Losing weight with IBS

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

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!

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:

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!

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.

IBS is likely not preventing weight loss.


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

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.

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!

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.

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.

I've been diagnosed with IBS-C. Oddly enough, it was really bad when I was a vegetarian and ate really well (low carbs/dairy). Now I eat meat and cut down on the veggies I eat and now I don't have issues as often. Completely counter intuitive and weird. Everyone is different and what works for you might not be common but once you find what works - stick with it.

The biggest thing I have to add is that with IBS-C you have to be patient with your weight loss. When I am having an issue my weight loss isn't apparent. I have to learn to go with trends or pick optimal times to weigh myself.

Good luck, sounds like you're finding a bunch of potential triggers.