Since more
than six years now, I am dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Although the
cause of the ailment is still unclear to doctors, stress, a sedentary lifestyle
and certain types of food are known to increase its symptoms. For me, the
sudden appearance of IBS coincided with a tremendously stressful and traumatic
period in my life: my father was in the last stages of Kahler’s disease (plasma cell myeloma), after a 5-year long battle with transplantations and chemo
therapy. My mother suffered from depression and I felt responsible for taking
care of her and my 10-year younger brother. It was a very tough, sad and
exhausting time. My body seemed to find a way to express the feelings, fears
and stress that had been building up inside of me and that I couldn’t afford to
address at that moment due to the complicated situation I was in. I had never
been a sickly person at all, but from one day to another that changed. After my
wisdom-teeth had been removed in the hospital, I contracted an infection which
caused severe pain for a couple of weeks. Shortly afterwards, I had my first
migraine attack. When I went abroad on a study trip that same month, I
developed bursitis in my left elbow, which is still painful even now. Then, one
day, I suddenly had a terrible attack of dizziness, which didn’t seem to stop.
After a couple of hours the dizziness became less, but didn’t disappear. After
several months of feeling extremely tired, sick and dizzy and after several hospital
tests including an MRI scan , the doctor told me that I had an infection to my
organ of balance (Labyrinthitis). After realizing I did not have a terrible
disease but something that would pass, I felt less concerned, but I was still
suffering from extreme exhaustion and insecurity. I couldn’t even do the
groceries anymore, watch a movie or type more than a few sentences on my
computer. It was incredibly frustrating, especially since I was supposed to be
writing my MA thesis! I spent about 9 months in total resting and recovering,
unable to do much else. In the meantime, the symptoms of my IBS had grown
worse. I had already undergone a very painful endoscopy (not receiving any
painkillers, oddly enough) but was determined to have a second one to be sure
that it was indeed IBS that was torturing my bowels and not for instance
Crohn’s disease. This time, they did anesthetize me and the conclusion was
clear: I had IBS and I simply had to find a way to live with it.
Whether or
not my weakened body is indeed the result of what happened in my family years
ago, I do not know. Perhaps my travels to Mexico,
Guatemala and Peru and the
food poisoning that I regularly caught there, messed up my system. Or perhaps
my past of extreme dieting, having low self-esteem, being somewhat of a
perfectionist and always erroneously believing I was too fat, put my body in
shock when I started eating like a normal person again. I do not know…but I
feel relieved that I am ‘only’ diagnosed with IBS. I am working hard on keeping
my body healthy and reducing negative influences on my bowels and I must say,
the hard work is paying off! Since I started with a strict regime last year of
consuming only the foods that my body seems to thrive on and leaving out the
bad stuff, I am facing much less pain and bloating. While I used to have so
much pain on particularly bad days that I even had trouble walking, now I’m
never experiencing those extreme situations anymore. Although IBS seems to be
different for everyone, most people tend to either suffer from constipation or
from diarrhoea. In some cases, both. For me it’s always constipation, which
causes a bloated belly and a constant pressure on my bladder. It’s annoying,
painful and makes me look permanently pregnant! Fortunately, I’ve learned how
to cover up the bloated belly quite nicely by wearing the right kinds of
clothes. My belly is still bloated half of the time, but much less than it used
to be, because of my improved lifestyle and perhaps also because of my new
attitude towards IBS (accepting it’s not dangerous but that I won’t be able to
cure it entirely).
Anyway, to
make a long story short…I would like to share some of the things that have
affected my IBS in a very positive way, reducing its symptoms. Bear in mind
that these will not work for everyone because IBS manifests itself so
differently in each person, but perhaps they’re worth considering anyway (just
give it a try and see what works for you!). Also, be aware that everything
should be tested for a longer period of time (at least for a couple of weeks),
to find out what it really does for you and to establish a change in your body.
