IBS - help needed

I was diagnosed about 20 years ago. I have maybe 2 symptom days a month.
You need to figure out your trigger foods. For me these are: oatmeal, flax or any products with these two items in it. Also if I drink more than 4 oz of milk at one time. I cannot eat pizza from any chain restaurant. I think it may have something to do with the yeast they use in the crust. Becuse it does not matter what the sauce or toppings are I just cannot eat any of it.

The thing that helped me the most was the decision to stop eating as much processed food as possible. I make most of my own food including soups, salad dressings and ice cream. This way I can control what additives are going into my body.

I rarely eat out. If I do end up at a restaurant I never order anything that has been marinated or comes with a sauce on it. So maybe just a plain fish or steak. I avoid the bread basket.

To get started I came up with a base diet that gives me no symptoms. Yogurt, plain fish, a couple of different vegetables and rice. I eat just that until I have no symptoms for 2 or 3 days then add in items one at a time to see if I experience any difficulties.

Good luck, I hope you find health.

I have a friend who suffers - she actually finally tried meditation on the advice of her doctor. Hers was aggravated by stress. The doctor suggested what cblue315 said - limit processed foods and high fat foods tho she still uses cream in coffee. She does well with sourdough from a quality bakery (is fermentation used instead of yeast? maybe that's why?) but doesn't eat any other breads/baked goods. But the meditation seems to have really helped - she started out 5 min in the morning to calm herself before the day and if things got hectic at work she went to the ladies room stall (sat clothed, sounds goofy but no other place to go!) for a few minutes to decompress. She meditates every night about 30 minutes before bed before the rest of her nightly routine and swears by it - really helped calm the abdominal distress for her.

Add me please, I suffer from IBS ever since I was little. I just started trying an elimination diet to see what triggers my main issues (bloating, pain, pain, pain, constipation and fatigue when having flare ups). It's called low-fodmap and has helped 80% of IBS with their symptoms. Basically, you cut out everything that brings water or gas to your bowels (most lactose, gluten, fructose, etc) and only eat that in low-doses. After 6 weeks, you probably feel much better and you start adding back in one group at time to find out your major triggers. It is advised to do so with a dietitian, but I'm trying out myself because I don't have one around me who specialises in low-fodmap. Either way, it's a great way to start! I wish I'd done it sooner

I have IBS too. It makes me feel great knowing I'm not alone. Because IBS tends to make me feel like an alien among friends when I can't eat much of anything.

Also, I know that stress is a trigger for IBS, but seriously, it annoys me so much when doctors pass the buck to the patient by saying, "do things to manage your stress." I mean, sure, it's a good idea for everyone to do this, and I do things to manage stress all the time, but it's not like normal people who are stressed have to run to the bathroom 20 times a day. It's rarely the whole problem. That, and "have you tried eating more fiber?" really raise my ire. If being zen and eating more fiber would have solved my problems, those solutions would probably have worked during the many, many times I tried doing those things during the past 10+ years of suffering.

My husband has (fairly mild as these things go) IBS and he's mainly triggered by very rich/fatty foods and spicy things. He does best if he gets plenty of fiber from food, mainly meaning veggies, and probiotics either through pills or yogurt. Excess sugar can also cause him problems but he doesn't have to avoid it altogether.

It really seems like people have completely different reactions to foods and different symptoms even though it's all IBS as far as the doctor is concerned.

I wish I could help, but I'm struggling with IBS myself. I always have to rush to the bathroom several times a day without fail. I've tried the low-FODMAPS diet for 2 months, but I didn't notice any difference. So I'm not sure which food triggers my symptoms or if it happens with anything I eat/drink. I noticed the symptoms get a lot worse with stress, worry, or being nervous.

I've had Chrohn's for a long time. Stress is one of the major triggers and I work in a law firm. Plenty of stress to be had by all! I find trigger foods have tended to change over the years, but there are a couple of constants for me: blueberries and alcohol, not necessarily together. LOL.. I've had to eliminate alcohol completely. For me, it's high fiber food that will upset the balance. It's so interesting to read the comments of other people to see just how individual the sensitivities manifest themselves. Best of luck in working through this.

I was diagnosed w/ IBS a few years ago. I take a daily probiotic recommended by my family doctor and GI doctor. I have also been doing some research and people who have IBS are gluten sensitive but not allergic. I did try cutting out gluten for a couple weeks and felt better, and of course I reverted back cause I thought it was all in my head but it didn't last long I had to cut out 95% of gluten. My IBS is much better now.

annebaby1431 wrote: »

I was diagnosed w/ IBS a few years ago. I take a daily probiotic recommended by my family doctor and GI doctor. I have also been doing some research and people who have IBS are gluten sensitive but not allergic. I did try cutting out gluten for a couple weeks and felt better, and of course I reverted back cause I thought it was all in my head but it didn't last long I had to cut out 95% of gluten. My IBS is much better now.

