If you’d told me 10 years ago that my gut symptoms could improve this much, I honestly wouldn’t have believed you. Back then, my life revolved around stomach pain, bloating, unpredictable bathroom trips, and constantly trying to figure out what food was “setting me off.”
Looking back now as a gut health dietitian, I can see there were a few key things quietly making my IBS worse, things no one had really explained to me at the time
1. Waiting too long to get proper support
One of the biggest things making my IBS worse was trying to “push through” or “putting up with” my symptoms for years instead of getting proper support early on.
As a young woman, I heard things like:
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“Your symptoms are normal.”
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“It’s probably just stress.”
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“A dietitian will just tell you what Google says.”
So I stayed stuck, bloated, exhausted, uncomfortable, and convinced maybe I just had to live like that.
What I know now is that IBS symptoms deserve to be taken seriously, while IBS is common, symptoms that impact your quality of life are never something you should feel dismissed over.
Getting support from healthcare professionals earlier would have saved me years of confusion, food fear, and unnecessary stress. It also would’ve helped rule out other conditions sooner instead of constantly second-guessing myself.
If you feel like you’re not being listened to, this is your reminder that it’s okay to seek a second opinion and advocate for yourself.
2. Ignoring the gut-brain connection
For years, I thought my gut symptoms were only about food. I didn’t realise how much stress, anxiety, poor sleep, and nervous system overload were affecting my digestion too.
Looking back, there were so many times I felt physically and mentally drained at the same time. I could never tell which came first:
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Was my gut making me anxious?
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Or was stress making my gut symptoms worse?
Now I know it was both.
The gut and brain are deeply connected, and when your nervous system is constantly in “fight or flight” mode, digestion often takes a hit. Stress can impact gut sensitivity, bowel habits, bloating, and even pain levels.
I genuinely think learning stress-management tools and seeking psychological support earlier would have changed so much for me, not just mentally, but physically too.
3. Living off “safe foods” and not learning to cook
When my symptoms were at their worst, my diet became incredibly repetitive because I was scared to eat almost everything.
At one point, I basically lived off chicken breast and roast vegetables for months.
At first, it felt “safe”, but eventually, it made food stressful, boring, and socially isolating. I was spending heaps of money on specialty products while having no idea how to actually turn them into enjoyable meals.
I didn’t realise at the time that restriction itself can sometimes make your relationship with food and even your symptoms, worse.
Learning how to cook changed everything for me. Not because I suddenly became a chef, but because it gave me confidence around food again. It helped me create meals that were both symptom-friendly and enjoyable.
You don’t need complicated recipes either. Even learning one new meal a week can make a huge difference over time.
4. Thinking more exercise was always better
I grew up loving high-intensity exercise, so I assumed pushing harder was the way to go.
For years, I’d experience bloating, urgency, stomach pain, or bathroom trips during and after workouts, especially intense ones. I just never connected the dots.
Now I know that certain types of exercise can aggravate IBS symptoms for some people, particularly when the body is already stressed or run down.
These days, I feel my best when I balance higher-intensity exercise with gentler movement like walking or reformer pilates. I still enjoy running, but I’ve learned that back-to-back HIIT sessions don’t work well for my body.
That doesn’t mean high-intensity exercise is “bad.” It just means your gut may respond differently depending on your stress levels, recovery, hormones, sleep, and overall health.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your gut is stop trying to punish your body and start listening to it instead.
If I could go back and give my younger self advice, it wouldn’t be about finding the “perfect” diet or cutting out more foods. It would be this:
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Get support sooner.
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Address stress alongside food.
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Learn to enjoy cooking again.
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Stop forcing your body through things that leave it feeling worse.
IBS can feel incredibly overwhelming when you’re in the thick of it, but things can improve. Sometimes it’s the smaller lifestyle changes, not just the food, that make the biggest difference.