Beyond Bathroom Blues

The IBS Rock Bottom That Changed Everything—And How You Can Break Free Too

• CharlieJeane • Season 2 • Episode 51

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Have you ever had a moment where IBS completely humiliated you? Where you felt powerless, frustrated, and trapped?

In this episode of Beyond Bathroom Blues, I share my lowest IBS moment—the night my gut betrayed me in a cinema while my kids watched in horror.

But that rock-bottom moment led me to discover a real solution. A step-by-step system that eliminates IBS symptoms fast—without endless food restrictions, useless probiotics, or ‘just manage it’ advice from doctors.

🔹 Why everything you’ve been told about IBS is (mostly) wrong.
🔹 The one shift that made my symptoms disappear in six weeks.
🔹 How CharlieJeane helped me crack the code—and how you can too.

🚀 PLUS: Be part of our upcoming book, 'Men's IBS Secrets' being released later in 2025!! 🙌🏻

And, how you can get your hands on a FREE copy first. 

Got an IBS-related question or topic you want covered?

Email me:

 hello@mensibsmastery.com or, 

glenn@mensibsmastery.com 

and let’s make this the book men with IBS actually need.

💪 Listen now & take back control!"

P.S. Join other smart guys like you in our close knit and secretly guarded compound 🤫 😉

👉 IBS IN MEN 

Connect with Glenn and CJ: 

👉Glenn 

👉CJ 




Disclaimer: The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health condition. Users should never disregard or delay seeking professional medical or mental health advice because of something they have heard on this podcast or seen on the website. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is solely at the user’s own risk

Speaker 1:

So there's a moment in every man's life and I'm sure the same is for you as well where you remember, where IBS really hits hard. It's kind of that moment where it just truly punches you in the stomach and you just realise how much it's got a grip over your life and not the other way around. For me, that moment was in the cinema with my kids when they were really really young. They're growing up now, but when they were really small I was a weekend dad having to grab them on a weekend, and it was I'll never. I'll just never forget that that time in the cinema where ibs just absolutely hit, hit home, did a home run on my stomach, their faces that night, obviously, the shame, the helplessness, it was just, it was awful. And I just knew then I couldn't. I couldn't keep living like this. And that's the moment everything changed and that's exactly why the book that I'm writing with Charlie Jean is coming out for you guys. So just to share with you a quick story before we dive into this week's podcast. So it was meant to be a great night.

Speaker 1:

I'd not seen my kids for a number of weeks at that stage because, listen, my IBS was horrible and, being in the military. I had a high, stressful job, like many of you would have, really really busy, a lot of late nights, early starts in the morning and at the time I mean I'd had ibs for about coming up to probably over 10 years at this stage and I've shared that story with you on previous podcasts. I tried everything but I didn't know my triggers, so it was all guesswork. And going on the rangers, where there was live firing, and being an instructor, I was still eating things unknowingly that were causing drama, causing me to have diarrhea, stomach bloating and stomach pain and various other symptoms. So for quite a few weeks leading up to seeing my kids I'd not seen them and one of the weekends before I'd had to cancel because I couldn't literally get off the toilet. It was awful and I had to phone their mom, who was my ex-wife, and tell her and she she never understood IBS because when I was with her and it's one of the things I go on about in the book as well that's coming out this year is one of the big things I think men struggle with in relationships is their partner doesn't fully understand it and in a lot of situations, whereas similar to my situation, actually my ex-wife used to label it and I don't know, get on my case about smelling and you know if I was fine and just really really go off her head and argue with me about it and it was just. It was just horrific and having to cancel certain you know nights with her and stuff, but anyway. So I was meant to see my kids. I've missed them one weekend already and I picked them up the weekend that I had them. I didn't feel too great but I didn't want to let them down again and it was obviously meant to be a great night.

Speaker 1:

We booked the cinema, a massive cinema in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, because I was based in Brecon at the time in South Wales. So I picked them up from Bristol where they lived. Happy days. We stopped off at Burger King yeah, the classic Burger King. Dad had some food and drink and then went on our way to the cinema, grabbed our popcorn you know, drinks, sweets, etc. And got settled for the film and about 15 minutes into it we're obviously smashing the popcorn and starting to settle down a bit. You know they're all excited because I've not seen them in ages Talking about what we're going to be getting up to at the weekend, because we always do.

