Getting an IBS diagnosis does not mean you will live with digestive problems forever. I remember getting my diagnosis clearly. I was told there was no cure and it was devastating news.
The dangers of an IBS diagnosis is that it sets up your expectations for how your health will play out for the rest of your life. It implies a life of struggle, frustration, restriction, or pain. With little hope of getting back to normal.
Your perception of your situation is so important because it dictates the actions you will take. It’s sad that our first IBS encounter with a health professional is typically discouraging.
It is dangerous to believe there is no solution for your pain and suffering. Your mindset is your number one support for healing.
When I was diagnosed 21 years ago there were few obvious alternatives. The internet barely existed and health coaching was not a thing. I knew no one with IBS.
These days, the opposite problem exists. Everyone is a self-proclaimed expert. It’s information overload.
Because of this, a Google search can leave you scared, overwhelmed or deeply confused.
What you believe about your condition is the most important predictor of your recovery. What complicates things is that sometimes our beliefs are subconscious and we don’t have access to them.
In this case, doing work with the limbic system (brain’s emotional center), nervous system and the subconscious mind will help release self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors.
What you need to know about IBS
IBS is not a disease per se, but a condition characterized by certain symptoms. Because IBS is not a disease, doctors are NOT your best bet for resolving it, but can be a useful resource for ordering testing. You can make the medical system work for you with the right guidance. This is something I help clients with.
An IBS diagnosis give us no clue on what is off in the gut or body. Many doctors will say it is in our head. After almost a decade of working with clients, there is some truth to this. But it is not the whole story.
If IBS can be driven by trauma or stress, and may have originated in the brain, but has since turned into a physical problem. We need to address both simultaneously.
Addressing BOTH body and mind is key.
The subconscious mind and body are one. Our digestive function runs through the autonomic nervous system. We don’t consciously think about digesting. It happens subconsciously. So if the mind and nervous system are disturbed, digestion will be too.
Telling someone the problem is in their head, implies they are crazy, hypochondriacs, drama queens, or doing something wrong. We are all doing our best and want to be healthy.
Here are some ways to work with the emotional body/ brain to create your own personal healing success story.
How to manage the mental and emotional aspect of IBS
Here are some common beliefs to be aware of and address. These beliefs will stall healing. They are addressed by rewiring the subconscious mind and calming the nervous system.
It is not your fault you are sick
Trauma and stress are often not choices. It is just a conditioned way we respond to life. Different people are traumatized by different things. Trauma does not have to be a big dramatic event to have an impact.
Many of us were never taught how to regulate, process and release our emotions in a healthy way. Because of this those emotions are repressed and then expressed through the body.
In other words, the body can express mental issues as physical symptoms.
People with IBS are emotionally and physically more sensitive than others. Your sensitivity can be a gift once health issues are resolved. It gives you the ability to tap into intuition and have meaningful and deeply connected life experiences.
Your body is not turning on you
Your body is doing everything in its power to keep you alive. Inflammation is a protective response. It is trying to compensate for every imbalance, deficiency and infection.
Your body’s priority is your safety and survival. Your body and subconscious mind are designed to keep you safe.
Even if you may not feel good, you are alive and functioning because your subconscious mind and body are both doing their best for you. Unfortunately their idea of keeping you safe may not mean helping you thrive. They may act like an overprotective parent that locks you in your room to keep you from going outside and hurting yourself.
Finding a way to reprogram both to be less vigilant is what will help you thrive.
Instead of losing faith in your body, listen to its signals and messages. It is always communicating what it wants and needs.
Your biggest enemy is your own doubt and fear
The only person preventing your recovery is you.
You are far more powerful than you can imagine. Your body is your most powerful healer and can do amazing things with the right support.
Your biggest enemy is your doubt and fear because it is keeping your mind stuck and your body on high alert.
While my clients present with different symptoms. Anxiety is the common symptom among everyone.
I experienced it too when I was sick. And it makes trusting and moving forward with solutions much harder.
