Fodmap anyone?! Help please!

[ICanEatWhat]

Evening all,

General lurker and first time poster here! Has anyone had any experience of following a low Fodmap diet for gastrointestinal issues?

To cut a long story short (I'm sure that'll be told sometime) I've been advised to follow a low fodmap diet whilst I'm awaiting hospital treatment/follow up consultant appointments. I've put a lot of thought and planning in to starting this as I've previously tried gluten and dairy free diets to no avail.

I only started on Monday so it's very early days, however for three days running I've been having severe diarrhea and stomach cramps at the same time each day (just before lunch). I've rechecked everything I'm eating and can't identify the issue but wondered if someone more experienced might be able to point me in the right direction?

Alternatively it might not be a fodmap causing an issue at all but a general intolerance? I'm pretty sure it's relayed to what I'm eating in the morning as it's a very sudden attack. I've purposely eaten the same thing every day so that it's easier to identify any issues.

Early breakfast: half cup oats, one cup lactose free milk, very small handful blueberries, half a banana and a teaspoon of maple syrup

Snacks: small handful grapes, one small kiwi, 3 mini egg muffins (eggs, feta, bacon cooked in fairy cake tin)

Any thoughts?!

[StillMedusa]

Personally three types of fruit before lunch and a snack of eggs bacon and feta in any shape would be enough to give me the runs! Not to mention the bowel moving oats.

It sounds quite an involved ..and full breakfast. It might be easier to eat a simple low fodmap one stop breakfast for a few days and see what happens!

[ICanEatWhat]

Thank you for your reply.

Just to clarify, this isn't one big breakfast, it's eaten over the space of around 6 hours. If I just had the oats I'd be feeling pretty awful by lunchtime. I'm also diabetic so I try to avoid peaks and troughs in my blood sugar by eating little and often.

Oats have never caused me any issue, they actually seem to help bind things for me as my primary problem is diarrhoea 85% of the time. The fruit is also in very small servings, I'm talking maybe 10 blueberries max and half a banana. I don't eat any other fruits later in the day and I've spent a lot of time looking at interactions of fruits and vegetables to avoid the "fruit salad" effect of fodmaps whilst still trying to get in my 5 a day. I just wanted to know if I've missed something because it's so complicated or if there's an obvious common ingredient in there that causes issues.

My money is actually on kiwi. It's not something I usually eat so I've kept everything the same today but removed the kiwi.

Could you give me an example of what you mean by very simple fodmap breakfast? Plus some snacks?

[StUmbrageinSkelt]

Blueberries are very high in chemicals, as are kiwifruit and grapes. How ripe was the banana? On an elimination diet for fodmap, you have at most 2 serves of fruit a day and that should be pear.

Eggs, bacon and feta in addition to those fruits? That isn't fodmap friendly at all.

Oats and eggs are low chemical.

Where did you get your info from? You need to be on a low chemical elimination diet to sort out your intolerances. Do you have a dietician to work with?

[plimsolls]

Eggs and cheese in the same meal give me exactly what you describe.

[KoalaDownUnder]

Blueberries are very high in chemicals, as are kiwifruit and grapes. How ripe was the banana? On an elimination diet for fodmap, you have at most 2 serves of fruit a day and that should be pear.

What?! What are you on about??

Blueberries are FODMAP-friendly, pears are not. And it's not about 'chemicals'.

[Snugglepalace]

I have had Ibs for 18 years and the mornings are always worst for me. I usually skip breakfast as this works for me but if I do I will usually have an egg based breakfast as I find high protein works better for me. I too follow the low fodmap diet and although there are lots of fruits that are low fodmap I am very wary as they all kick off my symptoms if I eat too many. Weirdly, I find porridge makes my tummy bad but I eat loads of oatcakes which are fine?!

[Lunenburg]

Try dropping the Banana.

Quite a lot of people are allergic to them.

[StUmbrageinSkelt]

I'm on about the elimination diet that is usually done before introducing FODMAPS.

You're right about the pears, I was approaching it from the angle that I am used to but yeah pears/fructose are a big issue. I'm using the term low chemical in the sense of amines/fructose/salicyclates and the foods likely to set off food intolerances as the OP herself mentioned.

I have a lot of experience with food intolerances and I was thinking outloud from that angle. I do think there are way too many foods in the OP's diet to tease out which ones are an issue.

[ICanEatWhat]

Oh dear, I don't want to cause arguments!

I honestly feel like I need to be tube fed for a while so I don't even have to think about food! haha.

I'm taking my information straight from the Monash website/app as well as the Kings college university's app in cooperation with the NHS. I have not got a referral to a dietician (waves at consultant I was supposed to see 2 months ago and haven't even got an appointment for yet) but that is definitely something which I will follow up with. I do however, have experience of different types of elimination diets as gastro issues have been on going since childhood (now 31).

I've deliberately chosen foods that I know haven't caused me issues in the past (although clearly that doesn't mean it won't cause me issues now) and I've also worked out which fruits/vegetables can be eaten together without going above the 'danger' amount of fodmaps. Such as one fruit that's high in Oligos above a certain amount combined with another fruit that's high in Fructose above a certain amount so that they don't conflict and bring me over when combined (I hope that makes sense!) I've also made sure the portions of those fruits are well below a max portion sizes as well.

