hi claudia

i'm in vancouver these days - lovely summer you are having ;-)

IBS relates to a disturbance in the enteric nervous system (ENS) in the
colon, and thus is a vata disorder
your diet is mainly orientated to reducing kapha and pitta, and seems
inappropriate to me
instead, lots of warm soupy, fragrantly-spiced dishes, with meats and
stewed vegetables
steamed vegetables with grated ginger is good too
and a little high protein grains like quinoa and pot barley can also be
added

avoid raw foods and lots of fruit right now, and don't eat fruit after
meals
avoid flours of any kind, as well as sugar, coffee and chocolate
and because you are type 1 diabetes, you need to reduce your glycemic
load to control insulin levels - if you don't already have it get
Bernstein's book because its the only way to grow old (and stay
healthy) with IDDM

as for dhauti and enema once a week, i am not sure these (esp. the
latter) are very helpful in your case - you need to develop some kind
of natural, consistent order of functions, and not force things - the
colon needs gentle treatment, like loving, gentle care to weak and
frightened patient

in IDDM, a common problem that occurs is gastroparesis, or delayed
gastric emptying and general poor gastric motility - and this might be
part of your issue (and hence, another need to have meticulous control
over blood sugar)

herbs need to be aromatic, warming and strengthening, with a downward
moving activity - a little bitter is OK but neem and karela are
probably too cooling - remember, IDDM is essentially a vattika
disorder, and you always have to bear this in mind - karela and neem
are more indicated in type 2 diabetes, when the pancreas still produces
some insulin - and the disease is one of excess

i am thinking of aromatic herbs like coriander, caraway, fennel, with a
little pippali, orange peel and ginger, and some barberry for the
liver- you might also add in some chinese herbs like codonopsis,
ginseng or astragalus (e.g. 6 gentlemen formula) to strengthen the
energy deficiency that sometimes occurs in IBS (the chinese say "spleen
qi" deficiency, what we might call vishamagni in ayurveda) - for
chronic GI spasm i often use wild yam, which relaxes imbalanced nervous
function in the ENS

if i was to construct a formula for you it might look something like
this:

Astragalus 15
Codonopsis 15
Caraway 15
Fennel 15
Wild Yam 15
Barberry 15
Licorice 10

take 1 tsp of the combined tinctures before meals 3-4 times a day, with
a little water

in addition, you can drink a ginger-coriander seed tea brew throughout
the day, between meals

for the constipation phase you need to add adequate fiber (e.g. flax,
hemp seed) with lots of water, and gentle, bowel-stimulating herbs -
for this i don't find triphala sufficient, and so will use triphala
with trivrit, or another formula (for e.g. you might try wild rose's
LBT3,1- 2 tab 2-3/day, or renew life's CleanseMORE, same dose) - i also
will add a probiotic if i suspect damage to the gut flora

for the diarrhea-phase, the addition of some astringent herbs like
carob bean powder is probably all you need, but stronger remedies exist
if need be - just ask

to ease colic pains try rubbing your belly with some oil infused with
lavender, lemon balm or chamomile essential oil, and applying a hot
water bottle wrapped in a towel

also, investigate the possibility of what emotional issues you are not
digesting - typically the colon relates to issue of not 'letting go' of
something, whether it be something or someone, or other feelings like
fear and anxiety - as a yoga instructor i am sure you are familiar with
how the breath affects digestion

by the way, i rarely work on any other issue unless the digestive
system is functionally reasonably well - this is the first and then
last priority in the treatment of any health issue

best... todd caldecott

On 11-Jul-05, at 3:12 AM, ayurvedaonline (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com wrote:

> I am a 30 year old female, 5'11" tall, 172ish lbs. My prakruti was
> determined as Vata Kapha. I am slightly overweight for my frame. I
> have been seeing the vaidya for weightloss and diabetes type I. I was
> put on a diet consisting of mainly of fish, millet, couscous,
> buckwheat, greens, asparagus and string beans, spinach and the like.