Anxiety can either be a root cause or a symptom of IBS, but it keeps the system from dropping into parasympathetic recovery state. And keeps it ready to respond to threats.
Anxiety, fear and doubt prevent people from taking the leap of faith and trying new things. Being burned by past failure is the number one reason people give up and stay stuck.
This is when negative emotions can run your life and dictate your health.
Get support
Get all the support you can afford. It is an investment in your success. Don’t let fear of failure hold you back.
A good health coach or functional medicine practitioner (or someone who does both like me) will keep you on track.
Few people can heal on their own, we need support to keep up moving forward when things don’t go according to plan. Someone to be our guide and rock.
The mind and nervous find balance with the right support. We can use things like meditative practices for support, but we are built to rely on each other.
When we feel physically or emotionally isolated, it can inflame our immune system as it prepares to confront threats without help.
A friend or family member who can hear and understand you is valuable support.
Other sources of support are therapy, hypnosis, acupuncture, support groups, or a sympathetic health coach. This will help lower the inflammatory emotional response and help you FEEL better both physically and emotionally. Which will create a strong foundation for healing.
You have to work with mind AND body for the best results.
Many people look for an IBS solution through supplements or the right diet. We are a pill popping, food controlling culture.
An interesting phenomenon reported by many of my clients is that when they begin a promising supplement, they feel better for a month before old symptoms return.
The placebo effect is a real, medically recognized phenomenon that proves the power of our mind. The placebo effect and hope inspired by a new supplement alleviates symptoms temporarily.
Other reasons for symptoms that ebb and flow is the cyclical nature of hormones or emotional fluctuations.
Most people focus only on supplements and diet and ignore the nervous system and brain.
Your brain is always talking to your gut. If it is sends distress signals, your gut won’t function right and vice versa. This can compromise healing and keep a supplement protocol from being fully effective.
Address the missing link
Perception of the world, mental state and subconscious programming is a big part of healing.
Ignoring the role of the mind in disease can cause a slow, spotty or stalled recovery. The belief or perception that you are fixable, your gut is healable and you will be ok, is foundational.
If you can’t hold that vision, find someone who can help you do it.
In my own healing, diet and supplements kicked off my recovery. But my healing was sustained by important life changes that gave me space for deep self care. I listened to what I needed and responded.
My biggest change was quitting a 9 to 5 job I hated. For other people, the structure of working in an office is ideal. For me it was emotionally destructive, so I chose another way.
A decade of health coaching has taught me that we are more than just a body.
To help the hardest cases, I’m studying hypnotherapy to work with subconscious programming. Hypnotherapy can help release programed beliefs that are created by stressful, shocking or traumatic experiences.
This is often the missing piece that stall healing for people stuck in a cycle of fight or fight. The interesting thing to note is that some people are not even aware that their body is living in this stress state. It just feels normal to them.
A clue that my nervous system is entering a fight or flight mode is that I start jumping/scaring easily at loud or unexpected noises or interruptions
Hope for everyone
A mind body approach covers all the bases. Most people address the mind or the body, but not both.
IBS is only a life sentence if you let it be.
Staying sick may be an unconscious or self protective mechanism for some people. It may not make sense consciously, but from a subconscious level there is a deep layer of protection in staying sick, which keeps you from going out into the world and hurting yourself (confronting physical or emotional threats).
Notice your response to this blog post
If this post resonates with you, incorporate some somatic (body-based) therapies in your healing protocol. Or get in touch and we can talk about how to best support your body and mind.
If you feel angry or reactive to this blog post, there’s likely something very important there to explore. Use your intuition (attraction to something) or strong repulsion as a guide to help you better navigate your healing path.
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease or a disease at all. IBS is a body out of balance. It’s an invitation for change. After solving her own IBS mystery more than a decade ago Angela trained as a health coach to help others.
Angela uses both science and intuition to help people figure out what’s out of balance in their body. She works with lab tests, dietary changes, supplementation and nervous system rebalancing. Get help rebalancing your digestive system and solving your IBS mystery here.
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