I've had IBS-D for many years and I've been able to cope and manage it so far. But since October 2023, I had a major flare up, it was getting to the point where I was struggling to work and general daily activities. Was constantly on the toliet. It was that bad that I went back to my doctors who is doing a load of tests. The faecal calprotectin test was raised which I've had to re do but still waiting for other results. I also eliminated things that i thought made it worse, such as Dairy, Caffine and fizzy drinks. My IBS-D has calmed down, its not been as bad in the last 7days. My question is should I stay clear of the items I've eliminated or can I try introducing some again. I used to love my caramel latte first thing in the morning and only had 1 a day. I would love to be able to have these again or should I just stay well clear?
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Julie182
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I listen to both Zoe and 'diary of a CEO' podcasts and Will Bulsiewicz has been on both. Well worth a listen in general, but I picked up fibre is really good and restriction is not the answer. I need to tell that to myself -I've had so many 'menu mistakes' I'm afraid to try them again, and low FODMAP is supposed to have a reintroduction phase!
Perhaps I should reintroduce chocolate croissants into my morning.
And I should try another pizza, and another steak. I will, when I'm out of this damn flare.
I got two guide books (from kcl.ac.uk/fodmaps) via my dietician. If you don't have them I strongly recommend getting them -your NHS (?) dietician should supply, I think the order form is for practictioners. There's a graph showing FODMAP restriction 4-8 week, FODMAP reintroduction 6-10 weeks. It says 'symptoms improve in 76% of people with IBS'. When I've settled a bit I'll try the croissants (that and coffee was always my startup, now that's a whole different story). I can't survive without my milky coffee (Tim Spector says coffee is good for you) but I use lactose-free milk. I go for dark chocolate where possible but also milk-chocolate stuff; seems to make little difference.
This is going to sound crazy because I'm only 8st 7lbs so I'm very petite. But I do have a sweet tooth. So my start up was a caramel latte with loads of milk and sweetener and 2 cherry bakewell tarts, just before I left for the school run and work. Not a very healthy thing for breakfast, I know but it was just something that I enjoyed very much. I have tried normal coffee with oat milk, sometimes I was ok, others it set my tummy off. So thought it was just best to stop caffine and dairy for a bit. When it comes to food, I have found some really good dairy alternatives, like nomo and kitkat which are both dairy free chocolate. There is also fruit tarts and non dairy apple pies to satisfy my sweet tooth. But I can't seem to find a caffine free latte so I don't think it's a thing which I'm a little disappointed. I'm on the waiting list to see a dietitian but I'm guessing it will take time.
I don't like oat milk, I do like UHT lactose free. I can take coffee in the morning -tastes like heaven and can't detect any damage. Funny but later in the day coffee tastes like petrol and churns my guts. I have a stash of Tesco 'free from' jam tarts and lemon slices for my sugar hit.
A friend found she could no longer drink coffee (neither can I) and she was introduced to chai latte which is now her preferred beverage when out for a 'coffee'. I might have to try it.
I've seen Chai latte. If I'm correct, it's not coffee tho, I believe it's tea. And unfortunately it does still contain caffine, which is one thing that at the moment I have to avoid. They do, do a vanilla chai latte which I would love to try one day.
You know what? I haven't a hope with my IBS D if I load on the fibre. Sometimes my gut is super sensitive to it and I can barely manage two or three portions of veggies. But sometimes I can eat a little more fibre. When my gut is going through a flare up or sensitive phase I have to drastically cut down on fibre.
So I hear all these things about "we should be eating plenty of fibre" etc. But for me it's not possible if I want a calm gut.
I can actually feel well and fit if I limit it.
I remember when I ate a great high fibre diet. Ate a rainbow. Had 5 at least portions of veg and fruit per day. Ate pulses, beans, grain and seed bread etc. It didn't stop me getting IBS.
Agreed: What I hear is take it slowly, don't OD with fibre. Guided by the FODMAP diet I eat some fruit rather than veggies (I find that 'mediterranean veggies work, the rest either I don't like -bad experience at school- or they don't like me). I experimented with different breads and the one that seems to work best for me is Waitrose spelt sourdough. Also a bit of linseed on corn or rice-derived cereal. I found a long time ago that kidney beans were a very very bad idea (that's most Mexican food out then) and then baked beans. I now don't touch pulses, even peas -which are probably relatively harmless. Good luck!
Id steer clear of those things if I were you, nows you've got it under control. I know that Dairy is something I have to watch and I have very very little. For years cheese was upsetting me and I love it, so I tried Lactose Free and Im fine with that. Dairy is different from Lactose though. Try Decaf instead of Caffeine and fizzy drinks don't do anyone any good.
Basically, processed foods aren't good, stick to healthy natural foods as much as possible.
Many fermented dairy products are naturally lactose free because the cultures have used it up. Mature cheese, proper yogurt, cultured butter e.g. Lurpak
Yes, I tried mature cheeses too, and while I used to be able to eat them my body treats them as poison now. Pity, because I do like cheese and always did. But I'm happy with butter!
Hi, I've had IBS for years by since I had covid which affected my bowels I've got IBS-D and have been bad since. I found that white bread is bad for me. When you go out you forget that panini's, croutons lots of things are made of white bread. When I get a flare up now it last between 1 to 2 weeks. Like you I'm fed up with it.
