4 medical professionals reveal how they manage their IBS – and the advice to avoid
Irritable bowel syndrome is a debilitating condition, suffered by approximately one in 20 Brits, that affects all areas of a person’s life, from work to dating.
Unfortunately, when someone gets a diagnosis of IBS, treatment isn’t as simple as medication.
It requires a life-long commitment to routine habits, which can take months or even years for an individual to figure out.
What works will vary from person to person, as will the foods to avoid.
However, all experts interviewed by The Sun agreed the following habits were integral to their life:
- Drinking at least two litres of water per day
- Managing stress, a key trigger for IBS. This may be with exercise, reading a book, or taking work breaks throughout the day
- Limiting alcohol
- Eating regularly throughout the day and never skipping meals or getting too hungry
- Using probiotics and prebiotics (either supplements or with the diet) to support gut health
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Here, medical professionals reveal what they have found works for their individual symptoms…
1. Dr Sunni Patel
, a gut health doctor based in London, has moderate to severe IBS, typically causing bloating that can give a “pregnant appearance”, painful abdominal cramping and up to 15 toilet trips a day.
He said: “On the days I have a flare-up, it impacts my energy, concentration, work, activities and being able to commit to other people.
“There is no cure for IBS but you find tools to control it as best as you can. The approach is very different for everyone.”
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Regular habits
As well as following the tips listed above, Dr Patel, who created , said he focuses on:
- Getting enough sleep (six to eight hours a night) and winding down before bed
- Keeping as active as possible (15-30 minutes a day)
- Getting regular hypnotherapy to help support mental wellbeing
- Avoiding trigger foods, which for him are typically spicy, fried, or processed, refined sugars, refined carbs and too much alcohol
- Avoiding tight clothing which can be uncomfortable if a sudden flare hits
- Keeping an emergency kit with him to relieve symptoms if they are too hard to bear. This includes a hot water bottle, cold water to limit spasms, peppermint tea to help with bloating and a hypnotherapy recording to de-stress
Dr Patel’s main tips for those with IBS is to keep a food and symptom diary every day, always eat brightly coloured fruit and vegetables to ensure no deficiencies arise, and add sources of probiotics and prebiotics to your diet to support gut health.
He said: “Foods like oats, bananas and artichokes are rich in prebiotics and resistant starch.”
Advice to avoid
Dr Patel warned against treatments that are extreme or not scientifically proven, including colonics, which cause more harm than good, diets and detox or “cure” plans that “tend to have a placebo/psychosomatic effect rather than a true clinical effect”.
He said cutting out foods such as fibre “in the fear it will trigger the bloating can ultimately lead to deficiencies and poor gut health, which leads to a vicious cycle of worsening IBS”.
2. Dr Rhona Eskander
, a high profile dentist, said on some days, her IBS symptoms have been so severe she can’t get out of bed, with a lack of energy and low mood.
She said: “I have symptoms every day. Mild days are bloating and on severe days I have acid reflux and my tummy expands to twice its size.
“I've suffered silently with IBS since I was around ten years old.”
Regular habits
Dr Rhona, who received tailored advice from Dr Patel, said her regular habits include:
- Glutamine (amino acid found in supplement or sachet form) in water to support the gut lining
- Eating a FODMAP-lite diet while exploring trigger foods
- Minimising fizzy drinks and chewing gum to reduce bloating
- Not eating after 9pm
- Setting a routine around her menstruation cycle as her IBS worsens at certain times of the month
Advice to avoid
Dr Rhona said it’s not worthwhile to cut out healthy fruit.
She said: “I had to remove processed sugars initially, but slowly brought natural alternatives back.”
3. Sandra Mikhail
, a dietitian and author of The Gut Chronicles, says when her IBS peaked in 2010, it “took over every aspect of my life”.
She said: “My symptoms could only be described as an abdominal roller-coaster: stomach pain then diarrhoea for a few days followed by no intestinal movement whatsoever.
“Everything I ate seemed to go straight through me or create the perfect pregnancy illusion.
“I even developed a fear of pain, which is a topic not so many sufferers openly discuss, and have experienced panic attacks.”
Regular habits
Sandra, whose flare ups now last “just a few hours”, said she:
- Has dinner three to four hours before bedtime
- Has one hour of tech-free time before bed and sleeps at the same time every night
- Does diaphragmatic breathing and meditation, which help manage abdominal cramps or pain
- Does 15 minutes of daily movement
- Takes a day off for herself every week
- Ensures she consumes 30 plant foods per week
- Sees a therapist once per month
- Avoids coffee, which triggers diarrhoea. However, she is able to tolerate weak black tea.
- Avoids sugar alcohols (i.e. sweeteners that end in -ol) as they exacerbate bloating and diarrhoea
Advice to avoid
Sandra said a fear of food can develop if a person uses an elimination diet, such as FODMAP, for too long.
She also advised against eliminating high-fibre foods and using the wrong probiotics, adding: “Clinical research studies are showing the benefit of using specific probiotic strains to manage the most common symptoms of IBS.
“For example, Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12, which improves bowel movement regularity, stool consistency and overall IBS symptoms.”
4. Lisa Fearon
, a health and wellbeing coach based in London, found her IBS was triggered when she returned to the NHS during the Covid pandemic.
The anaesthetic and surgical specialist said: “It was intense and at times, highly stressful.
“Working through breaks, rushing through meals and pushing through long shifts relying on coffee all contributed to me developing IBS.
“As well as constant bloating, I was fluctuating between having constipation and diarrhoea and having bouts of extreme cramps.
“I used to struggle with maintaining focus with a ‘foggy head’ on a daily basis.”
Regular habits
Lisa said hers include:
- No longer eating wheat, gluten, dairy and refined sugar after realising they contribute to her bloating
- On waking, she drinks a pint of water.
- Doing ten minutes of Tibetan yoga/stretches to wake her body up and get the blood circulation going, followed by meditation for up to 20 minutes, repeated in the afternoon.
- Practising gratitude (the Miracle Morning routine by Hal Erod) and visualising how she wants her day to go and future goals. Starting her day like this has had a huge positive impact on her life
- Throughout the day she takes regular breaks, makes sure to get fresh air and if possible, she has a walk in nature.
Lisa said: “It took me quite a while to figure out that it wasn’t just diet changes alone that was needed to overcome IBS symptoms - it requires such a mutli-faceted approach.
“There is now evidence that .
“I would strongly recommend anyone struggling with symptoms to give this a try. But meditation has amazing results too.”
Lisa also has fibromyalgia and endometriosis, and said: “Both conditions are strongly linked to IBS, and all three share inflammation.
“I take natural supplements for inflammation daily - such as curcumin, ginger, omega 3 fatty acids, and green tea - and I follow an anti-inflammatory diet.”
Lisa stressed the importance of working out your trigger foods.
She said: “Raw beetroot and spinach (in a juice) flared up my fibromyalgia pain straight away.
“So that’s the thing, you could be eating a really healthy diet like I was, and that could be the actual problem!”
Advice to avoid
Lisa said: “At one point I had stomach pain so bad, I was prescribed Omeprazole - this treats indigestion and heartburn.
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“Unfortunately, I hear of a lot of people stuck on this medication and it really isn’t safe to be taken for prolonged periods of time.
“If you have been taking this medication for longer than a month, you really should be seeking further advice.”