The Sensitive Gut

Understanding IBS

Do doctors not care or do their patients want too much? A mismatch of attachment needs.

Doctors have not got a good press in managing patients with IBS. In a recent conference organised by The IBS Network, Professor Peter Whorwell reported that most doctors are not … Continue reading

May 9, 2018 · Leave a comment

Healing: observing, listening and ‘a laying on of hands’.

 Some of my encounters with patients are so shocking that they remain etched on my mind as lessons that have altered the way I practice. It was 1994 and I was … Continue reading

August 14, 2017 · 2 Comments

Oh I wish I’d looked after me teeth!

Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth, And spotted the dangers beneath All the toffees I chewed, And the sweet sticky food. Oh, I wish I’d looked after me … Continue reading

July 12, 2017 · Leave a comment

Are Universities a toxic environment or are we all just overreacting?

More people are ill than ever before, so we are led to believe.  About 40% report they have a long term illness, but this statistic does not just represent the … Continue reading

December 19, 2016 · Leave a comment

Motivational Interviewing; a change of attitude.

So many people with IBS complain that their doctor never listens to them. This is not just because the doctor does not have enough time or they engage with the … Continue reading

November 28, 2016 · 1 Comment

In Hertfordshire, IBS hardly merits follow up.

Recently, Robin Whittaker, one of the members of The IBS Network, told us of a letter he wrote to the Herts Valley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).  In it, he queried … Continue reading

October 16, 2016 · 3 Comments

Being aware of what is happening: the mindful route to IBS relief.

Mindfulness is not some new age religion. We don’t have to sitting cross-legged on cushions in a darkened room with candles and incense sticks and chant mantras.  Mindfulness can be … Continue reading

September 6, 2016 · 6 Comments

So why do we feel ill?

The post I wrote last week, ‘Stuck, when your bowels rule your life’, raised a bit of a storm.  Several people wrote into Facebook to assert how much worse Crohn’s … Continue reading

August 20, 2016 · 2 Comments

Suicide caused by IBS, but did the system let her down?

  On the 5th March, 2013, The Southern Daily Echo, based in Southampton reported the inquest on a 25-year-old Hampshire woman, who committed suicide after struggling to overcome irritable bowel … Continue reading

May 7, 2016 · 18 Comments

It may be shocking, but does your doctor understand your IBS?

Sam Bearfoot, who blogs and broadcasts on UK Health Radio as The Digestion Detective, wrote last week to say how much she enjoyed The IBS Network’s 25th Anniversary Event, ‘IBS, … Continue reading

May 1, 2016 · 1 Comment

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