Is IBS a real condition or a label for 'we don't know'?

It's a real, recognised functional disorder — the bowel is working abnormally even though it looks structurally normal. But it is diagnosed by exclusion, which means coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease and other causes should be ruled out before the label is applied. If that hasn't happened, it's worth going back to your GP.

What's SIBO and how is it different?

SIBO is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth — bacteria that belong further down the tract growing in the small intestine. It produces bloating, wind and irregular bowel habits that look very like IBS, and a meaningful proportion of people diagnosed with IBS have it. It's identified with a breath test.

Do I have to do the low FODMAP diet?

Not necessarily, and it isn't meant to be permanent. It's a diagnostic tool — a short restriction phase followed by structured reintroduction to find your actual triggers. Staying in the restriction phase long term narrows your diet and starves the gut bacteria you want to keep.

Why does stress make it worse?

The gut and brain are directly connected, and that connection runs both ways. Stress changes gut motility and sensitivity, which is why symptoms flare in difficult weeks. It doesn't mean the symptoms are imagined.

IBS Naturopath Melbourne | Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome is a functional disorder of the gut. The bowel is working abnormally, but it looks structurally normal — which is why it’s often dismissed, and why it’s frustrating to live with.

It’s common, and it affects daily life more than most people outside it realise.

Symptoms

Abdominal pain or cramping, often relieved by passing a bowel motion. Bloating and distension. Wind. A change in bowel habit — diarrhoea, constipation, or alternating between the two. Urgency, and the feeling of not having finished.

Symptoms typically come and go, and flare in stressful periods.

⚠ IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion

Before IBS is the answer, other things should be ruled out — coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis, and in some cases infection or malignancy.

See your GP if you have blood in your stool, unexplained weight loss, a fever, symptoms that wake you at night, a family history of bowel cancer or inflammatory bowel disease, or new symptoms after the age of 50. Those are not IBS features and they need investigating.

If you were given the IBS label without any of that being excluded, it’s reasonable to go back and ask.

What tends to drive it

SIBO — small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Bacteria that belong lower in the tract growing in the small intestine, producing bloating, wind and irregular bowel habits. A meaningful proportion of people diagnosed with IBS have it, and it’s identified with a breath test.

The microbiome more broadly, particularly after antibiotics.

Food triggers, which vary greatly between people. FODMAPs are the best studied group.

Stress, through the direct connection between gut and brain. This changes motility and how sensitive the gut is to normal signals. It doesn’t mean the symptoms aren’t real.

Intestinal permeability and low-grade inflammation.

How your naturopath approaches it

With a full history first — symptom pattern, timing, what you eat, bowel habit, medication and antibiotic history, stress and sleep.

Where it’s clinically appropriate they may recommend testing: microbiome testing, a SIBO breath test, coeliac serology, or pathology to check for deficiency. The point is to narrow down what’s actually driving your symptoms rather than applying a standard protocol.

From there, herbal medicine, nutritional medicine and structured dietary work. If a low FODMAP approach is used it’s used the way it’s designed to be — a short restriction phase followed by systematic reintroduction, so you end up with a list of your genuine triggers rather than a permanently narrow diet.

Sara Canney’s practice centres on exactly this area: IBS, SIBO, candida, inflammatory bowel conditions, constipation, motility and intestinal permeability.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)