Losing weight with IBS

NatalieLJ

Symptoms have been gradually creeping in for a few months but after a horrendous 5-day flare up I've been diagnosed with IBS.
I know this causes all sorts of problems with the digestive system, not least bloating and pain, but could this be the reason why I am not losing any weight despite controlling my calories and exercising regularly?
Does anyone have any stories of losing weight and/or getting fit while suffering from IBS they would be willing to share please?
In so much pain this week, feel so bloated and fat and like all my efforts are completely pointless and that I'll never look slim again, so any help appreciated please

_Zardoz_

Has your doctor referred you to a Dietitian? If not ask them to they will be able to help you with foods to avoid and the best way to work this into your daily diet

NatalieLJ

Has your doctor referred you to a Dietitian? If not ask them to they will be able to help you with foods to avoid and the best way to work this into your daily diet

No, I've been given some antispasmodic tablets to try for a month then go back. Starting to figure out what causes it to get worse thanks to using MFP anyway, so just have to try stay away from the trigger foods.

AJ0826

I've had a very similar situation NatalieLJ. I was diagnosed with IBS and GERD a while ago. I took pills daily for it, but that never seemed to help with the constantly feeling full and bloating. I found keeping a food diary and changing my diet made a ton of difference. Also I used raw apple cider vinegar for a month, you mix it with a lot of water and some honey, and it helped me at least with my stomach issues and bloating. I only did if for a month, but my problems went down and were never as bad.

I find the usual suspects are always triggers, salty food, fried food, soda, coffee and alcohol. I limit alcohol to once or maybe twice a week. Coffee to once a day with lots of water to go along and always take an anti-bloat/heartburn when I know I"m going to be eating ribs or a burger ha ha! Also I took down my red meat intake significantly (even lean meats) to no more than twice a week and that helped a ton.

Anyways you'll find what works for you with a food diary, everyone's digestive system is different, but for me that was the surest way. Good luck!

Maleficent0241

The only problem that would keep you from losing weight is if you are super constipated, and even that is not really true weight gain. The bloating can happen too, which will make you look/feel bigger than you really are but is not fat. Basically you may fluctuate a lot on the scale but it is deceptive. Diet is crucial for illnesses like this - keep a diary and learn your triggers. If you need a place to start from, check out a book called "Eating For IBS". I think the author is a bit extreme at times, but it does give a good rundown of how to structure your diet in the beginning. Good luck!

helpmeet2day

I have IBS and I have found the blood type diet at dadamo.com completely eliminates the problem. It might work for you, too. My husband always had a belly although slender everywhere else and this diet was the only one that was able to flatten his stomach.
I am here on mfp because I always carry an extra 5-10 pounds due to not sticking to it the way I should. (i.e. living in South Texas I cannot stay away from corn(chips) :^)
Hope this helps!:flowerforyou:

GeminiDelight

i was diagnosed with ibs and gerd ten years ago. 3 years ago i quit drinking milk. eliminated half my problem. found out i was fructose intolerant. if i stick to the diet, i have no bloating and very little problems with constipation or diarrhea. you could have some kind of food intolerance. using your diet log will help you to discover what does it for you. i always reccomend an elimination diet. i just took my diet down to chicken and rice for a few weeks then started adding one new food every 3 days until i figured out how much of what foods i could handle.

EternalFiend

I was diagnosed with IBS 7 1/2 years ago now when I had an operation to remove my appendix when I was 11... I tell you what, having IBS and school toilets soon mean that I learn to control it quick! ha ha

Firstly, I did control to symptoms with medication, but make sure that the medication is working for you, the first medication didn't help me as much as the one I am now on (Buscopan if you are interested) At first, I was taking these everyday, but now only when I flare up which I prefer because I'm not a big fan of taking too many medications

The really important thing is to control your diet and avoid your triggers, and that will make everything a lot easier I really would recommend keeping a food diary because that way you know what food that it is that upset your stomach, and you know to avoid that in future. Soon enough, with gradual diets to your diet as you find triggers, you'll soon have a diet that means that the symptoms are controllable.

