By Olivia Cross


Irritable bowel syndrome can be debilitating for sufferers who often experience a large reduction in their quality of life. Having chronic diarrhea for example, restricts a person's freedom and often means they miss work and important events because they just cannot leave the house. Research is pointing to the gut bacteria as the underlying cause so taking probiotics for IBS can be successful in restoring a normal life.

Getting diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome can be upsetting and confusing. It is not really a diagnosis, more a description of a set of symptoms and this can seem unhelpful. The main ones are constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas and cramps. They can be debilitating and cause you to have to stay home.

Many scientists are now carrying out studies to try to figure out what is going on and there are some promising results. Allergies to food have been shown to cause some of the symptoms so getting an allergy test or cutting out certain food groups can be effective. Gut flora is also now thought to play a major role in IBS.

The second area for hope is probiotic treatments. Our gut contains large numbers of bacteria which help digest our food. There are around five hundred different types so this is a complicated area of research. It would seem that if there are too many or too few of a certain one that all sorts of health problems can arise, IBS being on of them.

If you decide to try probiotics then you may need to experiment with different strains of bacteria. Fortunately these are natural products and so do not have side effects and it is safe to try different ones. Make sure to take a reputable brand as not all probiotics are created equally.

The best place to start is by trying the most effective one for the type of IBS that you have. IBS-D is when you suffer from chronic diarrhea and this is the most prevalent symptom. In this case you should try taking a probiotic called Saccharomyces Boulardii. It has been found to have excellent results in treating many kinds of diarrhea and is prescribed in hospitals.

When constipation is the overriding problem then there is a probiotic called Bifidobacterium Lactis to take. Many try this along with a fibre supplement and have decent results. Constipation is not only extremely uncomfortable it is injurious to long term health. Some IBS patients have alternating symptoms and find that constipation can quickly switch to diarrhea. In this case they should try both of the probiotics or a general daily dose.

Many people who suffer from Irritable bowel syndrome are not getting relief using probiotics. Unfortunately the same things do not work for everyone as there seem to be lots of different underlying causes to this illness. The important thing is to stay positive and not give up. If allergy testing and probiotics do not work then ask your doctor about a test for bacteria overgrowth. There are also digestive enzymes which you can take with food to help your digestive system cope with meals.




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