Hoping for some advice. I've had issues with my stomach for a long time - bloating, pain/cramps, diarrhoea. It comes and goes, but has been like this for about twenty or so years.
I've found wine, bread, mushrooms, chinese takeaway, all give me symptoms, some pretty instantly (ie chinese within about two hours - bad diarrhoea - but resolves by the next day). Bread (or yeast? - I'm fine with pasta so don't think it's gluten) makes my stomach swell for 2 days or so to the point I have to wear dresses as I can't do my skirts up. It is really uncomfortable, and I have to sleep with a hot water bottle on my stomach to help with the pain.
However, by excluding things I know set me off, I am generally ok and used to it tbh. Recently though, I'm getting symptoms when eating my normal foods (which really aren't very exotic at all) - things I've always been able to tolerate. It's getting to the point now where I am nervous about what to eat as I can't be sure what is 'safe' anymore.
So, obviously I should go to the docs, but what can they do? I assume they can't 'test' for these intolerances, so will they just tell me to exclude things and do it on a trial by trial basis? In which case, it's really not worth the bother of trying to get an appointment (hen's teeth), and arranging shifts at work so I can get to the docs.
Or is there a magic test now where they can give me a list of what to eat and what to avoid, by just doing a blood/skin test or something?
Just to note, I'm a single parent, on a budget, so don't have the option of going private etc etc
All advice really welcome. Feeling very fed up 