I'm new! IBS&FODMAP Diet

[Emily87]

Hello,

I have recently been told that I have IBS-D after nearly two years of hardly being able to eat anything without upsetting my stomach, and losing about 2 1/2 stone in weight. Its also caused major anxiety problems for me, I find it difficult to travel, or be stuck in situations where I know I can't leave.

I have been put on the FODMAP diet, which although its annoying to have to check the ingredients on everything you eat, I think it has helped. But I just find that everything I eat now is the same, very bland and repetitive. Does anyone else feel like this?

Also, does the wheat free bread cause anyone problems? I've obviously been eating it to avoid, wheat bread but I don't feel great after eating it, this happened for anyone else?

Any advice you can give about the diet, IBS generally or just coping with the pain when problems occur would be really helpful.

Thank you for your help

Emily

[Hidden]

Hi Emily87,

FODMAPs does take a bit of adjusting to, but you'll soon get used to what to look out for on ingredients' lists and it becomes a matter of course. If you go to the website for Monash Uni where the diet originated, there's a great smartphone app which helps when you're shopping and eating out. Sue Shepherd and Peter Gibson's book 'The Complete Low-FODMAP Diet: A Revolutionary Plan For Managing IBS And Other Digestive Disorders' has some excellent recipes, Sue helped develop the diet at Monash, so all the info is correct and she's publishing a further recipe book inJune this year. Also, Patsy Catsos's book, 'IBS - Free At Last', was my bible when I was doing FODMAPs as the NHS hadn't got behind it at that time.

Remember this isn't a diet-for-life and once you've cleaned up your digestive system during the initial weeks, you can then start to reintroduce different foods. You do have to be very committed initially to make it work though.

If you're buying wheat-free bread from the supermarket, you should be aware that as this is produced with coeliac sufferers in mind, it often contains additives that aren't suitable for IBS-ers, e.g. fruit juice concentrate (usually apple). It's also usually made with rice flour and I found that, even though rice is supposed to be a 'safe' food, it didn't do me a lot of good. I eventually gave up on bread altogether and moved over to tortillas and crackers made with corn.

I also highly recommend that you ask your GP/gastro for a SeHCAT test to see whether your IBS-D is actually caused by BIle Acid Malabsorption (BAM) as turned out to be the case for me. This condition is easily treatable with a prep called colestyramine. It seems that 50% of people are misdiagnosed and that BAM is actually the root cause of their problems.

Hope this helps.

Roz

[Hidden]

Hi kerrym212,

Although I realise gluten can be a problem for many people, just to avoid any confusion,

wheat-, barley- and rye-free in FODMAPs relate to the fructans content. Gluten isn't an issue in this diet.

Roz

[dotty423]

Hi. I know how you feel. I am about to try the FODMAP diet and have downloaded an App called The Monash University Low FODMAP diet. It seems good as gives you alternatives to use instead of the things you can't have. May be worth a try to make your food more tasty. I don't know what's causing my IBS-D problems yet but I am determined to find out as it is stopping me doing things. Good luck.

[trishyb59]

hi have you tried 100% spelt bread .i find it a good substitute .

[Emily87]

Hi,

Thank you so much to everyone who has replied to this. It's so good to hear from people who are actually going through the same thing!

Thank you RozB for mentioning about the wheat free bread, my dietitian told me to eat wheat free bread because it had no wheat in it, but didn't mention anything else about it! I will also look into BAM as well, do you still have IBS or has it calmed down after you were treated?

kerrym212, I didn't know that about the gluten either, I feel like a complete newbie to all this, so I think it probably will be best to stay away from processed foods at least until I feel normal for a bit.

dotty423, I just had a look at the app you suggested. I downloaded one similar too it, but your one seems a lot more detailed, so I might give that a go. Even though my doctor has told me to move on to the second stage of the diet (the retrying food bit) I'm gonna stay on the first bit for a while. I've got a bit of an idea of what causes my problems, even though a big part is stress and anxiety! I hope you work yours out soon.

trishyb59, I haven't tried that bread, but I'll give it a go willing to try anything right now!

Thanks again everyone x

[Hidden in reply to Emily87]

No, I don't have any problems now provided I adjust my dosage of the colestyramine properly, i.e. to suit the quantity of food I'm eating at that particular meal. BAM is still classed as IBS-D, but at least I know its cause and what to do about it.

Roz