How do I get rid of IBS cramps?
Whilst taking peppermint oil, herbal teas or cutting certain food groups can often help mask some of the symptoms of IBS cramps and therefore help in the short-term, to really manage IBS cramps you need to consider the symptoms. Targeting the underlying causes such as constipation, diarrhoea, stress or dysbiosis could help to eradicate IBS cramps.
How can you manage IBS cramps for good?
I talk a lot about how the symptoms of IBS can be quite individual. This is why if you search online, for example, it can be quite hard to determine the exact cause of your symptoms, and therefore the best course of treatment, because it can be so individual to you.
However, in saying that, there is often quite a lot of overlap in some of the common symptoms. And I would say that the IBS cramps can be one of the most common and debilitating symptoms that there is. So, this is one that I want to talk about today.
As always, we're talking about this in light of treating the symptom, rather than just masking the symptom with remedies or anything, I want to try and really drill down into some of the main root causes and that can help to tailor the treatment. Therefore, my top tips for getting rid of IBS cramps are as follows:
1. Manage constipation
Constipation is a common symptom underlying in many cases of IBS, and it can, in many cases, give rise to uncomfortable symptoms such as cramps. The state of constipation means that you aren't going to the toilet as regularly as we would like. Therefore, there's excess waste building up in the gut that can become quite hard, quite compacted, this can then stretch the gut wall and trigger off pain receptors and that can give rise to this cramping sensation.
There's also the idea that, in some people with IBS, their pain sensitivity might be heightened as well. So that could potentially be another factor.
Now, to help manage this symptom, there are lots of diet and lifestyle tips that you can do to manage constipation. Simple tips like drinking enough water, but separate from your meals so that we're helping to keep our stomach acid lovely and strong. This is really, really crucial for supporting those initial stages of digestion, and then, in turn, this will then support the digestion further down into the small and large intestine too.
Bitter herbs are one other way that you can really help to support the stomach, and therefore, help with those symptoms of constipation further along. When I mentioned the pain sensitivity, magnesium would be one to prioritise and add as a supplement into your diet to ensure that you're getting enough, as a deficiency in this mineral can be linked to this symptom. Click here to drill into managing constipation in more detail.
2. Target diarrhoea
In many cases, if the cramps are relieved by going to the loo (a common characteristic), then diarrhoea may be at the root of the cause.
Interestingly, in many cases of diarrhoea, especially if you've got alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhoea, constipation would actually be the first place to start, because we can often get diarrhoea as a result of a kind of secondary reaction to constipation. So, a kind of overflow reaction if the gut is actually quite slow-moving and quite full.
So firstly, when it comes to symptoms of diarrhoea, you should consider if constipation is also there and manage that first, as above, and if not, we can think a little bit more about the diarrhoea itself.
Again, this state of looser bowel motions could be created as a result of the stomach not breaking down your food properly, so not enough strong stomach acid, which is quite common, especially as we get older and especially in times of stress, and the result is that food particles aren't being broken down properly, and then your gut is unhappy. This is also a common scenario in situations of food intolerance too.
See, your large intestine doesn't quite recognise them, these food particles; as they aren't in a state that your gut can absorb and manage. So, your gut then drives more water in there in a bid to flush it out. It doesn't like the state that it's being presented with.
In this situation, it will be back to your bitter herbs, such as your Yarrow Complex or your Centaurium to really help to support the stomach first, and therefore, help to support further digestive processes as well.
Another product that you can take if your gut just feels quite inflamed initially, quite sensitive, quite irritated, that would be our Silicol gel.
This is indicated for symptoms of IBS, and that can include your abdominal pain and diarrhoea. So, that can be a nice one to use initially, just to help calm that state. And then perhaps we could go in with the bitter herbs for longer-term digestive support.
3. Rebalance your gut bacteria
By doing the steps above first, again, depending what's relevant to you, the diarrhoea or constipation, by targeting those areas, we are going to naturally help to support the balance of bacteria anyway. So, these steps might be enough to make some big improvements.
But some additional steps in order to support your gut bacteria further, would be to add in a prebiotic such as Molkosan. Then you can also consider the addition of a probiotic too.
What I would say with the probiotics is to support your stomach first with bitter herbs, then a prebiotic to correct and support the internal gut environment, then the probiotic is the last stage. So, just to consider doing a little bit of ground work there first, but an imbalance in gut bacteria certainly has links with many cases of IBS.
4. Counter stress
Now, as with many factors, stress can be entirely individual. And the level of control you have over the source of stress in your life is entirely individual. But in saying that, there are often quite strong links between stress and digestive malfunction or symptoms of IBS, so it is one to consider.
So, perhaps, introducing some relaxation techniques, supporting your mental health through talking therapies or even medications if you're doctor says that that would be appropriate. There are options like hypnotherapy too, which are quite often talked about in terms of IBS. There are also options like moving more and stretching techniques, which can help both mentally and physically in terms of your digestion.
Sleep is another area. Again, sleep and stress are very, very closely related. While you sleep, you rest, and your gut has time to rest. We're also not eating when we sleep. That's where intermittent fasting can be helpful if done very carefully and not to extremes because, during that time we're not eating, your gut is having time to rest and heal.
So, all of these steps can often fit in nicely together to help to manage stress potentially. And we know there's a well-established gut-brain access. So, those two areas very much go hand in hand in many cases.
5. Consider your diet
Now, it might come as a surprise that diet isn't my number one piece of advice when it comes to managing IBS. Of course, it's important, but what I often don't recommend is cutting out many, many food groups for long periods of time, as this isn't likely to be targeting the root cause. And we're always wanting to be thinking about the root cause.
If your gut is in a state of disarray, then food triggers potentially could make things worse, but unless you have a food allergy, it's unlikely to be the actual cause of the issue. So, what we would hope is that although cutting some food groups out in the short term may be helpful, longer term, we would hope that your resilience to a wider range of food would start to improve again.
You might have heard some reference to FODMAPs, for example. These are a group of foods, certain dietary fibres, which potentially could irritate the gut, but especially if the balance of bacteria if your gut is already a little bit unhappy – many people can tolerate FODMAPs just fine, and actually benefit from them.
So, potentially, in the short term, just while you employ and build up all the other steps we've talked about, the bitter herbs, the prebiotics, the probiotics, potentially it could be to minimise some FODMAPs, but ultimately, as a nutritionist, I also need to consider the health benefits of dietary fibre as well.
So, really if you're considering cutting foods out, it should be under the guidance of a nutritionist or a health professional, just to ensure that you're not missing out on benefits of these types of foods as well. As, of course it can be quite individual, again, as to which foods are going to be, perhaps beneficial to you, overall, as a result of reducing them in the short term. As ultimately, we want to support your long-term health as well.
There are also soothing herbs which would be good to add in, and usually well tolerated at any stage. Teas such as chamomile, the herb tormentil which we have in tincture form is very calming, especially if the gut is moving more regularly, those kinds of looser bowel motions.
6. Apply heat
Applying heat can be quite a quick fix, hopefully, and something that you might just do in the episode of a flare-up. So, I talk quite a lot about this and the way in which applying heat can works.
By applying heat to your abdomen, your back, wherever you feel discomfort, you're helping to switch off those pain receptors and you're igniting heat receptors instead. So, that can just help to take away a bit of discomfort.
So, this is the physiological mechanism, explaining how it can help, and you've also got psychological as well. Heat is quite often soothing, very comforting. So, either applying it to your body or in the form of the teas, which we've mentioned, that can quite often be a comfort as well.
