Gut directed therapy has been developed by Peter Whorwell at Manchester University.

In hypnosis, you are very sensitive to subtle suggestion. Try this: say red lorry, yellow lorry to yourself  a couple of times, silently. What was going on in your mouth? Just thinking something causes a tendency to action. So if you think about your poor painful gut as being cool and smooth and comfortable, in hypnosis, you will learn to make the mind-gut link and as a result, you will be able to control the symptoms.

It may surprise you to know that there is lots of academic research showing that hypnotherapy is very successful with IBS, and as a result, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends it.

IBS is a common disorder, with about 15% of people getting it at some time or other. It is the most common gastrointestinal problem and is more common in women. The difficulty for doctors is that there are no obvious physical causes. IBS has lots of symptoms (bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gut pain, headache, backache, chest pains etc etc) and probably therefore lots of causes. Hypnosis has been shown to be effective, and the lead researcher in this area is Dr Peter Whorwell of Manchester South University Hospital.

The standard medical treatment is reassurance, an explanation of symptoms, antispasmodic drugs and bulking agents. This helps the majority of sufferers, but long-term follow-up shows that about a third are still troubled by their symptoms.

NICE recommends the use of hypnosis for refractory IBS - that is, where other treatments have failed.

So if you are suffering with diagnosed IBS, try hypnotherapy, as it has shown to be effective.

Bran is good for managing constipation,but not all bran is good for IBS, according to research carried out by Peter Whorwell, Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology at Manchester University School of Medicine. He is the world expert on treating IBS with hypnosis, where he achieves a 70% success rate.

The bran which has been shown to work is soluble bran, such as Psyllium husk. If you suffer from IBS you could try Psyllium husk. Take a capsule a day till the bottle is empty, and see if that helps. You could take Aloe Vera capsules at the same time if you like. Post me a comment to let me know if this worked.

If not, try hypnotherapy. Here is a link to a BBC report.

Current national guidelines about IBS include the following points about diet which may help to minimise symptoms:

• Have regular meals and take time to eat at a leisurely pace.
• Avoid missing meals or leaving long gaps between eating.
• Drink at least eight cups of fluid per day, especially water or other non-caffeinated drinks such as herbal teas. This helps to keep the faeces (stools) soft and easy to pass along the gut.
• Restrict tea and coffee to three cups per day (as caffeine may be a factor in some people).
• Restrict the amount of fizzy drinks to a minimum (in my view this is 0).
• Don’t drink too much alcohol. (Some people report an improvement in symptoms when they cut down from drinking a lot of alcohol, or stop smoking if they smoke.)
• Consider limiting intake of high-fibre food  but psyllium husk is a good fibre to use – you can buy this from health food shops
• Limit fresh fruit to three portions (of 80 g each) per day.
• If you have diarrhoea, avoid sorbitol, an artificial sweetener found in sugar-free sweets (including chewing gum) and drinks, and in some diabetic and slimming products.
• If you have a lot of wind and bloating consider increasing intake of oats (for example, oat-based breakfast cereal or porridge) and linseeds (up to one tablespoon per day). You can buy linseeds from healthfood shops or Asian supermarkets).
• Try hypnosis to get control of your gut. Your mind can control your voluntary muscles as you know. But it can also control your involuntary muscles too. Professor Peter Whorwell of Manchester University is the world expert of gut-focused hypnotherapy, and I follow his treatment protocol. Surgeons who use hypnosis find that their patients can limit the amount of blood flowing through the veins and capillaries and thus reduce the level of post-operative bleeding. Your mind is a wonderful tool!

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