Speaker 1:

We always used to do things like go camping or go to the theme parks or do some fun stuff, and about 15 minutes or so into it, my gut was doing backflips. I was just sat there thinking, oh, not tonight, you know not, not this weekend, please do. You know what I mean? I just just give me a break. You know what I mean and I'm sure you felt like this as well and I knew I had minutes, maybe seconds before full-on ibs disaster was going to kick in and it was diarrhea for me, ibsd and I know some of you guys are constipated or mixed, but the problem was my kids are too young to live in the theater. I can't just leave. You don't leave your kids anywhere, do you not? In a car, not in a cinema. You don't leave your kids. In my opinion, it's bad parenting if you just leave your kids and they're only, like I think at the time, maybe six and eight, whatever years old.

Speaker 1:

Anything could happen to them, couldn't it? And I didn't know if I went to the toilet, if I, if I could actually get off the toilet. So imagine that, if I went on my own as a toilet and I'm glued to it for like half an hour or whatever. Yeah, yeah. So what can I do? It was horrible. Like right, I did what every good dad would do. I grabbed them. I said, look, grab your cake, grab your popcorn and let's go Like, oh, you want to watch the film, dad, you know you will be all right, just go to the toilet quickly. No, you're coming.

Speaker 1:

And obviously I couldn't leave them outside the toilet because again, anything could happen. So thankfully the disabled toilet was open and they're big inside, if you've seen them. And I grabbed them in there. Clearly I didn't want them to watch me, because it's so. I was like, right, you haven't done anything wrong. But face the wall, face the hand dryer, I need to sort myself out.

Speaker 1:

And they were starting. At first they were giggling, which all right, right, the kids aren't there. I didn't really like it, but they were giggling to themselves, like. But that giggling soon turned to disgust. I'll tell you, when that smell started and the noise was coming out, it was horrible.

Speaker 1:

Like having to deal with that as a dad, let me. It's been horrible for them, let alone for me. Just, I could see their, even though they were turned away, I could see their faces change. You know confusion, disgust, even fear. You know I'm their dad. I'm supposed to be their superhero dad, their soldier.

Speaker 1:

At the time I was a senior non-commissioned officer in the british army. I'm I'm meant to be their soldier of a dad to their protector and instead here I am reduced to rubble, sat on a toilet with in a flipping disabled toilet, when my kids facing the wall like they've done something wrong, stinking, and I just can't even control my own body and listen. That really drove it home for me. That was the lowest point that I can remember. It's stuck in my head, it's in my DNA. I think that it was that bad For me and maybe you've had something similar, or maybe you haven't yet. Hopefully not.

Speaker 1:

I knew I had to change. I knew something had to change. I knew something had to be done. That's it. The steak is firmly in the ground. But the problem was I didn't know what to do. I mean, I've tried everything right at this stage. I've done gluten-free. I've skipped out this food type. I've done I've tried low FODMAP. I've supplements. I've been. I've spent more money and more time in Holland and Barrett the supplement shop than probably the people that work there. So I'm like I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I've been to doctors for pain relief and for this tablet and that tablet. So I was like, what do I do? So I went.

Speaker 1:

Eventually, like most men, I went to the doctor hoping for answers. I got the diagnosis. I'd met at the time Charlie Jean, who does these podcasts. You've met her virtually. She's my wife now and business partner. But at the the time she was an old army friend. We'd met years ago in the military and we bumped into each other again and we started dating girlfriend and boyfriend and she actually I didn't know what a dietitian was at the time. I was like, what a dietitian? Clearly it sounds like nutrition. She encouraged me, motivated me, as you will, to go get a diagnosis, because I've not had a proper diagnosis. I thought. I thought, being to the doctors, I didn't. I never clue, I just did not have a clue. So I went and got a diagnosis and I remember it now.

Speaker 1:

It was about 2013 or 2014, but I got this diagnosis many, many moons ago and it didn't really change anything. The doctor, I mean, I did the blood test, I did this, this test, that test, I got examined. I went back and he said luckily, you know, good news is you haven't got any cancers, you haven't got any inflammatory bowel disease, you have got irritable bowel syndrome. Okay, I guess here's a leaflet or some food list or whatever. He gave me and said just manage it. That's what you've got to do is just manage it. What? No, no solutions at all. Thankfully for me, I guess, because so so many men have that situation, it might've got to do is just manage it. What? No, no solutions at all. Thankfully for me, I guess, because so so many men have that situation. It might have happened to you where you get given that and you're like what do I do now? And you haven't got a clue. And again, this is another one of probably a whole stack of reasons. What has motivated me and charlie dean cj to write this book and get it out there for you guys and for men out there that are suffering so? Thankfully I had CJ.

