I recently wrote an article called "Top 10 Stupid Things Said to IBS Sufferers, Plus the Reasons Why They're So Dumb" - stuff like "It's all in your head" and "Stop thinking about it and it will go away".
I had a very good response from IBS sufferers who could identify with the stupid comments, and the IBS Network have published some of the responses in their latest newsletter. One sufferer said "Hurrah for Sophie! Give her a medal and make everybody read her article!" So that was great, but there was also a comment from a doctor (Boo! Hiss! No, just kidding) who said:
"I read with interest Sophie's article. She seems to be a very angry lady and I feel that hypnotherapy may be of help for her to work through and release those pent-up emotions as they could be affecting her gut problems."
Leaving aside the question of how "pent-up" my emotions are if I've just written a two-page article about them in a national newsletter, this reminded me that I need to add a number 11 to my Top 10 list - the fact that IBS sufferers are not allowed to express any kind of strong emotion without being told that that very emotion is the cause of their problems, not the result.
I am not afraid to admit that I'm angry about having IBS for 16 years, but I certainly wasn't angry 16 years ago - I was the least angry person you could possibly imagine. In fact it took years and years of hard, straining pain to get me this annoyed. So there's no chicken and egg question here: the IBS definitely came long before the anger.
Anyone who has had to go through prolonged physical pain should be allowed to be angry without doctors then trying to blame the physical pain on the anger itself. If a doctor gets angry about something he is expressing his genuine feelings of frustration; if an IBS sufferer gets angry it is apparently just a cause and symptom of IBS. That's just not right.
I think it's also fair to say that any IBS sufferer who writes an article for the IBS Network should be able to do so without receiving unsolicited medical advice from someone she's never met...
I'm sorry, I'm getting angry. I'll go and have a nice lie down. That'll clear the IBS right up.
I hope that you could address that doctor back directly as well with your comments? I find I have the same sort of reaction from lay people because I am a vegetarian - it must be that that causes it - Its very hard to disagree when you dont have something definate to go back to them with eg "no its clinically proven that its blah that is the main cause not stress/pizza/Lack of meat".
Its comments like that which make it so difficult to go to the doctor in the first place.If it was as easy as that would we not be queued out of the door of the nearest clinic.
Elaine
Hi, I'm a senior in high school. I'm doing a research project on IBS to raise awareness. When I came across this site I was excited to see a group of people who suffer from IBS coming together to discuss it's symptoms. Is there anything key anybody could suggest I use in my research that I might not be able to find elsewhere on the Internet? I will make sure to cite any knowledge given by you. I would greatly appreciate any information. Thanks.
Zoe - I'm writing a letter to the IBS Network at the moment - I'm just trying to make sure that it doesn't sound too angry! Honestly, you can't win at this - if I sound angry about the fact that he has made assumptions about me being angry then I'll just prove his point...and that's what the letter is about, the great IBS Catch-22...I'll post the full letter here once I've finished it.
Hi Andrew - that's great that you're doing your project on IBS. Can you be a bit more specific about what kind of info you're looking for?
It amazes me that doctors in this day and age can lack compassion and have such bad bedside manners. I had a terrible episode of pain in the mid sternal area this past December that landed me at the doc's office. I said I believe it was triggered by my getting off my toileting schedule (I go on Saturday's)it had been 11 days. She obviously didn't believe me - said it was GERD, heart - pericarditis, etc. In Feb she did finally send me to a GI doc (I was finally getting to see one after wanting to for 5 years), who said "don't wear tight pants (I have none as I had lost 15 lbs)take metamucil (I had told him this just sets up in my gut like concrete) because,get this, nobody in America eats enough fiber." ??? And I paid for this advise? Finally went to a new doc because my boss was worried about me and in effect told me to. He said we'll do tests to rule out any pathology, but I think it is IBS. And prescribed Zelnorm. Some doc's are great but the ones who aren't... Perhaps if they ever experienced the pain/embarrassment/worry that is involved with this, they wouldn't be so quick to say it's all in your head. I've been suffering with IBS constipation since I was 4 years old. How can it be all in my head at the age of 4?