discredit the program somehow as not working and not having back-up to its claims, well, that is your perogitive - if I could give you a list of clinical trials that did indeed prove this, would this give you further hope and belief in the program? Perhaps - but this further belief is not necessarily required in order to improve.As far as clinical studies on how long it takes for improvement, you can go to pub med, etc. the links are on the other thread for the hypnotherapy research, and they basically give the period of time from beginning of study to end where the final results are measured. For Mike's clinical studies, he did several, but the last one was measured at the end of the 100 days then follow-up one, two, and three years later. I will post that for you in a separate thread, so that others can refer to it:
http://ibsgroup.org/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=500...03622#953103622Please feel free to email me if I can help you in anyway - I don't know if i can, but I would like to try. I had one guy call me who was suicidal with IBS - he swore at me and was just at his last wits with IBS - when I got off the phone with him, I cried, not only because of his state, but also because I am quite sensitive and easily hurt - I knew intellectually that he was hurting and his swearing wasn't really at me, but still, I am just a wimp when it comes to that kind of thing - guess I am born in the wrong generation - anyways, I talked to him later, and he profusely apologized, invited me to NY and said no one ever understood his IBS, and that he finally was getting a handle on it... I never forgot that fellow - and we talked a long time. Sometimes we need more than a clinical study or proof - sometimes we DO need anectotal stuff - and a real person to talk to.Be well and thank you for your thoughts.
mariyn###ibsgroup.org