Want to prevent an IBS flare-up? Two words summarize what to monitor: diet and stress. Here, you will find tips on managing your IBS so that you remain symptom-free.

 

Only you truly know how foods effect your symptoms. Doctors and dietitians can come up with all kinds of recommendations, but until you try them and see how they make you feel, they are useless. You need a way to keep track of how food affects you. Buy a notebook. Label it with a big sharpie “IBS Food Journal.” Keep it in your kitchen and use it as faithfully as you use Joy of Cooking.

 

As you prepare a meal, list all the ingredients. Leave nothing out – even spices or salt. If you use pre-prepared foods, such as salad dressing or chicken broth, take note of the brand you use.

 

After you eat, pay attention to how you feel. Develop an IBS vocabulary for the subtle differences in your pain, the texture of your stool, and time how long it takes to have a bowel movement. And above all, write it down! After few weeks, even one week, you will begin to notice patterns you hadn’t realized were operating. Or you will confirm what you have long suspected. Most important -- you will have an IBS reference you can use from now on, whether you’re preparing a dish for an evening meal, packing a lunch for the office, or ordering at a restaurant.

 

Remember that you are not condemned to a bland diet because of your IBS. By keeping this journal, you will see how ingredients actually affect your digestive track.

 

 

Want recommendations for foods that generally cause/prevent diarrhea or constipation? Want to manage your symptoms but don’t want to be condemned to a bland diet? Need help interpreting your food journal? Don’t know what to cook anymore? A dietitian can help you with all these things, and can be a source of support.

 

 

Keeping calm can do more than ease your mind. It can provide treatment for Irritable Bowel symptoms. Stress can over stimulate the brain and the nerves in your bowel, creating painful bowel activity.

 

Everyone has stressors in their lives, but if you can manage your life to minimize them, your comfort and overall quality of life can improve. Treat this by making a list of stressors, and find ways to make changes in your life to reduce their influence over you. Meditation, yoga, and self-hypnosis can be a tremendous benefit, as they relax your internal response to stress and can keep you from reacting to stimulus in ways that can exacerbate your IBS.

 

 

Learning new ways to minimize the stress in your life is not necesarily easy. You will need to alter your lifestyle to reduce stressors, and learn new stress management tools. A psychologist can be your perfect resource. They can take your particular situation and mind set and make recommendations. They can guide you through changes so that they are not just stints due to good intentions, but rather changes that take hold and transform you and your life.

 

In fact, studies have shown that cognitive therapy can reduce IBS symptoms.

 

 

Being diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome forces you to slow down and take stock of your life. You are forced to ask yourself, “what’s not working in this picture?” Things you took for granted before (like fast food dinners) no longer serve you.

 

You need to pay attention to prevent an IBS flare-up. Watch what’s being served to you in a restaurant. Breathe deeply for a few minutes rather than yell at your underperforming staff. Do what you need to do, or you’ll be running for the bathroom. You know the consequences, now, become that much more familiar with the means of prevention.