Hi, my husband was diagnosed with IBS 4 years ago & suffers bloat & gas. He finds eating a poor diet seems to suit him better but does anyone else find this.
By poor diet i mean, no fruit or veg, but chips, chicken nuggets, biscuits & the like don't seem to make him as bad.
I don’t think food makes any difference I suffer and have no appetite been sick for 6 months now every day not good
One man's meat is another's man's poison as they say. I have IBS d and cannot eat any fruit, but I do eat veg. The only thing I can say is that the long term effect of such a diet may affect him in the future maybe you will have to try and wean him of some foods and introduce others. Good luck🤞
Am exactly the same. Try fruit and veg chopped up small easier to tolerate eg layered vegs in the supermarkets and cook til soft or grate the vegs and steam easier to cope with
Hi Kittybear,I find all the veg I love upsets me,anything green is a big no no,I can only eat carrots now and I find all the things your hubby eats suits me too,I do take vitamin tablets but do worry that I am not getting my full quota....I have tried complan to boost my levels too...bananas and satsumas seem to be the fruits I can eat as I have diverticular disease too. I have started to drink peppermint tea,which I couldn't stand,but really look forward to now especially before I go to bed and I drink it when my tummy is "off" also I eat peppermint soft mints,and drink peppermint cordial to help with my bloating and gas. I hope you both find his happy medium
Hi girlafraid, thank you so much for this, you sounds just like my husband talking!!. I am determined to find him a happy medium, I just need to convince him 🙂.
I hope things keep going well for you.
Do you get Pain at night?
He doesn't get pain as such. He says he just feels like he needs the toilet all the time & is uncomfortable.
Absolutely. Let’s put it this way, if our animals have worms and parasites, we give them something to help. Do we ever do that for us? I do now.
Yes I know where you’re coming from there.
As an advocate of healthy eating and a cook I struggle with this one! The tricky thing is getting the balance right for each individual. Soluble fibres seem to be needed regardless.
This is my opinion only. Parasites in the body thrive on these junk food. They take all the goodness out of Anything! I had really bad IBS years ago and it comes back if I eat too much rubbish. However, I took a parasite cleanse, twice and every year since. No more bloating and I also take a good probiotic. Really really helps me. My partner is going through the same kind of thing as your husband only he’s starting to eat so much better, although we’ve always eaten fresh vegetables when we can. He’s started taking probiotics and he’s cleaning up his diet and soon I will give a parasite cleanser but gently gently does. Please don’t introduce everything all at once. See overgrown Candida. Candida robs you of all your vitamins etc. Good luck. This is not generally something a doctor can prescribe for you more a case of helping yourself.
Hi
read your reply and I would like to know more about your parasite cleanse. What do you take? I always use natural remedies as I can't stomach medicinal synthetic drugs. My diet is veggie with raw and cooked veg, lentils, rice, quinoa, eggs, sheep/goat cheese and butter, fresh herbs occasional whole meal bread. But I know I have some bad bugs because of pain/gas and bloating. and severe inflammation. Definitely candida symptoms. I am convinced stress had been the main cause. And with this current scenario and enforced isolation my stress levels are off the scale. PS I am 77 with severe COPD and on oxygen all day.
I use Candisolv and threelac or fivelac. About both these things can help with what the Chinese call damp in the lungs, but you must go gently, gently. I am convinced about overgrown Candida as I have studied it for years and made myself the tester. Candisolv one lot every other month. I take fivelac and the parasite cleanse I use is Intestinal guard. Ten day course then off for ten days then again, but please start off gently. In 2006 I tried threelac when it came on the market it said take one per day for a few weeks then increase to two. I took four all at once and later that day I ended up with what people have named as the Herximer reaction. The second worst flu I have ever had in my life, because as the Candida dies off it produces chemicals that it has stored in the body to affect your liver. So, please GENTLY GENTLY. After my flu and still taking one a day threelac ,the ringing in my right ear had disappeared, my skin got better and softer, my ibs was better but not gone completely. Over the past fourteen years my diet has cleaned up a lot. I do still get some constipation but not half as bad as I used to get it. I eat fruits now, where I could not I try not to eat white sugar or indeed any kind but I have the occasional lapse. I have been eating a fruit diet for a while with the occasional meal. I have lost weight, (which I couldn’t do). I have now more appreciation of nutrition and I can taste fruits and appreciate their natural sweetness as apposed to over sweet sugars. My diabetes was out of control now it is getting lower. If all these things were not available I would be lost. But if I could take three it would be Candisolv, fivelac and Zenherbs Intestinal guards. They helped me and are still helping me. And yes I stray from the path sometimes but I try not to.
