Ibs/vegetarian diet

[Mariey]

Hi, I was diagnosed recently with Ibs, gp has prescribed buscopan- 2 tabs 4xdaily. I'm not sure what my trigger foods are yet-everything seems to cause me problems. Spasms, severe bloating, constipation, diarhoea, lethargic...generally feeling awful most of the time. I'm vegetarian- not sure where to start sorting my diet out....would appreciate any advice from anyone.

Thanks. Marie.

[Hidden]

You could try leaving one food group out of your diet at a time for at least 2/3 weeks keeping a food and symptom diary. Try dairy first

Use Alpro products and Pure spread

[elwins]

I agree with what's been said, I suffer with colitis and I find wheat and corn cause me problems. Best of luck

[Hidden]

The foods that seem to trigger it for me are: sweetcorn, wholemeal bread, peas, broccoli, cauliflower - foods I absolutely love. Also, the skin on fruit is high in fibre so you need to peel fruit - best fruit are peeled apples. Look for soluable fibre diet on the internet as that should improve your symptoms. I am trying to sort out my diet as well so am looking in to all of the soluable fibre foods. Here is a link below for starters re soluable foods.

helpforibs.com/diet/fiber1.asp

Best of luck and hope you feel better very soon.

[Shehangsbrightly]

Hi Marie. I'm a vegetarian too and find quite a few veggies and beans are triggers for me. I have found the FODMAP diet has made a huge difference and an enables me to manage my symptoms most of the time without medication. FODMAPs are all carbohydrates and some people are unable to digest them. They basically ferment in the gut which is what causes the pain, cramps and spasms. I seem to have a big problem with Polyols (the P from FODMAP) and can't eat cherries, peas, avocados, sweet potatoes and cauliflower among other things. I can eat onions and garlic (which are FODMAPS) in small quantities but if I have too much or combine them with other things from the list the combined effect is enough to trigger my symtoms. I am fine with quite a few things on the list that may be problematic for others. Everyone is different (for example, my sister has IBS too and is fine with cauliflower but can't eat oats which aren't even on the list of FODMAP foods!) It's a bit of trial and error. I cut out all FODMAPs for 3 weeks initially which was tough going but then enabled me to re-introduce things one at a time so I could work out what was affecting me. Unless you cut all possible trigger foods out then it is difficult to see what is actually causing the problem. Hope that helps a bit. Happy to chat further about it if it would be helpful. Good luck x

[Mariey in reply to Shehangsbrightly]

Thanks for your reply. It's good to hear from someone similar although I realise what works for one person doesn't work for another. All the foods you mention are among my staple diet. I've decided to wait till after Xmas then completely overhaul my diet(too stressful to do it now) I've looked online at fodmap- tbh I was a bit overwhelmed. If you have any books you can recommend I'd really appreciate it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again

Marie x

[Shehangsbrightly]

Hi Marie,

There is a lot of info online now about FODMAPs and it can be a bit of a minefield. I have found some articles and food lists contradict each other as to what is/isn't a FODMAP. I initially used the smart phone app from the Monash University in Australia (They pioneered the research) as when I found out about FODMAPs it was relatively unheard of. You can find a link and more info here...med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/...

The App is great as a quick check on which foods could cause problems.

For further info I have also found the site below really useful...

aboutibs.org/low-fodmap-die...

I started by cutting out anything that was only the list and any other food that I thought could be a problem for me. It is very restrictive but is worth doing for a short period of time to allow your symptoms to settle down. It recommends 4 weeks but I think I did two. My symptoms dropped off pretty much straight away but I allowed time for my system to settle down. I then reintroduced things one at a time. I started with the diary items as I was fairly sure I was OK with them and soon ruled them out as being a problem for me. I then did the same with the bread /gluten type products. My biggest problem is with Polyols and I only need a tiny bit of certain things to kick off my symptoms. Some things, like sweet potatoes I can eat in moderation and as long as they aren't combined with another food that causes me problems. It takes a while to really work out what it is that you can and can't eat and is trial and error until you get it right but it really is worthwhile to manage your symptoms.

Happy to answer more questions if you have any

Linda x