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Key takeaways:
- A highly anxious IBS patient with post-infectious symptoms found the full low FODMAP diet too confusing and difficult to follow, leading to weight loss and setbacks.
- Her dietitian switched to a simplified low FODMAP diet and introduced gut-directed hypnotherapy through Nerva to help regulate her gut-brain axis.
- After completing the six-week program and continuing the maintenance plan, the patient reported her symptoms had almost entirely disappeared and her energy returned.
- Patients with anxiety are often particularly well suited to a hypnotherapy intervention, and detailed education about the gut-brain axis helps secure their buy-in.
This blog presents a case study of how a flexible treatment plan combining gut-directed hypnotherapy with a simplified low FODMAP diet helped a highly anxious IBS patient move from distress to stability.
A growing problem
Sarah experienced severe food poisoning back in 2016 and had been struggling with her gut health ever since. Desperate for help, she met with a gastroenterologist for endoscopic investigations in late 2022.
“It came back all clear,” Miriam said. “No inflammatory causes or celiac disease were detected. They also did H-Pylori testing, and it was all negative. This is when she was referred to me for dietary manipulation.
“Her presenting complaints were constipation, bloating, brain fog, and fatigue, which she had been experiencing since her initial food poisoning episode, so we thought it was post-infectious.”
Anxiety overload
When Sarah first presented to Miriam, it became clear that anxiety was a clear component. As a busy working mother, Sarah led a frantic life, and her IBS symptoms were deeply intertwined with her stress.
