Irritable Bowel & Acid Reflux

Please be aware I am not giving you medical advice. I am not a physician nor do I claim to be. This article is a testimony of what works for me.

IBS & Reflux

I was diagnosed with IBS 17 years ago. I was as tight as a drum and had a mostly nervous energy. My symptoms were spasms in my colon, and back spasms that pinched the sciatic nerve sending terrible pain down my leg. I was a meat and potatoes kind of guy, loving milk gray and biscuits. I loved heavy foods like country fried chicken for example.

My work habits were start early, stopping only when you could not see cause it was dark. I worked hard and ate when I could. When I did eat, I would eat huge meals, once or twice a day. I was never consistent with bowel movements, and when I would b.m. I would be dealing with diamond shaped feces. I was losing weight. I would eat so much my stomach would get upset and then reflux would start in.

Acid would rise up to my throat and burn. I could not bend over for fear of acid taste in my mouth. I was always hungry but never wanted to eat because of the acid indigestion.

The Doctor’s answer was prescription medicine the rest of my life, manage stress and change my diet.

Relief

Forget the medicine, no way , not for me. I refuse to take something that does not solve the problem. So, with many years of trial and error I found a good combination that has worked for me. I have filled out, after gaining 30 lbs over several years, my wife says I look better then I ever have. I even walk more upright then before.

I did not realize I walked with a bit of a bend because my stomach would hurt if I strained up. The secret was in my eating habits, what I ate, how much and when. If you are looking for something that is easy and quick without altering your lifestyle, click the red X now. This is work and it took a lot of getting used to.

What I Did

Stress is a killer, I had to learn to shut my brain down. I would say this has been and still at times is the hardest thing for me. I think to much and analyze everything. I had to come to grips with myself, I had to stop thinking so much. The mind was not meant to revolve round and round with things out of your control. I finally just made myself not think so much and took rest from thinking. I can’t solve the worlds problems, work problems or your problems.

Trying to be a fixer was killing me. I was digesting myself one thought at a time. So the first thing I had to do was shut my brain down. This took a few years to do. I still at times begin to ratchet up my thought process with concern. I still at times see more wrong then is right, I am not perfect by any means. This was the hardest thing for me to accomplish. It has took many years for me to train myself to think less, and see positive.

I am hear to tell you if you are reading this article because you have IBS, you think to much and are way to tight. There are so many things I had to let go of instead of investing mental energy to try and fix. Mental training starts out by simply thinking about what you can control. This is a rule. The rule I had to commit myself to:

Deny thoughts that cause me to invest huge amounts of mental energy and time in things I can’t control.

When I began to really work hard at keeping the rule, it brought me to a calm disposition. When I calmed, my breathing would slow, my heart rate would slow, and suddenly I would be outside the rat race and wonder why everyone was running crazy all around me. Then I realized I was one of those people and it was killing me one thought at a time. It took me several years to train myself , so don’t expect to become an overnight success.

Eating habits

I thought training my brain was hard but completely changing how, when and what I ate was and still is at times my life’s challenge. Please bear in mind that the changes I have taken were stepped over 20 years, I did not make a ton of rules and change everything at one time. I slowly steeped myself to today. I had to get away from “heavy foods” , fried foods mainly. My wife broiled meat instead of frying it. Over time I began to incorporate less meat and more fruits and vegetables.

No Heavy Foods, More Fruits And Vegetables

I still had a bad habit of eating once to twice a day. Those meals would be huge, filling me up and then some. The body was not designed to eat this way I guess, because for some reason my gut would over produce acid and I would pay for every bite I ate. My wife got me convinced to try eating smaller portions more often. Instead of eating 1-2 huge meals a day , eat 4-5 small meals.

I had to adapt a kind of “grazing” attitude about eating. I remember the first time she set a dinner plate in front of me with less then half of what I was used to eating….I told her she was nuts. Every 4-5 hours I eat a small helping of something. Instead of having two egg sandwiches at breakfast with bacon, toast and juice. I have one sandwich and some fresh fruit, with the understanding that I would be eating again in a few hours.

Smaller Portions More Often, “Graze”

This took a lot of getting used to. I am now at a place that I eat small potions even when my wife is not watching me. I find yogurt, fruit, nuts and grains to be very satisfying. The last big giant to kill was eating at night. I had to to come to agreement that I would not eat meals after 8 Pm. I may eat half a pear now , not like eating a fully loaded hamburger.

The combination of eating less portions more frequently was the clincher to get ride of over acid production. When I changed how much and how often I ate the acid just stopped bothering me. It took less then a month for me to notice a huge difference. No more upset stomach or acid reflux.

Balance

Now and then I take enjoyment in eating more then should or the occasional loaded hamburger. Sometimes I even have heavy foods. I heard an old Rabbi say “ The key to life in moderation” . Fact is once I got my eating habits under control I rewarded myself now and then with a big meal. That is O.K. , as long as I don’t continue in that kind of behavior creating habit. I still take life in steps and am more healthy, happy and less stressed then I ever have been. Over all it has been a long challenging journey. I am of hopes this may have a few things you can incorporate to your daily life.

My Secret

I wanted a quick fix outside of pills, that in non-existent. The body creates habits according to our daily programming. The secret for me was to change my programming through small incremental steps. These steps slowly reconditioned my body. I produce less acid, and because of smaller portions digestion is much easier.

The mental training and shutting down the revolving door in my mind was very hard. At times I still crank up the factory of stress and helpless thoughts. The fact is I don’t live like I used to. I don’t fret and cause strife with in my self any more. I feel great and have a good future ahead of me.