IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME (IBS)

What is IBS?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder that affects the large intestine. It is a group of symptoms that occur together, including repeated pain in your abdomen and changes in your bowel movements. It’s a common but uncomfortable gastrointestinal disorder.

IBS isn’t life-threatening, and it doesn't make you more likely to get other colon conditions, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, or colon cancer. But it can be a long-lasting problem that changes how you live your life. People with IBS may miss work or school more often, and they may feel less able to take part in daily activities. Some people may need to change their work setting: shifting to working at home, changing hours, or even not working at all.

Causes

The exact cause for IBS is still unknown.

1. Stress: People exposed to stressful events, especially in childhood, tend to have more symptoms of IBS.

2. Nervous system: Abnormalities in the nerves in your digestive system may cause you to experience greater than normal discomfort when your abdomen stretches from gas or stool. Poorly coordinated signals between the brain and the intestines can cause your body to overreact to changes that normally occur in the digestive process, resulting in pain, diarrhea or constipation.

3. Changes in gut microbes: Examples include changes in bacteria, fungi and viruses, which normally reside in the intestines and play a key role in health. Research indicates that the microbes in people with IBS might differ from those in healthy people. 

4. Severe infection: IBS can develop after a severe bout of diarrhea (gastroenteritis) caused by bacteria or a virus. IBS might also be associated with a surplus of bacteria in the intestines (bacterial overgrowth)

Risk factors 

• Limit how much milk or cheese you eat.

• Eat smaller meals more often instead of big meals.

• Keep a record of the foods you eat so you can figure out which foods bring on bouts of IBS. 

• Drink at least three to four glasses of water per day.

• Don't smoke. 

• Learn to relax, either by getting more exercise or by reducing stress in your life. 

• Avoid caffeine (in coffee, tea, and soda).

• Add fiber to your diet with foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts.

Symptoms

Symptoms for IBS vary by person and are triggered by different things. 

Common symptoms of IBS include:

1. Diarrhea

2. Pain and cramping

3. Constipation

4. Gas and bloating

5. Changes in bowel movements - IBS alters the time that stool remains inside your intestines. This results in the intestines either not being able to absorb enough water or absorbing too much. The stool will either be watery and loose, or dry and hard.

6. Anxiety and depression - Dealing with IBS symptoms can make people more prone to anxiety and depression. Unfortunately, digestive symptoms and anxiety reinforce each other. Taking measures to lower anxiety can help reduce IBS symptoms.

7. Food intolerance - Specific foods can trigger IBS for many individuals. Patients with IBS typically avoid certain food groups. Trigger foods can be different for each individual. A few common ones are lactose and gluten.

8. Fatigue - IBS is often related to insomnia (difficulty falling asleep) and not being able to sleep well (difficulty staying asleep). Individuals with IBS are more fatigued and sleep less than people without. 

Homoeopathic treatment for IBS

Homoeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that homoeopathic medicine for IBS focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his pathological condition.

Brahma Madhurya Homoeopathy offers full individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc.

Homoeopathy has very effective medicines for such as irritable bowel syndrome. Medicines like: 

• Nux vomica

• Podophyllum

• Sulphur

• China

• Pulsatilla

• Asafoetida

• Colocynthis

• Argentum nitricum

• Lilium tigrinum

• Natrum carbonicum

• Lycopodium

• Arsenicum album

• Bryonia Alba

• Carbo veg.

• Natrum Mur. etc.,

None of these medicines should be taken without professional advice. 

For individualized remedy selection and treatment, contact BRAHMA MADHURYA HOMOEOPATHY CLINIC - +91-7057579595 or www.brahmamadhurya.com