Daughter with IBS

[Nash5]

We are in Year 3. Not sure what triggers her. I have been preparing Low FODMAP meals but we know that only helps a little. What triggers are the most common for people with IBS?

[GoogleMe]

Definitely Irritable not Inflammatory and definitely not Coeliac? Had all the tests?

It's a multi-factorial thing so it may require a combination of triggers (eg stress or tiredness *plus* particular foods) and can be dose dependent.

Many years ago when IBS was the only diagnosis I had (turned out to be part of something else) I used a research based exclusion diet to identify food triggers. With such a young child I feel this should probably be done with the active input of a paediatric dietician.

That said, given your daughter's age, lactose intolerance might be top of the list since this is the age at which the world's predominant genotype has just lost the ability to digest much mammalian milk. In the UK, more people *are* able to continue to process it without difficulty but depends on her ethnic makeup.

People also develop short/medium term intolerance after illness so you may want to consider her recent history.

For me it was wheat and gluten and avoiding them was effective for several years and allowed me to achieve a few things in my life I otherwise would not have, before the underlying issues took over and the diet was no longer effective so I abandoned it at that point.

[Hidden]

Hi Nash5 and firstly welcome to the Healthy eating forum. I'm sorry about your daughter we have many members with IBS and an IBS topic section.

So what to avoid, carbonated drinks artificial sugars highly refined processed foods fried foods are all know triggers. What might benefit your daughter is an elimination diet under the guidance of a nutritionist as a balanced diet is very important.

Here's a link about triggers please see:

webmd.com/ibs/ibs-triggers-...

I wish you and your daughter well with this and please let us know how you get on as IBS is debilitating.

Jerry. 😊

[Jayroslife in reply to Hidden]

Thank you.

As I said it has been 3 years since my daughter started this journey with visits to her GI dr on a regular basis and yes it is very debilitating. She is now almost 17 and hormones have added to her condition. She has had blood, stool, and a MRE. Everything has come back normal. She has been working with a nutritionist and has been playing the food roulette game as I like to call it. At first, the thought was that she was lactose intolerant but we have found that certain dairy she can have without a negative response. Gluten is also not an issue at all.

She has anxiety which she now takes medication. It is thought that she has anxiety driven IBS and the IBS also drives her anxiety. It’s a horrible cycle. It has helped that she has started her own blog on Instagram (Jayros.life) that helps her share the stress of it all with peers. The GI dr has suggested her having a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Any thoughts on that?

Thank you.

[Hidden in reply to Jayroslife]

You're welcome and it sounds like you have been thorough in your investigation and unfortunately stress is a big factor in upsetting our intestines.

I've had both endoscopies and colonoscopies and they are to look for damage to the villi, which are tiny little fingers with microvilli which increases the surface area of our intestines to the size of a football pitch.

Please see:

google.com/search?rls=en&q=...

For gluten sensitivity they look for collapsed and damaged villi so I imagine they will do this and look for inflammation of the gut tract with your daughter.

I think to help your daughter with her stress her blog on instagram should help as its easier to deal with stress and IBS when you don't feel alone, as its like a relief when you can relate to others in similar situations.

So I'd definitely go with the GI Dr as they've seen it all before and from my experience your daughter is in good hands. And I wish you well with this.

[Kai--]

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Merely supplemental information, Nash5, if you & your daughter are interested in learning more about the gut/ Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): healthunlocked.com/healthye... .

(Giulia Enders makes learning about our gut fun & understandable. (And, her sister Jill’s illustrations ( google.com/search?as_q=%22J... ) make us giggle ☺️ 😁 . . . )

Best wishes to you & your daughter 👩‍👧, Nash5. ☺️ 🙏 🍀 🌺 🌞

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[Zest]

Hi Nash5

I just wanted to say Welcome to the Healthy eating forum.

Zest

[sheli]

Stress and spicy food

[Matt2584]

My mum used to have IBS... USED to.

She took charcoal tablets years ago and has never had it since.

[Cooper27 Administrator]

This is interesting! How long did she take them for?

My OH is coeliac, and takes activated charcoal if he's been glutened, but I have heard that in some countries it's used to help if you've had food poisoning. I wonder if it maybe absorbed a parasite in your mum, or something like that!

You do need to make sure that you drink enough water when you take them, because they absorb quite a lot from the digestive tract and can make things go a bit too far the other way