IBS-C I don't know what to eat!

I recently discovered that I have IBS-C and I have no idea what to eat! I keep tracking my foods/my reactions but there is no distinct pattern emerging. Anyone on here have any foods that help them stay regular or that are definite no no's? Its getting to the point w here I'm not even hungry anymore and I don't want to eat solids for fear of making it worse. Thanks!

I also suffer from IBS-C, so I'll tell you about my experiences with it. Firstly, fiber is crucial, and I require close to triple what a healthy person does. I aim to get around 35-40 grams/day. I'm sure getting enough water is very important too, but I can't tell you what happens if I don't get as much as I should, because that never happens. My intake there ranges from 12-18 cups a day.

Many types of fiber supplements increased my abdominal cramping, so you may have to experiment with different brands/forms. The one I've found that doesn't increase my pain is Vitafusion Fiber Gummies. I take doses higher than the bottle recommends, because I started with that dose, and experimented upward until I seemed to reach maximum relief (I take 4 gummies twice daily with Beano).

I was diagnosed with IBS-C about 10 years ago, but I've never noticed any discernible difference from anything I ate. Sorry I can't be of any help there. From my experience, apart from getting enough fiber, nothing I can eat or not eat makes a difference. Stress certainly causing serious flare-ups, but that's all I've observed that impacts it. When the pain is at its worst, I use a heating pad, or cold pack, both of which help.

Laxatives can relieve the constipation, of course, but they all increased my pain considerably. I hope this helps.

Hi suffered from the same thing a few years ago, chronically for 12 months, below is a summary for what helped me BUT it is really a personal trial and error thing:

- Cut out wheat and dairy (excess calcium in general and cow's milk more specifically is highly constipating) re-introduced them slowly when I was symptom free after 12 months.

- Cut out gas producing foods: garlic, onion, leeks, radishes, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage)

- Did not drink any liquid with or shortly after meals (dilutes digestive enzymes needed to break down food)

- I took digestive enzymes with meals (supplements)

- Cut out red meat

- Ate lots of oily fish (salmon, tuna)

- Cut out refined sugar- baked all of my own sweet treats

- Ate LOTS of raw vegetables (fibre + enzymes) carrots, salads, celery etc.

- Avoided fruits high in pectin (or made sure they were peeled i.e. apples)

-Make sure you only eat when you are hungry, chew all food properly and slowly (helps digestion)

I could not personally tolerate psyllium husks (most fibre supplements contain this) it felt like it would form a rock in my bowels, a lot of people are sensitive to psyllium so watch out...

One fibre supplement that I had daily that helped my greatly was Sandra Cabot's 'Fibretone'

Drink 10+ glasses of water or herbal tea daily.... Really important if you are increasing your fibre intake, the result of increased fibre without increased water is worsened constipation.

Through trial and error with my physician I found that the laxative 'Movicol' worked best for me. I took it for about 9 months and was able to easily wean myself off of it when my gut seemed to heal. (Movical is just salts that draws water to the bowel to help loosen stools, taken before bedtime is best, I found that any laxatives that work to contract the muscles in your bowel to be very very painful... but speak with your Dr. )

One book that was a life saver was dr Sandra Cabot's 'Healthy liver and bowel' book.... speaks about different bowel issues and ways to overcome them through diet and eating habits... plus includes useful recipes.

FINALLY, there is a medically recognised diet that helps 80% of IBS sufferers that I am looking into at the moment for IBD, called the low-FODMAPS diet... follow this link http://www.lowfodmap.com/fodmaps-explained/

Hope this helps :-)

There is a test called the MRT that an immunologist can administer. It will test you for inflammatory reactions to 150 of the most common foods and chemicals.

Everyone I know who has had the test done and avoided the indicated foods (myself included) has seen HUGE improvements. One of my coworkers went from crippling IBS, constant brain fog, and severe eczema to no significant symptoms within about 2 months.

Most insurance doesn't cover it, as I understand, but it's only like $400, and TOTALLY worth it if you have IBS and haven't been able to identify your problem foods.

Hope this is helpful.

I'll ask my allergist about this. I may be able to get this covered because of several recent incidences of angioedema (effecting my lips, so not a minor issue). The only food allergy test that came back positive was oysters, but I hadn't had any around the times of the angioedema episodes. I hadn't heard of this before, so thanks for posting it.