Is IBS incurable?

Almost 20 years ago I had IBS, and it changed the course of my life. And I go into depth about my story here.

When doctors gave me an IBS diagnosis but no real help, it was a huge wake up call. Feeling abandoned and alone was traumatic. While I completely reversed my gut symptoms and healed my gut, I became a health coach to address my past trauma by helping others fix their digestion.

Having IBS set me on a different trajectory in life. Helping me live a life that was MORE me, instead of the life that was expected of me. For me to be truly healthy, my life needed to work for my personality, nervous system, values, body and soul.

And after a decade of working with people with IBS, I have learned that this issue originates in the mind as much as in the gut. Not to say it’s all in your head, just that your head is an important part of it.

This is because the mind and the body are closely linked. This mind body connection is also called the nervous system. Signals travel from your brain through your nerves to the gut and other organs. The vagus nerve is the major superhighway for this information to travel.

This mind body connection is what makes healing the gut more complicated for some people, then simply following the right protocol or diet. We can’t expect our gut to heal fully if we’re unhappy, unsettled, doubtful or anxious.

When we don’t deal with current or past stressors (trauma), or repress difficult or uncomfortable emotions, the brain sends distress signals to the gut. When the brain is distressed the gut responds with inflammation and shutting down digestion so we can fight, flee or freeze. In this state of alarm the body/gut can’t focus on repair.

While doctors still don’t give patients much hope for resolving IBS, there’re many promising discoveries being made about the biome and nervous system (mind gut connection).

Based on this research and my experience of working with clients, I now use the mind body practice of hypnosis.

Demystifying hypnosis

The term hypnosis has been hijacked by Hollywood and stage performers. There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about it. People often say “I can’t be hypnotised.”

Here’s a quick explanation of hypnosis and why most people can be. Understanding it better will clarify yet another way the mind and body are connected, through subconscious programming.

In hypnosis we work with the subconscious mind, which can only be accessed in a relaxed state of slower brain waves. Hypnosis is not magic trance where you lose control. It’s simply a way to slow down brain waves so you can access the subconscious.

Our brain waves naturally speed up and slow down during the day. It slows during relaxing or repetitive activities or things that get you “in the zone” like creative projects, gardening, driving or running. We naturally go in and out of hypnosis daily whenwe relax or get absorbed in something.

Hypnosis uses a guided technique to induce a relaxed state that slows brain waves. You are totally lucid and in control, but in a relaxed state you can access a part of your brain and information that’s not usually available to you.

The subconscious regulates our immune system and nervous system. And also determines our beliefs, actions, and aversions in life. When we get triggered or stressed that’s our subconscious mind springing into action to protect us. It is programmed to keep us safe. Even if achieving safety means locking us into a life of misery.

Because the subconscious mind’s motto is “safety first.” And what it perceives as keeping us safe can be outdated and illogical because the programming comes from early childhood (age 0 to 7 or 8)

Hypnosis helps you see what you can not normally see with your conscious mind. And when you bring a self-sabotaging belief into the light, you can finally fix it. Because you can’t fix what you are not aware of.

The subconscious is reprogrammed through repetition. That is why the style of hypnosis I use comes with a 15 minute personalised recording that helps rewire the programming. I’ve had a lot of success with hypnosis and it’s amazing how powerfully it also affects the physical body.

Hypnosis is a good way to overcome health worries, self sabotage or lack of discipline around food. It transformed my health anxiety.

Some health issues can be a subconscious protection and/or distraction from the fear of failure, rejection, deep disappointment or feeling unloved/unaccepted. These emotional fears or wounds can be more painful than any digestive distress.

I still believe in physical intervention

I still use diet and supplementation to rebalance the biome, which is the foundation of our immune system, and regulates mood, blood sugar, sleep, weight and energy.

I also believe that addressing the nervous system is key to calming the messages between the gut and the brain for more healing support. This puts the body in a rest and digest state, where remarkable recoveries occur.

I wanted to put this into context as I share the detail of my personal healing success story with you.

I recently recorded a podcast where I talk about what I did to banish IBS for good.

What I did almost two decades ago, made me resilient against subsequent gut infections, mold illness, massive stress, COVID and even perimenopause. I rarely gets flus or colds, and my frequent migraines are just a bad memory. I now know how to address a problem before it becomes a crisis.

As you listen to the story, remember that my decision to live life on my terms was also part of my recovery.

In this podcast where I explain what I did to heal, what didn’t work and how I stayed healthy since.

I invite you to tune into your own mind and body as they react to my words. The way we react to other people’s stories tells us a lot about our own subconscious programming.

Listen to my story here.