Tummy pain

[Kerry1971]

I have slow transit constipation and take laxido daily. I had 1/3 of my large bowel removed 2 years ago and am now gluten, dairy and soya free. For the last 2 weeks I started eating salad for lunch. As soon as I had finished it my tummy blows up and I'm in pain. Have not had salad over the weekend and not had pain. Does anyone else have problems eating salad? I also find eating apples upsets my tummy. Feel like my diet is becoming so restricted. 😩. I also have an under active thyroid which doesn't help my bowel problems. What food do you all eat?

[Barnclown]

Yes...both my husband & I cannot eat fibre. We are in our early 60s. But my husband hasn't been able to eat fruit & veg fibre for many years. And we both are diagnosed with significant immune dysfunction/autoimmune conditions like you (hypothyrioidism is an immune dysfunction)

My husband's Crohn's disease was early onset (when he was beginning university) and he has had many bowel resection surgeries, with most of his large bowel removed, including the valve between the colon (large bowel) & ileum (small bowel). As a result he has a stricture in that stretch of bowel: a scar tissue narrowing through which fibre cannot pass efficiently, which means blockages (obstructions) can happen so he must not eat fibre. He is in great shape now: his crohns finally went into remission & he has been off daily steroids for years. But he totally excludes fibre & takes daily loperamide (Imodium) + questran to prevent dysmotility

I have Ehlers Danlos hypermobility + infant onset lupus + early onset sjogrens. All these underlying conditions mean I have always had slow transit dysmotility affecting my upper & lower GI, and have been managing IBS-C-like signs & symptoms via listening closely to my body which tended to like a high fibre Low FODMAP diet. BUT: as the decades have passed, I have gradually had to exclude all sorts of fibre from my diet. 19 months ago a big lower GI flare set in with symptoms very like those you're describing. So Gastroenterology has been investigating: colonoscopy found no cancer or IBD. My colorectal surgeon has told me to stick to an ultra low fibre diet + take daily Celevac (the non fermentable bulking agent methylcellulose) & ortisan cube (as stimulant) ...thank goodness this treatment plan is really helping and I suspect I'll be on it forever.

During this 19 month lower GI flare, before I saw the colorectal surgeon, my gp had me try the osmotic laxative movicol which gave me dreadful symptoms. It turns out that this feedback is what helped my colorectal surgeon to realise my slow transit dysmotility would benefit from Celevac. Meanwhile, my, body's reaction to fibre made it perfectly clear I had to exclude fruit & veg (except peeled potatoes, white rice, pasts & bakery food made with milled white flour etc.) Things are much better as a result.

While I've been having this flare, I have read up on the gastroenterological manifestations of the illnesses underlying my IBS-C/M like slow transit dysmotility. I have been amazed to find that gastroenterologists are well aware patients like my husband & me cannot tolerate fibre! It is commonly agreed that many patients with our sort of chronic GI problems must exclude fibre and many of us must rely on the sort of meds my husband & I are on including insoluble non fermentable bulking agents like Celevac...this is made clear in both the NICE official guidelines on IBS care, and in the NHS Choices IBS guidelines. AND the wonderful NHS dietician who is advising me on what I CAN 😉 safely eat & more or less get the right nutrition agrees. Which means I am not letting myself worry about my husband & me excluding fibre.

Take care Kerry. I think you've been through a lot and are managing a lot. I hope you are discussing the probs you're having with your gp, and, given your medical history, asking for referral to a dietetics & nutrition clinic + a review by gastroenterology. In my experience patients like us are too complex for primary care from GPs. My feeling is that a really switched on dietetics & nutrition clinic will give you really helpful low fibre diet advice including info sheets...my clinic has! My husband & I have got used to low fibre-eating & very much enjoy our meals. Neither of us are tempted at all to eat fruit & veg cause it messes us up so badly 😉...BUT a good dietician can help you to try cautiously reintroduce fibre once your lower GI is stabilised

Sorry for going on at such length...but this subject is close to my ❤️

🍀🍀🍀🍀 coco

[Kerry1971 in reply to Barnclown]

Thank you for your detailed reply. I mentioned it to my GP last week when I saw her for blood test results for my thyroid. She has not know me long so don't think she knew my history. She wasn't really interested in my tummy problems as the appointment was for anxiety and my blood results. I was under gastro and a colorectal surgeon but have now been discharged. My tummy seams settled now I have stopped salad and apples. I seam ok with veg at the moment. I tend to eat the same foods all the time as a change of diet really upsets me. Pleased you and your husband are doing well.

[Barnclown in reply to Kerry1971]

Sounds good 😊! Take care...I like the way you're looking at this 🍀🍀