April is the International Awareness Month for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – a whole month, I hear you say? Wow, does it need a WHOLE month for people
to be aware? Well my humble opinion on this matter is it does. Their can be a misunderstanding of this condition as everyone can suffer from upsets to their bowels on occasion from stressful events and IBS is often viewed as trivial by society because, after all, if up to 10 – 20% of the population suffer then surely it can’t be that bad? Irritable bowel syndrome is often played down and yes it isn’t a life limiting disease, but for some people it can have a real detrimental effect on their ability to work and have a good quality of life. It’s often quality of life that matters to people’s mood and ability to enjoy life, so this is important to everyone.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a range of symptoms that affect the way the bowel functions, and common symptoms include diarrhoea and/or constipation, pain with or without bloating, but IBS can include symptoms that are not directly related to the digestive tract, such as exhaustion, headaches, dizziness and depression – in fact it perhaps isn’t surprising that people get depressed with having to tolerate a myriad of confusing symptoms that on occasion isn’t managed well. There is no cure, yes there are treatments, but what works is different for everyone. Everyone’s IBS is different, therefore it does need some understanding of ones own symptoms and triggers that is important. This is where the IBS Self Care Plan developed by the IBS Network can help, because it helps to identify people’s individual symptoms and provides explanations of the various treatments that may help.
But we also must increase the profile of this syndrome in society and the devastating symptoms it can produce, a month of promotion to increase people’s awareness of the actuality of living with IBS will help. It would be really cool for you to share your IBS story this month to increase people’s knowledge and improve the image of this syndrome with the general public! So comments to this blog would be useful and should you wish to share your story with a wider audience then contact The IBS Network and spread the awareness!!
Join the IBS Network – the UK national charity for IBS – who provide a helpline, email responses by health professional, quarterly magazine, monthly newsletter, can’t wait card and coming later this month for members only, The IBS Self Care Plan and symptom tracker, your own personal resource for understanding and managing your IBS. Check out the link on this blog site for further information
Related articles
- WebMD 5: Gastrointestinal Disorders (webmd.com)
- Bowel Issues – Part 3, by Dr. Bob (survivalblog.com)
- Some drugs less harsh than others for IBS, study says – Fox News (drugstoresource.wordpress.com)
- http://www.medicinenet.com/ibs_pictures_slideshow_understanding_ibs/article.htm
- http://www.theibsnetwork.org
Clinical Alimentary 
Just wish to say your article is as amazing. The clearness for your post is just spectacular and i can suppose you’re knowledgeable on this subject. Fine with your permission let me to snatch your RSS feed to keep updated with coming near near post. Thanks a million and please keep up the gratifying work.
Thank you for your positive support, and yes you may use it – I hope I have approved you post correctly – new at this! Have a good day.
Thank you Julie for sharing our IBS Awareness Month ribbon on your blog.
Jeffrey Roberts, Founder
IBS Self Help and Support Group
Hi Jeffrey
Thanks for your response – added link to the ribbon now – was in rather a rush when I added the ribbon, so hopefully people will click + share.
Kind regards
Julie
Thank you, I have recently been looking for info about this subject for a long time and yours is the greatest I’ve came upon till now. However, what concerning the conclusion? Are you sure concerning the supply?|What i do not understood is in fact how you’re no longer actually much more neatly-liked than you may be now. You are very intelligent.
Not sure I fully understand about the conclusion – did you respond to the correct post? If you are wondering about The Care Plan for IBS this is due to be launched later this month and will be available to members of The IBS Network, If you are interested in becoming a member please copy + paste the link for more information.
http://www.theibsnetwork.org
[…] April is International Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness Month (clinicalalimentary.wordpress.com) -35.342499 149.085631 Please feel free to share this:EmailPrintTwitterFacebookTumblrPinterestLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in Odd spot, Personal, Personal travel, Travel and tagged Digestive Disorders, Human gastrointestinal tract, IBS, Intestinal, Irritable bowel syndrome. Bookmark the permalink. […]
Irritable bowel can be also managed by taking in foods that are very high in fiber and also taking lots of fruit juices. ‘*.`; Yours truly vitamins blog site
Hi Kristian thanks for taking the time to comment on my post – advice really depends on individual symptoms and recommending high fibre and lots of fruit juice is not advisable for people who have fructose intolerance and/or bloating and pain. Fructose intolerance can be common in IBS. Fibre increases need to approached carefully with consideration of insoluble/soluble and individual circumstances. My advice in this situation is always to ask for a referral to a dietitian who can provide specific individual advice.
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve visited this website before but after looking at a few of the posts I realized it’s new
to me. Anyhow, I’m certainly delighted I came across it and I’ll be book-marking it and
checking back frequently!