IBS, Colitis, and Crohn's - They are all the same Condition

Hear Dr. Snow explain why these are all the same condition, just different levels of severity.

Inflammatory Bowel Confusion

There are a lot of questions concerning inflammatory bowel conditions. I don’t blame you if you are scared to death after leaving your doctor’s office. Lot’s of mumbo-jumbo. It is often true that if you go to 2-3 doctors that you will get 2-3 different opinions. It should not be so complicated!

Modern medical science wants to fragment everything out. They can’t see the forest for the trees. There are not an infinite number of inflammatory bowel conditions. There is only one and the rest of what we think are different are just a variation of it. They are all IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. In every case the colon is irritated. There can be a little or a lot of irritation. We don’t have to give it different names. A small amount of irritation brings about small symptoms. Big creates big. All of these are the same manmade conditions with just different amounts of damage to the bowel tissue. This is just like 1st-2nd-3rd degree burns.

It does not matter what part of the GI tract muscle is injured. It’s all the same. It’s one long muscle from your mouth to your rectum. What counts are the symptoms, our ‘body language.’ We need to become fluent in body language. It is speaking to us telling us there is something wrong. It is screaming-diarrhea, gas, bloating, blood, mucus - help! All of these symptoms are just different ways for your GI tract to say ‘ouch.’

Don’t get hung up on whatever name they give you, whether it’s Colitis or Crohn’s. Remember they are all the same. A big boo-boo or small boo-boo. It is the same muscle tissue, the same cause and the same cure. Listen to your body.

Don’t Ignore the 5 Primary Symptoms of Colitis

The symptoms of Colitis are no fun. They include severe stomach pain and diarrhea to name a few. Colitis is a serious problem that causes the lining of the large intestine to be inflamed and swollen.

The primary cause of colitis is our exposure to synthetic manmade antibiotics which our environment is saturated with whether through prescription oral or topical antibiotics or from our tainted food and water supply and also antibacterial home cleaning products. Antibiotics destroy the mucosal lining of the intestines. Without this lining the health of our colon declines dramatically, since the lining protects the tissue in our gastrointestinal tract.

Once damaged our body’s digestive enzymes start eating and irritating the bowel lining. This is exactly what inflammatory bowel conditions like IBS and Crohn’s are and how we get them.

These are the five most common symptoms of Colitis.

1. Diarrhea: This can range from mild and occasional to frequent with unpredictable urgency. Diarrhea is often triggered by eating and then having to run to the bathroom. Some people have a condition known as IBS-C, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome with constipation. This latter condition is found most commonly in people genetically pre-disposed to constipation. Constipation is caused by the body failing to properly hydrate the stool. This is never caused by something that you are doing wrong. It is who you are and you can perfectly manage it-but you cannot not cure it the way you can with diarrhea.

2. Intestinal and stomach pain: While sometimes this may indicate a stomach bug or food poisoning if it persists it may be from colitis.

3. Bloody stools: That’s a dead giveaway that you have ulcerative colitis.

4. Mucus in stool: This is a dead giveaway that you are headed for Crohn’s Disease.

5. While not a physical symptom, this last one may be the most paralyzing side effect of colitis and any IBD.

6. Paranoia: This is seen in someone who is too afraid to leave home to attend social events, go the mall, go out to eat, or go to a movie. They have lived with this problem for so long that they have become shut-ins. Paranoia is most commonly found in those suffering from more than just IBS. Many have had accidents and even when cured find it difficult to leave the safety of their home for more than a short period of time.

The bottom line is that you don’t have to tolerate this pain, physical and psychological, any longer. Taking drugs isn’t the answer, you have already tried that. Look for alternatives. Do some research. Ask questions. In the meantime, don’t ignore these five primary symptoms of colitis.