FODMAPs help

[tredget27]

Hi, I’m trying FODMAP diet as told by GP. I need some help changing as I eat a lot of cereal with milk and Hummus, it’s seems hard as I’ve been veggie for a while and it’s gonna be a massive shopping list change. Any advice on meals or foods that are good to absorb nutrients, I think being bulimic over the years has contributed to this. Any help would great

[IBS-]

Hi. What’s the reason doctor has suggested FODMAP diet? Are you suffering from IBS?

[tredget27 in reply to IBS-]

Who knows I don’t know how it’s diagnosed, do they do tests for that? I’ve been told to try FODMAP as I’ve been having bad diarrhoea/ mushy for a month and some sorry to be graphic... it’s annoying as only been happening recently

[Frootloop]

IBS diagnosis is a process of elimination. You shouldn’t be diagnosed with it unless other causes for your diarrhoea have been ruled out.

[Nickjhawker]

For breakfast I have cooked millet, amaranth and buckwheat from the health shop, linseed - great for constipation, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, cinnamon, 1/2 a kiwifruit and few blueberries. Lunch is lettuce, cucumber, carrot, celery,small piece of kumara and protien, usually salmon frame, can be fresh raw or cooked fish, small amount chickpeas with olive oil and black pepper. Dinners are leafy greens, something more filling such as parsnips, carrots, potato, pumpkin, sometimes brown rice which I keep leftovers in freezer, can be green beans, small bit broccoli and protein such as a chicken drumstick which is the usual, very little red meat like steak all lean or lambs fry, fish, egg frittata. I overeat as a mental illness and tend to do this on high fodmap foods like Milo with milk powder and sugar, weetbix, bread, cakes, all of which leave me bloated and gassy and distended as well as feeling terrible for at least a day, often 2-3 days from the sugar. I cant seem to tolerate and of the high fodmap groups.

[xjrs]

I agree with Frootloop that you need a formal diagnosis of IBS first by having tests (usually stool sample - they can send you a kit) and blood tests. If you are formally diagnosed with IBS I would recommend taking a probiotic such as Alflorex or Symprove first to see if these help your symptoms without eliminating anything from your diet since your symptoms may be due to a gut bacterial imbalance. If you are formally diagnosed you can check back with this group for further advice.

[tredget27 in reply to xjrs]

I’ve already had stool sample and all blood tests done and they came back fine, I’m not sure if you have to ask your GP to test the stool for IBS. I’m a bit at odd end, not sure what I can eat and what not on FODMAP, I shall try that app. It’s strange as I’ve been ok with most foods before this has been going on for months now, strange, I used to be to have pizza,pasta,cheese, bread and hummus. Does IBS come on all of a sudden?

Sorry I’m so in the dark and a bit down as I’m having to spend money on changing my diet and testing all this out, going to be expensive change but guess gotta be tried. Thanks for the help

[xjrs in reply to tredget27]

If all your other tests came back fine, then your diagnosis will be IBS. There is no test for IBS as such, it is diagnosed by eliminating other conditions it could possibly be such as inflammatory bowel disease. It is possible for IBS to come on all of a sudden. I used to be able to eat what I wanted up to the age of 30. At 30 I had a bout of food poisoning from a trip to Mexico and then a course of antibiotics a little while after - my IBS started after these 2 events.

Here is some general advice about IBS that I have shared with others in this group:

IBS can be due to a number or combination of factors - these can be stress (including stress from early life experiences) which impacts the communication between the brain and the digestive system. There are lots of free webinars online at the moment regarding mindfulness meditation which might help. Plus you can ask to be referred for CBT or something similar to reduce your anxiety - I would have thought online appointments are available. Exercise can play a major role in IBS in terms of reducing stress, helping your gut microbiome and regulating bowel movements.

There is also not absorbing certain types of carbohydrates called FODMAPs very well(which you are aware of), the residue ending up in the colon and bacteria feeding off them causing symptoms. Ordinarily feeding gut bacteria is a really good thing - when you feed good gut bacteria these produce by-products that have great health effects in the gut and throughout the body. However, in some people with IBS bad bugs might have the upper hand over good - these bad bugs may cause symptoms such as pain or disordered bowel movements. There is an interesting infographic on this here: gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/....

