Anastasia - Irritable bowel : Irritable me
‘Between 20-25% of the population report symptoms of IBS at some point in their lives...and between 10% and 15% (ie. 6-9 million) are diagnosed with IBS’ IBS Centre UK.
My stomach and I have not always seen eye to eye. Despite my many attempts to coax it into submission, it has rejected various foods that I have ingested and subsequently made me pay for it. Onion and garlic are two foods in particular that have been violently expelled by my bowels, in more ways than one! Gaseous was an understatement. My mother always used to say I took after my father’s side of the family with my frequent unlady-like belching, my foul wind and constant complaints of stomach pains. Glad to know I inherited such great genes! Growing up, I often recall my father complaining about his acidic stomach. Little did he know that the 8 Greek coffees (super-strong espresso shots) he gulped every day were not helping! In fact, it was only when our doctor recommended he quit the caffeine, that his symptoms subsided.
In 2008, I was lucky enough to be offered a great work opportunity in Cyprus. This meant uprooting from my family home in Reading and moving over 2000 miles away to live in a lovely flat overlooking the sea. This was not my first time in Cyprus as i’d spent previous summers there and also spent 2 years studying for my HND. As my family are originally from there, I quickly settled in, made new friends and and found my second home - the gym.
It was around this time that I began experiencing my first serious signs of IBS. Work was enjoyable yet busy and I often didn’t eat as well as I should have. I also discovered a new found love of coffee, which kept me going through the day. I was determined not to follow suit with the stereotypical image of desk-bound office workers, surviving on a diet of doughnuts, caffeine and cigarettes! Therefore, I made it my mission to hit the gym every evening after work, ignoring the feeling of hunger I had from not eating enough during the workday. Essentially, I was starving myself for over 5 hours. By the time I’d returned home from the gym, my body was in starvation mode and crying out for food. I tried to eat as healthily as possible, which in my eyes consisted of a large bowl of salad and maybe a few rice cakes, but this was obviously not enough.
I began suffering from constipation. My stomach would blow up like a balloon and I would be uncomfortable for days. At times, I also suffered from uncontrollable bouts of diarrhea and severe stomach pains. I was worried and decided to make an appointment to see the doctor. I was diagnosed with IBS and I was recommended to keep a food diary to identify trigger foods that may have been causing it. I was also prescribed some pills to help, however I was warned that the pills were not a guarantee and that there was no known cure for IBS. This did not sound promising.
Although I did feel a slight improvement in my symptoms, my irritable bowel once again reared it’s ugly head. I could not pinpoint which foods were causing it as it seemed that everything I ate triggered some kind of physical pain. I was either severely bloated or running to the loo every 15 minutes. At one point, my parents were so concerned with my ever growing stomach that they took me to the hospital. After spending a good hour in the emergency waiting room watching all manner of the walking wounded limping in, I was finally able to see a doctor. After taking an x-ray, she firmly concluded that I was ‘backlogged’ and recommended a home-kit enema! Shoving a pipe up my backside was not exactly what I had in mind! I was mortified and also extremely frustrated. Why was this happening? Why couldn’t the doctors cure me?
As time progressed, I became more cautious with what I was eating, afraid that it would set off another spasm or render me completely incapacitated. This in turn, exacerbated my symptoms. It was a vicious cycle. I re-visited my doctor on numerous occasions and I was given a different brand of pills to try every time. I undertook a colonoscopy because I’d read on the Internet that my symptoms may be disguising a more deadly disease such as bowel cancer. Thankfully I was given the all-clear, however a small part of me wanted them to find something, anything that would explain what I’d been experiencing thus far.
I was forced to take sick days off work and I was both stressed and depressed. I had good and bad food days. On the good days, I’d try to eat as healthily as possible but on the bad days, I turned to food for comfort. Crisps, chocolate and pastries were high on the list. Looking back, I think my body was constantly hungry because I was not fuelling it correctly. I had bingeing episodes, where I would eat 3 bowls of cereal and feel physically sick to the point where I had to make myself sick to feel better. I would then feel guilty and not eat the following day. This continued for a while and I hated myself for it.
I realised that I’d gained weight when my size 12 jeans were becoming snug. Visiting the UK that Christmas, my mother commented on my weight gain. Whereas other family members said I looked ‘healthy,’ I just didn’t feel like me. I felt bloated, sluggish and lethargic. I was determined to go back and lose the weight. I subsequently embarked on a strict diet regime when I returned, which basically consisted of eating very little and working out a lot. Mission accomplished, I dropped down to a slender size 10. Meanwhile, my IBS was raging. My tummy was not happy.
In 2010, I returned to the UK. Moving back home with the parents was a mild shock, to say the least. I seemed to revert back to my teenage self, stomping around refusing to tidy my bedroom. It was a stressful period, I was helping out in the family business whilst looking for work and adjusting to life back in Blighty. I met my partner Christopher in 2011, and the rest is history as they say. Although we were both keen gym-goers, we had very relaxed eating habits back then. I remember stocking up on Haribo sweets, Peanut Puffs and Revels for film nights in. Very naughty.
We eventually moved in together and both got into weights more seriously and in turn cleaned up our diets. I had never eaten breakfast before in my life but Christopher explained how important a meal it was and I slowly introduced myself to it. I now eat up to 7 meals a day which include as much real food as possible, i.e meats like chicken, steak and fish with brown rice or sweet potato and vegetables. I also drink a protein shake post-workout and a Casein shake before bed. I make sure that I eat every 2.5 to 3 hours to keep my metabolism ticking over. In addition, I drink up to 4 litres of water a day when previously I would only get through 1 litre.
Initially, even the thought of consuming so much food and drink in one day made me literally sick to the stomach but as time went on, it got easier. I noticed that my bowel movements were becoming more regular and I was no longer constipated. My bloating and stomach spasms slowly diminished. I think that the fact that I was less stressed also played a large part in my healing.
This was a revelation to me. Not only did I have more energy - my metabolism seemed to be in overdrive, but I was eating twice as much and getting leaner. I’d never seen my body so tight and toned before. Although my IBS had definitely calmed down, I knew that it was lying dormant, waiting for the next bout of stress or particular type of food to bring it angrily to the surface. This occurred recently when I let stress get the better of me at work. It wasn’t particularly fun trying to explain why i needed to keep running to the ladies every half an hour! At present, I try to keep my IBS under control by taking a good probiotic every day. I highly recommend Holland & Barratt’s ‘Ultra Maximum Probiotic Acidophilus Capsules’. They definitely do the trick in keeping me regular and keeping my gut healthy. I’m also a big fan of Yoga and Body Balance classes. Not only do they keep you flexible, especially after a heavy weights session, but they are great for calming your mind and releasing stress. Moreover, there are specific poses in Yoga that are known to aid your digestion. I have included an example of a yoga sequence below:
I do allow myself a cheat meal every week, however I am careful with the foods I select and also portion size. I have had incidents where I’ve just splurged and my stomach has not thanked me for it. My current obsession is Pizza Express’s ‘Light Pollo Picante Pizza’. I also love Marks and Spencer’s Double Choc Chip cookies.
These days, I feel like I’ve got my eating habits under control. I don’t binge and I don’t starve myself. I understand that everyone is different and what works for one person, may not necessarily work for another, however, I truly believe that eating cleanly and controlling one’s stress levels can really help IBS.
For all of my fellow IBS sufferers out there, a little lighthearted humour.
