What is your experience with dietitians?

[Fencinggirl]

So a couple of years ago (2019) I was referred to an NHS dietitian in order to start the low fodmap diet. This lady was quite sympathetic to my problems, however in the initial meeting all she really did was give me a bunch of leaflets on the diet and tell me to come back in two months (i.e. after the elimination phase). During these two months I lost a lot of weight (not ideal as I was already underweight) and there was no change in my symptoms. After the two month period was up I was told to just stop the diet as it hadn't made any difference and that was that. Again, to the lady's credit, she did send a letter referring me to a gastroenterologist, but the whole experience left me wondering what the point was of waiting to see a dietitian rather than just trying the diet myself.

So I want to ask you is this typical? Do dietitians usually expect you to get on with the elimination phase without much input from them? Is there usually more support with the reintroduction phase of the diet (which I didn't do, but does seem pretty complicated)? Let me know your experiences.

[IBSNetwork Partner IBS Network]

First thing to make sure that it was a dietitian that specialises in IBS and is FODMAP trained. If you are seeing a dietitian that doesn't have the above specialism and training, they will not be as useful as one that does. For example would be like seeing a brain surgeon about your heart. Hope that helps

[Fencinggirl in reply to IBSNetwork]

To clarify, I was told that they were fodmap trained.

[Agnes2202]

Well I had consultation with nurse practitioner and she advised me to follow Fodmap diet...and that's it. Im finding very hard to streak this diet. And more anxious.

[BlackIsleGirl in reply to Agnes2202]

They tried that old waffle on me too. I told them that I didn't believe that making such a drastic dietary change without support from a dietician was not healthy and insisted on a referral. It took a while but it was worth it!

[BlackIsleGirl]

I saw one nearly 2 years ago and found her extremely helpful. I sent her my food/symptom diary prior to seeing her which I think really helped. On my first consultation she gave me a list of what she referred to as the big hitters and advised on suitable replacement foods. She left me to it for about 8 weeks and then went through other foods which could be triggers and gave me more advice about substitutes etc. She saw me again in a few weeks after that to discuss reintroduction of food and working out tolerances and then saw me a final time for a follow up to see how I was managing. Her big focus was on teaching me to manage my symptoms and maintain a healthy diet. Maybe I was just lucky but I can honestly say the dietician was really helpful and the fodmap diet has been life changing for me.

[ArthurP]

My NHS dietician gave some help but I was largely left on my own on dealing with the low FODMAP diet. This was OK as I had already started this before seeing him. It was difficult to provide detailed help when all you got was a 10-15 minute appointment every 3-9 months. I guess it depends where you are & who you see & how overwhelmed the NHS is.