Understanding IBS-C Known as Constipation

What Are The Causes of Constipation in Women?

Understanding IBS-C AKA Constipation

As you can clearly see after reading the about me page I’ve suffered from many nutrition and wellness difficulties and one being chronic constipation. I created Spiced Life Conversation as a medium for my ministry to help humanity heal, for I believe that all diseases and conditions starts in the digestive system. Many people don't realize the gut and mood connection. A growing body of research indicates that the health of the gut and its resident microbes have a profound effect on mental health. Research also indicates factors that disrupt the gut microbiome may contribute to mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Learn more about how the gut microbiome is tied to mental and emotional health, and more importantly, what you can do to optimize the health of your gut microbiome to boost your mood, mental health, and prevent chronic constipation.

My goal is to educate and elevate my clients while helping them discover a higher level of wholeness, happiness and personal wellbeing by restoring their mind, body and spirit. I have a lot of tools in my tool kit from working as a behavior therapist and marriage and family counselor that I use when working with my clients. Whether its energy balancing, nutrition counseling, stress reduction, or mindset priming, I can help you to remove those blockages that keep you stuck in old, unhealthy patterns. I help you to understand you are where you are, and how you can get to where you want to be in your transition into your healthy lifestyle. However, the first step to behavior change is understanding what it is that need to be changed. I do this with the shadow work process. With that said I’m going to briefly explain what are the causes of constipation in women. But first I want to make it clear who is right for our services.

Who Do I Counsel?

When clients come to me for help for chronic constipation, skin eruption, anal fissure or emotional wellness, they usually have already investigated the problem and are interested in a holistic approach using food as medicine to restore their condition. But, not everyone is like this, some clients are referred by their physician to begin a healthy eating lifestyle to manage or prevent chronic constipation, skin eruption, anal fissure and emotional eating. Then there are those who are referred because the damage has already been done and surgery is required. When this happens clients see me for a pre and post opt surgery care plan. Then they can choose to purchase the 90-day transition program to work with me for 90-days to learn how to transition into a healthy whole food lifestyle. Or they can choose the 30 day self pace E-course where they follow the guide and complete the transition on their own with e-mail messenger support. Most times after anal fissure surgery physicians recommend the 90-day plan, but its the client choice whether or not to move forward and restore their health. Every client situation is different. Mindset about healthy eating (healthy conscious), financial issues (ability to afford nutrition counseling), willingness to change (ready to take action needed to change eating style and behavior), dealing with trauma and life issues it all boils down to the clients readiness to learn how to eat healthier, get organized and apply the change to their lifestyle.

So who are my digestive clients?

• Those who are seeking to begin a healthy eating lifestyle.

• Those who are seeking to manage or prevent chronic constipation, skin eruption, anal fissure and emotional eating through a healthy lifestyle.

• Those who required anal fissure surgery or any surgery and need to prevent or manage constipation.

During my time working as a nutritionist I learned that one of the most common problems that no one wants to talk about is constipation, but knowledge about constipation prevention are often simple and bring quick relief. While this isn’t always something you want to discuss I would like to to have a conversation about it because it’s a serious issues if left ignored, just about everyone has experienced it at one time or another so there is nothing to be ashamed of by talking about it.

What is IBS?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a group of symptoms that occur together, including repeated pain in your abdomen and changes in your bowel movements, which may be diarrhea, constipation, or both. With IBS, you have these symptoms without any visible signs of damage or disease in your digestive tract.

IBS is a functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder. Functional GI disorders, which doctors now call disorders of gut-brain interactions, are related to problems with how your brain and your gut work together. These problems can cause your gut to be more sensitive and change how the muscles in your bowel contract. If your gut is more sensitive, you may feel more abdominal pain and bloating. Changes in how the muscles in your bowel contract lead to diarrhea, constipation, or both.

Does IBS have another name?

In the past, doctors called IBS colitis, mucous colitis, spastic colon, nervous colon, and spastic bowel.

