You’ve Been Diagnosed with IBS – Now What?

You’ve spent the last several months following up with doctors and gastrointestinal specialists; had uncomfortable amounts of bloodwork taken; been scanned by X-rays, CTs; and had cameras shoved down your throat and up your you-know-what. Now the results are in. Everything comes back: negative, normal… inconclusive.

These are not the words you want to hear from your specialist given the way your body seems to go into full-on attack mode at the sight of a kale salad (why does it cause so much agony if it’s supposed to be so healthy!?), all the sleepless nights you’ve rolled around in bed because your gut was in agony from gas pain, and never mind the numerous embarrassing moments you’ve had in your workplace bathroom…

This is the reality for the many who are newly diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS tends to be a catch-all diagnosis for when all of the investigative test results come back “normal”. Well, hey, at least you don’t have Crohn’s, colitis, or cancer. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty to be grateful for, but what are you supposed to do about your recurrent abdominal pain, gas, bloating, and revolving bathroom door? Unfortunately, being diagnosed with IBS clarifies nothing about what you should be doing to treat your symptoms.

Following a diagnosis of IBS, your doctor or specialist may advise you to make some standard dietary changes (e.g. eat more fiber; avoid caffeine, fried foods, spicy foods, and alcohol), manage stress, attend psychotherapy, and/or take medication. These recommendations are often vague and non-specific, leaving newly diagnosed patients to figure out the details for themselves.

Unfortunately, IBS is a multifactorial condition – meaning, it has numerous possible causes. So, when it comes to treatment options, what works for one individual may not work for another. Take the low FODMAPs diet, for example (that’s a diet low in certain carbohydrates that can cause gas and bloating called fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols). Research shows that this diet may be 50 to 80% effective in reducing or managing symptoms of IBS – but what about the remaining percentage? Fermentable carbohydrates may be one piece of the puzzle for someone who suffers with IBS, but it may not be the only piece. (Not to mention a low FODMAPs diet is incredibly restrictive and not sustainable in the long-term for many reasons, including a lack of essential nutrients.)

If there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for IBS, what is a girl to do, you ask?

The way I see it, there are 3 options. You can resign yourself to the diagnosis of IBS, accepting that you must learn to live with it. You can try and figure it out on your own through food journaling and elimination diets. Or, you can enlist the help of an experienced professional to help you get to the bottom of what is causing your symptoms so you can actually get rid of them for good.

Let’s take a quick look at each option, shall we?

Option 1: Medicate and Live With It

The current paradigm of Western medicine views IBS as a condition that can be managed with dietary and lifestyle modifications, and medication. If dietary and lifestyle changes don’t help with management, your doctor may recommend one of many over-the-counter or prescription medications to manage constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or bloating. There are fiber supplements, anti-diarrheals, laxatives, anticholinergics (these reduce the painful spasms that can occur with defecation), antidepressants, and many more to choose from! Working closely with your doctor can help determine which option will work best for you.

The trouble with medication is that it is a Band-aid solution for a far deeper problem. Medication doesn’t help get to the root cause of your IBS symptoms. And, it can take a lot of trial and error to figure out what works for you. There is also the possibility that you may not find an effective solution. This can equate to throwing away money on medications that don’t work (especially if you don’t have drug coverage!), wasted time, and missed work or social engagements due to ongoing symptoms.

All this to be said, there are some very effective medications available for IBS management. If you find a solution that works for you, and you are content to manage symptoms rather than eliminate them – more power to you!

Option 2: Be Your Own Detective

IBS can have multiple triggers: food and stress are the most common, and this is a good place to start for your detective work. Using a food and symptoms tracker for a week (or longer, depending on the nature, frequency, and severity of your symptoms) can help you start to identify food triggers. To be effective, make sure you track the time you eat, the foods you eat, the time your symptoms appear, and what those symptoms are. Don’t forget to include any beverages, including water. Be specific with your tracking. For example, if you are making a stir-fry, include all ingredients: olive oil, garlic, ginger, chicken, bell pepper, mushrooms, and teriyaki sauce. Over time, this allows you to see if there’s any pattern that correlates between your food and your symptoms. If your symptoms are severe, you may want to take it a step further and also track bowel movements, stress, sleep, and mood.

To make life easier when it comes to food/symptom journaling, download a tracking app to your cell phone. This doesn’t have to be a time-consuming task, and you can input food and symptoms in less than a minute. Some apps even let you snap a photo of your meal so you can go back and enter the specific ingredients at a later time. My favourite tracking app is mySymptoms. It allows you to track all of the above-mentioned categories so you can start to make correlations between your daily habits and your IBS symptoms. CaraCare is my next choice; I like that it has the photo-taking feature. (And no, I do not have any affiliates with either of these apps. They are just the two I have found to be the least time-consuming and most user-friendly.)

As mentioned, food/symptoms tracking is a great place to start for someone just diagnosed with IBS. However, it is not a catch-all when it comes to identifying triggers or root causes of IBS symptoms. Factors such as inflammation, imbalance of the microbes in your gut (“dysbiosis”), gastrointestinal infections or parasites, inadequate digestive enzymes, or other metabolic disturbances cannot be detected with food journaling. This is where option 3 comes in.

Option 3: Calling In The Reinforcements

Enlisting the help of an expert who understands the multiple factors that impact gut health is the best option for those seeking to get to the root cause of their IBS, heal their gut, and get rid of their symptoms for good. Working with an experienced nutritionist or dietician can save a lot of time and money. While the upfront cost may seem like an investment, when you consider all the misdirected spending you avoid (e.g. prescriptions that don’t work, missed time at work, money spend on random supplements you read about on someone’s social media, etc.), it can actually save you money in the long-run. Not to mention the non-monetary benefits such as improved quality of life and being able to trust and enjoy food again.

Healthcare has come a long way, and there are many useful tests that can shed light on the inner goings-on of your gut. Unfortunately, many of these tests are not accessible through public health care, so look for a practitioner who has access to functional nutrition testing.

The GI Effects® Comprehensive Stool Test is an excellent example of a functional lab test that can give real answers for those living with IBS. It provides a comprehensive analysis of your stool to reveal information about inflammation, infection, ability to digest food, dysbiosis, immune function, and metabolic imbalances. Any or all of these factors could be the gasoline that keeps igniting the fire of your IBS. And addressing them could be what finally puts out the flame. In combination with this stool test, a nutritionist well-versed in the realm of gut health can come up with a targeted approach to address the root cause of your symptoms, heal your gut, and get you back on track to living your best life.

The thing about IBS is that once a person’s unique triggers are identified, steps can be taken to remove these triggers so the body has a chance to heal itself. We are all born with the innate ability to heal; we just need to provide the right environment for it to occur. For many with IBS, the root cause of symptoms is never identified, and so, the triggers remain in place. This allows the condition to persist rather than giving the gut a chance to heal. This is why medication usually only masks symptoms – it doesn’t remove the triggers.

With the right tools and the right environment, the gut can heal itself. You can heal yourself. IBS doesn’t have to be a life sentence. There are choices available!

If you’d like to learn more about how functional lab testing can help you with your IBS, click here to book a free IBS Strategy Session. In this free 30-minute call, we uncover the hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, discover the most critical steps you need to take to heal your gut, and discuss if one-on-one coaching is a good fit for you!