hey everyone, i’ve just turned 16 years old with a diagnosis of ibs, this was a great shock last night after my blood test results came back. i’ve had a pain in my lower right side since february of 2019 and the doctors presumed it was an appendicitis as this is the most common in people my age, since january 2020 after i was diagnosed with anxiety the pain moved around my belly from the right side to the middle and from about april 2020 it stayed in my left side. The pain is truely excruciating especially after eating takeaways, or foods with a hot kick. i didn’t take much notice to this as i became ‘used’ to this pain. In the summer 2020 i became very overwhelmed due to the loss of my grandad, and being stuck at home from covid affects didn’t help; this turned me towards comfort eating and that’s when i knew things weren’t right. Now after just over 5 months of tossing and turning between it’s not IBS and it is, i finally have my diagnosis but do not know where to start.....whatsoever in-fact haha, i would really just like to know how everyone else coped accepting their diagnosis and what has helped them...
Thankyou x
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Roro2309
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Lactose free dairy made a huge difference, try it or go dairy free.
Probitics, actimel etc help.
Ginger capsules daily.
If i have a flare up (dont get them often anymore) i eat a banana or drink ginger tea.
There is also the F.O.D.M.A.P Diet which is designed to help people with ibs, look it up online.
You seem to know some of your trigger foods already, so avoid them completely.
If you do try stuff dont try too many things at once or you might not be able to tell which one is helping, do one thing at a time for about 3-4 weeks and see if it makes a difference.
A food diary is good to keep notes of how you feel about certain foods etc.
There are a lot of probiotics on the market so you would need to try them out and see how it goes, you need to try them for about 3 weeks to see if they will benefit you are not. Actimel is easy to get so try it to start with or go to a pharmacy and they might give you information about others.
I hope you sort it all out and get to feel better someday.
Do you know what your triggers are? First step would be to find out what they are by keeping a wellness diary this will help to identify what your triggers are and learning what works for you have a read about the dairy here theibsnetwork.org/blog/how-...
There may be other factors that are linked to your symptoms that have nothing to do with food, ie stress, anxiety life style factors, work. Taking medications, may well not be the answer.
Taking medications and diet, lifestyle changes ect will help but once you have discovered your triggers, there may be something causing them that you are not aware of and then you can start to look at what works for you diet or medication and self-management . Have you downloaded our take control booklet? theibsnetwork.org/blog/down...
Have a look at our range of factsheets that are available to download Fact Sheets | The IBS Network
A FODMAP diet is second line advice and should not be embarked on as a first port of call for managing IBS symptoms there are many other things that can be tried first.
Dietitians are the only practitioners with training and up to date information about the low FODMAP diet, we don’t publish a list of foods as the diet should be completed under the supervision of a dietitian. It isn’t just about food groups it’s about the amount of FODMAP’s in each food and the amount of food that is put together within a meal.
The diet is complex and it is vital that the foods removed from a person’s diet are replaced with suitable alternatives to prevent nutritional deficiencies.
We recommend that people are cautious of obtaining information via the internet, much of the information on the internet is no longer accurate.
Monash the creators of the diet provide data that is evidence-based, it’s been peer reviewed and published in major journals around the world so it can be trusted.
Hence to obtain good results and maintain a healthy balanced diet it is advisable to ask your IBS specialist or GP for a referral to a trained dietitian who will use the latest information. With that in mind, be very careful from where you obtain your information and FODMAP food lists as much is out-of-date.
Relieved to get a diagnosis I suppose and that it wasn't the C word!
In my experience you will need to try a lot of things to manage it. I would change your diet gradually otherwise you will never know what triggers it and what doesn't. Mine is triggered by stress mainly, but the wrong food can do it too. So can lack of sleep but I guess that is related to stress.
I also saw a counsellor a year after my diagnosis. He helped me come to terms with some of the consequences that I couldn't manage through other means. Like coping with my toilet needs, having to use pads etc sometimes. He gave me some advice that really helped. I am reluctant to share it here as it will not go down well with some.
First, go dairy free. Avoid all lactose in ingredient lists. Probiotics are based on dairy so avoid those and take dairy free biotic tablets instead. Go on the low Fodmaps diet. You can find it on line. It's easy to follow. Don't drink fizzy drinks or alcohol. Don't eat garlic, onions or hot spices. No curry! Pasta can aggravate too. Take time to relax and meditate along with a meditation video or disc. The Fodmaps diet will tell you what you can eat (low soluable fibre foods) but I would suggest you steer clear of fruit and porridge for a couple of weeks.
Thankyou so much for getting back to this, means the world! I tried actimel this morning and i currently the worst bloat lol...so i will definitely try the tablets..
I have been advised by my doctor to do the fodmap diet however was told to try eating normal foods (not trigger foods though) for 2 weeks too see if i can manage it that way, so if that doesn’t work i’ll be to sure to check that out!
As for drinks ive been sticking to water and juice and i don’t get any irritation from these so that’s a good sign
Eating ordinary foods just to see how you get on is not good advice for someone with IBS. Your doctor clearly doesn't understand and the condition fully. Try the fodmaps foods first. Cut out dairy and yeast if you can. No yeast is difficult because it means no bread products.
My IBS was triggered by chemotherapy. Honestly I was initially relieved I had diagnoses. My gp ignored the hospital and sent me for the wrong tests then told me it was depression (I knew it wasn't as I've had depression) so it took changing practice and more tests before I got told what was wrong. It was so good to know what it was.
Then I got really angry that it took so long to get a diagnoses and that I'd had to go through so much stress and so many tests to get to that point. But anger is a pretty pointless emotion to hang on to so I focused on finding the best possible way to live with it.
I've found that diet was the best treatment for me. I'm IBS-M (having both D and C) but if I stick to the Fodmap diet and avoid too much stress, I can live pretty normally. Changing my diet was really really hard as I love my food but its got easier with practice and the difference is amazing. I feel like my old self again!
Have you been tested for coeliac disease. Peple mention problems with pasta bread porridge ect this could be caused by gluten. It is a major trigger up there with dairy.
Hi, yes and for colon cancer, chrones, lupus, gall stones, etc, etc, etc. Been tested for absolutely everything and had cameras in almost every orifice I own 😂
My triggers are wheat, lactose, anything in the onion family (including garlic and leek), honey, asparagus, most lentils and beans but not peas and anything high acid (like orange). Generally most of the high fodmap items but not all. I can eat apples for example. It's a tough diet to stick with but it works for me. 🤷♀️
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