I'm eating exactly the same thing on a rolling 4 days basis. The reason I'm doing that is two fold - one to make life easier on myself (prepping/cooking everything for the next 4 days) and two so that I can identify something within those 4 days if I have issues. Honestly, looking at some of the recipes for low fodmap, some of them are so complicated and include so many ingredients that I can't think it would be easy to identify issues so I've tried to make things simple (maybe not simple enough though!)

The reason my money is on kiwi is because this is the only element that I don't eat on a regular basis (or at all, usually) so it's new to my diet. The reaction I'm getting is a very sudden onset thing, sudden cramps, running to the loo but then feeling much better afterwards. My usual symptoms are cramping all day, running to the loo all day and feeling hideously bloated all day so this is an improvement (of sorts!) Because of that I'm thinking it's something that I'm eating in the few hours previous that are causing such a reaction rather than my dinner the night before?

I've not bought kiwi to work with me at all today so I'm interested to see if I get the same reaction. At the moment I'm feeling absolutely fine...

If not, would you suggest removing the fruits from my oats as a start??

[catmadcaz]

Hi
I have been on the low fodmap diet for sometime now. The dietician did stress that you have to tailor it to suit you.

In my opinion you need to cut down your fruit intake. I would also defiantly stop the the maple syrup. I think the oats and banana sound fine for breakfast and why not try homemade soup you can get some of your 5 a day and oatcakes for lunch.
Hope this helps.

[Clairerandallfraserthe1st]

Hi OP been on Fodmap for sometime now in the sense been through elimination and now know my triggers. I would say it is all very individual, I can not manage some green foods at all. Therefore it may just be learning what is OK for you. One thing I would totally recommend is joining the FodmapUk facebook group if you are on facebook as it's supportive and can help you answer lots of questions.

[ICanEatWhat]

Thank you both, I will definitely check out the Facebook group.

I cut out both banana and kiwi over the last two days but it didn't make a difference unfortunately. I'm going to cut out all fruits over the weekend to see if that helps, failing that I think my next step would be to cut out oats (which would make me very sad if that's the issue!)

Lunches and dinners don't seem to be having any effect on me at the moment so I'm keeping it very simple, Bolognese with rice noodles for lunch and chicken and potatoes with carrots for dinner. I'm trying to keep my main meals pretty consistent and samey (however boring it might become) so that I can concentrate on eliminating the current ingredient that's causing me an issue during the morning.

I'm trying to lose weight as well as honestly that just seems to be secondary right now!

[2tuxedocat]

I've been on the low FODMAP diet under the supervision of a dietician for the last three months, I'm now on the reintroduction phase.
Although oats are FODMAP friendly I can't tolerate them and have the same symptoms as you.
I use the FODMAP FM app, its brilliant especially being able to scan bar codes on food packages to see if you can eat it, saves all the reading of labels and ibssano.com for recipes. Last night we had chicken and spinach balti, the chicken chow mien is also very nice.
I've put on weight as I'm eating a lot more varied diet than staying on "safe" foods.

[ICanEatWhat]

Have you worked out the foods you aren't able to tolerate now 2tuxedocat?

I'm having the worst evening. Had a simple dinner of chicken, potato and carrots with some mint sauce and a couple hours later I can't stay off the loo for long. I feel like I've been hit by a train! Must admit I'm feeling a little bit sorry for myself, I didn't expect to be cured overnight but also didn't expect things to actually be worse. I think I'm heading for a meat and potato only elimination phase!

[ICanEatWhat]

Forgot to say, I have that app also but I can't seem to scan anything? I tried but it didn't even look like it was trying to do anything. Might email the developers!

[catmadcaz]

Just to wanted to add that when I was on the first stage of the fodmap diet under the supervision of the dietician many of the recommended low fodmap foods were not good for me. It really was trial and error.

I had to work out what was ok from the list. Then when on the reintroduction phase I found that some foods were ok in very small portions and if I had too much I was back on the toilet and had cramps.
I have read the books by Dr Sue Shepherd who discovered the fodmap diet and found these very helpful.

Getting back to your oats I also have this problem when I am having a flare of ibs or if I eat oats for breakfast everyday. So for me the key is small portions but not everyday.
Also when I am having a flare up of symptoms I stick to rice and fish for dinner, rice porridge for breakfast and oatcakes and clear broth for lunch. No veg or fruit until symptoms subside.

[Clairerandallfraserthe1st]

I must also admit OP oats are not good for me.. I just can't have porridge as much as I love it and can only have a tiny amount of flapjack.

[2tuxedocat]

The bar code scanner only works in certain shops and brands. It's very good in Sainsbury's and Asda not so good in marks and no go in Aldi or Lidl.
I also found with some brands I could scan when abroad and find those naughty hidden fruits in gluten free bread.
I have only re introduced GOS, Mannitol and fructose. Sorbitol(avocado) this week. Mixed results and so I'm using the three days between trials to let my stomach settle down.
As others have said you may be able to tolerate one day of something but not eat it three consecutive days. That's why when doing the challenges each day you increase the amount then stop and move onto another food.
Good luck