For My Tummy

Align for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Review: Weeks 7 and 8

Agony of August–NOT
I finished the month of August without my annual bout of extreme IBS, either D or C, and credit the combination of IBS diet and the fact that I was taking the probiotic Align ™ for this amazing difference from the past “agony of August.”

Then, in the beginning of September, I had some C, the result of missing a dose of Heather’s Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber ™. Just goes to show you that all elements need to be in place for your tummy or mine to be on its best behavior.

Elements of IBS Therapy
So, to remind readers of these reviews, to use a probiotic for best effect on IBS, you also need the following daily elements:

• An IBS diet that avoids all triggers, and
• A daily routine that includes increasing amounts of a Soluble Fiber Supplement, up to your stabilization point
• A suitable probiotic

For me, a year ago in July and August 2006 those things were not in place yet, and the probiotics I tried did not work for me. This year, I had both elements in place, and the Align ™ probiotic I reviewed worked great throughout August.

Conclusion of Align ™ Review
Align works as promised, at least on a well-prepared tummy. During the period I took Align ™ I also began to sample some fruits and vegetables, with good success except for broccoli.

The distribution system for Align ™ does not appear to be in place yet, and that affects the credibility of the main source of information, the Align ™web site. For example, the web site has a “sticker” update that says “Now available in pharmacies,” which is not true. There *may* be limited availability in warehouses, if a pharmacist knows to ask and is willing to order it. There is no distribution that has hit the shelves of a large chain pharmacy near me (CVS), in contrast to Digestive Advantage - IBS ™.

Promo Code for Align ™
The promo code to use for a $5 discount when ordering Align from the aligngi.com web site is AlignWOM. Look for a place on the web site called “promo code” and enter it there.

September 6th, 2007 Posted by tummyblogger | Probiotics, IBS, IBS therapy, IBS Triggers, Align, Heather's Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber (tm), Adjuncts, Digestive Advantage - IBS | 4 comments

False and True Conceptions about Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Treatment

The following paragraph on Heather’s web site caught my eye:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Supplements
Supplements for the dietary management of IBS can be unbelievably helpful for stabilizing digestion. This is particularly true when they’re used as one of the five key strategies for controlling Irritable Bowel Syndrome (proper diet, stress management, alternative therapies, and prescription medications are the other four).

Soluble fiber supplements, herbs that have medicinal effects on the gastrointestinal tract, heat therapy, probiotics, calcium and/or magnesium, and digestive enzymes are all of proven benefit. Best of all, results are usually felt very quickly - sometimes even immediately (emphasis mine). ((1 from the Help for IBS Website
http://www.helpforibs.com/supplements/))

see also

http://www.helpforibs.com/footer/treatments.asp

Not to throw a wet blanket on your hopes of instant relief–well, yes, I’ll throw that wet blanket after all.

Starting diet change, discovering that indeed there are more triggers than you thought, finding the right supplements, all take time. It took me at least three months. Then, too, probiotics take at least three weeks before they begin to give relief. So IBS treatment in full does not produce rapid results. Yes, parts of a treatment regimen do, such as putting a heating pad on a painful tummy, or drinking fennel tea for gas and bloating. Getting IBS under control, though, takes time.

August 19th, 2007 Posted by tummyblogger | fiber, Probiotics, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, IBS Triggers, Digesting Information, Prebiotics, Adjuncts, IBS Symptoms | no comments

Medicine and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

“Medicine Has Dropped the Ball on IBS”
I recently read a letter of praise for the dietary method of managing IBS, which is a medically endorsed therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In the middle of his self-congratulation, he inserted a slam against “medicine” for not dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

The best we have are some risky medicines that can reduce the impact on the body of a seriously “messed-up” large intestine (large bowel). As I read it, these medicines are not something you would want to take, or depend on, forever. Rather, they take a very bad situation–constant constipation or diarrhea–and improve the problem to the degree that good dietary control and use of the full daily amount of fiber can take effect. These medicines are not “magic pills” for IBS.

Slams
I see slams, such as I mentioned above, all the time from people with IBS, and would like to offer a gentle, general correction.

IBS Is Functional
The nature of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is that it is a “functional disorder.” That means that doctors can identify a symptom picture and some of the physical elements that produce that symptom picture. So far, so good. Medicine is (sort of) in our corner, here.

Just Like Everyone Else
But what we who have IBS often want to know is why no one is working on a magic pill that would attack the cause or causes of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The magic of the magic pill is that we would then be able to eat anything and everything, just like everyone else.

The wish of people with disabilities is to be as normal as possible, to use a cane rather than a crutch, to use a crutch rather than a wheelchair, to have people talk to the person in the wheelchair, rather than the person pushing the wheelchair. In the same way, people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) want to live in a way as close to normal as possible.

Medicine Offers Crutches, not Cures
What medicine offers, so far, is crutches. Immodium ™ and Miralax ™, Kaopectate ™ and Metamucil ™. We get wise to them. We know they are not giving us a cure, only a crutch to get by on.

It is so frustrating! Yet there is no identified single physical mechanism that could be regulated by a magic pill. An adequate amount of (soluble) fiber daily comes closest. The research results on enteric-coated peppermint come very close also.

The question Why don't we want to hear that? Why do we still want that magic pill that sets everything right? Since serious and consistent dietary change and an increase to an adequate and regular amount of soluble fiber every day work so well for people who try it, why do we still say that medicine has let us down?