Talk to Your Doc About Your Alternative Meds

i dont really know a lot about this subject eric.However i had a really good chat today while i was in the bistro at the hospital with a chinese doctor, i was asking him about ibs, he mentioned these tabs enteric coated peppermint oil , he also said fennel tea can be very good, also passionflower and aniseed, and this is a new one on me milk thistle, also wild yam..Also he mentioned therapeutic massage relief apparantly it can reduce the effects of stress.He mentioned "physical meds" electric heating pads, hot water bottles, long hot baths can relieve painful SPASMS" and cramping in the abdomen..Back to the "s" word i said to him apparantly peeps with ibs dont get "spasms" he said who told you that? i told him about this site and that there was a know-all who said theres no such thing, he said is he a doctor? i said no but he like to think he is, he said (and i swear to god he said this) tell him to stick to his day job i nearly fell of my chair laughing.. 1st time i have felt like laughing for quite a few days..Lastly he said try aloe vera i told him someone on the site swears by it, he said try it you have nothing to lose..

I am a chef also Joolie, and know somethings about herbs. I am all for herbs. Peppermint oil has been studied. I am not so much into guessing if something will work with no information on why.For example, they know enough about IBS to treat it bascially for most people. But a lot of "alternative" methods don't always correlate with what they know about IBS. Chinease medicine a herbal remedy was studied and showed pretty good results, but they didn't know why and you have to be careful of some imported herbs from china because of how they manufacture or grow them.If its safe and you let your doctor know, hey why not.Massage is excellent.a lot you mentioned there is complementary or intergrative medicine. I have a problem with "giving up" on science and medicine for "alternative medicine only." More really with alternative medicine hype like this will cure everything including things you don't have. LOL The spasm converstation has gotten out of hand really.But I have to tell you I emailed the experts at the UNC a recognized top center on GI disorders and the term spasms in regards to IBS are gut contractions. Not the spasms most people associate the word spasm with, but a lose term for altered gut contractions. Frankly they feel like spasms to me and this is just a technical issue.

I seem to have found a number of doctors at crossroads in their career tracks. Just get to know them and they would move on. Just keeping one around was the most important. That said, my current doctor is the most tolerant and interested in my supplementary approach, in that he can see the improvements, especially to my cardio health. I am also participating in a study for ex-smokers of 30 year duration for cellular lung damage. (Waiting through a 5 week period to find out if there has been pre-cancerous or cancerous changes to warrent further participation or not.) In going over my medical history, we covered my bowels and digestion and the recovery I have had with Provex. When I mentioned trying to find out why this has worked so well for me, she provided as good an exit line to that endevour as I have heard... "Sometimes it is enough to be thankful for the recovery." Sometimes it is also enough to be thankful for health care providers who are supportive of therapies of which they have never heard.Mark

Regarding peppermint caps: I had a relatively bizarre reaction to them, perhaps funny.I was taking them 4 times a day. Well, after a few days, when I went to the bathroom, my anus burned terribly afterwards. I put some toilet paper there and didn't have any feces, just some liquid. I smelled it and it reeked of peppermint!!! Yuck!!Evidently, I took too much peppermint in those caps. I decided that since I saw no benefit, I would just stop. Instead (and this may not seem beneficial) I do use the old "restaurant" treatment. That is, after a meal, I will suck slowly on a peppermint candy, and it does sooth the tummy. I also drink peppermint tea with breakfast. But I've been trying to work my phenomena into the conversation with friends, e.g., "Say, did you know that my stools smell like peppermint?" I am just afraid I would get the nickname of Peppermint Patty!

quote:Originally posted by eric:Joolie, I am not so much into alternative as oppose to complimentary or intergrative medicine.As for alternative meds, can you give me an example of one for IBS?

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Some alternative treatment websites are pushing essential oils for IBS, e.g., rubbing your tummy with condensed peppermint oil. I would also call having harsh colonics to "clean out the toxins in the system (typical alternative medicine hype)" an alternative treatment. Then there is acupunture to heal IBS, and one site sells a triangular clear plastic hat that is supposed to reharmonize your auric field. When I now hear the term "alternative medicine" I fear that I am now so jaded that I put it on the same level as the old western snake oil salesmen who traveled from town to town selling axle grease mixed with alcohol (the new miracle drug that cures what ails you). Of course, the most interesting explanations I have encountered for IBS is that this is a symptom of alien abduction, as the body tries to express unconscious fear at being on that alien space ship and being probed by Grey beings from another planet or dimension. On the more traditional side, some people claim that IBS is caused by a past life karmic situation. Evidently, we all either starved to death in a past life, were stabbed to death in the gut, or perhaps were food gluttons who are doing penance this time around. The human mind is capable of making up a zillion stories. I have an appointment with a hypnotic past life regressionist on Friday, then next Monday I'll be meeting with a ufo expert. If all else fails, on Wednesday I have an exorcism planned.P. S. Just about everyone with IBS has had spasms from time to time, Flux or other geniuses not withstanding. Yes, they are trembling along the intestinal tract. Sometimes they have felt like whiplash in the colon. This was my first symptom as a young handsome 20 year old.