Hello everyone,
I wanted to ask, what foods do people find trigger there IBS?
I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 23, I am now 36 and i have managed to cope with the symptoms of IBS so far. But in recent months, I have found that it's getting worse. Could a blood test work out if I have an intolerance to dairy or gluten?
Many Thanks
They can test for gluten intolerance with a blood test yes.
I have mainly IBS-D. I find high fibre foods are foods I generally have to be very careful with. As my IBS is a bit "up and down", there are times I can eat moderate amouts of those foods but have to play it day by day.
Foods that I generally have to stay away from:
Onions, garlic, beans (not green beans but things like chickpeas, black eye beans, red kidney beans, etc), peas (but I can eat mange tout and sugarsnaps), lentils, potatoes with skins (and even peeled ones sometimes "go through me" too fast.) Wholemeal bread, or anything high fibre like that, fruits, tomatoes, peppers, quorn, spices, even black pepper, dried fruit (mince pies, etc), too much coconut, anything more than a few nuts at a time. Bran, oats.
Anything fairly bland I am OK with, plus I am mostly OK with many vegetables, though beetroot, turnips and carrots can make me "go" a bit too much. i.e. they always had a slight laxative effect on me but now that is exaggerated more.
Any alcoholic drinks except vodka.
Fruit cake. And anything that is advertised as "good for your gut health" (weird) I guess they mean good for most "normal, non-IBS" people whose guts are often working too sluggishly, and mainly because their food is not great plus they don't exercise enough.
Thank you for your comment.
My diet is very poor as I'm a recovering anorexic so my diet is small and limited. I mainly eat things like ham or cheese on toast. Maybe some packet noodles in the afternoon but only occasionally. I do also eat things like a few biscuits or a bag of crisps. This is when I'm at home. If I'm at work then I would eat veg or salad, maybe some meat.
I am a massive fan of coke, I was drinking 3 to 4 cans a day but a few weeks ago reduced this to just 1 a day. My IBS started as both D and C but over the last few months, it had been more D. This is now happening near enough every other day and it doesn't seem to matter what I eat. My stomach hurts everyday and it grumbles constantly. I'm starting to wonder if I had a intolerance to gluten.
I've had IBS for so long but I still find it quite scary.
For me my IBS is constantly changing. I would strongly recommend that you look at your diet. Avoid the fizzy drinks and caffeine and focus drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated. Fatty, high cholesterol foods can upset things too. Exercise and maintaining your mental health will be key to managing your IBS. Keep your stress and anxiety levels down as much as you can. Check out my recent post on the list of symptoms and sensations that I have experienced in the past 6 years that I have had IBS. Good luck and take care.
Thank you for your reply and advice. I will look at your posts today.
I see. To a great extent people with IBS have to eat whatever it is that suits them personally, never mind the 5-a-day plus and the array of rainbow foods we are "supposed" to eat! I think we all work out what causes us fewer problems and what makes things worse.
I would think though, that all the coke you drink might make things worse?
Crisps are fine in moderation, and I've never found they bother my IBS. I stick to the ready salted kind though. Not sure about the additives in the other flavours. But they never have upset my gut.
I don't know if you feel like trying this, but if you could include some vegetables or fruits that are on the "low Fodmap" list, you might find some are friendly to your gut? I would stay start with small amounts and build up to what suits you.
I find green beans, spinach, lettuce, small amounts of broccoli, and a few more veggies ok for me, and can sometimes have a few blueberries. I wish I could eat more fruit. But now have managed to build up to 17 vegetables that are OK. But you maybe could try with just one veg, then a bit later, see how you do with two?...and so on.
I am okay with gluten so toast is alright for me. But you might be gluten sensitive. I don't know. I guess you could experiment with gluten free bread for a few weeks and see if that makes you feel a bit better?
I do find Coca Cola a bit too much for my belly, even though I like it. It's not the sugar or the caffeine as I can eat sugar with no issues, and can drink small amounts of coffee. I don't know what it is about it. Good luck and I hope you start to improve a bit soon.
Thank you for your reply.
I will start to eat more fruit and veg.
I think your right about the coke and will need to cut it out of my diet completely. It's really hard as I love the stuff so much. I only drink 1 coffee a day, first thing in the morning which is a latte so it's quite milky.
I will need to play around with my diet to see what I can and can't tolerate although a trip to the doctors for a blood test for Intolerance would be good. This has been an ongoing problem for years but has seemed to of got worse over the last few months and the pain is just getting too much.
Thank you for your advice. It is much appreciated.
There are no accurate food intolerance tests apart from conducting a FODMAP elimination and reintroduction diet via a qualified dietitian from a GP referral. Official advice here:
bda.uk.com/resource/food-al...
If of any interest to you I have become more tolerant to eating a wider range of foods by taking Alflorex probiotic. I've tried many over the years and that worked best for me and has been scientifically/clinically studied for IBS. Many people's food intolerances are related to a gut bacterial imbalance - i.e. some bad bugs dominating which makes the gut overreact to random foods. A strong probiotic like Alflorex (others have tried Symprove) can help keep these bad bugs under control.
Pro biotics can make symproms even worse for a lot of people with IBS. Slow transit, diverticular disease, redundant colon, colon strictures, insusseption, probiotics would only make these condtion symptoms worse by creating more gas and bloating. They work for you, fine .
