Sometimes it seems so simple I take it for granted. There are two kinds of fiber for IBS. One is FiberSure ™, which is 100% inulin and is made from chicory. The other is Heather’s Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber ™, which is 100% acacia fiber, from the acacia gum tree.
These are the fibers that are PREbiotic - see PREbiotics 101. One way you can tell is that they dissolve completely in warm water, leaving either clear liquid you can see through (FiberSure) or a suspension that settles into clear liquid if you don’t touch it for a while–Acacia Tummy Fiber.
I have seen posts uncorrected by the communities on forums (that I’ve recommended in the past) that say something like “I’ve changed to Weetabix–or Shredded Wheat–and I still have problems with IBS-C!” or it might be “Now I have yoghurt crunchies for breakfast, so that’s my fiber, but I still have IBS-D!”
I think there’s a disconnect in communication about your need for fiber if you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in any variety.
What I am talking about, and what Heather’s web site talks about, and what medical sites like the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Gastroenterology - IBS are talking about is not changing your breakfast cereal to treat your Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
We are all talking about
- the gradual increase of your daily dietary fiber amount from the maybe 3 gms of fiber to ten times that much,AND
- starting to get at least half of that amount in soluble fiber, AND
- gradually increasing the amount of fiber, most of it soluble, you have EVERY DAY to the recommended range.
In short, ignore the TV ads for cereals or other products that are “high fiber.”
Most of the time a serving of these advertised high-fiber products has as much as 3 gms of fiber in it. That’s one tenth of what you need in a day. Do you want to have ten servings of whatever it is? With milk, and/or containing wheat, and/or containing citric acid? Are you serious or just playing around?
It would be terrific if we people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) could get a lot of our fiber from fresh fruits and vegetables. Sadly, I at least don’t have the nerve to challenge my system with fresh carrots or apples, or GrapeNuts Flakes ™. Oatmeal–mixed soluble and insoluble fiber–works okay after your first dose of soluble fiber (Acacia or FiberSure).
July 23rd, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
fiber, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, IBS-C, IBS-D, FiberSure (tm), Heather's Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber (tm) |
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“The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with me, so they say it’s IBS.”
“I’m fed up with the doctors who keep sending me for tests and don’t seem to find out what’s wrong. They don’t know anything more than when they started and they don’t understand that I’m in pain.”
And I read many more similar complaints on the forums.
Medicine starts with the principle “First do no harm.” Now that there are many tests for many ailments, that principle may mean that a doctor does not reach for a prescription pad until after many tests have been done.
Halfway through the testing you say “Do something!” So s/he tells you to start taking fiber, but not what fiber to take, or worse, says “Use Metamucil ™” of which there are many flavors and roughnesses, and citric acid, and artificial sweeteners like Aspartame ™, and perhaps other additives.
This kind of desperation is very familiar to me, since I’ve been going through a series of tests for something else in the past few months. Along the way we found out that I have reduced my cholesterol level from 276 to 167 (fantastic!), that my heart ultrasound and heart stress tests are both terrific, and my liver function by blood tests and ultrasound is normal. In the meantime, I’ve been desperate for the doctor to give me something that helps the primary complaint, of a peculiar kind of fatigue. And I insisted on getting a second opinion, only to find that he agreed with my doctor, on one level, and had a question on another. In the meantime, I continue without any what I would call medical help.
It’s the same situation with developing a diagnosis for IBS. The doctor is not going to prescribe before s/he has ruled out a number of problems.
In an ideal world, once that has taken place, there is one obvious medicine to prescribe that will take care of the problem. If the diagnosis is Irritable Bowel Syndrome, that is not the case. Here is what the ideal doctor will discuss with you when he or she has excluded all the other options and concludes that you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
A. Incidence of IBS symptoms in the general population and its relevance to the patient
B. Gastrointestinal physiology including gastrocolonic response, production of gas, gut sensitivity to certain stimuli, and possible
C. The potential impact of stress in triggering or exacerbating symptoms, with reassurance that symptoms are not psychosomatic
D. Any anxieties, including concerns about underlying disease and major symptoms
E. The need for the patient to accept responsibility for condition management
F. The recognition that no panacea exits, but that therapies can greatly improve quality of life and significantly reduce symptom severity
Well informed patients are more apt to make choices and changes in lifestyle and diet that can reduce the severity and the frequency of their symptoms. It is recommended that physicians discuss new information during patient visits, and build on previous information by disseminating any new educational materials that may have become available since the patient’s last visit.
The source of the above is a paper published on the Gastro-Enterology pages of the Johns Hopkins Institute. The paper describes a number of levels of consideration of the problems of diagnosing and treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Realistically, your PCP is going to fall short on several counts in the just-quoted lists. I hope that s/he fulfills at least some of them. Where this blog can help is in the last two elements of the above list, which are:
“E. The need for the patient to accept responsibility for condition management [, and]
F. The recognition that no panacea exits, but that therapies can greatly improve quality of life and significantly reduce symptom severity [.]”
“Accepting responsibility for condition management” does not mean that the condition is your fault, or that if it is hard to manage, that you aren’t trying your best to manage your IBS. It does mean that you have a considerable role to play in achieving a greater degree of comfort in living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Also note that item “F” uses the term “therapies” rather than “treatments.” Does that make a difference? Let me know what you think.
July 23rd, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Gastrocolic Reflex, Medical, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, IBS-C, IBS-D |
one comment
