How much food have you had to eliminate from your diet?

[Rocky-Road]

I'm curious as to how much food you have had to eliminate from your diet to calm your ibs symptoms ?

After doing the FODMAP diet for a few weeks, I have had to stop because many of the low FODMAP foods have actually been causing a lot of tummy problems.

I'm a huge gym goer and exercise up to 4 days a week but I've had to cut so many carbs and energy producing foods out of my diet that I just simply don't have any energy to exercise.

Right now, the only food I can happily say I've discovered causes no issues is chicken, beef, pork, fish, carrots and peas. My food diary just seems to show that anything else causes either gas, constipation or diarrhea.

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I had to eliminate everything initially and starved. Gastrology chief told me I had to live with it. My response to him was BS, but the reality has been I have had to manage it. In the early days a simple cup of tea would stretch the stomach and abdominal skin to the limits and was very uncomfortable. Now I have been rebuilding the good enzymes in the gut and am able to eat some of the foods I was told I had to stop for Fodmap. Always thought Fodmap was not for me. Interestingly wheat foods are not a problem in moderation for me, and this is the first food I was told was a major cause.

Things that cause me problems now 6 years later are strenuous exercise, too much fresh fruit (canned is ok) spice, herbs, sauces and over eating. I don't touch alcohol, soda's or fruit juices. Anxiety / stress causes havoc with the gut.

I'm now up to eating 60% of my daily requirement and managing to cope. I eat one very small meal in evening and a wholemeal sandwich for lunch with marmite/ vegemite and occasionally cheese, high in protein and slow release. If I feel the gut is off then I will have a small portion of cereal, no sugar and a dribble of milk with my morning cup of tea, to line the gut and give it something to concentrate on while I get on with my day.

I use Garlick and or tyme in my food, minimal sugar or salt and try to stick to fresh foods only. I don't touch prepared foods from the store, fast foods or restaurant foods, in case of additives that I can't eat. I have educated the brain that food for me is a necessity for life and not a love affair.

Occasionally I fall off the wagon and suffer the consequences of gluttony. Always reminds me why I should stick to my diet!

In a nut shell, lifestyle choices. Is it fun, hell no. Does it help, absolutely.

I probably started with an extreme case of IBS with all good enzymes killed off from massive doses of antibiotics. Anything I ate only made the remaining yeast enzymes more active. A case of take the antibiotics or die, not a lot of choice really.

Good luck.

[xjrs]

I was taken through the fodmap diet about 7 years ago. It stopped my IBS-D completely and reduced my overall symptoms for some time. However when I did the testing there were few fodmaps that I could tolerate. After some years my pain began to increase despite being low fodmap and then I had to restrict my diet further - I could only tolerate certain veggies, protein and white rice otherwise the pain would be intolerable. You are doing well on meat and fish since these are digested in the small intestine with no residue going into the colon from them. There is a possibility that you have unbalanced bugs in your colon - maybe not enough of the good ones and the bad ones are giving you symptoms. A highly restrictive diet can be counterproductive since you are not feeding the good bacteria in the colon which can make things worse. Have you tried probiotics at all? I used to be on Acidophilus & Rhamnosus which helped a bit, but I am now on Alforex probiotic which has been scientifically studied for IBS and it has changed my life - I am now able to tolerate far more foods including fodmaps - I've been eating whole wheat bread and shredded wheat for the first time in years. It is probably because the strain involved is a particularly strong one in fighting off bad bacteria, it also has other actions in the gut like reducing inflammation. It is available on a free 2 month trial on joining theibsnetwork.org.

[LilMissBear in reply to xjrs]

Hi, can I please ask, the Alforex you are taking, did these take a period of adjustment before your gut settled? I've started following the low FODMAP diet, but am waiting for a dietician referral and am a little concerned about being on this diet too long, and upsetting the balance in my gut due to Corona virus.. it just doesn't seem like the best time to put my immune system out of balance.

[xjrs in reply to LilMissBear]

I didn't get any side effects from the Alforex. My general symptoms are IBS-C and intestinal nerve pain. I take Linaclotide for this - it reduced my pain but I still had residual pain. After taking Alflorex for a week I became pain free which allowed me to start introducing new foods into my diet again. For some people Alflorex can take up to 6 weeks to work. Some people get side effects for a little while until it settles but I didn't get any. I reintroduced fodmaps in a different way to what you are taught by the dietitian - I try a new food in small amounts for 2-3 days then wait 2-3 days for symptoms, if my symptoms are tolerable I increase the amount for another 2-3 days, if they are not tolerable I cut back to the previous amount and stay on that rate for longer. I've read you can develop the bacteria required to handle the fodmap over time. I've been able to reintroduce far more fodmaps this way, although I've still found the odd thing I can't tolerate.

[LilMissBear in reply to xjrs]

Thank you, very useful advice.

[xOceanx]

Appox 20.

[acjs72316]

Personally I had to eliminate everything at first, I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted. Then I got an ulcer (at 15 years old too, and I had to get a colonoscopy) and then I found out I have IBS-C. I avoid dairy, too much bread, cold foods, fast food, and fried foods. I try to drink warm water all the time and eat warm healthy foods. Took a while to get used too because I loved ice cream and fried chicken but health is more important

[Cinnamonan]

Have you looked at your fibre and protein ratio? As a gym goer too, I used to focus a lot on protein and didn’t really consider that the ratio between protein and fibre /plants can have a significant impact on gut microbiome.

I reduced my meat intake (3 portions a week) and it massively helped my ibs-d. Also take Alflorex

Hope you feel better soon!

[Hcharles]

I use low residue diet and find it really helped me. Sometimes fibre is the issue

[SABAS]

I have IBS-C, i started by eliminating any wheat products which helped reduce pain. The only milk i would drink is almond milk. Completely gluten free - lactose free life style. Then i changed to the keto diet, it’s been a year now, and it helped a lot with the bloating and pain!

[Luisa22]

Sadly, most fruits. I can tolerate half a banana some mornings. Anything wholemeal or "brown" most of the time. Skins on anything. I have to peel potatoes and cucumber etc.

I miss peas. I can eat a spoonful sometimes, but not too often. Lentils....same. Carrots I have to be careful with and beetroot. Beans are completely out. I miss all those foods I used to eat not so long ago. Swedes, turnips are no. Onions and garlic and leeks I miss too.