Not allergies but food intolerances; I thought you guys might know about exclusion diets?

[KatyMac]

I have (post procedure) a lovely shiny empty gut.

I may have food intolerances & the consultant said I might as well have a play with what I eat to see what upsets me.

So what do I start eating, how long do I eat that for, and how do I introduce new things?

I know I can't eat:
Vast quantities of milk or cheese
Coconut
Almond

I have always not eaten (in any quantity):
eggs
Pastry/biscuits/cakes
Pasta
Rice
White sauces
Nuts
Coffee
Alcohol

& although not completely 'woo' I do think there is something in the idea that I don't like things my body struggles with (iyswim)

I currently eat (without apparent problems)
Bread (in any form with yeast)
Meat
Well cooked veg/fruit

& raw fruit/veg definitely upset me

I am a bit of a problem aren't I?

Bump in case anyone feels like helping

You could try the IBS exclusion diet. That excludes greasy/fried food, spicy food, tomato based food (spag bol, ketchup etc), seasonings such as black pepper and seasonings that are spicy. Onion (and family:garlic, leek) , caffeine (tea coffee fizzy drinks) , fizzy drinks as a whole, hot chocolate and cocoa, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. If you add these to your existing list, it includes many of the known irritants. My DS1 has this diet and also excludes gluten and CMP, fructose and sucrose. I'm still getting my head around it all, but i'm getting there.
It's not easy, is it. If you could have it i would give you a , or a

Actually of that list I eat/drink

Tea - very weak
Homemade tomato soup
A bit of onion in my sandwich/soup/stew

Someone has suggested magnesium & oh damn I have forgotten something else as supplements

Yesterday I had:
Shop bought bread
Juice
Banana
Homemade (not tomato) soup

& I was quite bad

So today I thought:
Homemade bread
Juice
Beans

& we will see how I go?

Shop bought bread will have gluten at least - and additives potentially. Juice will have fruit - therefore fructose (disaccharide and therefore more difficult to break down than a mono saccharide such as glucose) . Ditto with banana - which strangely was the first fruit that we really noticed DS1's fructose issue with. He is positively projectile with it.
Soup - you will know what you put in - what veg and what seasoning did you use?
Hope you're keeping a diary of all this - and the results and hopefully you will have a lightbulb moment and notice a trigger food/food group. fingers crossed

OK my will power went

My dad offered me steak onions & I'm a lot better than yesterday

Maybe it was the banana

I did an exclusion diet when I was 10 or so. It was done under the care of a doctor, I'm a bit that you have been told to go and experiment yourself tbh, but anyway it did work for me and identified 2 problem foods (cows milk and citrus fruit). When I cut these out my (bad) eczema cleared up within 3 weeks.

Anyway, the diet I was on was plain rice, stewed pears and lamb - only- for 3 weeks, then introduce 1 new food per week. With me we were monitoring my skin, so if my eczema didn't flair within 7 days a food was judged to be safe. The first 6 weeks were seriously tedious diet-wise but I my mother was very determined.

I'm pretty sure not all initial diets are so strict (this is where a doctor/dietician could help maybe) but the foods most likely to cause allergy problems are: cows milk protein, wheat, soya, citrus fruits, fish, sesame, nuts, celery/celeriac, eggs and mustard. That's why these things must be included on labels if present.

Lamb?? I know Lamb upsets me

I guess it's because IBS isn't life threatening or even important to people who don't have it also I am 43 you were 10, we care more about children

So I guess onions are bad (I thought so) Damn but the banana was worse

BarbarianMum - I think you would be surprised to know what our PCT asks patients to do with their diets with a 1 page photocopy of suggestions and a 6 month check up. Until last year, there wasn't even a paediatric dietician in the area. Even if you have been advised as a child to eliminate certain foods, unless you can prove that your child's weight/height has deteriorated to a level that could be classed as failure to thrive, you will not be seen by a dietician. Ridiculous IMO.
As a long time IBS sufferer - I went on the 3 week detox/elimination diet - and i have to say i've never felt better. I had more energy, the bloating went, i felt alert. I've slipped back a bit - and realising that there are lots of things I really shouldn't eat if i want to feel good. 3 weeks on rice and water is harsh - but my insides felt amazing

Which is better than I got. 'Try & work it out', 'have a look on google' & 'You'll work it out' were what I got

I don't know if it was better. Remove all fruit - fresh, dried, tinned and frozen with rhubarb - for an 8 year old .some of the substitutions defied conventional wisdom, but has always given me a good laugh at how impractical they were.
Best advice was from internet, MN, googling etc

Rhubarb upsets me too

Poor 8yo - how awful!

On the plus side - there are quite a few things you can do with rhubarb! but when that's the only 'fruit' choice it's a bit grim!

Tell me about it

I think I can eat stewed pear, but I imagine I'd get awfully bored of it over a few weeks

Friday
Banana
Bought Toast & jam
Homemade soup
Tea
Juice
Saturday
(Homemade bread) Toast & jam
Steak & onion sandwich
Juice
Tea
Sunday
Hash browns & beans
Mince & mash
Juice
Tea
Monday
Beans on (Homemade bread) Toast
Tea
Salmon
Homemade Bread & butter

And I have been really bad every day

It's tea or bread isn't it

Damn

No better today

I haven't had bread today either

Ah, but did you have the caffeine - tea. Although that isn't the only part of tea that can cause upset. Have you tried de-caf tea or herbal?

Yep - we had worked out it was either tea or beans to give up tomorrow

I am marginally better today - I was bad at lunchtime but better by 3

It looks like bread or flour or gluten is going

I guess I cut it all out for a while & see what happens

Sorry to hear you're not feeling any better, KatyMac. I've been away from this thread, as my asthma suddenly got much, much worse in the middle of last week, so I could barely function, but owing to lots of meds, I am now feeling much more human. My colitis promptly cleared up too - thanks to being able to sleep again, as lack of sleep is one factor that does bring on my colitis. That said, other than when v v sleep deprived or under extreme stress, I do basically control my colitis through diet alone.

FWIW, the original advice I got on diet and colitis was from a Chinese medical practitioner (in training) whose advice was really spot on for me in terms of what I could and couldn't eat - maybe worth a try? I do think that Chinese medicine is particularly strong in chronic conditions like this where western medicine doesn't really have any answers.

Following this thread, I've been having a go at the diet recommended above on this thread for the last few days and actually, so far it does seem to be having a v good effect on my digestion. Though whether I could deal with nuts etc whilst in mid-attack is another matter.

It's good to have a thread like this - problems with poos are one of the last great taboos, in that though we all poo, it's just not something we can talk about even with close friends.

Hope Chocol8 et al are feeling better too.

Katy, my IBD nurse told me that there's a three-day washout effect and to look back three days from a bad day as well as considering foods you've just eaten that day, which can make it easier to identify culprits (or make it even more bloody complicated!!)

3 day wash out

Blimey

I've been shaky & headachey with no tea today & I had to give in & eat tea (toad in the hole with veg) I hope I don't pay too badly later

When i did mine - the caffeine withdrawal affected me more than cutting out gluten. I find gluten amazingly easy to do without - caffeine less so. Gave me a headache for over a week and felt 'blurry' for all that time!

Well whatever else it is it's dairy