Low FODMAP Diet anyone?

KaitieBug

Hello! I'm about to begin the low FODMAP diet to identify my IBS triggers. Just downloaded Monash's app and went through the lists and recipes, and it's a bit depressing right now! Wondering if anyone else has done or is about to start the FODMAPS diet? Kinda sucks to do this alone!

passenger79

Why is it depressing? It's a tool to help you identify triggers .

I have done it couple of years ago and I 've used food diary to write everything ( and I mean absolutely everything) that passed my lips,how I slept,have I had any pain, how I felt throughout the day,was I under stress etc.

After a while I 've found my triggers: onions,spicy food,dairy, wholegrain/Brown rice/cereal/bread,too much coffee and fizzy drinks. This is highly individual though .

It is time consuming but your best chance to find out what's causing it. Lots of times it will be just stress that causes a flare up so you need to try to manage stress levels too. Once you know you can find substitutes for food that aggravates you and discover alternatives.

Feel free to add me if you want to chat.

Good luck.

tinkerbellang83

It's only a short term thing, so it's not really that depressing if it helps you avoid flare ups in the future, the point isn't to exclude everything permanently. My mum did it around this time last year and has only really had a couple of stress related bouts of IBS since.

Plenty of support groups online for IBS sufferers.

mommamia30189

My doctor advises me to try it also- I’m going to give it a chance

writemusic4him

passenger79 wrote: »

Why is it depressing? It's a tool to help you identify triggers .

I have done it couple of years ago and I 've used food diary to write everything ( and I mean absolutely everything) that passed my lips,how I slept,have I had any pain, how I felt throughout the day,was I under stress etc.

After a while I 've found my triggers: onions,spicy food,dairy, wholegrain/Brown rice/cereal/bread,too much coffee and fizzy drinks. This is highly individual though .

It is time consuming but your best chance to find out what's causing it. Lots of times it will be just stress that causes a flare up so you need to try to manage stress levels too. Once you know you can find substitutes for food that aggravates you and discover alternatives.

Feel free to add me if you want to chat.

Good luck.

I tried once and tracked but could never find the trend. How did you figure it out? I wondered if I had too much variety and so never could pinpoint the cause.

StarvingDiva

I haven't, but I used to have chronic IBSD, now I don't have it at all, I can tell you that eliminating dairy as much as possible helped tremendously for me as well as adding in fermented foods. I eat sauerkraut or kimchi every week and take a quality probiotic. I used to spend what felt like days in the bathroom, I couldn't go out to dinner with friends or do anything fun, unless I was in the close proximity of a bathroom within 15 mins of eating. It was terrible. Now I feel great, finding out what your triggers are, is really important and will help you in the long run to get your health back on track.

passenger79

[/quote]

I tried once and tracked but could never find the trend. How did you figure it out? I wondered if I had too much variety and so never could pinpoint the cause.
[/quote]

I was writing literally everything,when I cooked food all the ingredients like onion,brocolli,sauce etc, every drink, sleep schedule, flare up s.
I was desperate and that was my last hope.

My flare ups were so severe that I couldn't get out of bed some days . For over 4 months I wrote everything and marking how bad flare ups were and after a while I could see everytime I had dairy-bad flare up
Spicy food -flare up
Stress at work and no sleep -another flare up.

Just write literally everything down. Over time I found things that I'm fine with like soluble fibre, not too much fiber in daily food, mint tea etc.

Hope this helps.

KaitieBug

Thanks everyone for the input! I am lactose intolerant, and have completely eliminated dairy, so that's not an issue anymore.

I'm not sure what foods are still bothering me, so this is why I'm doing FODMAPS. I'm over feeling terrible all the time and having so many problems. Honestly, I should have done it years ago. I just get more severe with age!

passenger79 wrote: »

Why is it depressing? It's a tool to help you identify triggers .

I have done it couple of years ago and I 've used food diary to write everything ( and I mean absolutely everything) that passed my lips,how I slept,have I had any pain, how I felt throughout the day,was I under stress etc.

