Food diary

[Edgar77]

I have kept a food diary on and off for years. Even had a nutritionist look it over. NEVER found any rhym or reason. I am celiac so obviously gluten free a dietician put me lactose free and follow the fodmap for fruit and veg, which has helped but still have awful days which stop me making any plans and IF I go out am anxious all the time. Force myself to go out for my family's sake. Now I don't waste my time looking up what I ate after a bad day cos the week before I was fine with same food.

[Maureen1958]

I'm with you on this one, I really don't think it is anything to do with what I eat. Also, I don't think it is due to anxiety either, it can make me anxious but anxiety is not the cause of it.

[Luisa22]

I have also found no rhyme or reason most of the time when I look at my food diary. It seems my IBS goes through phases and would do that whatever I ate or didn't eat. There are some foods I do have to steer clear from , but I can have flare ups when eating white rice and green beans (super safe foods for me) for example, and then there are days even weeks when I can eat broccoli, brown rice, bits of fruit, seed grain bread, etc with no bad effects at all!

In my diary I see days when I ate courgette with asparagus, steamed fish, peeled cucumber, and some rice on one day and my gut was 100% normal the next day, then a week or so later I'll eat the same thing and be way too loose next morning. It seems to not add up at all sometimes.

[Edgar77 in reply to Luisa22]

I know you probably already know this, but for those who don't, please take note. NEVER re heat rice it will produce a toxic chemicle as I found to my cost. Causing horrendous cramps and diarrhoea.

[Luisa22 in reply to Edgar77]

Yes I've heard of that but never fallen foul of it thank goodness. I always eat rice only freshly cooked and hot. A friend of mine once got awful food poisoning from eating left over brown rice he'd cooked earlier, and left some in the pan to cool

[b1b1b1 in reply to Edgar77]

good to know. Thanks.

[Moggiedee]

I have also come to the conclusion that food has nothing to do with my IBS although I do mainly follow Fodmap. Every time I get a flare-up or have a bad day I interrogate myself as to what food has triggered it & I can never find the cause.

[Daz1113]

I can completely relate to that. I have a very strict diet, so will eat the same thing for a week or two. Then next minute bam my stomachs gone for no reason whatsoever. I also don’t think it’s stress. I don’t know what causes it. I wish I could find a reason. Because it completely controls your life. And I sympathise with anyone with young children who have to deal with these symptoms while trying to live a normal life. It must be awful.

[corpgov10]

Have you tried to avoid/eliminate/reduce/better manage the stress in your life? I'm fairly similar in that certain foods seem to trigger or exacerbate my IBS one day or week, but the next time I dabble in them I'm fine - I've noticed the variable is how I'm consciously and subconsciously feeling.

We can't always eliminate stress but if we can better manage it somehow, I'm convinced our gut can become more resilient over time instead of relying on meds.

[Meleber]

In my situation food ingredients can lead to additional symptoms/problems but the functional bowel problems I suffer from aren't caused by food. I did develop some intolerances to certain ingredients over the decades but don't have allergies.

But minding what I eat and drink, taking laxatives on a daily basis additional to some natural antimicrobials and multivitamines somewhat ameliorates my symptoms.

My quest 🤺 for the root cause is till work in progress. My latest thought is that, based on all my symptoms, as from my birth (started with asthmatic bronchitis) I could have atypical cystic fibroses. Waiting for an appointment with a consultant in an university hospital so my blood can be tested for a CFTR protein mutation.

As for the anxious / anxiety and depression part, I've been anxious / had a low mood for as longs as I can remember. I wasn't anxious, not suffering from an anxiety disorder when I was taking antibiotics, not depressed either. But when the antibiotics were stopped I was getting anxious/depressed again. After an emergency bowel surgery (ileus) I slowly got severely depressed and developed a generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). Was eventually diagnosed with MDD and GAD and also had some pannic attacks. Luckily antidepressants (venlafaxine) do help me. But it seems to be all microbiome/gut related and the microbiome, my gut became disturbed by bad genes in first instance? For me all the chronic health problems could be related to a genetic disease, a CFTR mutation. I hope to find out soon as I have an appointment with a consultant so my blood can be tested. If positive I know it can't be cured but it would give me some piece of mind at last. Perhaps also some better professional support from the hospital for handling all the symptoms.

[Inksplat]

I agree- can’t find any food connection or trigger foods but IBS seems to switch itself on and off at random intervals…

[Glitterpants]

I am the same As I have got older what I can eat has got worse. I have just seen a nutrionist she thinks the problem is in my small bowel. Next step is to have a stool test to see what foods I am intolerant to. I have been tested for celiac and this was negative. This is costing me £350 which I think is expensive but if it helps.

[Maureen1958 in reply to Glitterpants]

I thought the consensus of opinion now was that stool tests are a load of rubbish! Is this what the nutrionist has suggested? Maybe have a read of this:

gutscharity.org.uk/advice-a...

Maureen

[Boxroad]

Do you drink tap water? I find tap water affects me terribly, mine got so bad that I was being sick a lot during the day as well as diarrhoea, then one day a friend said have you notices how your often being sick after drinking water. When I spoke to my dietitian about it she said oh yes that’s very common in IBS sufferers, why I had not been told before I don’t know.

