I have recently read about a diet called the gaps diet it seems to be getting great reviews for soothing the symptoms of IBS but I'm also seeing if it is not followed correctly it can go wrong I would love to try it out but scared I'll make things even worse please can someone give me any advise as I have no life I'm not long paralized and that was bad enough without this added extra I'm 37 years old I have a wife and three kids and want to get some sort of normality back but I'm scared to leave my house because of this IBS please if anyone can help I'd very grateful thanks
David
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Paveedc
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Hi I'm sorry your in such a terrible place and no ibs doesn't make things any better. Me personally I find no diets helpful it's more about finding out what works and doesn't work work for you personally. Everybody has different triggers. Five years ago I was suffering daily, couldn't go anywhere, make any plans it's horrendous, now I have a bad attack may be once a month if that. I started by eliminating food groups one at a time to see how I got on. The most common triggers are dairy, certain fruits particularly citrus, alcohol and smoking, spicy foods and fried food. I have just started introducing dairy into my diet again after five years, yoghurts fine, milk not fine. It can be very Hit and miss and you have to figure out what works and doesn't work for you. I am also on medication from my doc loperamide, alverine and buscopan daily. I also take a multivitamin and probiotic every day. I hope this helps in some way.
hi lynne thanks for your reply yes i agree with you i have tried a few different diets but nothing works and i have not really worked out what triggers it i don't smoke or hardly ever drink alcohol rarely eat fried food or takeaways so im at a loss as to what could be causing it
Hi Paveedc sorry to hear your paralized then to have IBS aswell.My advise to you would be to get your GP to send you to see a good dietician ,they may put you on a low Fodmap diet which does seem to help a lot of people.Good luck x
Hi David, I'm troubled by IBS for so long that I forget how long ago it started. Two years ago, du to another problem, I discovered a product called LYMPHDIARAL produced by PASCOE in Germany. This product has made all the difference for me. It is not a cure, but it has eased all the symptoms considerable and most of all the pain. It helps your lymphatic system to clean. It helped within 24hours when I started out, and I'm still on a small amount for maintenance. It is worth the trial if you can get it.
Had IBS for 26 years. Low Fodmaps diet made huge difference. Other thing which helped enormously was self-hypnosis cd from ibsaudioprogram.com. Good luck.
Hi David, sorry to hear of your situation. With the risk of sounding like a shill I would urge you to try symprove. It has literally cured 95% of my symptoms and is the only scientifically proven pro biotic to help ibs. A study done by kings college has just been done on it proving its efficacy onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...
Try it for a few weeks at least but it had an instant effect on my symptoms. I wish you well as I am sure this is another layer of stuff you don't need in your life right now! Marc
Hi guys thank you very much for your advice you have given me a few ideas to think about thanks Marc I will look in to symprove today sounds interesting thanks again guys
No prob... Buy it direct from them and you get a discount on your second order...(i think)... Delivery is quick. Let us know how you get on...
Some great advice above. I would also query if you are taking any meds if any of them (or their combination) may be making your symptoms worse. Don't stop all your meds but if it got worse within a few weeks or days of starting or increasing the dose of one/more, then could be worth informing your GP especially if the information leaflet inside suggests that its may make that symptom worse.
If you have post infective IBS and it just does not seam to be getting any better, take heart it can and for me did eventually start to settle. Keep taking probiotics and watching what you eat (if you think food is a trigger) but also give yourself some time out to relax each day/week - its up to you if a therapy like Hypnotherapy/acupuncher/reiki or just simple meditation helps. You may find books on mindfulness (there is a blue one on mindfulness and health - sorry don't know author I borrowed it from my local library) a help. I think the theory is add more relaxation (not just sleep) into daily routine to help calm the neuro system down which if your GP given you any antidepressants they are trying to calm it down. Its not that you are depressed or anxious but IBS can at times make you feel that way but its just your body trying to heal its self and going into over drive. If your IBS has stemmed from whatever caused you to become paralyzed, the same applies, your neuro system has had a shock and its going to take a while to settle but it can settle you may need to help it with more relaxation.
I totally appreciate how embarrassing it is and the fear of going out - I started wearing protective underwear (you can get it at the supermarket - ASDA/Tesco etc cheaper than pharmacist) and that helped me at least get out more with a change of clothes in the car/bag.
Give your body time to adapt to its change, it wants and is trying to heal you. Trying any new diet has risks - FODMAP, GAPS they can all make things worse for a while but its all useful info to find out what your body can cope with now and what it can't. There is no quick and easy overnight fix - or not for most of us, but if you can accept that and adapt your life your may actually find your well on the way to being a whole lot better than you are today.
What a tough call for you. :(. I wonder if you have had any help and support for the stress and anxiety you must be suffering? I ask on two levels: one because those together are the primary cause of my IBS and also a secondary effect of experiencing the symptoms and impairment on my life. Secondly because I work as a psychologist and know that CBT style assistance for the emotional aspects can improve the level of distress although not eradicate it altogether.
I do try and work hard to help myself by being careful with food and taking what exercise I can and I use an app on my iPad that helps me monitor symptoms, food, levels of stress or anxiety and allows for notes as well (patientIbs) which I can then save and take to specialist or GP. I find it calming to objectively log things down.
Go to nhs dietitian. A good one would have a list of food to avoid. My child had intolerance to bake beans n broccolli. It change from doubling up 24/7 to 2 days a week. Our specialist orescribe loperamide to stop diarhea with paracetamol n thats works a treat. We no longer use any medication but still suffer 2 days a week. We are now awaiting intolerance test to lactose fructose n another as my child had sweet tooth n
Hi Paveedc, I have IBS 95% under control for almost a year now using FODMAPS diet. I am also disabled and had stopped PT for 5 years because I can only do PT in a pool and I was spending most of the time in the bathroom or with stomach pain. I would recommend it to everyone with bowel issues. BUT 1. help yourself by having a few test done before you start it will save you time (for fructose malabsorption test is called a Hydrogen Breath Test)(for celiac disease)2 The Monash University developed the FODMAPs diet and have an easy to use app and much material (that can be found online for free if you look a little)3 the elimination phase is very important but needs to be only 2 weeks then start adding 1 food group 1 time a week to see if there are symptoms. what I didn't know is if a food is going to bother you you will know 2-4 hours after eating and if a food bothers you the effects could last 4 days (cramping, bloating,constipation, diarrhea, etc) I tried "pills" hoping for the easy fix to stop the symptoms and some did but they never removed the cause and it always got worst and it always became expensive. I hope you find a way to get your life back
You may have food intolerance which is a complicated problem but the links below will help explain it.
In Australia where they seem to be years ahead! dieticians treating ibs suffers are seeing much better success rates with the low chemical diet rather than low fodmap.
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