I NEED YOU!
This Saturday, April 1st kicks off National IBS Awareness Month and I am launching a campaign called #IBelieveinyourStory. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness, raise funding for research and support patient care through educational initiatives for patients and healthcare providers.
An International Survey of patients that suffer with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) revealed that IBS patients would be willing to give up to 25% of their remaining life to gain access to treatments that would provide symptom relief. Having IBS is difficult.
IBS and Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth(SIBO) often go hand in hand. Although there has been some strides in research in this area—most patients continue to struggle—and research funding is minimal. This needs to change.
Are you with me?
You can help by starting the dialogue and raise awareness by simply doing the following:
Use the hashtag #IBelieveinyourStory on April 1st, or anytime during the month of April, and beyond on your favorite social media channels: Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, to send a message of hope to those with IBS, share your story or simply retweet/re-post others comments by searching for the hashtag.
Sharing your IBS journey can be therapeutic for you and healing to others. We are all in this together. By, “we” I refer to the dedicated scientists in the lab, the gastroenterologists in the clinic, the dietitian guiding you with a nutritional plan, the spouse that knows how to prepare a meal when you don’t feel up to it, and of course, you. Feel free to share your story in the comment section of this post.
To inspire you, here are a few words you can share via your social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram.) Be sure to include the hashtag #IBelieveinyourStory
- It takes guts to talk about your guts. #IBelieveinyourStory
- Support IBS & SIBO research & make a difference. #IBelieveinyourStory
- For all #IBS patients, I encourage you to find your dream team: GI doctor & dietitian to guide your treatment. #IBelieveinyourStory
- I am grateful for new low #FODMAP certified food products to keep IBS symptoms in control. #IBelieveinyourStory
- To learn more about the #IBelieveinyourStory campaign click here.
To read my story, click here. As my team gathers stories, I will post other stories of hope, inspiration, and courage this month right here on the blog. Stay tuned.
Raise Funds for Research
Research funding for IBS and SIBO is minimal. And treatments for these conditions are not effective for many patients. We clearly need more research! Make a difference by supporting IBS & SIBO research funding. I have partnered with 2 key research centers in this area : Dr. Mark Pimentel’s lab at Cedars-Sinai (SIBO/IBS research) and Dr. William Chey’s work at University of Michigan (IBS/FODMAP research), consider making a donation TODAY! Donate here.
Ariana C
I’m one of those people that has always been embarrassed to talk about my “habits” 🙂 But perhaps I can gather the courage to Tweet out something! Thank you for this blog. I just purchased the 21-Day Tummy book and I’m learning a lot. I have achalasia and I’ve been having motility problems for a long, long time. It stands to reason that perhaps the slowness of my GI tract has created the perfect environment for some bacteria unbalance.
katescarlata
And if you don’t want to talk about your own journey, you can simply tweet out an inspiration message. Use hashtag #IBelieveinyourStory–and I will look for your tweet and retweet it. The social media campaign has gained great traction–and the more that join the better the awareness!
Linda
Five years ago I got a sudden episode of IBS-D, having never been this sick before it was a shock. I spent the next couple of years trying to find relief. I was diagnosed with helicobacter pylori and took anitbiotics, this just made things worse. It was so frustrating. Then I stumbled onto the fodmap friendly diet and thought why not give it a go. I cut out all the things I thought were helping me like garlic! Within days I experienced a day without running to the toilet 6 times. It took awhile with trial and error and slowly I went to every day discomfort to weekly, then every 2 weeks, then monthly. Now I still have my days occasionally but nowhere near like before, it has become manageable and I got my energy and my life back, thanks to a fodmap friendly diet. I did use things like slippery elm, L-glutamine, Olive leaf extract to heal.
Linda M.
My first episode was September 18, 2015. I was at work and all of a sudden I felt a tightening around my waist that that was just like my gall bladder attacks, but I had had my gallbladder removed years ago. I went to the hospital where they told me my pancreas levels were high, and I had had a pancreatitis attack . I was told to go on a low fat diet. To make a long story short, 3 1/2 months later ( I had lost 52 pound on the low fat diet because everything I ate went right through me) I had tests completed (pancreas fine) and was told by my gastroenterologist about the Low Fodmap diet. I have been on this plan for over a year, and the difference it has made to my life is amazing! I am especially excited about the new FodMap products that are available to us now. One good thing that has come out of this, is my weight loss was very noticeable, and people would ask me how I lost weight; in sharing what happened to me I was able to talk with people that had the same problem, however, they did not know about the Low Fodmap diet. I am very thankful for all the advice and help that I have received through this site and others like it. Thank you!
katescarlata
Thanks fro sharing your story, Linda!
Lisa
Hi Kate! I first want to say that you and your website have been my saving grace even though I still have really bad days. I may be to blame for it sometimes tho! I became lactose intolerant sometime after my son was born (which is weird because I ate ice cream constantly during my pregnancy!) and suffer from IBS, probably for most of my life. It’s an embarrassing topic so I pretty much suffered until I couldn’t take it anymore. Of course, by the time I got to see the doctor I was suffering for weeks and that is just the worse feeling in the world. After a trial of some medications, some of which I had to pay out-of-pocket for and are expensive and some testing, I didn’t have celiac (yay) but probably IBS-C. The doctor’s first suggestion was to try staying away from gluten. I did that here and there but not consistently. It’s so hard! At a follow-up office visit, my doctor suggested a Low Fodmap Diet and gave me some literature. Reviewing this diet was so depressing!. What was left to eat? Even some of my favorite fruits and vegetables were on the no-no list Well thank God for the world of Google…I came across your website and was flooded with lots of helpful, easy to read information and recipes (that I also shared with my mom, who has IBS-D). I was determined to really try this diet staying away from both gluten and dairy. Ugh. I found lots of yummy recipes on your website, bought your 21 day book and cleaned out my cabinets. There was way more useful information than my doctor provided. 🙂 I really wish I could afford a trip to your office but your web of info will have to suffice. 🙁 Although it is supposed to be an elimination diet, there are soooo many foods on there that I know are triggers for me that I just pretty much avoid them altogether or, just don’t eat too much of it at once. My biggest issue living GF and dairy free are reading labels (especially that fine print and poorly colored wrappers that make it even harder to read!) AND finding time to cook, bake and/or prepare food to eat. But….if i don’t do it, I will most likely end up eating something I really shouldn’t and then pay for it later. I’ve been following a low Fodmap, GF, dairy free lifestyle for about 3 years now. I still have bad days and sometimes I don’t even know why that’s what is most disturbing. I can wake up feeling fine and then all of the sudden I’m doubled over in pain. Stress doesn’t help my IBS either. I do find that exercise helps (if I’m not too tired by the end of the day) and I just obtained my Reiki Certification to help with the stress too. I hope some day I can feel good every day or maybe just take a pill instead of eating. It is really daunting and depressing to me sometimes. My mom is almost 82 and suffers with IBS-D. I sure hope that is not what I have to look forward to. We all jokingly blame my mother for our tummy troubles! LOL I hope the curse breaks soon! Until then I will continue READING YOUR WEBSITE AND EMAILS 🙂 and sharing my delicious GF, dairy free food and baked goods that amaze people how yummy it tastes…well sometimes it’s just me that thinks it’s “amazing”! Thank you again for a world of information Kate. It has been and continues to be a tremendous help in the GF, dairy free world! {HUGS} Lisa