It took me a while to find a water that I could tolerate as a lot of bottled water affected me in the same way, I learned that some bottled water is just tap water in a bottle. I use spring water from sheply springs in Huddersfield, when I spoke the them a few years back they said it is common and the reason I could tolerate some spring water over others depends on what the water has filtered through, rock, lime, chalk etc etc. when I spoke to my GP he said some people struggle with the Fluoride that the water companies add to water to kill the bugs.

I hope this is of some help to you

All the best Lewis

[Edgar77 in reply to Boxroad]

I do not get sick and have constipation. I drink about 4 bottles of tap water a day. That would be 28 a week! That's expensive and a lot to carry. I know you can recycle them but still if everyone did that it's a lot. I know people like you have no choice. Would it make a difference if the water was boiled or left to stand a while for the chemicals to evaporate. Just a thought. I use the same 2 bottles over and over. Washed of course.

[Boxroad in reply to Edgar77]

No I have tried boiling and leaving to stand, i comes down to how Unwell you feel I guess, I use the 2litre hubbards water from Sainsbury, I use about 35-45 a month and yes it is a struggle to bring it into the house but it is what it is I guess.

[Maureen1958 in reply to Boxroad]

Hi Lewis, I think we may have spoken on this subject before. Can I just ask, if you keep to the bottled water do you not have any IBS problems at all, or do you still have IBS but not as bad as you would if you didn't drink the bottled water?! Just curious. Maureen.

[Daz1113 in reply to Maureen1958]

That would be interesting to know

[Boxroad in reply to Maureen1958]

My symptoms are much improved with bottled water, if I go out and have a drink of tea for example made with tap water I will normally have diarrhoea within 24 hours or sooner if I have a couple, I keep a food toilet and how I feel diary each day, I take my blood sugars blood pressure SP02 levels each day and they all show a change if I have tap water, so I think it my gut starts to struggle my blood sugars are the first sign that something is going array

[Maureen1958 in reply to Boxroad]

Thank you, very interesting.

[Hidden in reply to Boxroad]

That’s very interesting about tap water , I drink a lot of it everyday , didn’t know it affected ibs sufferers , thanks !! I feel enlightened now x

[Edgar77 in reply to Hidden]

I was told to drink lots of water for constipation. I drink tap water it helps a bit.

[Hidden in reply to Edgar77]

I have ibs c and drink lots , I did wonder whether getting a water filter jug or drinking bottled would be better x

[Poorlypatient]

I totally agree,have kept a food diary for years and can find no common denominator.Just seems to flare up when it wants to for no reason.

[Kitten-whiskers]

Glad I am not alone, I do not bother with a food dairy anymore and to be honest not as strict with the Fodmap either these days and I do not seem to be any worse for it. There are certain foods that I cannot touch at all and I suspect maybe never will again but other than making sure I avoid them I tend to try to get a real varity

[behj]

I have spent hours and hours on detailed spreadsheets to use as food journals and also never find consistent meaning to ingesting any food or drink. Even alcohol - candy- etc. sometimes I find a “more often than not “ trigger substance-tho the time invested has only paid off once- I discovered aerophagia= drinking water causes gas spasms- almost every time. As for anything else being a reliable trigger - nope. Not stress -not food-drink-fatigue etc . It’s an exhausting and fruitless search . beh

[Pte82]

Edgar77, anxiety may be the canary to a possible explanation for your experience. The first three links are primarily about vitamin B1(thiamine) whose deficiency can result in having anxiety and gut issues. The remaining links are info on magnesium and other nutrients that help beat anxiety. Each of them presents a piece of a puzzle that together reveal a picture we too often see but don't recognize. Thiamine needs adequate magnesium to become bioactive and in turn activated thiamine is needed to activate vitamin B6, the B vitamins work better together. Without magnesium present vitamin D stays in the liver and is not used. The body depends on magnesium in the process to convert Vitamin D into its active form . Magnesium relieves stress and anxiety especially in the form of magnesium glycinate. Being celiac often results in deficiencies from malabsorption especially thiamine. Check into the oil soluble thiamine forms TTFD, benfotiamine and sulbutiamine to take advantage of their high absorption through the blood brain barrier. Check with your health care professional before using any supplement.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

stuttersense.blogspot.com/2...

eonutrition.co.uk/post/thia...

krispin.com/magnes.html

besthealthmag.ca/list/8-nut...

[Pajarorose]

Hi Edgar. I follow the fodmap but there are items on low fodmap that I have to avoid: (mostly fruit). I can only eat canned pears and applesauce safely. (All dairy including butter) Also, fructans in breads and vegetables bother me. Broccoli can give me spasms in urinary tract. I can eat beans, peas, lentils, corn with an Alpha Galactosidase pill.

It is rather complicated, but I usually manage to navigate the land mines and have a good day.

You have to develop your own diet to avoid problems.

[ForViolet]

I only drink water when I take pills, but I don't think I'm one that has it as a trigger. At the moment I can't think of a food, oh wait yes. Foods with the gums can trigger me. Guar gum etc.

But in my case eating too much at once can be a trigger. I have to be really careful to eat smaller amounts and wait to eat again. The thing is I find it difficult to remember when I'm eating.

My last attack came after eating tortilla chips. But I've eaten them since, small amounts though, and it's been okay. It's a discouraging situation.

Violet