Irritable bowel is a condition that is usually diagnosed in the absence of any clinical findings.

Generally there is a combination of any or all of the following symptoms: loose bowels or loose bowels alternating with constipation, bowel spasms, bloating, wind & grumbling.

When we treat irritable bowel it is important to check for any medical condition & do a blood test to check for Coeliac disease. Coeliac is a condition where some people are highly allergic to gluten. Gluten is a protein which is in wheat (main source), rye (medium amounts), oats & barley (small amounts).

If Coeliac is not the problem then next we need to identify the history of the problem. Sometimes there has been a history of digestive problems ever since having a dose of antibiotics or a stomach bug. If this is the case we treat with our liquid Probiotic formula to replace all the beneficial bowel bacteria which has been disrupted. Our patient in the ‘Happy Patient File’ can attest to how useful this is. This formula is a pleasant tasting fermented drink which contains over one hundred beneficial bacteria that belong in the bowel, including the most commonly known acidophilus & bifidus bacteria.

If the history is more of a long term problem, not related to antibiotic use then we treat our patient as having an irritable bowel & the most important thing is to do our hair allergy test. You may have read in our previous newsletter about our hair allergy test. The test includes a long list of foods, additives & environmental irritants. This involves a temporary elimination of the foods & additives that test positive, followed by adding these foods back with a decreased frequency. It is important to have probiotics each time you have antibiotics to prevent digestive problems & thrush.