Speaker 1:

She was my girlfriend at the time, registered dietitian, sports nutritionist, all singing, all dancing, amazing at what she does, and she sort of said to me well, you know, you've got your diagnosis, now I can help you with that. I was like what? Yeah, I can help you. That's what I do. It's one of the the things that I help people with is ibs. It's and actually it's one of my specialities. It's the thing I'm really passionate about helping men with ibs. I was like, all right, okay, I'll be all right, I know what to do, I've got the, I've got the diagnosis, the doctor's giving me some advice, I'll be all right.

Speaker 1:

And obviously she didn't want to, I guess, stand on my ego. And she's like, yeah, okay then, because she's heard that story a thousand times before. But I was. You know, it's pride, isn't it? You know you don't want your girlfriend to be helping you with something like that. But eventually I say eventually, you know, not, not, not too much time at all I swallowed that pride and I thought do you know what I am into? Self-development, I love fitness, I love growing. I've been promoted in the army several times and, yeah, I want to be the best version I can. I was like, okay, I'm all in, because I flicked back to that moment in the cinema and listen.

Speaker 1:

There's been other other stuff that's happened that have not been as bad as that, but I've had accidents whilst being out on military training, I've had pooped and I've followed through and it's just been disgusting. I've had to change myself and the lads have been taking the piss out of me. You know banter, poofy, and this, that and the other, and it's just, it's not great. It's not great. And I've been in the gym and I've been bloated and stinking and people are like looking around. There's been a whole host of stuff, it's like.

Speaker 1:

But I didn't want for me, I didn't want my kids to get it, I didn't want my kids to, you know, because they're meant to look up to me, aren't they? What sort of dad would I be? So that was my purpose, that was my purpose, and one of the things I share in the book that's coming out is all about purpose, so you can find yours as well. And there's, there's a technique, there's a system that I use and that I share with clients to find a purpose, to get in the outcome. So, without further ado, I said to Charlie Jean, let's do it, let's do, I'm all in, I am absolutely honest. She said to me I remember what she said to me is like if you're going to do this, you've got to be coachable, you've got to do what I say. Basically, I'm going to, I'm going to give you this advice, this mentoring, and you've got to put into practice what I'm going to tell you. Some of it might go against the status quo, you might not fully understand it, but just trust my process. I said, okay, I'm all in and within six weeks, if I only mind, at this stage I'd had IBS dramas for just slightly over 10 years. 10 years gone in six weeks, six to eight weeks. I remember no symptoms, zero symptoms, symptoms like no bloating. I looked good again, back to being athletic six pack because I was normally lean. The only time I wasn't lean is when I was swollen stomach and looked like I was pregnant.

Speaker 1:

So I'm now back to looking lean. I'm feeling good. My energy levels are returning. I'm not as tired I'm. I was starting to do physical training at work confidently, without worrying. Within six weeks I couldn't believe it made my head spin. Now I got cocky and I share this in the book. You know I did probably what a lot of men do.

Speaker 1:

I went back to tweaking things, doing stuff myself, because at the time CJ didn't live with me. He was just girlfriend and boyfriend. So I'm in my own time, I'm just doing my own thing and guess what happened? Symptoms came back big time. Yeah, diarrhea blowing. I'm having to cancel a date night with cj and she's like, oh, how come you cancelled on me? What's what's going on? And obviously I shared it. Shared it really flipping symptoms are coming.

Speaker 1:

I'm in rag. I can't get off the toilet. What have you been doing? Have you have you got the journal that I gave you, the men's iBS journal? Have you been tracking everything? Like I said, yeah, I have, show it to me, I'll come over. Don't worry about being, you know, in a mess, but can I come over to your flat and help you out? I said, yeah, you can. And she looked at the journal. She's like identifying stuff is everything in here? You've recorded everything 100% accurately. Yes, I have right. Yeah, you've had this, you've done that, you've done this.

