Can the Nerva app change your IBS-C to IBS-D?

Posted by mark1952 @mark1952, Jul 26 6:27pm

Hello to All,
I have had IBS-C for about four years. I have never had symptoms of IBS-D. I have been getting by with six tablets of Senna twice daily, with an occasional dose of Dulcolax or Miralax if I get blocked. Two and a half weeks ago I started the Nerva Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy program via the app on my phone. There is no live clinician involved. The hypnotherapy sessions are very relaxing and have made me less likely to be as stressed as I was. With zero change to my diet or medications, I began to have diarrhea episodes three days ago. I wonder if this is being caused by the hypnotherapy. Internet search results say yes--they say Nerva has "over--corrected" my IBS-C. Has anyone had this experience with Nerva? I immediately started decreasing the Senna. I am reducing the Senna by two tablets a day. The diarrhea is continuing. I am probably over-hydrating with water and electrolyte mixtures. I suppose the prospect of my bowel movements starting to normalize after I stop the Senna altogether is way too much to hope for. 🤞🏻🙏🏻😑 I plan to discuss this with the Nerva Help Desk tomorrow. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and Best Wishes!

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Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | Jul 27 3:38pm

Hi @mark1952,
Tagging a few members who may be familiar with the Nerva app, @johnbluffside @bkatz43 @mikayla68 @dmcara. They may have input from their experiences with it about whether it would be feasible for the app to help change IBS-C to IBS-D.

Has your primary care doctor weighed in on what's transpired with your IBS?

mark1952 | @mark1952 | Jul 27 4:41pm

In reply to @lisalucier "Hi @mark1952, Tagging a few members who may be familiar with the Nerva app, @johnbluffside @bkatz43..." + (show)

@lisalucier
Hello, Lisa,
Primary is unaware of development. I see my gastroenterologist in August. Will discuss with him if the situation is still the same. I suppose this could be IBS-M.
Best Wishes!

wisewoman10 | @wisewoman10 | Jul 29 11:49am

Hi @mark1952 - I started the Nerva app about two weeks ago as well. I used it many years ago when it first came out, and it is definitely more robust now. I have had IBS-C and CIC my whole adult life, exacerbated by an emergency appendectomy (ruptured) and cholecystectomy, both within the past six years. The Nerva program has not made any discernable change for me yet, but I will follow it through to completion. I'm aware that my gut-brain axis is a mess because of some family crisis stress. Trying to just be present and kind to myself for now.

dmcara | @dmcara | Aug 2 5:55am

Hi @mark1952
I have had IBS-D now IBS-M most of my life(I’m 69). I’m on an extremely restricted diet. It’s all complicated by a tortuous colon and many food intolerances. I have found the website helpfor IBS.com very helpful over the years. It led me to hypnotherapy, first the IBS 100 program from Scottish therapist Michael Mahoney and then Nerva. I have completed both programs and found they take the edge off the IBS severity and help with stress but have not impacted my gut symptoms in the deeper way I had hoped for. That being said, I was working with them during a period of intense stress while working full-time and caring for my mother on hospice so the stress load may have been too much even for hypnotherapy. I do believe that Nerva has the potential to deeply affect the brain- gut disorder based on my experience where during some days, despite the stress, I felt it was helping to take the edge off symptoms and keep me going. Therefore, I think it may be entirely possible that your work with Nerva could be impacting this change in your symptoms by relaxing your colon to the point where laxatives overcorrected your IBS-C. The brain- gut connection is powerful and gut- directed hypnotherapy has been established as a legitimate path towards healing IBS in a majority of individuals. I think I just had too many variables beyond IBS for it to completely resolve my symptoms. Now that I’m retired and my beloved mother has passed, my stress levels are much less so I may give it another try.

All the best in your journey towards wholeness and healing.

mark1952 | @mark1952 | Aug 2 8:03am

In reply to @dmcara "Hi @mark1952 I have had IBS-D now IBS-M most of my life(I’m 69). I’m on an..." + (show)

@dmcara
Thank you so much for sharing about your gut directed hypnotherapy experience. I will visit helpforIBS.com. I guess my three days of diarrhea were an aberration because I seem to be back to IBS-C now. Like you, I suspect the hypnotherapy will be helpful for dealing with symptom flare-ups and stress reduction, but not so helpful with my actual constipation. Nonetheless, I have completed half of the sessions and will follow it through till the end. Like so many of us with these issues, I too have a redundant sigmoid, or torturous colon--the longest and most twisted my gastroenterologist has ever seen. So that is not at all helpful. But we paddle on against the current because that is who we are. 😏 Thanks again for your response.
Best Wishes to You!

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