This is my own set of rules to battle my IBS, which might be beneficial for you
too:
-
Have
breakfast each morning (never skip it!), containing a ton of healthy
ingredients that stimulate the bowels and enough fruit to make sure you won’t
miss your 2 pieces a day: a bowl with soy yoghurt, 1 banana, 2 kiwis or
seasonal high-fibre and high-vitamin fruits, +/- 5 dried blueberries, +/- 5
goji berries, half a teaspoon of chia seeds, +/- 5 hazelnuts, a tablespoon of
raisins, a handful of puffed quinoa and a tablespoon of honey or organic syrup.
It’s a powerful breakfast and will keep you satisfied until lunchtime! Soy yoghurt
is easy to process and nuts, dried berries and seeds contain calcium and
vitamins.
-
Eat
healthy, sugar- and gluten free snacks in between meals, such as: a piece of
fruit, a gluten-free health bar, nuts, dried apricots, gluten-free toast with
cheese, a piece of cheese, a slice of ham or a piece of chocolate made from
cold-pressed cacao beans.
-
Eat
at least 80% organic foods. I suspect pesticides have a bad influence on my
bowels. In any case, I don’t trust them and therefore I am thinking: better
safe than sorry. As a plus, they usually taste better too!
-
Eat
meat only once or twice a week. I have noticed that fish and vegetarian
products are easier to process for me. When I do eat meat, it’s organic. I try
to eat fish quite regularly, because it’s very healthy, tasty and never
stimulates bloating.
-
Eat
as much at fixed times of the day as possible. My bowels love rhythm! Both
being hungry and eating too much too early has a negative effect on my IBS.
-
Don’t
overeat. Not surprisingly, it stimulates bloating.
-
Walk,
run, do sports or simply move as much as possible! I’m not a person who
naturally loves to do sports, but I’ve noticed that the longer I sit still, the
more I am in pain. Bodily movement stimulates the bowels and therefore is a
major contribution to battling IBS.
-
Relax.
This is a hard one for me, since I lead a busy life and often tend to feel
guilty about taking some rest, but I cannot deny it is essential. Not just for
ones mind or body in general, but for ones bowels as well. Get enough sleep (8
hours works fine for me, but I do need to be in bed before 23:00 at night) and
lie on the couch in between domestic duties. Read a book, drink a cup of
tea…anything that truly helps you to relax. When I do not get enough sleep or
rest, bloating always increases.
-
Do
not let IBS control your life too much. Build a routine and choose a healthy
lifestyle, but don’t pay attention to your belly all the time because you will
be focussed on it too much and notice the pain and bloating even better. In my
case, it truly helped when I finally accepted my situation and decided not to
let IBS rule my world.
-
Eat
gluten-free. This, I have only been doing for about eight months now. It is
probably the most effective rule of all for me! I suspect it’s mainly grains that
are causing the problem…whether I have a true gluten-allergy I severely doubt,
but my bowels seems to have trouble processing grains. When I eat bread
containing gluten every once in a while, I’m fine. When I eat it on a regular
basis, I am facing severe constipation. Eating without gluten is not as hard as
it seems and there are many alternatives for bread, pasta, pizza etc. Most of
those products are available gluten-free, or one can simply eat a salad for
lunch or a bowl of soup.
-
Try
to avoid ready-made foods, spice mixes, sauces etc. Make your own! This way you
know what’s inside and you can avoid eating additives and preservatives. The
less I eat of those, the better I feel. Pure food is the least harmful to the
bowels and usually contains most vitamins.
-
Let
the main meal (in my case dinner) consist of at least 75% vegetables. They are
high in fibres, vitamins and are processed easily. Some people with IBS like to
avoid unions and cabbage, but in my case I do not really notice a difference.
-
Don’t
drink too much coffee. I try to keep to a maximum of two cups a day. Coffee
works as a laxative for me, but it also increases pain. I guess it’s simply a
pretty harsh substance for my bowels. Tea on the other hand, never has much
effect on me.
-
Do
not eat after eight ‘o clock at night. This gives the bowels enough time to
relax. After a while, the evening appetite decreases as routine starts to take
effect.
-
Drink
water a lot. Try to avoid sodas and fruit juices (they contain lots of sugar or
other harmful substances) and let the water clean your body.
The above
mentioned ‘rules’ are not able to cure IBS, not for me or anyone else, but may
bring some relief and they certainly stimulate a healthy diet.
My summer breakfast
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