After a while I 've found my triggers: onions,spicy food,dairy, wholegrain/Brown rice/cereal/bread,too much coffee and fizzy drinks. This is highly individual though .

It is time consuming but your best chance to find out what's causing it. Lots of times it will be just stress that causes a flare up so you need to try to manage stress levels too. Once you know you can find substitutes for food that aggravates you and discover alternatives.

Feel free to add me if you want to chat.

Good luck.

Thanks, passenger79! I do find it depressing, because restrictive diets are awful (no matter how temporary they are or how worth it it'll be!) and I'm worried I won't be able to eat ANYTHING on the occasions I'll have to go to restaurants or eat on the go during the elimination time (because life!) because almost EVERYTHING has garlic and onion in it. And you're absolutely right about stress...thanks again. I'll send you a FR I think we will have a lot of the same triggers, lol.

KaitieBug

mommamia30189 wrote: »

My doctor advises me to try it also- I’m going to give it a chance

Feel free to send me a FR! My doctor told me years ago to try it....should have listened then, but I was not at a point in my life where I was really able to do it (time consuming, planning, financially, you get the idea..)

Erfw7471

writemusic4him wrote: »

passenger79 wrote: »

Why is it depressing? It's a tool to help you identify triggers .

I have done it couple of years ago and I 've used food diary to write everything ( and I mean absolutely everything) that passed my lips,how I slept,have I had any pain, how I felt throughout the day,was I under stress etc.

After a while I 've found my triggers: onions,spicy food,dairy, wholegrain/Brown rice/cereal/bread,too much coffee and fizzy drinks. This is highly individual though .

It is time consuming but your best chance to find out what's causing it. Lots of times it will be just stress that causes a flare up so you need to try to manage stress levels too. Once you know you can find substitutes for food that aggravates you and discover alternatives.

Feel free to add me if you want to chat.

Good luck.

I tried once and tracked but could never find the trend. How did you figure it out? I wondered if I had too much variety and so never could pinpoint the cause.

An elimination diet may work best at figuring your triggers - Monash is very highly regarded for FODMAP research and education.

Sunna_W

FODMAP sometimes addresses the symptoms, not the ultimate cause.

Some other things to consider in addition to FODMAP:

• Parasites (yes, everyone gets them); There are a lot of choices out there for cleanses, you want something that is gentle and won't make you herx and feel worse. Some paralyze the parasite (like Reese's Pin Worm Pyrantel) so that it releases from the gut and others kill them outright.
  The best non-drug / herbal ones contain Turkish oregano, clove, garlic. Start low and go slow. Two that helped me that are very mild are Bacteril and doTerra On-Guard. I noticed a difference right away almost, but since the life stages are different in all of them, I have been taking them (alternating) for several months along with 180 mg. simethicone (anti-gas).
  Ref: https://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/intestinal-parasites
  
• Yeast overgrowth (again, many people have that too); I like Five-Lac (it's a powder, but, it contains lactose, so it might not be for you) because it's very mild and knocks out yeast infections. Maybe speak to a nutritionist and see if s/he can recommend something. Also, look into fermenting your own veggies with salt and raw apple cider vinegar. (That helped me a lot too).
  Ref: https://www.nationalcandidacenter.com/Leaky-Gut-and-Candida-Yeast-Infection-s/1823.htm
  
• SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) -- especially if you have had norovirus and/or food poisoning.
  See this website: https://www.medicinenet.com/small_intestinal_bacterial_overgrowth_sibo/article.htm
  The only thing that works for it (according to NIH.gov) is Flagyl (sold as Metronidazole in pet stores in 5 gram tubes). Many people just go ahead and order it via Amazon and divide it into 20 doses. You can't drink alcohol 24 hours before, while taking it, 48 hours afterward. Might be worth speaking to your doctor to see if it is right for you. (It did work for me and my lower bowel actually felt amazing within two days.)

Good luck.