IBS: What can I do about chronic constipation?

   01/09/2023
IBS-C and chronic constipation relief


If you are suffering from IBS and chronic constipation – you are really suffering! And traditional treatments may not be getting you far. So here is what you can do for your IBS-C instead and get constipation relief!

The traditional route to chronic constipation relief

For many of you, you have already been the traditional physical route. And if you are reading this article, you probably didn’t find long-lasting answers there.

  • Chances are that your doctor has already prescribed a colonoscopy or similar to check there is no major physical cause to your chronic constipation. This is always a good starting point.
  • You may have found some relief from laxatives or suppositories. If you use these all the time, your body is likely to get used to this way of functioning. And they will work, until they don’t any more.

Have you explored these 8 natural alternatives?

Tried all of these and STILL nothing seems to work for your IBS and chronic constipation?

IBS-C and chronic constipation

Maybe it’s time to consider trigger loops for constipation relief, and how they can be influencing your IBS-C.

How trigger loops set in

My particular specialisation is looking for the triggers behind IBS symptoms. The associations the mind makes between an event, a feeling and an impression that can wire reactions and unwanted behavior patterns that we just can’t seem to shake.

We interact with the world via our 5 senses. Based on our beliefs and our previous experiences, our mind interprets and labels each event. We will have an emotional reaction, a physical reaction and an energetic one too. And resulting behaviour.

When we have reactions and don’t express them emotionally, physically or energetically, over time they become lodged in the body. This can include events back from childhood that we were not allowed to express, or even stress situations you are having at work or at home on a regular basis.

learning reactions to stress

They can turn into neuro-muscular spasms and trigger patterns that start interfering with normal body function and the natural circulation of energy in the body. In this article I presented a relationship between chronic constipation, pain and diarrhea.

A trigger loop in action

Back when I had IBS-C, I was actually “lucky” enough to see a trigger loop establish itself. I was using paint stripper and paint while fuming about not having been accepted for a marketing job – again and feeling excluded from the job market in France in anything other than a teaching role. While I was painting over the space of several my brain set a negative association between the products I was using and the deep emotions I was feeling. I was fuming inside but not letting that feeling out, trying to control it and keep it in – as I learned to do from a very early age.

The result: I became intolerant to fresh paint, but also perfume, nail varnish and air fresheners.

I had unconsciously wired in that association and behavior pattern. And because any of these products would set of a major IBS flare-up, make me bloat up, vomit and give me migraines within a short space of time, I went around in a state of fear, trying to avoid them. And this reinforced the trigger loop.

Undoing this was hard – but possible. But to do so I had to understand what was going on. And seek outside help.

Lasting constipation relief

If you have looked into all the potential physical causes of your IBS-C, could there be associations and triggers from the past that are causing IBS and chronic constipation?

Are you aware of triggers of your IBS-C symptoms? Can you link current triggers to any past situations that marked your life?

Have you lived painful life experiences or relationships that you find incredibly hard to get over or let go of? Could these be mirroring themselves in chronic constipation – and the suffering that goes with it?

Some triggers may be so familiar to you that you cannot see them.  If you have been living with them as the norm for so long, they may be in your blindspot.

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