As with everything to do with IBS, it is all down to individual trial and error and perhaps what specific probiotics you are taking. Some probiotics like Bifdobacterium suppress gas producing bacteria in the gut. I have certainly been much less gassy since taking it. It also helps digest complex carbs. I have redundant colon, severe IBS-C and it has been very helpful to me and to many other people, from what I have read. With IBS it's almost as if you need a list of things to try and try them in the most likely order. Most professionals, even GPs and gastros might recommend probiotics as the first port of call. Again it's a case of trying different ones. An individual will know, in time, whether a product suits them or not or whether probiotics are helpful to them or not. Otherwise nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Hi Julie 182
I have never drunk coke. My dad was in the RAF during the war & he said the airmen used Coca Cola to clean their brass buttons so what does it do to your insides!😮💨
Yes I used to clean my engagement ring (gold with 5 small diamonds) in Coca Cola, and let it steep overnight. It came out sparkling. We have "hard" water here, and because I was always putting my hands in water that made it dull. The ring ended up being stolen many years ago, I guess I made it look too sparkly!
I think Coke is a bit acidic. Maybe not enough to damage jewellery but maybe too much for the tummy if drunk too often.
I'm mainly IBS-D and my triggers are caffeine, alcohol and fizzy drinks although with fizzy drinks I'm generally fine if it's just once in a blue moon.
I'm on Colesevelam which is keeping my IBS-D at bay 90% of the time and has drastically reduced the cramps, I rarely get them now. However, this medication has now made me more proan to IBS-C 😫 But I'm having to roll with it as this medication has kept me in my job.
Like today I'm quite bloated and not had a bowel movement in a couple of days so I'm going to have a caffeinated coffee, skip a tablet or 2 and use it to my advantage this afternoon when I know I'm not leaving the house. The things you've got to do 🙄
Wheat based products, cows milk, onions, too many nuts or blue cheese are all products that can bloat and give me gut pain that lasts around a week. I try to drink plenty of water or herbal teas and it's important to not get dehydrated, overtired or stressed. I also take a probiotic and 10mg of citalopram daily
Thank you to everyone for your comments and advice.
What kind of probiotic is everyone taking? Are these liquid or tablet forms?
Many Thanks
I found wheat products give me bad wind.
I recently found out that Caffeine and Chilli were big triggers nowadays for my IBS-C.
I have never been able to drink fresh orange, coca-cola, most fizzy drinks.
Early on in my IBS I did an elimination diet and the main triggers were mushrooms & cauliflower but as I have got older I can eat them in moderation.
Most bread makes me really poorly .
There are no blood tests for Gluten sensitivity. All they can look at is inflammatory markers and it is not conclusive so it is all trial and error .
I think eventually you manage to work it out by using a food diary for at least 3 months .
Can I ask, if I am intolerant to some foods and I eliminated some foods, how long do you leave it to see whether its that food or not. For example, if I have an intolerance to gluten and I stop eating gluten, how long will it be to see any difference?
Many Thanks
I am unsure, but think it might be about 2 weeks only based on what a friend told me, when she gave up gluten.
I gave up gluten entirely for the 8 week low Fodmap trial in 2020, but it didn't make any difference with me, and when I started to eat it again, still no difference, so I gathered from that I'm not gluten sensitive.
Sorry for all of the questions but has anyone tried the gut wealth liquid sachets?
I did Gluten Free for 3 months and it ended up not really being very significant. I did it on the cheap because GF ranges are always out of date at the end of the day.
Red meat( unprocessed) seemed to be a really easy one to spot. Within a day of eating red meat I would get cramps and constipation. Red meat stays in the gut several days and the pain seemed to go hand in hand. Very rarely have red meat nowadays and I am tons better .
I'm not sure what actually triggers my IBS because sometimes I feel normal and can eat some of the foods that I can't when I'm going through a more difficult phase with it. So those foods aren't always triggers.
They also don't always give me a real "flare up", they just make my stool loose.
But mine are: high fibre foods
Onions and garlic
Sometimes potatoes even peeled and simply cooked
Capsicum peppers
Wines and beers
Leeks, even the green part supposed to be OK for low Fodmap diet.
Bananas and most fruits
Dried fruit
Swede and turnips
Coconut
Too many nuts. I can usually eat a small amount of all nuts
Tomatoes
I was diagnosed with IBS a good 16 years ago. I've always been able to manage/deal with it. But since September I've really been struggling and today I've hit an all time low and can't help but cry.
I have a day where I'm ok then the next day I eat the same thing and end up spending the afternoon on the toliet. I'm cutting out everything I love, fizzy drinks, dairy and gluten but I'm still having an upset tummy.
Getting to scared to eat because I work and run about after my children and so scared of having an upset tummy while being out.
How does everyone cope?
I can understand why you feel like crying. Sometimes I do, and I think my IBS is fairly mild compared to some people. I am familiar with what you said about being able to eat some food you think is OK for you one day, and being fine on it, and then the next time you eat it it causes a bad upset.
You could try out a low dose of Imodium maybe? Or find a dose that won't completely block you up but might help a bit? It can be a help to some people but you'd have to experiment with the right dosage for you. Basically what Imodium does is it slows down the gut. I have a BMA medical book at home here, and looked up "Loperamide" (which is another name for Imodium) It has been deemed a "safe" medicine to take when needed, and the only side effects mentioned are possible constipation. That might depend on the dose.
For me, it's onions, raw garlic & preserved fruit (if they have sulfur dioxide in them)
How does everyone cope with IBS-D and work?
I only work 5hours a day, Monday to Friday. Normally i am able to cope with working but recently as my IBS has become worse, I'm starting to struggle more being at work while having an episode or flare up.
Many Thanks
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