Are there different types of IBS?

Three types of IBS are based on different patterns of changes in your bowel movements or abnormal bowel movements. Sometimes, it is important for your doctor to know which type of IBS you have. Some medicines work only for some types of IBS or make other types worse. Your doctor might diagnose IBS even if your bowel movement pattern does not fit one particular type.

Many people with IBS have normal bowel movements on some days and abnormal bowel movements on other days.

IBS with constipation (IBS-C)

With IBS-C, on days when you have at least one abnormal bowel movement

more than a quarter of your stools are hard or lumpy and less than a quarter of your stools are loose or watery

IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D)

In IBS-D, on days when you have at least one abnormal bowel movement

more than a quarter of your stools are loose or watery and less than a quarter of your stools are hard or lumpy

IBS with mixed bowel habits (IBS-M)

In IBS-M, on days when you have at least one abnormal bowel movement

more than a quarter of your stools are hard or lumpy and more than a quarter of your stools are loose or watery

How common is IBS?

Studies suggest that about 12 percent of people in the United States have IBS.1

Who is more likely to develop IBS?

Women are up to two times more likely than men to develop IBS.1 People younger than age 50 are more likely to develop IBS than people older than age 50.2

Factors that can increase your chance of having IBS include:

Having a family member with IBS

A history of stressful or difficult life events, such as abuse, in childhood Having a severe infection in your digestive tract Woman talking with a health care professional in a doctor’s office. Women are two times more likely than men to develop IBS. What other health problems do people with IBS have?

People with IBS often have other health problems, including1

Certain conditions that involve chronic pain, such as fibromyalgia , chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic pelvic pain

Certain digestive diseases, such as dyspepsia and gastroesophageal reflux disease Certain mental disorders, such as anxiety , depression , and somatic symptom disorder

The brain and the gut are closely linked

Mental illness is quite common in the United States. Current statistics indicate that one in six American adults has a mental illness such as depression or anxiety. The conventional medical approach to treating mental health disorders is heavily focused on medication and views the brain as an entity distinct from the rest of the body. However, an emerging body of evidence demonstrates that the function of the brain is intrinsically linked to the health of the gut and that mental health problems may, in fact, stem from imbalances in the gut microbiome.

In animal studies, mice with lower levels of beneficial Lactobacilli have been found to be less resilient in stressful situations and more prone to depression. In humans, it has been found that depressed patients have significantly altered gut microbiomes compared to healthy controls, with a preponderance of pathogenic bacteria and lower levels of beneficial bacteria. Patients with bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder also demonstrate significant alterations in their gut microbiomes which may adversely impact mental health. This research suggests that the balance of bacteria in the gut significantly impacts mental function.

In my private practice we focus on IBS-C also know as constipation...

If you’re a woman and suffering from slow digestion, you may wonder what causes constipation in women. There are actually several things that can cause this problem and more women than men seem to be afflicted with it, I say this due to 80% of my clients are women although I do have a couple of truck drivers who come to see me for constipation.

Hormonal Change Diet Lack of Exercise Medication Eating Disorder Pregnancy and Postpartum Low Carb Dieting Aging Stress or disruption in daily schedule

What is Constipation?

Before we get into the causes lets take a look at what constipation is and how we can know whether or not we have the symptoms to even be concerned with causes and treatment of constipation. Most people experience constipation at some point in their lives, but what is constipation? You may think you’re constipated for just a day or two, but true constipation lasts much longer and is more serious. For me, I only eliminated waste once every two weeks.

Constipation is more than just not being able to go the bathroom for a couple of days. To be considered a true medical or health problem, it needs to be a chronic problem that causes you to experience some symptoms.

Normal Digestion 101

I like to explain to my clients the digestion process and how it works, in order for them to have a clear vision of why they are experiencing what they are experiencing. When your digestive system is functioning properly, you probably don’t think too much about it. Normally when you eat, food is broken down from the time you start che