12 year old suffering IBSD...and Aire2 breath tests. Are they any good?

[Ceeative-cookie]

Hi there,

My daughter is now 12 and has suffered most of her life with cramps, loose stools/diarrhoea and bloating.

After various tests throughout the years we were told last year it was ibs-d.

We've been left to our devices with no support and for a while during the summer, she was symptom free. I thought it was because she was taking vsl#3 prebiotic.

It was so lovely to see her pain free and enjoying life. She was happy and care free!

But since the colder weather's started for winter, she's had a flare-up for the last 2 months.

She's missed a load of school and is in pain pretty much daily, and I feel so helpless.

She's started to skip breakfast and lunch and not eat much at dinner as she's worried it'll hurt her.

I've seen a product called the Aire2 by Food Marble, where it measures gases in your breath after eating.

Has anyone used one and had any success?

It seems like a good alternative to the fodmap which we tried and struggled with as had no guidance.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has used one and if they had any results and success with it?

Thankyou! 😀

[Sparrow58]

Hi Your daughter is very young to start on her IBS journey. At 12yrs it could be linked to hormones. In the summer was she on school holidays? She maybe stressed about asking or using school toilets, do the school know? I would go back to Gp and have some tests or ask to speak to someone at the surgery who can help her manage symptoms.

[XDjames in reply to Sparrow58]

I did write a post but somehow it got lost.

I bought one of these gadgets when they first came out (in fact I pre-ordered and waited until it was 'done'). I used it for a while and got readings but they weren't a game changer, probably because I was too lazy, now I am going to have another go. A gadget that actually tracks significant effects of IBS with hard data has to be a good thing along with a food/symptom diary.

I also posted about seasonal IBS, it seems to be a thing. I expect life-trashing to end in time for longer days.

About eating, of course you have to. I will always eat something for dinner, usually it has a purging effect. There is also Complan which is actually not terrible. for between meals, dark chocolate should be OK, oranges and bananas, I also like Tesco free-from caramel rice cakes and jam tarts.

I have kcl.ac.uk/fordmaps booklets which are crystal clear. I try to follow and learn to avoid what seems to set me off (e.g. coleslaw, now with onion, from a well known fried chicken chain, my wife's delicious cheese cake, steak/hamburgers, peanuts etc. ).

I wish your daughter the best of luck. Really really bad luck to start off so young. Remember it is not 24/7/365.

[Ceeative-cookie in reply to XDjames]

Thankyou so much for your reply.

It's heart breaking to see her in pain and not be able to help!

Funnily enough, she mentioned to me that she wondered if winter affected her...I'll have a look into the seasonal aspect.

It's good to hear that you found the Aire2 helpful...I guess it can feel a bit monotonous after a while...I found the same with the food diaries! But yes, u think you're right that it'll be helpful to have data.

We did follow the fodmap and I thought I'd found the culprits...sugars and onions but felt a little out of my depth with it all. Then she got symptoms even with fodmap!

She took vsl#3 and then her symptoms got better (coincides with summer now you mention the seasonal aspect) so I thought it was the prebiotic that helped but she's still taking them and having symptoms.

Thankyou for your help!

[Ceeative-cookie in reply to Sparrow58]

Hiya, thanks for your reply! She's been giving the symptoms since she was about 3 years old so sadly it's been most of her life. She's had so many tests aswell as ultrasound, endoscopy and colonoscopy. They thought it may be chrones but ruled that out after the tests. Just feel helpless. We were told to do fodmap but had to figure it out ourselves as they told us She's too young to qualify to be seen by a dietician!!! I just feel like we don't get anywhere!

We do have a hospital appointment in a few days as managed to get a cancellation appointment but I'm not holding my breath for any answers!

[XDjames in reply to Ceeative-cookie]

I had Crohn's decades ago, and had a right hemi-colectomy. Crohn's is a physical disease (that seems to have left me) rather than a functional condition. I've had things up me in me down me (nothing to see here ....) and taken all kinds of pills. All that works for me is paracetamol (for pain) and colpermin (soothes a bit, also useful as a 'marker' to track molitility). And dieticians weren't any help, nor was NHS CBT (I found a therapist who is expensive but worth every penny, perhaps I should look for a private dietician, but would not contemplate any of the other types of therapy you could try, rather like clutching at straws). My wife tries desperately to find fixes and I've had to ask her not to send me online articles about the latest idea. Your practical support, empathy and understanding, plus getting school then uni and employers to understand how this thing works for her will be crucial to your daughter's well-being.

[Sparrow58 in reply to Ceeative-cookie]

Good Luck at the hospital. I hope they can help.