Seasonal Stresses and Strains

IBS - Seasonal Woes

It is that time of year again, while next week we will look at the dietary issues which effect IBS sufferers over the festive period, this week we will take a look at some of the ways which we can avoid excess stress.

We frequently discuss the relationship between stress and IBS, however few periods of the year include so many contributors.  If you have a young family then you are most likely drowning under lists of presents and things to do.  The levels and type of pressure may vary form home to home, however everything from work to home appears to get sucked into to the festive madness.

Christmas is up there with divorce, moving house and changing jobs as the sixth most stressful life event. 86% of us say they find buying presents difficult and 65% find Christmas shopping a stressful experience, according to the results of a new survey of over 3,000 people*.

The results of the survey reveal that over 30% of us get stressed just at the mere thought of hitting the high street at Christmas, and 61% say they lack inspiration when shopping and worry that people won't like what they've bought them. 60% of us have at some time had the horrible experience of buying a gift for someone and seeing disappointment on their faces when they opened it.

Looking after you

If you suffer chronic IBS, you are highly likely to suffer over this period.  Below we have taken the best best article we could find, from experts on the subject to find some of the best tips to reducing seasonal stress.    Make sure this Christmas doesn’t become a day to remember for all the wrong reasons. Follow these tips from Relate counsellor Christine Northam:

• If there have been any family rows during the year, resolve them. Tell the people you argued with that you're looking forward to seeing them. Ask if you can get together before Christmas to talk about whatever problem you had.
• Plan the day and share out the jobs that need to be done. Don't slave away for hours on your own and feel like people have taken advantage of you.
• Discuss your plans with others, including any children who will be there, so that you can listen to their ideas and wishes for the day. Then you can come up with a celebration which includes things that please everyone.
• Have a timetable for Christmas Day so that you don’t all sit around for hours doing nothing. Try to make sure you won't be spending a lot of time with a difficult person or someone you don’t get along with. 
• Don’t drink too much. Drinking excessively is never a good idea. Find out more on safer drinking. 
• Children can get overexcited, so plan a lovely long walk for a change of scene and some fresh air. Everybody will feel better and pleasantly tired instead of irritably tired

For greater detail please click here for a guide to a stress free Christmas.

* conducted by MemoriseThis.com (1) - the UK's largest on-line gift giving company

Finding the Root Causes of IBS

The Root Cause

It has long been established that IBS is not 'just in the mind', it is clearly a physical condition.  Finding the root cause however remains something of a mystery. We take a brief look at why IBS can be so hard to cure for so many, and why it often takes so many attempts to ascertain just what is causing the problems in the first instance.

Cure

To begin with the thorny issue of curing IBS.  If you consult medical journals you will find most if not all clearly state that there is at present no cure for IBS.  Despite this if you search for IBS cures you will find many sites and claims that curing IBS is not only possible it is often easy.  So where is the truth?  

The reality is (as ever) the truth lies somewhere between.  Treatments and therapies exist which show that IBS can be successfully managed for many, but not all, and some may find that IBS comes and goes based on external factors.  Great examples of IBS which would come and go are often stress and medication related.  Medication such as antibiotics, Ibruprofen and Aspirin may do harm to our digestion.  If for example you take painkillers for a sporting injury, you may develop IBS, which later goes away after you stop taking strong medication.  Similarly highly stressful  periods in life can bring on IBS as a physical reaction to stress, which may also subside in time.

If you are lucky enough to have IBS come, and eventually go you will feel as though it was cured.  Sadly for most IBS does not simply come and go.  Yet again the problem relates to an excessive number of digestive disorders being classified as IBS.

Finding the Root cause

With such a 'wishy washy' diagnoses (the Rome Criteria), it is very hard to then simply get to a definitive answer to addressing the problem.  If the diagnosis is vague, how can the treatment be specific?

The best method you can follow is detective work and a diary.  Medical professionals do a wonderful job, however digestive disorders can often be like finding a needle in a haystack, for those that wish to see the level of complexity we recommend The Digestive System by Margaret E. Smith and Dion G.Morton.   It only takes minor issues and imbalances for our digestive system to be corrupted.  It is a field which we know an ever increasing amount, however we are some way from totally control of the digestive system.

If you have had IBS from birth then unless you are lucky enough to be able to identify the root cause then using a diary will assist you to manage your condition.  If IBS came to you later in life then a diary and detective work will offer you a wonderful insight into when the symptoms arrived and what you can do about them.

For example when the symptoms arrived and what lead to them.  You can look at changes in lifestyle (stress), or changes in diet and medication.  This information can be of great assistance to whomever you chose to assist.  It is so often in the little details that major problems can be resolved.  

Don't wait for the quick cure, or quick fix.  We all hope that the day will come, however until it does, the more information and knowledge you can gather, the greater your chances of ensuring you manage IBS, rather than vice versa.