5 Best IBS Forums (Rated By Quality)

In this article, we will enlist the best and most reliable IBS forums that will help you to find support.

We tried to rank IBS forums and support groups and communities according to certain quality criteria.

This to help you to find the best support without causing health risks from faulty or inaccurate information that may harm you.

Disclaimer: the author of this article is not the owner or administrator of any of the below enlisted IBS forums.

0- Before we start, Use IBS forums with CAUTION!

IBS is a somewhat complex condition (complex, not dangerous). Till this moment, No specific cause, Medication, or treatment can be applied to every IBS patient.

The Internet is not for Practicing medicine (diagnosis or treatment). Making critical decisions about your health condition using internet-based information or personal stories from online communities can be harmful to your IBS.

So there are some “Golden Rules” you have to follow before joining any of the enlisted IBS forums.

1- Support communities are not for Medical advice: your IBS is different from anyone else with IBS. your cause, type of IBS, and associated conditions and diseases are unique for you. Any story, personal experience, or advice you get from the IBS forum or support group may not suitable for you. Use IBS forums only to get psychological support and insightful tips, not for medical advice.

2- Fact-check everything: it is common for IBS forum users to share some stories or treatment reviews. And because IBS treatment is still indefinite and mainly symptomatic, the door for unproven treatments and Myths about clinically proven treatments is always open. Fact-check what you read at any IBS forum before taking it into consideration.

3- Stay away from unproven treatments: some treatments and diets are not proven by research to help IBS. for example, apple cider vinegar, some diets like keto and paleo. Some IBS forum stories may promote some unproven treatments or diet plans based on individual experiences or for commercial purposes. Always use your critical mind and fact-check forum information from trusted websites or research papers.

4- avoid IBS forums that consistently promote specific products or remedies: an IBS forum that consistently promotes certain products or services may not an appropriate option. Commerical intents is a bad sign that an IBS forum may be harmful to follow.

The excess promotion of a treatment or product with weak evidence is consistently seen in many IBS forums.

5- Only follow IBS forums that are heavily regulated: always choose IBS forums with reputable and active moderators. This will ensure the information is trustworthy and avoid non-sense and spammy forum posts.

1- IBS support (official): A Facebook group.

What is IBS support (official):

IBS support (official) is not a classical forum website. It is a large Facebook group, with more than 64K members. It is created in 2006 (14+ years).

On their about page, the admins say: 

?This EVIDENCE based educational support group is for anyone out there suffering from IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome!  We are here to educate and give accurate info and tailored support. We are one of the most active IBS support groups on the internet and have been helping people for over 12 years.  We have a highly knowledgeable Admin team that runs the group which includes IBS advocates, dietitians, and people in the medical or scientific field.?

Why is IBS support the best IBS forum to follow? (pros)

Do we choose “IBS support” The Facebook group as the best IBS forum for many reasons:

• • Knowledgeable admins, only support evidence-based data.
  • Highly active: it is the most active IBS forum we’ve found on the internet.
  • Strict and sharp group rules: preventing spammy, faulty, and useless posts.
  • No promotions: the group admins follow nice rules preventing promotions of products and websites. Keeping their users on-topic and safe.

• Admins prevent destructive thoughts and advice: admins of the groups don’t allow bad advice and destructive thoughts like “drink loads of laxatives” or “IBS is going to ruin your life”

How to maximize the benefit of this Facebook group.

1- Use the group search feature: this is an incredibly useful feature you can use with the “IBS support (official)? Facebook group. You can use the ” lens icon that appears on top of the group page (if you are on the Facebook app) or on the sidebar (if you are on the desktop).

You can use it to search for your questions and you will find an endless amount of posts and comments that discuss them.

You can search for a specific symptom or specific treatment. For example, in the below screenshot, we searched for the term “bloating”.

2- activate group notifications: Facebook is not promoting pages and groups a lot nowadays. So if you are really interested in participating in the group, you can activate group notifications for all posts.

How to join?

With your Facebook account, you can request to join the group through this link.

If you are planning to actively participate in group discussions, please read the group rules carefully in order not to get removed. Some un-intentional posts or comments may get your account banned due to strict group rules.

2- IBS group (Ibsgroup.org)

The first and biggest IBS support group on the internet. The online IBS forum was founded in 1995 by Jeffery Roberts, who sold it to another company in 2014.

IBS group is the biggest IBS forum on the internet with the biggest collection of forum topics and members.

The IBS group was first founded as a charter in 1987 as a patient-led self-help and support group. It transformed into an online IBS forum in 1995.

Because it is a big IBS forum, you may find some off-topic posts, some semi-commercial activities on the forum, but it is ok to follow it if you follow the above rules.

YOU CAN JOIN THIS IBS FORUM HERE

3-IBS Patient Support Group (ibspatient.org)

In 2016, the same guy, Jeffery Roberts launched another IBS forum, the IBS patient Support Group. 

In this IBS forum, you will find good support and answers that are evidence-based. 

What I love about the founder and administrator of this IBS forum is that he doesn’t believe in non-anecdotal and un-proved treatment options.

IBSpatient.org is the founder of the WORLD IBS DAY on April 19th. Also, the community is the founder of the TuesdayNightIBS on twitter.com

This IBS forum has a lovely IBS Podcast that you will love.

It only came third in the options because it doesn’t have much activity like the IBS support (official) Facebook group and ibsgroup.org

It has also a list of useful resources (information, links from the recommended books, recipes, and treatments) you can start with.

A guy who is active for more than 25 years on the internet about IBS is a guy who deserves your attention.

YOU CAN JOIN THIS IBS FORUM HERE

4- Irritable Bowel Syndrome IBS Support (a Facebook group).

Another IBS forum (a Facebook group) with over 21K members. It has strict admin rules that prevent spam, advertisements, and off-topic posts.

What I do like about Facebook support groups that it contains “real” people, a high level of activity, and you can get notified easily because of the “social” nature of the Facebook platform.

Again, it is a very good option if you are an active Facebook user.

YOU CAN JOIN THIS IBS FORUM ON FACEBOOK HERE

5- IBS Sub-reddit (reddit.com/r/ibs)

An active subreddit community for IBS sufferers. It has about 37k members. It contains lots of hints, information, IBS success stories, and also memes about IBS.

If you are a Reddit user you can follow but with caution because it has some cons:

• Lots of off-topic and meme type posts.
• Not heavily moderated.
• It may contain story-based treatment experiences which we believe is not the best way to get advice from (especially when it comes to your health).

YOU CAN JOIN THIS IBS FORUM ON REDDIT HERE.

Summary of the best IBS forums:

The 5 Best IBS forums are the IBS support (official) Facebook group, The IBS group forum, IBS patient support forum, the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Support Facebook group, and the IBS subreddit.