The top 10 causes of IBS (that your GP hasn’t told you about)

You’ve been told it’s IBS. Maybe you were given a low FODMAP handout, told to manage your stress, eat more fibre, or “just avoid trigger foods.” And maybe some of that helped for a bit.

But if you are still bloated, constipated, gassy, reacting to foods, or thinking about your gut all day — something has been missed. Because IBS is not a root cause.

It’s a label doctors use when your gut symptoms are real, but no one has properly figured out why they’re happening.

And that’s where women get stuck.

They spend years cutting foods, trying supplements, managing symptoms, and blaming themselves. Thinking they need more discipline. More restriction. More probiotics. But there is always a reason your gut is struggling.

And no — it is not “just stress.”

Today’s episode breaks down the most common root causes I see driving IBS symptoms in clinic, why generic IBS advice keeps women stuck, and what actually needs to be investigated if you want to fix your gut properly.

In this episode, we cover:

• SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth): Why bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine causes bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhoea, and food reactions — and why low FODMAP only masks symptoms.
• Methane-Dominant IMO: How methane-producing organisms slow gut motility and drive chronic constipation.
• Low Stomach Acid: Why poor digestion leads to fermentation, bloating, reflux, and bacteria thriving where they shouldn’t.
• Parasites & Infections: Why hidden infections are more common than women realise and can quietly drive symptoms for years.
• Dysbiosis: How imbalances in your microbiome affect digestion, hormones, inflammation, immunity, and overall gut function.
• H. pylori: Why this common infection contributes to reflux, nausea, bloating, and poor digestion.
• The Nervous System Connection: How chronic stress and nervous system dysregulation directly affect gut motility and digestion.
• Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: Why some women are not dealing with a gut issue at all — but a muscular coordination issue affecting bowel movements.
• Food Fear & Restriction: How years of cutting foods and under-eating can make gut function worse over time.
• The Testing Gap: Why standard testing often misses the real drivers behind IBS symptoms — and why proper testing changes the whole treatment approach.

You are not failing because you ate broccoli, and you are not “bad” at gut health because another probiotic didn’t work.

If you’ve been stuck bloated for years, reacting to foods, planning your day around your gut, and feeling like nothing is helping… that is not something you just ignore and manage forever.

Something underneath is driving it, and until you figure out what that is, you’ll keep going in circles trying random diets and supplements hoping one finally fixes it.

You don’t need more guessing. You need proper investigation, proper testing, and a plan that actually matches what is going on in your body.

LINKS TO SHERADYN:

• Assess your gut health in 3min HERE
• Follow me on Instagram HERE. 
• Join my Private Gut Health Facebook group HERE.
• Book a Free Gut Health Planning Session HERE.