Sugar (sucrose, table sugar...)

[Aghu]

The question here is about low fodmap sugar. Does anyone have any trouble with it.

I haven’t used sugar for close to a year. It was difficult really. Now i started to have a little sweet after my dinner, only questionable ingredient being the sugar (a tbsp perhaps, or a tbsp of strawberry jam-sugar, strawberry, pectin-). I’ve been having sugar pretty much everyday but it seems to me that it sends me a few extra times to lo during the day with thin small bm’s as if ibs has been triggered a bit, no d or not even loose though (i’m suffering from ibsd) And in quick succession of my sweets intake i start feeling some bubblings/burblings etc. There has been periods during which i was way closer to normal with my bowel habits it seems to me, when there was absolutely no sugar in my diet.

Does anything make any sense in the above paragraph? How are you guys doing with sugar?

Thank you

[BabsyWabsy]

Hi Aghu, I also have trouble with sugar, so I keep it a minimum. The bubbling you describe after eating sugar could be fermentation in your gut. This can also make you go to the loo more often because if you can't tolerate sugar, your body will try to get rid of it as soon as possible, hence the extra bms.

[Aghu in reply to BabsyWabsy]

It doesn’t necessarily mean that i must have sibo, does it(I’ll have it tested once i can)? Do you have sibo? Do you have only ibs and some food intolerances perhaps?

Thank you

[BabsyWabsy in reply to Aghu]

No it doesn't, but that could be the problem so might be worth mentioning to your GP. I think there is a simple breath test for SIBO. For me, I believe I lack an enzyme which breaks down sucrose. Too much makes me very ill indeed, violent D to the point where I am dripping with sweat, my skin is grey and I am on the point of collapse. I am also allergic to wheat and all its derivatives. I have colitis and possibly bile acid malabsorption, for which I am trying out some Questran, and it appears to be working. Although I have to manage these conditions, it does not rule my life. Most days anyway.

[Aghu in reply to BabsyWabsy]

Free gps i can see are not good. It exasperates me when it’s always me who needs to tell them where to look at, what to test etc, after what i learn from the the stuff i read on internet. As ridiculous as it sounds really. I can’t get any answer from the doctors i see including the gastroenterologist. Anyway.

Whenever fat intake exceeds a certain level -which is not high- there comes the gastro problems for me too. Just one lamb cutlet at dinner and next day will start with d. So i’ve been thinking a possible bile acid malabsorbtion too. But it also seems implausible/impossibly unfair to me how many disorders i can have all at the same time.

But nice to hear that you’re on top of all these.

[BabsyWabsy in reply to Aghu]

General practitioners are principally generalists, though some I find claim a particular interest. There are many things where their training is almost non-existent, such as nutrition and breastfeeding. Are you unhappy with your Gastroenterologist too? Some practices encourage what they call 'expert patients' who know a lot about their own and sometimes their family members conditions and they take more responsibility for their health care, and ideally work with the doctor. The doc who referred me admitted he had no knowledge of gut issues, so he sent me to someone who did. This is how it should work. Sometimes you need to be pushy and stand up for yourself and not be fobbed off. It can be hard work.

[Aghu in reply to BabsyWabsy]

Reply appreciated. I’ll try to sum it up shortly and answer that later. But i definitely hear what you say. Just wondering if there’s any fruit that you can comfortably eat or that’s not problematic for you in small quantities? Fruit in the sense we use in daily language not in a botanical sense. Any?

[BabsyWabsy in reply to Aghu]

I do eat some fruit and I am drawn to the sharper flavours, like raspberries and gooseberries. I use honey to cook with, which I can tolerate and is sweeter than sugar, so I use less. Grapes give me problem, but they are full of sugar. I like grapefruit, but can't eat it any more because it interferes with one of my medications. I do like my vegetables though.

[Aghu in reply to BabsyWabsy]

Yeah you’re distinguished here from ibs by being able to handle fodmaps then. Sugar being no but honey (hardcore fructose) ok is curious indeed.

[BabsyWabsy in reply to Aghu]

I do feel a bit of an imposter, but it is what I was told I 'probably' had initially, and that is when I joined.

[Earthflower]

I seem to improve when I actively lower my intake of sugar. Because I walk about 3 hours a day for my job as a community care worker I feel I need energy. I was grabbing a chocolate bar on my travels from a corner shop but realised that my stomach was becoming permanently bloated and painful so I bought protein powder from Holland and Barratt. I really CHECKED THE NUTRITION as a lot of powders are full of carbs and sugars but this is high protein and hardly any carbs or sugars. I mix with water whenever I need some energy throughout my working day until I get a break at home at about 6pm when I eat solids. This has helped my bloating and I've lost a few pounds too.