Speaker 1:

And it was just like a few tweaks and a little bit more, picking me back on off the sideline and put me back on track and bang, I was okay, back to no symptoms again. She said stop doing your own thing, stop doing your own thing. You need to create these new habits, these new lifestyle habits with the tailored blueprint that we've gave you through this system that I've showed you. Okay. So I stuck to that and several months later, I had what we call now as IBS mastery. Mastery. I was in control, which is what it means full control. Now control, which is what it means full control.

Speaker 1:

Now, men don't need another diet, they don't need another. Eat this, don't eat that list. That's what we found. It was like a huge epiphany for me back then, a haha moment, and I share all this in the book. They need expert guidance, accountable air and a completing system. It's all three things it really is, and the system is what we now eventually because obviously throughout this, charlie jean realized that to help busy, professional, fit, ambitious men like myself at the time because that's the people that we work with are men that are highly driven and they've got a lot on. You know, they've got a business to run, they've got a family, they've got all this stuff. They want the outcome as quickly as possible, in the shortest possible time and safely. That was a huge haha moment. I've got to have that system called what we call the Men's IBS Mastery Blueprint. Now, this system up to now, it's only something we've ever shared with our high paying clients.

Speaker 1:

Everything is going to be in this upcoming book. There's nothing. Nothing's hidden. It's all going to be laid out Step by step. Process of being stuck. Maybe you've had horrific accidents like I have, and drama to absolutely knowing what to do, exactly what to do and how we do it. This is what we call a new opportunity. This is. It's different than what you would have tried before, obviously, or you would. You would have the outcome already. Here's how you I want you to be part of the book as a podcast listener.

Speaker 1:

Maybe you're in our facebook group, ibs in men. If not, please come along and join and say hello and you can connect to me and cj. And the reason being I want you to be a part of this movement because I don't want to write, but I could easily write a book and I've wrote a book. Before it's out there you might have listened to on on the free audio on the podcast channel. Perhaps you bought it from amazon ibs inversion.

Speaker 1:

So I've got that book out there to help men get unstuck, to basically unhook the the shit that's in their head, to move them forward because you don't know what you don't know, and that book's a game changer. It's helped tons of people uh, tons of men get unstuck in terms of why am I, why am I not being able to move forward? But I realized you need more. You need, you need the whole thing. So that's kind of like, I guess, a prequel, as you will, and then this book men's IBS secrets is going to be the complete game changer. But I want you to be part of it. I want you, as the podcast listeners, the tribe, to be part of it.

Speaker 1:

So if you've got a burning question about IBS, maybe you want a myth busted or there's something nobody's talking about. Maybe you've got a question that is so embarrassing you don't even want to talk about it to your doctor because it's like, but it's something that's keeping you awake at night, something that's really, really grinding on you. Send it in at hello at mensibsmasterycom or glenn at mensibsmasterycom. Again, I'll put links in the description. Or, if even easier, connect to me. If you want to join the facebook group ibs in men, come along, send me. You can send me a dm, we can chat direct message.

Speaker 1:

Whatever you ask me will be, you have my word, will be in 100 confidence. Your name will never, ever be mentioned in that. In the book will only be the question and the answer the out. So you get the outcome. And what's even better is if your question is used, or your myth or whatever it is that you want to be spoken about in that book. If we use that, we'll let you know and you will get a free copy electric electronic copy of that book on release. How good is that? And that book is not going to be cheap. It's a premium book because of what's in there, because it's going to be a complete game changer. So, rather than you just buying a book and you get to the end of it and go, oh, it's a really, really good book, it was excellent, it's packed with useful stuff, because it will be, it is a game changer.

Speaker 1:

But I've got one or two questions, questions. Let's get them. Questions now, and then, obviously, when the books come out. If you did have questions, we're going to do some live Q&As as well. How is that? Okay, hopefully that makes sense. And if you've got anything else other than that, again send it into the email at the link below.

Speaker 1:

Listen, this book isn't just about my story. It's not just about CJ's story and the clients that we've helped, which is all going to be in the book. There's case studies in there. All the systems are going to be in there. But it's not just about us, it's about you. This book is getting written. Well, it's already been written. It's getting edited at the moment. This is for your journey. If you've ever felt alone in this IBS battle and I'm sure you have if you've ever felt like nobody understands, this book is written for you and together we're making it the book that men with IBS actually need, something that is going to actually work. So send in your questions and I will catch you on the other side. I'll see you in the next episode, take care.