[AmericanPatriot]

Could this be psychosomatic? Placebo effect.

Then how come none of the other medications helped? The conclusion of placebo effect, especiallyin this individual's case (she took multiple other medications and none of them helped), simply doesn'tmake sense.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Brain/gut doesn't mean nothing physical is going on.Stress makes all symptoms of all things worse so stress reduction can be an important part of any disease management.Additionally, that I have used a mind/body therapy doesn't mean it was all in my head and I had no physical damage to the nerves in the gut.Brain/gut normally refers to the physical connection through the nervous system of the brain to the neural net controlling the highly-regulated digestive process (and sensing the gut and sending pain signals back up tot he brain as well). So the PET scans showing differences in the brain and the biomarker research that find physical differences between IBSers and normal controls and people with other GI illnesses (which they now have enough of to have a blood test to rule in IBS) are all based on the Brain/Gut Axis theory, but all include very physical changes to the body.That the brain connects to the nerves allows some mind-body therapies to work because the mind talks to the gut (and other body parts) all the time every day and if you can change the talk you can change the symptoms and the easiest way to access the brain is through the mind. I'm sure they could stuff electrodes in the right nerves in the brain and get the same effect, but that isn't quite so easy and I don't know if they could make it portable. Having no IBS symptoms only lying in one position on a table isn't a viable treatment. Your mind you carry around with you all the time anyway (well at least most of us do).I want to differentiate between Brain/Gut Axis (which includes a lot of physical evidence of the disease) from psychosomatic (your mind makes you sick when nothing is wrong).IBS is not psychosomatic. We do not wish ourselves sick for no reason other than we are crazy or want to will ourselves into sickness to get attention, etc. But like I said stress never makes any condition better. (I had a friend die of stress-triggered asthma and no one says that isn't a physical illness) so stress reduction can be useful for any disease. But that doesn't mean you made the disease up and are just crazy.Now I happen to think the placebo effect is physical, not psychosomatic. It is IMO part of the mind being able to influence symptoms and sometimes helping to trigger healing/symptom reduction. But I think it does it through the physical body, not because you are delusional or making things up. If the mind expects something to make it sick or expects something to make it better that effects the physical body. Using that to help yourself, IMO, isn't a bad thing, nor does it mean nothing is physically wrong.

 

[SunNsnow]

For many people suffering from Crohn's, colitis, IBS, symptoms come and go without any ingestion of a substance, be it pharmaceutical, herb, vitamins, mineral,etc. Almost everyone who suffers from these disorders state stresscauses them to have flares. If the symptoms come and go and if someone just happens totake a supplement when the symptoms are going away, theymay mistakenly attribute the remission to the supplement whenin reality it may have been about to go away on its own.This thread appeared to start out of nowhere and I can't see the previousthread but yet you copied my statement out of context. Wasthis in reference to the calcium? The calcium supplement theory ispurely anecdotal and it appears to help only a small percentageof those who try it. Loperamide works for most people. But it merely reduces the symptoms.I don't think there is anyone who takes loperamide and never has abdominalpain, cramping, no diarrhea ever again - even for those who take it daily.Regarding your comment on the stress/IBS, no expert on the planet has an answer to explain why individuals with IBS have this issue. In other words,there is no known cause. The only issue known to make the issue worseis stress. People have experienced emotional trauma and/or abuse are far more likelyto experience this issue. People who have or had panic attacks, generalizedanxiety disorder, depression are more likely to have IBS. One interesting issue is the post-infectious IBS. This is interesting becauseit occurs after a case of acute gastroenteritis. So perhaps that acute caseof bacterial infection causes a problem with the intestine contraction andit is expressed when the individual is having stress. It's a complicated disease that our health care system (sick care system) has nointerest in finding out the cause because our system is geared to make moneyoff of illness, not prevent illness.

 

[overitnow]

It is also a case of the diagnostic tools used on us. It is a heck of a lot easier to just say "IBS" than go through the battery of test that might find a cause, and might as easily not. No matter the kind of medical coverage you have, public or private, there will always be someone determining that you just cost too much for the return. I was 10 years with this before I lucked into a solution. I am pretty sure that no doctor would have ever suggested this route. For me it was physical, although it became enhanced by my fears. That does not mean that everyone else with IBS has the same nexus of problems that I created for myself.Mark

 

[Jackmat]

Mine was a mind-gut problem.I know it was because I fixed it by reprogramming my thoughts.Therefore I can only conclude (seriously) that I did NOT have IBS.And there may be others that do not really have IBS - that can be helped in this way.Jackmat

 

[Kathleen M.]

Mind-gut is a fairly well studied tretament for IBS. They did not change my IBS diagnosis because I did well in a CBT study. I still had IBS, I just used the mind to effect the brain-gut axis.At least in the CBT study I was in they were very clear that they were using the mind to effect a physical problem, not just convincing you the symptoms weren't there, etc.It doesn't mean I made up all my symptoms or made myself sick to get attention and there was nothing physically wrong with the nerves in my abdomen.

 

[screeb]

I have been doing research on IBS in relation to the function of a cervical traction procedure for a long time, and I have seen some interesting scientific articles on the mind/body conection. One article said the decreased passing of gas in IBS patients is due to the PFC (pre-frontal cortex) supressing the ACC (anterior cingulate cortex--it globalizes cerebral blood flow). The change in neurotransmitters causes decreased colon pain which inhibits passing of gas. When I presented with schizophrenia (a thought disorder disease), I immediately developed IBS. I think my developing IBS-C was a way that my body "self-medicated" for schizophrenia. But what if one can manage/cure schizophrenia with medication: Does the IBS go away? No! One has to find treatments for IBS, which for me was my cervical traction procedure.