Thinking possible cause of IBS…
I came across a letter I had written to a Gastroenterologist in 2003. I thought that it might interest readers of what I had observed and hypothesised about the patients that I had sat in to observe. Whilst the gastroenterologist took his paperwork to the receptionist, I asked a few questions of my own – these are the thoughts that I came up with. I thought that it might be interesting to any person suffering from IBS or other Gut related problems to do their own hypothesising of how the body/mind connection may have had an influence on their own symptoms.
1st Patient – Lady)
Symptoms:
Client: I can feel there is an obstruction – “I think “This is it – it’s obstructed again”. Sometimes I vomit – it lasts 2-3 hrs. I can be symptom free for 3 months. It is not continual – sometimes totally pain free – in fact she said that 70-75% times it is pain free.
(The obstruction was confirmed by a professional diagnosis.) I do get diarrhoea after the attack for about ½ day. When it is over I know I will be right for a while.
Suffers migraine. Doesn’t smoke. No allergies presented.
Back ground of bowel cancer in family. Only recently found out about family background.
Has had her gall bladder out. Since then hasn’t been 100%.
Says nothing happened around 1996 when she first had onset of symptoms.
(Later in conversation patient mentioned that she had had a car accident about 7 years ago – 2003 minus 7 yrs = 1996 around onset of symptoms.)
Has not been able to work since the accident.
Thoughts/ Possible considerations for therapy:
- Migraine may come from medication or may have come about since car accident – is it physical or emotional?
- Check out any negative beliefs since gall bladder operation. Ego strengthen the benefits of this operation.
- Check out feelings about the vehicle accident in 1996. ( i.e. go through it in hypnosis and relieve any fears if they present themselves. (Leave alone if none present.)
- Check out the implications of not being able to work since the accident and how that affects the present.
- Knows after the attack that she will be all right for a while – extend the ‘for a while’ longer and longer.
- Boost immune system.
- Ego strenghthening.
2nd Patient – Male
Symptoms:
He feels he has problems if the doesn’t keep the bowel moving.
He suffers from Sleep Apnoea.
Used to suffer from reflux – no problems with medication now.
He has heaps of bran and fruit (12 prunes, bananas, dates + medication); he says, “Too much can cause problems”.
Feels good if he clears his bowel before bedtime.
Has no trigger that he is aware of.
Thoughts/ Possible considerations for therapy:
- Suggestions and use of mind for bowel movements.
- Work with Sleep apnoea (i.e. seek cause and/or change habit.)
- Boost immune system.
- Ego strengthening abilities. (*He already feels he is part of the solution with self control.)
3rd Patient – Female
Symptoms:
Is in a lot of pain.
Depression.
Family history of both gastric and bowel cancer (affecting Uncle and Father).
Husbands says she doesn’t eat.
She says, “I feel full”
Eating causes pain.
(Going to Lebanon on 7/10/2003.)
Thoughts/ Possible considerations for therapy:
- Pain Management.
- Depression (Cause/release)/Management.
- Is there a secondary gain? (Attention?)
- Are there underlying events not specified or acknowledged?
- Work on ‘Full” feeling.
- Ego Strengthening.
(If pain ceases whilst overseas – work on extending this.)
4th Patient – Female (translation via daughter)
Symptoms:
Current medication makes her feel nauseas. When decreased to ½ tablet she felt a little better.
Pain is still continuing.
Pain is in upper area.
Tablets cause more cramp.
Emptying the bowel helps the cramping.
Sometimes it can be a very bad day – sometimes it can be a good day.
Thoughts/ Possible considerations for therapy:
Looks after grandchildren. She doesn’t like to look after them – they are badly behaved. On the days that she doesn’t look after them, she feels better.
- Symptoms are stress related?
- Secondary gain? Can’t look after grandchildren if doesn’t feel well enough.
- Suggest meditation.
- Suggest other interests/meeting other people of own origin.
- Relaxation (Teach self hypnosis).
- Ego Strengthening.
(*Note Hypnosis can be done through an interpreter. I have done this successfully with a Chinese also an Arabic person)
5th Patient: Crohns – female
Current Symptoms:
No reflux
Could be 8 movements before 1:00 – or only once.
Suffers headaches.
Had discharge and some bbleeding.
Very tired by 9:30 to 10:30 pm
Problems with sleeping (wakes up around 3:00am)
Always on the go – can’t sit down and do nothing.
Job (Inside Trader Investigation) is not stressful.
Thoughts/ Possible considerations for therapy:
Has been through a lot in past symptoms. Feels that today {compared to previous symptoms) that everything is manageable.
- Alter sleep habits
- Could be wound-up like a tight spring from past symptoms. i.e. stress.
- (Patient acknowledged that this could be so.)
- Check if headaches from medication or other symptoms – work with alleviating these.
- Assist healing.
- Ego strenghthening.
The above is a quick summary of where I would start my investigations.
I am not in the habit of always looking in the past for reasons or solutions. But in hypnosis I might say “As I count from 5 to 0, I want you to go back to the first time that you had this problem”. As a Hypnotherapist I would deal with what came up for the patient. It would not even necessarily be accurate (false memory syndrome), but as long as a therapists is client centered, doesn’t lead a client through their wording or own hypothetical beliefs, it doesn’t matter – changing their current reality allows healing to take place.
It is now well documented that hypnotherapy has the ability to train a client to use their mind to change how their gut works.
At the Australian Hypnotherapists Association’s 65th Anniversary of foundation, on 13/14 September 2014, (details at http://www.ahahypnotherapy.com.au), Simone Peters and Susan Shephard, et al (Aust) will be speaking on their research that has shown that Hypnotherapy is as effective as the low Fodmap diet for the treatment of IBS.
At the University Hospital of South Manchester, Professor Peter Whorwell, a gastroenterologist who heads the only NHS-funded hypnotherapy centre in Britain, which has been pioneering the therapy as a treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, agrees. “One of the problems is the name,” he says. “If we started off again with a name like neuromodulation, for example, it would be more readily accepted. The name hypnotism has so much baggage attached. Cognitive behavioural therapy is now reasonably well accepted, and so, too, is psychotherapy, but of the three, I would say hypnotism is potentially the most powerful. It is becoming a treatment of choice for IBS.
“When I am dead and gone, people are going to suddenly realise that hypnotism is an incredibly powerful tool and question why it has been ignored for so long.”1
