The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Illnesses/Ailments › IBS
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I’ve been practicing for three months. I have a spinal injury and a pretty severe case of IBS. Happily I can say that the injury isn’t getting in my way, and my back spasms are nearly gone.
Now there’s something else getting in my way, something I didn’t really expect: my IBS. It’s been stopping me in my tracks. For a while I’ve taken a single dicyclomine right before class (to prevent the inevitable problems) but lately that hasn’t been enough. A churning gut makes keeping pace impossible – I find myself sitting through a third of the class if I’m having a bad stomach day. It hits me as a burning feeling and nausea. The heat makes it worse. Pretty infuriating.
I’m working on this closely with my doctor, but I really don’t want it to limit my practice schedule. If anyone has [em]experience[/em] I’d be thrilled to hear about it.
My routine:
– I will only eat a large meal AFTER class. Small dinners, and I’ll often show up to an early class without having eaten. It seems the best way to avoid problems. If I’m hungry and class is coming up I’ll drink a tall glass of citrus+green juice.
– If I’m going to class I will drink plenty of water starting the night before. I show up hydrated with just a single 16-oz water bottle, and a nuun tablet dissolved in. That’s all I seem to need if I’m hydrated beforehand.
– I keep a food log, and try to avoid ground beef or any type of dark/fatty pork. Those two seem to be my main triggers, but it’s not always so predictable.
Not sure what else to add.Maybe I just have to suck it up and expect to run into some problems:)
I have IBS and IC so I definitely understand what you’re going through. Believe it or no Bikram yoga has helped my IBS tremendously. Practice wind removal posture it’s amazing for your digestion system.
Although, when my IBS is bad, I have a horrible class. I feel miserable and frustrated with myself. Do you go to class in the morning or evening? I can only practice early morning at 6am or 8am because anything I eat can trigger my IBS, which makes the evening classes tough for me. I’ve also been working with a doctor to help my symptoms. Look up the FODMOP diet, its helped me a lot. Do you have constipation or diarrhea?
Hi Aaron and Cynthia
When you first posted Aaron, I contacted another forum member whom I remembered had IBS. She has not responded so she may not be hanging around. It has been a few years since her active posting days.
Any improvements since your question?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Well for the time being I’ve accepted a few things. I have to keep taking my medication – I was trying to escape that part a little bit. When my stomach is talking I just have to quit early, and sometimes take a couple days off. This isn’t just some bloating/gas/upset stomach feeling. It’s the kind of bowel irritation that just drains the blood from your face.
I think there is more I can do diet-wise. I’ve been dealing with this issue for years and I’ve just realized that Soy has to go on my list of intolerances (good luck entirely avoiding soy, you could never even eat at a restaurant – luckily I’m not allergic just somewhat intolerant). The reason I caught this was I bought a package of garden burgers at wholefoods. Next day after I had a double garden burger for dinner I was feeling terrible. Went back in my food journal and found a connection: last time things got bad I had been using soy oil for most of my cooking. That food log is a necessity for anyone dealing with this. (these days I’m using mostly olive and avocado oil, by the way)
Right now IBS just makes me very inconsistent. Some days I finish class feeling great, sometimes it feels like there’s sandpaper in my belly. On days like that I just don’t really recover. I used to just tough through it but I don’t think that’s the right answer. Lately I’ll walk out mid-class and take a couple days off. The studio is being very understanding about it. I never get a single comment for walking out early a third of the time; all I hear is encouragement when I finish.
I’m learning. I have a theory that improving my leg strength will help (kind of a long shot so I don’t want to go into why yet). I also sometimes break diet when I’ve been working long hours, and that can’t be helping. I at least have to make sure that’s happening less often.
I will let you know once in a while, because I’m sure the two of us aren’t alone on this.
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