This is why it’s worth trying probiotics such as Alflorex (which has been scientifically studied for IBS) or Symprove to crowd out the bad bugs and make their numbers die down. If that doesn't work you can try the FODMAP elimination and reintroduction diet (which has been recommended to you but I would try probiotics first). This is normally under the guidance of a nutritionist via GP referral - this may not be possible at the moment so you can read about it online. If you download the Monash University FODMAP app it will tell you which foods contain FODMAPs and in what quantities. You can eliminate all FODMAPs for 2 weeks and then introduce each type of FODMAP one at a time starting in small quantities, increasing over a 3 day period and wait up to 4 days for symptoms. I go much slower than this - only introducing a small amount (1/4 to 1/3 of a normal portion size) of the same food for 3 days and then increase if tolerable or no symptoms and cut back to the previous amount if symptoms for longer and then try to increment again . I've read your microbiome can adapt to handling a new food if introduced very slowly and your bad bugs are under control with a good probiotic. Ideally you want to eat as many FODMAPs as you can since they are good for your health. Many people with IBS don't have diverse gut bacteria - it has been found that people who lack a diverse microbiome are more prone to diseases in general. In the long run, if you can get your symptoms under control, the ideal situation is to have a very varied diet - lots of different coloured fruits and vegetables, a variety of protein and carbohydrate sources including cereal fibres. This may seem a long way off, but with the right treatment all of this is possible. Last year all I could consume to control my IBS was white rice, protein and limited low fodmap veg. Using the approach above (particularly introducing Alflorex) I am now able to consume far more foods - more than I've ever dreamed of including wholewheat bread which is unheard of for me.

If you are also suffering from pain, you may be suffering from visceral hypersensitivity (functional abdominal pain) - there is info about it here:

iffgd.org/lower-gi-disorder...

It is where the brain interprets the normal activity of the bowel as pain - this is due to a wearing down of neurons in pain control centres of the brain which can be caused by PTSD, neglect or abuse in childhood, extreme stressful events etc. The first line treatment is nerve pain agents such as low dose amitriptyline. There is a theory that being on something like amitriptyline for 6-12 months can help the pain control centre neurons to regenerate. Note that amitriptyline can cause constipation, but this can be helpful in people who are diarrhea dominant. Unfortunately I couldn't tolerate these. Linaclotide (for IBS-C only) & Alflorex have helped me with this intestinal pain.

You may also find assistance with anti-spasmodic medication such as mebeverine (Colofac) or enteric coated peppermint.

You can find some info on self management here:

theibsnetwork.org/the-self-...

[asbayford]

Hi! I reccomend the Monash fodmap app to look at safe food and servings. I eat overnight oats every morning: 43g rolled oats in 118ml of almond milk with a teaspoon of 70% cocoa powder. Mix together and put in fridge overnight. Top with strawberries in the morning. So soothing for IBS and fodmap friendly! also Google 'alittlebityummy' lots of simple recipes and some vegetarian and vegan ones too!

[Mooky2019]

If your GP is telling you to try the FODMAP elimination process, they should be referring you to a dietitian to guide you through this as well, you shouldn’t have to figure it all out yourself. X

[oldfog]

I saw the nurse at my GP surgery about my frequent diarrhoea and stomach pains in February 2020 and she prescribed Mebeverine and suggested I go on a low FODMAP diet and cut out all foods containing gluten and lactose. She didn't give me any list so I did a google search and found a list at ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fo... . The printable PDF list is not the full list and the full list is in two parts, with all the High FODMAP foods first followed by all the low FODMAP foods. I wanted them side by side, so I spent ages creating a 2 column table in Word and copying and pasting the low FODMAP foods into the first column and the High FODMAP foods into the second column. I then printed it out the 7 pages so I could refer to it when I was not using the computer. Btw FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols.

But I later downloaded and installed the free Fast FODMAP look up and learn app from play.google.com/store/apps/... which I use to look foods up when I am in a hurry or not at home

I have since learned that there are drawbacks associated with a low FODMAP diet if you stay on it for too long and that you should be referred to a dietician who will help you to re-introduce foods from the High FODMAP list in a controlled manner, with any adverse symptoms being recorded. However, I have not been back to the surgery because of the Covid-19 pandemic so I am still sticking to the low FODMAP diet. However, a couple of times I ate something that gave me a bad stomach ache and diarrhoea and that made me think that the Mebeverine couldn't really be doing much, so I stopped taking it!

Then just over a month ago, I read a post on here which recommended taking Bimuno prebiotics for IBS and I ordered a month's course from Amazon. The type I ordered is a powder, which you shake over your cereal or into a drink. And I think it is making a difference so I have just started on my second month's course I also joined the IBS Network.org and claimed a free month's course of Alflorex, which is a probiotic. Apparently, you can and should take prebiotics and probiotics together?

[Edith0]

I agree with mooky2019, would urge you to return to your GP for a referral to a dietician. The FODMAP diet can be daunting and a dietician makes the whole process much easier and you have their support. Please go back to your GP.