Please see reviews for Candisolv etc. In the end it’s a personal choice.
Hi swarke22, this is really interesting. What you're saying makes so much sense & I've just googled parasites...& it's something that I never even considered. Can I ask do you cleanse with natural remedies or via the medical route. This could answer a lot of his issues.
Thank you 😊
Natural, there are many on the market. I’ve not seen anything come away from me, (excuse that) but I don’t bloat as much. I think with all the bad nutrition around we have to take care of ourselves better. We are our own guardians. I use zenherbs Intestinal guard. See my reply to Loveyourbunny.
What kind of parasites are you dealing with please? This isn't something I have heard of so I am interested. The "orthodoxy" is that we in the west don't have a lot of trouble with parasites any more, but I am not sure this is true!
It is possible that by avoiding fruit and veg he is avoiding some types of carbohydrates called FODMAPs some of which can be triggers for IBS sufferers. FODMAPs are recognised by the NHS as contributing to IBS.
Certain FODMAPs are not very well absorbed by some people, so the residue ends up in the colon and bacteria feeds off them causing symptoms such as bloating and gas. 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 excess gas, 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 he can try the FODMAP elimination and reintroduction diet. This is normally under the guidance of a nutritionist via GP referral. If you download the Monash University FODMAP app and Kings College fodmap apps, they will tell you which foods contain FODMAPs and in what quantities. He 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.
The problem with eating a very restricted diet for long periods of time, is that there is not only the reduction in nutrients required for health to consider, but this will have the knock on effect of reducing bacterial diversity, which in turn can make IBS worse and make people even more intolerant to foods. That is, if you don't feed the good bugs (i.e. the army that protects you), the less likely they will be able to fight off the bad bugs, which cause symptoms, so it's a vicious circle. This is why they say that the FODMAP diet isn't a long term thing or to try to eliminate as few FODMAPs as possible.
In the long run, if he can get his 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.
He 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-...
If all of the usual IBS remedies fail and he is experiencing diarrhea still, it is worth him getting tested for BAM (Bile Acid Malabsorption), which can cause constant diarrhea - there is a separate test and treatment for that.
Good luck.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I really do appreciate it.
It looks like I need to get him to sit down with me & work out a plan of action. There is more to IBS than I realised!
I agree and I am the same. I think the reality is that no-one really knows. Everyone is different and the medics really DONT understand the condition. I was on the FODMAP for a month. It was awful and barely helped me. If I am going to have bad stomach cramps at least, I want to enjoy my food a little bit. Do what feels right
Had ibs for years I find I can eat junk in moderation but if I eat too much chocolate/cakes/take away I get a flair up that can last weeks ! Also the only thing that helps is pepper mint tea and buscopan for the pain I’ve tried everything! Hope this helps
Thank you, yes my husband takes buscopan which he says works to a point but he needs something more now. I just need to find it !
Hi I was surprised when I discovered that tough stuff and roughage can make IBS worse if the colon is sensitive or damaged. It's official - painful gut, eat refined food. Could I suggest trying pureed stuff? And stay away from cabbage, it's good but rather hard work for the gut. When I had a bad attack in May, cabbage was the first thing my gut decided it wasn't going to bother with (I won't go into details 
) OK now, but I got a practical lesson then. Actually that makes me think, I'm gassy at the moment, I bet it's the onions we cook with ... Does he eat porridge? That I am told is a good source of soluble fibre and "well tolerated". I don't like it much, but it never upsets me. Things like baked apple (not the skin ) and tomato paste are nourishing and not hard work for the gut. Try avocado (ripe fruit, not guacamole). Caution with soft fruit as some like strawberries are rather acid. Canned fruit is partly cooke so less acid and tough. Canned peaches are a standby for me. I hope this is some help, I know it's an individual thing. Good luck!
Interesting what you're saying here. We decided only last week that cooked onions in moderation are ok. Too much & unpleasant things happen 🙄. I don't think he's even had porridge so that's definitely something to try & he does love stewed apples 👍.
Thank you for this. Much appreciated
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