As I have often mentioned on this blog, people who have taken psychiatric drugs often have gut issues. Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common diagnosis for these phenomena. IBS is basically a garbage pail term after other issues have been ruled out. Sadly and rather ironically gastroenterologists generally have no idea how to help support the health and well-being of the gut when one has this sort of basic and global gut problem.
Sometimes these gut issues predate psych drug use (as it did for me) and sometimes the psych drugs destabilize the gut and body in general and so the drugs are the cause of such issues. In either case it’s common that the use of psych drugs in time will further exacerbate and/or create the problem.
I’ve written extensively about what I’ve done to heal my gut. I cured my IBS completely within about a year and have been symptom free for close to 6 years now.
My IBS cleared up entirely with just intensive probiotic therapy and a somewhat cleaned up diet. (click there for info) I had severe IBS for over 2 decades and now have not had it for about 6 years. I did continue having other significant health problems though even after my IBS completely cleared up…which leads me to think that others might be like that too. The return of good bowel movements alone does not guarantee the return of good health nor necessarily a completely healthy gut.
Later I found that for further and deeper healing I needed to attend to diet even more deeply. I write a lot about what I’ve learned and continue learning about diet, nutrition and getting healthy here: Nutrition and Gut Health
I’m sharing an article and information today from Chris Kresser’s blog, my favorite health care blog. He’s talking about a diet that helps many with IBS. As I often say we all respond to different things and certainly not everyone’s IBS clears up like mine did with just probiotics and enzymes and some rudimentary dietary changes. This information is for those who perhaps have had bigger problems with clearing up IBS symptoms.
FODMAPs: Could common foods be harming your digestive health?
Functional gut disorders such as IBS are affecting one in five Americans, causing abdominal pain, inconsistent or excessive bowel movements, and even psychological symptoms such as anxiety or depression. (1) If you have experienced IBS, you know that these symptoms can be constant, painful, and can have a serious impact on quality of life.
There is a strategy that has recently become more popular; it is a dietary approach that I have seen work well for many of my patients, and that evidence is growing in support of. Known as the Low FODMAP Diet, this method has been demonstrated to reduce functional gut disorder symptoms in approximately 75% of patients. (2) Understanding how FODMAPs affect the gut and knowing how to eliminate them from your diet may be the key to getting your IBS symptoms under control. (continue reading here)
Be sure to read the comment section too where people share their experiences with this diet and other things that have helped them with their IBS.