The only way to know for sure about something after elimination is to only introduce one thing at a time, keep a food diary and watch for symptoms 2-4 days afterwards (depending on your turnaround time). The elimination phase is normally 2 weeks before starting reintroduction.
One thing the medical profession hasn't got right is to go straight for FODMAP elimination and reintroduction. There should be a phase prior to that which is to try a good, well studied probiotic such as Alflorex or Symprove first. Being low FODMAP for a long time can reduce feed for the microbiome. The reason it gets results is that you aren't feeding any dominating bad bugs in your gut, but you're not feeding the good ones either, which help to keep the bad bugs under control - in the end this worsens symptoms. Initially, the focus should be on getting the bad bugs under control with the aid of a good probiotic (Alflorex worked best for me) and when symptoms are a bit more stable try the elimination and reintroduction. This time there should be fewer intolerances, which means you'll end up needing to eliminate less, then eat as wide a diet as possible to improve bacterial diversity which helps to guard against IBS. Everyone is different, but statistically this method is worth a punt.
Hi. I thought it was 30mins to 3hours after having something that you would have symptoms. I didn't realise it was 2 to 4 days after. I'm guessing this is why trying to figure out which foods is causing the problems is so hard to pin point.
Food intolerances can show up at any point during the digestive process from first going in the mouth to waste being eliminated the other end. The duration between those two points will be different for everyone. Mine is 48 hours. I know this since if I've ever had a colonoscopy and have emptied, it takes 48 hours from starting eating again to having my first BM. Much of gut bacteria sits in the colon (large intestine). It is here where imbalances can occur, with some bad bugs dominating over good, causing havoc such as oversentising nerves causing pain etc. In some people it can take time for waste to enter the colon and give symptoms. Since there may be multiple causes of IBS, it is important to monitor throughout the whole digestive process, until any remnants of that food are gone from the system. This is why only one change at a time should be made over this period to exactly pin point what is causing issues.
In terms of the 30 mins to 3 hours, I think this is more related to food that is in the stomach. For instance, with initial food poisoning, you might expect the body to recognise this in the stomach and for a vomiting episode to occur within that time, prior to the food having left the stomach and entered into the small intestine, from where the food can't be eliminated by vomiting.
You can test your gut transit time easily. If you eat some beetroot (it doesn't have to be a lot, just say half of a small/medium cooked beetroot. Then next time you use the toilet, check if the reddish-purple colour is in your stool. Keep checking each time you go, and when the colour stops happening, the beetroot has left your system.
So your FULL transit time is to the point where the colour stops appearing. But of course, you might be producing the colour the next morning after eating it.
My transit time is something like 16 hours. It was always that time even when I was well and had no IBS. Pretty fast. So the first day I pooped it all out and there was nothing on the 2nd day.
But yours might be 24. 36 or even more hours. But it's easy to tell with the beetroot test.
Doing that will give you a great idea about how long foods are still in your gut.
Yes I know...beetroot is slightly laxative (at least it is for me) but a fairly small amount will be OK to cope with. It would be good if you could find your transit time.
I had to stop drinking coffee which I missed as love a coffee,, 2yrs later iv just started enjoying a coffee a day and so shhhh, up to now it’s been ok after …. We will see ,, hope u get to enjoy your coffeee once again soon ,, all the best …
Thank you. I do love my coffee, I only have 1 first thing in the morning. It would be lovely to have 1 again. Good luck to you too. I hope your re introduction of coffee continues to go well.
Any of the various gums cause me intestinal trouble: guar gum, carrageenan, etc. They have a lot of names. If it were me, I'd check the ingredients in the caramel latte. It sounds like it might contain gums for thickening. There might be another ingredient in it that causes you problems too.
Sometimes I can get away with some harmful ingredients for a while, then suddenly it will hit causing huge problems..
If I fancy it, which I don’t always, I will have a black decaffeinated weak americano once a day. I mainly drink peppermint tea and sometimes orange squash as I don’t touch carbonated drinks. I think I must of tried almost everything that’s available to help my ibs-d. As I’ve got older so it’s got progressively worse. It can be a real misery. Being in pain, not being able to go out on occasions etc. Also it’s what it does to your confidence, worrying all the time you’re out that you won’t be able to get to the toilet in time. Anyway, I’ve tried Amitriptyline, which is great when it works but doesn’t last unfortunately. The Fodmap diet, that I still mainly follow, which doesn’t make a jot of difference but am too nervous to reintroduce such things as cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. Self hypnosis via Nerva. Going gluten/wheat free. Taking whole psyllium husks. The reliable back up is Imodium of course but I don’t think it’s a good thing to take it very often. The latest venture is taking one Alflorex dual action probiotic a day. It’s now been three weeks and I’m so pleased that it has definitely had an effect. The aches and cramps have now diminished and I know longer have the urgency of needing the toilet in 10 seconds flat. I have been feeling much more comfortable of late. It doesn’t work for everyone but it’s certainly got to be worth a try.
So because my IBS-D has gotten so bad in recent months, I went back to the doctors. He did a load of tests, and the stool calprotectin test came back raised at 99ug. He then asked me to do a second test which came back at 197ug. He has referred me to a gastroenterologist. This has made me really nervous as to what is going to happen next. Does anyone know?
To anyone that used to like a coffee but can't because it makes their symptoms worse, has anyone tried decaff coffee? If so, does it make your symptoms worse, or is it ok?
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