Is this normal?.

I first wrote on here a few days ago about my IBS? Issues. Mine are usually ibs-d.

Had diarrea twice on Friday, once Saturday.

Yesterday, started on the Fodmap diet, had porridge and lacto free milk for breakfast, fillet steak fried in olive oil, mashed potato and green beans for lunch.

Baked potato and hard cheese plus a banana for tea and a bowl of barley and oat porridge and 5 almonds for supper. Drank water instead of caffeine and had herbal teas.

Felt really good yesterday, today i went to bathroom, had a very large movement but it was weird. It was part solid part diarrea. Is this a normal thing at the start of fodmap or just another weird ibs issue.?

[Hidden]

Hi Bunnyrabbit1,

The type of bowel movement you describe is pretty typical - even on FODMAPs. I found that there were several foods listed as 'safe' on the diet which still gave me a bit of a problem, and oats, in any shape or form, was one of them. In fact, I kept off all grains for the first 5 months, eating crackers and tortillas made from maize (corn) instead. Almonds are a real no-no on as they're very high in oligos.

Keep a detailed food diary to help you eliminate triggers outside of the diet. Patsy Catsos's book, 'IBS - Fee At Last' follows FODMAPs closely, but also has further info in it such as ingredients' lists etc. It also tells you how to reintroduce the different food groups one-at-a-time once you've resolved the bulk of your problems - highly recommended, my copy is extremely battered and dog-eared due to much use!

Pagan

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you paganmoon, really appreciate all the advice you are giving, just bought the Kindle version of the book you suggested. Seems to be a lot of contradictory advice on different fodmap sites, have also got the iphone app from monash, But this book looks great.

Will lay off the oats and almonds. Do you know if you can drink one glass of rose wine? I like to have one glass a week but wonder if i should cut that out as well.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Glad to be of help - could have been even more helpful by saying it's best to buy the hard copy of the book as the Kindle version is more difficult to read due to lists and charts etc, never mind, I'm sure you'll find your way around it.

Yes, there's a huge amount of contradictory, bad and just plain wrong information out there on the web about FODMAPs and I always point people towards the Monash site (where the diet was developed) and to the book you now have as they're 100% reliable, take my advice and ignore everything else you may read about it. In my opinion, even the NHS version of it isn't as good as what you now have.

You may find that oats are okay for you and that it was the almonds and/or bananas which upset you - or even all three. It's definitely a case of horses for courses, which is why a food diary is a good idea. FODMAPs keeps you away from the most likely suspects until you sort out the rest.

With the exception of dry, red wine, alcohol doesn't affect me at all (hooray for that - need something to keep sane!), but even a small amount upsets some people.

Keep me posted, I wish you well with this.

Pagan

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much Pagan, you have helped a great deal. Have also sent off for the hardback copy the book, bought the kindle version because i was so impatient to start it. Will stick to that and Monash.

I am going pretty extreme i think as i intend to cut out sugar and artificial sweetners.

I notice rose wine is down as a no no on the fodmap but will give it a try and see.

Despite this only being the second day i have noticed the intestinal bubbling has stopped.

Will keep you posted and thank you so much for your advice.