Irritable Bowel Syndrome

[Lennon]

Anyone know of natural ways to ease discomfort? Or even is there foods which are better to eat than others, or some kind of exercise? Please help!! Any suggestions would be great!

[Quizmonster]

Click http://www.ibsgroup.org/ and a link will take you to an (American) IBS Self-help Group's website. There, you will find lots of links to further helpful sites, which you can access by clicking the blue headings.

[comloulou]

You can try peppermint teas if you can stand them. Yoga can be helpful, any of the aptly termed 'wind breaker' positions are good. Some people find bread and wheat products difficult to digest, Im not great with dairy. Its all trial and error!

[Wee Kaz]

My mum has had it for years. Increase your fibre intake e.g. Branflakes instead of cornflakes, wholemeal bread instead of white and increase your roughage intake (veggies) which will all help your digestion. Also you can take a drink called Fybogel, you can get them from health shops or any good chemist. This is sachets or orange powder which is mixed with water and drank every day or more frequent if required, this will keep you regular. Hope this helps you. :o)

[Cetti]

My first thought would be to make sure that it really is Irritable Bowel Syndrome, my husband was told by a Consultant that he had this, when in fact it was a gastric hernia! As wee kaz says it is trial and error - but I have just found something quite brilliant from Holland & Barrett - Aloe Vera Gel capsules - just one a day and it really does make a difference - and they are 100%safe!

[tracymort]

Try doing a search on "candida albicans" and see if the symptoms fit you! You may have a problem with not having enough "friendly" bacteria and too much bad gut flora especially if you have taken antibiotics, steroids ....! Try taking a good probiotic (acidophillus) to start with, if this is the problem then there is a diet to help etc there is alot to read out there about it!

[Beaniegirl13]

I have IBS and it is a very individual thing. I follow a low fibre diet and take Colpermin (a peppermint capsule with a protective coating so it gets further into your stomach before releasing the liquid). I went to my GP and had everything ruled out by a gastroenterologist first as you can't be too careful.