This is Dr. David Dahlman and welcome to the first in a series of video consultations about Irritable Bowel Syndrome….or as we call it, IBS. This is the same information given to patients who schedule appointments in my office or to those from around the country who schedule phone consults with me. Normally I charge $225 for a first consultation, but I wanted to make it available to more people, so it’s now free on video.

The purpose of the consultation is to emphasize the key points from my 35 page free report about how to conquer IBS which I hope you have already read. If not, the report is available on my website at DrDahlman.com.

Now, what are we going to accomplish in this series of video consultations? Well, we will discuss what is IBS and why you have it. I will then discuss my proven and very successful protocol combining all natural supplements and temporary, hopefully temporary dietary rules that are described in detail in my report available at DrDahlman.com.

We’ll also talk about possible lab tests that can be helpful under certain circumstances, and my step by step thought process…the real strength of this protocol…that I take every patient through allowing you to know what to do at any given stage of your treatment so you can conquer IBS without me.

OK, so let’s talk about a definition of IBS. A common question in my office or in emails from around the country as patients say to me they don’t even really know if they have IBS, their doctors not sure, so will my protocol work for them? The answer is an absolute YES! My definition of IBS is any uncomfortable symptoms associated with your gastrointestinal system. It’s really that simple. You have gastrointestinal symptoms, you’re uncomfortable and you want them to go away. Right? More specifically, the most common symptoms, but possibly not the only symptoms of IBS are gas, bloating, indigestion, heartburn, reflux, diarrhea, constipation, alternating diarrhea/constipation, abnormal bowel urgency, abnormal bowel frequency, pain, spasms, vomiting, hemorrhoids, anything that makes you uncomfortable.

Why would you have these uncomfortable symptoms? The primary reason, not the only reason, but the primary reason is the use of antibiotics. What are antibiotics designed to do? They kill bacteria. You took them for infections of any kind and they did their job, but they had the unintended consequence of altering the levels of beneficial bacteria that are absolutely necessary for proper human health and gastrointestinal function.

Now there also are secondary reasons such as prescription medications, over the counter medications, poor diet, adult beverages and stress. What happens once you take those antibiotics? Well, it begins a cascade of events beginning with the change of optimal levels of beneficial bacteria, then in time the chemistry of the gastrointestinal system also changes. Then again, given enough time, symptoms will develop. Everybody gets their own set of symptoms and the timing of the onset of these symptoms is different in everyone…..and it doesn’t matter if you have taken 2 courses of antibiotics or 200 in your lifetime. It doesn’t matter if you took them all as a child, haven’t taken any in years or took them throughout your lifetime. Each time you did, you altered this balance and congratulations, you began your path towards IBS.

So, what have we learned in this video? We learned what IBS is, why you have it, and that there is an all natural protocol available to you by following my advice. In the next video let’s talk about why this protocol will be so successful for you, the 9 variables the treatment addresses and medicine doesn’t and describe the all natural supplements I recommend for you. Please click on the 2nd video.