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4 Worst Things to Say to Someone Suffering from IBS
3. “Let’s eat out!”
You think you’re doing good by proposing to eat out, but if you’re thinking of doing so, it’s best to leave the choice to—or at least to consult—the person with IBS. IBS symptoms are aggravated or reduced depending on which foods are eaten. It’s therefore important that the person with IBS can choose a restaurant that offers dishes that suit their needs. Ideally, arrange the outing several days before so that they can, if needed, consult the menu in advance or phone the restaurant. To find out more, (re)read our article: Making the Best Low-FODMAP Choices at Restaurants.
One last little tip for the road, don’t try to check everything the person eats. Those suffering from IBS know themselves well enough to know which foods work and which don’t work for them. To help them, here are our lists of low-FODMAP foods and high-FODMAP foods.
4. “Isn’t there medication for this?”
Despite extraordinary medical advances, a medicine or miracle cure for irritable bowel syndrome doesn’t yet exist. A Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Advil (ibuprofen) will probably not fix the problem! However, a low-FODMAP diet and certain medicines can help to better manage some of the associated symptoms.
How can you help?
Here are a few tips to help a person suffering from irritable bowel syndrome:
- Learn more about irritable bowel syndrome
- Offer your help in everyday situations or periods of crisis
- Encourage the person suffering from IBS to try a low-FODMAP diet
References:
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome Self Help and Support Group. (January 4th, 2011). About Irritable Bowel Syndrome – IBS Explained for People who do not have IBS. [blog post]. Retrieved from : http://www.ibsgroup.org/aboutibs
- Bolen, Barbara. (November 17th, 2015). The Worst Things to Say to Someone Who Has IBS. [blog post]. Retrieved from: http://ibs.about.com/od/IBSInformationFriendsFamily/ss/Unhelpful-Advice-for-IBS.htm
Author
Member of the Quebec College of Dietitians (ODNQ) and Dietitians of Canada,Jef graduated from McGill University in December 2014. Recently graduated and passionate about culinary arts, Jef poses a simple, effective and practical look at daily meal planning. With this in mind, she works in conjunction with the mission of SOSCuisine...
I have another one for what not to say to someone with IBS, you have to wait for a bathroom (car trips)
To me this looks like only 2 things not to say to someone with IBS; there should be 2 more as the title says “4 things not to say to people with IBS”
I was fired from Uhaul corporate for my IBS causing tardiness, though I always fully communicated the situation with them and had seen doctors for the issue, and when I was fired, the person who terminated me told me, “I’ve never heard of a medical condition that makes someone late”, when it’s known medically that ibs flare ups and crisis usually occur in the morning. I just told him, “well that’s not accurate information” and they asked me if I’d like them to gather my things for me, and I said “it’s OK, ill collect them myself if that’s allowed”, and collected my items from the job I had been at for 2 Years and gone through 3 different sets of management in, and left, fired by the most recently appointed management, after the first two sets of management had let me know they understood the problem and had accommodated the issue. Those people have stayed in management since, and should never have been placed in charge of other people’s lives. They were also aware that my car had just broken down and that I was paying for transportation to come to work as well in the meantime, and they did not care ultimately, as seen by their actions and statements in the process of firing me for a medical issue I have no control over. One time leading up to keep being fired, my boss said “you have to weigh your options, what’s worse, skipping whatever you’re doing that’s making you late, or losing your job?” And every day I did ask myself this question, and had to conclude that yes, it was better to lose a job that didn’t understand my medical issue, than to accidentally poop my pants trying to drive there when my stomach wasn’t ready for that car trip yet, and either never make it to work out of embarrassment and have tons of cleaning and a rash to deal with, not to mention humiliation l, or even show up to work with pooped pants and disgust everyone and put my health and everyone’s else’s at risk and humiliate myself and get sent home with a rash and tons of cleaning to do and tons of irreversible humiliation among my coworkers, and probably being fired eventually for that as well. I have no respect left for Uhaul corporate whatsoever.