Something I personally found really helpful was finding out if I needed to increase my insoluble or soluble fibre. Insoluble fibre is the one everyone is normally banging on about being found in whole grains, brown rice, some vegetable etc. Soluble fibre on the other hand comes from oatmeal and a lot of fruits. I first tried to increase my insoluble fibre and I have never had a worse flare up of my IBS so now concentrate on soluble fibre (I mainly try to get this from vegetables now I am eating healthier - but I have no need to feel guilty for eating white pasta/rice etc) See this link: http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-11/insoluble-soluble-fiber

Just don't try to change too much at once, and this goes for now when you are figuring out your triggers, or any change in your diet!

Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions!

P.S Potentially TMI - but watch your symptoms around that TOM because they probably will change, so be prepared for that!

NatalieLJ

Thanks all, some really useful info there.
Think fruit is a trigger, had a pear today and it flared up. This would make sense as I've had fruit every day recently while trying to eat healthier on MFP. Darn it.
Will have a look at the soluble/insoluble fiber thing - I suspect I fall into both categories, or overlap them at the mo.
Will have a try with the tablets I've been given, along with some probiotic drinks and trying to avoid foods I suspect are making it worse. I keep a good diary anyway thanks to using MFP, so just need to add in a note about when it flares up so I can check for patterns.
Sigh. Nightmare.

lynleeg88

I've had a very similar situation NatalieLJ. I was diagnosed with IBS and GERD a while ago. I took pills daily for it, but that never seemed to help with the constantly feeling full and bloating. I found keeping a food diary and changing my diet made a ton of difference. Also I used raw apple cider vinegar for a month, you mix it with a lot of water and some honey, and it helped me at least with my stomach issues and bloating. I only did if for a month, but my problems went down and were never as bad.

I find the usual suspects are always triggers, salty food, fried food, soda, coffee and alcohol. I limit alcohol to once or maybe twice a week. Coffee to once a day with lots of water to go along and always take an anti-bloat/heartburn when I know I"m going to be eating ribs or a burger ha ha! Also I took down my red meat intake significantly (even lean meats) to no more than twice a week and that helped a ton.

Anyways you'll find what works for you with a food diary, everyone's digestive system is different, but for me that was the surest way. Good luck!

No, nooooo! I can't have coffee?? ^%&*! I drink that by the buckets some days.

And I had no clue red meats could make IBS worse.

NatalieLJ

Now that's odd, because I have homemade cottage pie tonight (made with lean mince and sweet potato mash) and finally, after 6 days, the pain has subsided. Think the medication is helping too. Although interestingly, I have had no coffee today, only water. Hmmmm. I think I have figured out wholegrain foods and fruit are amongst my triggers. So that's some of my favourite foods out.
Strange how it affects everyone differently.

GetSoda

IBS is likely not preventing weight loss.


Watch out for caffeine, carbonation, sugar alcohols, and carrageenan.

JBcat123

I wa diagnosed with IBS a few years ago. bananas help me and so does green tea. It hasn't totally cured but I've been on meds for it (Hyomax) never helped. just eat cleaner and fresher in your diet which I try to do. I treat myself twice a week but drink lots of green tea and have a few bananas throughout the week!

lynn1982

As others have said, try to figure out your trigger foods. I personally saw a nutritionist and did an elimination diet - worked wonders. Now I'm extra careful with what I eat and really only get flare ups if I'm super stressed (like now...it has been a rough week...). That shouldn't be the reason why you're not losing weight, but if you can get it under control then your body will digest your food better and you should feel better.

Vorenus85

Have you looked into the FODMAPS diet? It's something that a lot of people with IBS have success with. I've been doing it for a couple weeks now and have noticed some good improvement. It's...a pretty restrictive diet and probably a bit overwhelming to do without the help of a dietitian, but you should look into it. The diet tackles the main trigger foods, but of course its limitations lie in the fact that everybody with IBS responds differently to different foods. Some trigger foods for you may be not be for others. Good news is, there's still a lot of fruit you can eat, you'll just have to limit your servings.

