OT: Irritable Bowel Syndrome

My grandmother was just diagnosed with IBS at 88 years old. Other than the obvious things like digestive enzymes and a good pro-biotic, I'd appreciate any suggestions or protocols. Her Dr. apparently told her to stay away from fresh fruits and vegetables! You've really got to be kidding me. Of course he mentioned nothing about gluten and grains. She went to the ER because she thought she was having a heart attack.

Paradox wrote:My grandmother was just diagnosed with IBS at 88 years old. Other than the obvious things like digestive enzymes and a good pro-biotic, I'd appreciate any suggestions or protocols. Her Dr. apparently told her to stay away from fresh fruits and vegetables! You've really got to be kidding me. Of course he mentioned nothing about gluten and grains. She went to the ER because she thought she was having a heart attack.

Ha - typical Western Medicine doc advice--avoid health giving fruits and vegetables and try to live off of dead food. Sounds like she had a serious case of gas build up. My grandmother, who is 91, stopped eating fruit and veggies because she was having an impossible time digesting them. Sounds like your gram is nearly "out of enzymes." Interesting that you posted this b/c just last week I gave my gram a bottle of broad spectrum enzymes and told her to take a couple when she eats--and to take more if she's going to try to have some salad or fruit. A lot of people have real trouble with carbs, especially veggies, so getting an enzyme blend that is high in amalayse may help and she may need to take more than one cap at meal time--she needs to experiment with just how much enzyme help she needs. She could possibly need some HCL as well, since as we age, our stomachs make less hydrochloric acid and our digestion then becomes less than optimal. Another thing is to reduce meal size by 25% so there's not so much burden at one time on the stomach/pancreas. Then there food combining - a lot of people think that fruit is ok with other foods. It really isn't - fruit interferes with digestion of proteins and should be eaten alone at least one half our before a meal or at the very least 2 hours after a meal (I'd say even more than that, but that's just my opinion). You could do some research on food combining and give her that advice. Then there's the simple advice of just chewing the hell out of her food. Getting that food really chewed up well can help a lot in the digestion process. I think a lot of old people really have trouble masticating their food because of dentures and teeth problems and since when we are chewing our saliva is producing amalayse, if we don't chew enough, we are getting as much of it to help us digest carbs. Going for a walk after a meal is a good idea too--helps the stomach secrete HCL.

Prebiotic- Inulin and FructoOligoSaccharides from Beneo..

http://www.iherb.com/Jarrow-Formulas-InulinFos-180-g-Powder/15533?at=0

My ex-girlfriend went into remission with that stuff. Don't forget a good probiotic..Garden of life is one of the best.

JosephineMarie,

Thank you for that great advice. I passed on some of the tips and placed an order for thses enzymes. I also got her some pregnenolone and 7-keto dhea for her mood. Dr. Mercola recommends psyllium husk so I got some of that. I have no idea what it tastes like so hopefully she will take it.

squeegee,

Unfortunately I already placed the order but I'll keep the inulin in mind for next time. I'm trying not to overwhelm her with too many supplements. Although in retrospect I could have substituted it for the psyllium husk?

My Grandma started the inulin and psyllium and she's having really bad gas. What should I advise her to do? I've read this can happen with both these things.

http://www.immortalhair.org/apps/blog/show/2827361-fiber-fraud

"Acacia gum (Acacia Senegal). Acacia gum is a soluble food source type of fiber, and in fact, is considered to be medical food for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)"

http://www.iherb.com/Heather-s-Tummy-Care-Tummy-Fibers-Acacia-Fiber-Organic-16-oz-453-g/16507?at=0

Thanks CS,

Unfortunately she was really overwhelmed with the amount of supplements I've gotten for her, and there's no way to add anything else just yet without risking complete non-compliance.

I'd mainly like to know what I should do about the psyllium and inulin supps she's just started. Should I tell her to stop one or both? Is it only temporary incrase in gas? I don't think she drinks enough water which is required with psyllium and she says her BM's are even less frequent now.

Paradox - X out the Psyllium.