Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is one of the most common digestive conditions in the UK. It causes tummy pain, bloating and changes in bowel habit, and it can affect how you eat, work, travel and sleep. Food is often part of the picture, but working out which foods matter, and how much, is hard to do on your own.
Liz Toft is a Gastro Allergy Specialist Dietitian who has worked with IBS for seventeen years. She will help you understand your symptoms, try the simplest useful changes first, and move on to more specialised approaches only if you need them.
Clinics run on the first Monday of every month, from 4pm to 8pm, starting on Monday 7 December. You can refer yourself. Call reception on 01428 642577 to arrange an appointment.
More information
Have you had IBS diagnosed?
IBS is diagnosed once other conditions such as coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease have been ruled out. If you have had symptoms for more than six months and have not seen your GP about them, please see them first. The NHS explains how IBS is diagnosed.
See your GP straight away, rather than booking with us, if you have any of these:
- unexplained weight loss
- bleeding from your bottom
- a family history of bowel or ovarian cancer
- a change to looser or more frequent stools lasting more than six weeks, if you are over sixty
How a dietitian helps with IBS
NICE guidance on IBS starts with general diet and lifestyle advice: regular meals, enough fluid, and looking at fibre, caffeine, alcohol and fatty foods. For many people, getting these right with someone who understands IBS is enough. Liz will look at what you eat now and your particular symptoms, whether that is mainly bloating and wind, constipation, diarrhoea or a mix, and agree a few changes to try first.
If symptoms continue, she may suggest the low FODMAP diet. It reduces a group of fermentable carbohydrates for a short time, then reintroduces them one by one to find out which ones you personally react to. NICE and the British Society of Gastroenterology both advise that it should be guided by a dietitian, because done alone it is easy to cut out too much for too long.
When food is not the whole story
IBS is a disorder of how the gut and brain communicate, which is why stress and anxiety so often make it worse. Liz is also trained in gut-directed hypnotherapy, which works directly on that connection, and can talk you through whether it might help alongside or instead of dietary changes.
Fees
An initial consultation of up to sixty minutes is £140. Follow up appointments of up to forty five minutes are £110. Appointments are arranged by phone rather than online booking.