jimethanowen

I have suffered from IBS for years, but it wasn't until the past 4 years that have I learned to feel better with my diet and exercise! Trigger foods may be different for all of us so my first advice would be to find yours and either limit or eliminate. I took some great digestive classes through a company in the Twin Cities. I learned a lot about all foods in general and even more than that! My second and last advice piece would be exercise. It doesn't have to be intense or strenuous, but moving around helps digestion. Even when pain and bloating are at its worst I usually found that exercise relieved some of that. I understand that pain sucks and it drains your energy, so you really need to mentally make yourself to get out and move a bit! Good luck and I hope you are feeling better soon!

gigglesinthesun

here is Australia if you are diagnosed with IBS they suggest that you follow the low FODMAP diet (by Dr Sue Shepherd) at least for 6 weeks to see whether that works. It does bring relief to 3/4 of sufferers apparently. It worked a bit for me, but it did not bring the total relief that I had hoped to.

However last August I discovered that it is actually meat (any meat chicken, pork, beef, some fish) that caused my problems. It actually doesn't get digested properly, but the doctors are not sure why.

I can have eggs and dairy and some fish in moderation, but yesterday I had a jacket potato with tuna mayo and cheese and my tummy was not too happy about that.

I now call myself a reluctant vegetarian. Since I have eliminated the triggers in my diet, it has been much easier to stay within my calorie allowance and I actually have much more energy to do anything physical. I think it is very difficult when you don't know what foods cause it, but since you are keeping a food diary anyway, you can just keep notes about how you feel in the 'food notes' section and then maybe you are able to see a patterns after a while. I keep my food diary private for that very reason. Nobody needs to read about whether I am gassy or not :laugh:

Good Luck :flowerforyou:

Maleficent0241

Now that's odd, because I have homemade cottage pie tonight (made with lean mince and sweet potato mash) and finally, after 6 days, the pain has subsided. Think the medication is helping too. Although interestingly, I have had no coffee today, only water. Hmmmm. I think I have figured out wholegrain foods and fruit are amongst my triggers. So that's some of my favourite foods out.
Strange how it affects everyone differently.

What kind of fruits have you tried? Try peeling things like pears and apples - it helps some people due to the types of fiber content in the different parts of the fruit.

NatalieLJ

Thanks all.
Will look into the FODMAP diet, sounds like it could help.
It seems to be apples & pears, but also banana today that hurts. Also wholegrain foods, possibly wheat. Still not sure but I am keeping notes in my food diary now to help pin point the problem foods.
At least the horrendous stomach pain has subsided now after 6 days, just back to bloating and air bubbles rattling round my insides (sorry!).
Exercise, I have taken a couple of days off due to the pain and as I'm on earlies at work and feeling shattered, but I'm getting back on it tomorrow as I've worked hard and don't want to lose my progress so far.

ChazzyEvilKitty2014

I notice that it helps me diet because naturally I don't want to be I'll all the time. I ended cutting out anything with milk in, rich creamy food. Fizzy drinks are a no no with me. I tend to avoid greasy food. I cut out all of these when I figured out what effects me most and so far I haven't had much of a problem with it. I drink soya milk now instead of milk. I go for lean meat such as chicken etc. I don't eat chocolate much at all. I grill most of my meat.

It's just trying to find what triggers you off and on your bad days when it flares up going careful. It can be a pain sometimes, but overall I bloat up but I can still lose weight.

Iniquitousious

Hi Natalie, I was diagnosed with IBS 11 months ago and only now, after extensive research, supplements, prescriptions, diets, hospital visits and tests am I accepting it is what it is...a digestive issue that no one knows how to cure. Anyway, I am writing because ever since I've had the flare up I have eaten between 0 and 1000 calories per day and have exercised daily with either an hour of hot yoga or running 3-5 miles, and flag-football on weekends. The result? I have gained 10 lbs with IBS and have lost none of it. 2 weeks of Starvation or juice cleanses just don't do a single thing. I think because we are not absorbing our nutrients the way we used to and our appetites are much smaller than they used to be, our body is in constant starvation mode so it hangs on to everything. The bloat and inflammation is always there and my clothes don't fit.

Have you managed to find out how to lose weight, bloat, or reduce inflammation? Has your diet & exercise been working for you?