I've had relatively minor IBS for years. About 3 months ago I tried eliminating gluten as an experiment to solve some of my own stomach issues, but I did the same thing you did! I was symptom free for a couple of weeks, then got to thinking "naw, this can't be it, I've got to be a crazy hypochondriac", went back to it and had an even worse reaction.
Now I am off wheat (and gluten, just for good measure) for a month while I deal with what my doctor guesses is acute gastritis. What fun it is...
Good luck to all, and congrats to those who have cracked the code!

pisceanprincess wrote: »

Thanks for this thread. I'm currently going through this right now and my doctor has me working with a nutritionist to help find my triggers. I have been diagnosed for years. Occasionally, my monthly hormones would cause havoc to my body and no one knew why. They would just say take aleve or midol. I now know that Sara Lee whole wheat bread and dairy are just a few of my triggers. Also, I don't like taking prescription meds so I asked people at my local whole foods what did they recommend. I was given a probotic. HTH

Raw sauerkraut also has pro-biotics. I eat a few tablespoons every day.

My IBS gets worse from stress, so please try anything to get in under control (as im sitting here dying from pain, during finals week!!!). Another trigger for me was beer. I had two beers with a friend one night, woke up in the night with horrible pain, fainted from the pain and broke my nose!! So, I would stay away from alcohol, sugar, caffeine, and anything high fat. I had my gallbladder removed which brought on my IBS and indigestion. I'll have a week of diarrhea and a week of constipation and pain!

I'll be perfectly honest - I get really, really frustrated by the IBS diagnosis. I have celiac disease and another disorder, both of which are quickly and happily misdiagnosed as IBS by untold numbers of doctors. For my disorder, I think at least 1/3 of those I know with it were first diagnosed with IBS.

I agree with vanilla warfare - it's a dumping ground for all the conditions that aren't properly diagnosed. Personally, I believe that eventually there will be no IBS, because the medical community will have figured out all the various conditions that were ACTUALLY the cause for the symptoms. And maybe then, people with get more help.

Something I was surprised to find out: IBS was originally supposed to be a diagnosis of exclusion. Or in other words, you were tested for OTHER possible reasons for the symptoms, and if they didn't have any conclusions, then you were given a diagnosis of IBS. It really was the dumping ground, the diagnosis of: we don't know what you have, but this diagnosis confirms that you DO have something physical going on, even if we don't know the cause.

This has changed so that doctors now generally assume that if you have the symptoms, you have 'IBS.' There is no known cause, it's essentially a list of symptoms, but now that list of symptoms has become a diagnosis, no matter how many other diseases or disorders those symptoms ALSO match.

The only problem is that there is no cure for IBS, but there are cures or treatments for many of the other conditions that a patient could have with the same symptoms. And doctors giving a diagnosis for IBS so quickly means that patients are unlikely to be properly diagnosed if they happen to HAVE any of these other conditions.

Which can be celiac disease (thankfully you're being tested - many people aren't and are given an IBS diagnosis anyway), Crohn's, parasites, enzyme deficiencies, gall bladder problems, food intolerances, food allergies, mast cell activation disorders, histamine intolerance, fructose malabsoption, SIBO, poor gut bacteria - the list just goes on and on.

And many of the things listed as 'common' for IBS are actually 'common' for some of these other conditions that are rarely tested for. Most are affected by dietary changes, for example.

Another example, Mast cell activation disorders (http://www.wjgnet.com/2218-6204/pdf/v3/i1/1.pdf - which are thought to be 'rare' but now experts believe are more 'rarely diagnosed' and may be much more common than celiac disease) and histamine intolerance cause problems due to too much histamine in the body. Histamine is released whenever we feel stressed - so stress frequently causes gut symptoms in people with MCAD and histamine intolerance.

If a person with IBS only has symptoms when they eat a few different foods? It's more likely they have a mild allergy or food intolerance to the food, rather than IBS. However, doctors are typically taught in medical school that food is rarely the cause for physical ailments (or at least, they are according to a number of doctors who I've spoken to about this), so they rarely will look for a food intolerance, or even an allergy unless you have hives and anaphylaxis. So in their opinion, you must have IBS, not a problem with a few foods, or with food dyes, etc...

If the IBS waxes and wanes in cycles, it can be a parasite, and the waxing and waning goes along with the parasite's life cycle. But there are numerous tests to look for parasites, so...IBS.



I always assume someone with IBS has symptoms, and I know they can be debilitating. I'm glad that the doctors at least came up with something to let OTHER doctors know that a patient's experience was real (since, it seems, they often don't simply trust the patient to tell them that yes, they feel pain and it's real). But I just get very angry on all our behalf over what feels like being rushed through to a diagnosis without enough care.

The doctors tried to do this to my daughter, and continued to say she had IBS made worse by anxiety, but we kept pushing for other testing, with the doctors giving us the stink eye and commenting on unnecessary testing...until she turned out to have celiac disease AND that rare mast cell activation disorder. Then they kind of shut up.

I have met so many people whose doctors slapped the IBS label on them and then essentially left them to deal with it on their own. And hundreds - literally hundreds, because I talk far too much, LOL - who eventually found out that it was something else. With the variety of different strategies that work for folks with the IBS diagnosis, I honestly assume the reason they don't all work is, in large part, because they have different conditions driving the symptoms, too, just like others I've met to eventually found the answer.



So I guess, Cladf? I would honestly think hard about whether to let the doctors just stop with IBS, or to explore further. You deserve more of their time, honestly. Lots of folks here have some ideas that seem good to help look at, really.

And freaking hugs - because it is SO hard to deal with gut pain so frequently. So sympathy, and I hope that you find a way to help your symptoms improve.