I am so unhappy help me

[Wantacurry]

I have a bowel diesease which is not responding well to medication. Doctor thinks I have IBS as well and to try Fodmap diet via dietician.

I have done 6 days and I am miserable. I have headaches and hunger cramps. I am tired all the time but can't sleep properly. Barely eating 800 calories a day, as I can't cook or afford proper gluten free stuff, so I am on eggs for breakfast, home made veg soup for lunch and jacket potato and tuna for my dinner. Plus the allowable food is so unappealing to me, I would rather skip after and snacks, then eat things that don't appeal to me.

I can't do this for another week. I miss food with has flavour and something which is crispy.

Everyday my goal is to get all my jobs out of the way so I can go back to bed again. I am in bed every night at 7pm. Just trying to sleep to escape how I feel.

Plus my symptoms are just the same as they are when I eat onion filled curries, so I suspect I am putting myself though this for no reason.
I have just sent the family off to eat lunch out together, as I can't face them eating proper food in front of me whilst I drink veg soup again :(

I know I just have to get on with it, just 15 more days to go but it seems like forever at this point.

You don't need to eat "proper gluten free stuff". If you read the labels loads of ordinary food is gluten free. Baked beans, soup, ready meals such as curry or cottage pie, sausages, mashed potato, ice cream - as long as there is no wheat, barley, oats or rye marked in bold in the ingredients list then you can eat it.

Fodmap sucks, but see it as part of taking control of your condition - if you do it properly and it doesn’t help, then you have learned something useful. BUT you must double up on the allowed foods you like so you don’t get ill. Are sweet potatoes allowed? I sometimes eat them as a snack, really quick in the microwave. coun t the days down. I really struggled in a similar situation, and the food diaries restrictions etc were frustrating at first, but they helped me get to know my triggers and learn what i could get away with and what i couldn’t.

Poor you, hopefully the worst is almost past

When I came off gluten I was so ill I spent 5 days in bed, vomiting, terrible headaches, severe pain I felt like I had the worst gastric flu ever

Then after 5 days the fog lifted, pain reduced massively and I felt alive for the first time in years. I could walk and had been so crippled with weakness and pain previously I used a wheelchair

So much food is naturally gluten free, potatoes rice etc. I bake my own gf bread for about £1.20 a loaf and my children use old elpasso gf wraps (£1.49 for 10 in Asda) or Schar rolls for pack ups

Many budget supermarkets now have gf food, ALDI and Lidl both stock basics, we also buy reduced and freeze

Pinterest is a great site for recipes that don’t cost a fortune, slow cooker ones are great

Baked beans, sweet potato etc are red Fodmap..No go. Most stuff at the shops have added onion powder or garlic which rules that out too.

Yes. I am half way through a sack of potatoes.

I will try Aldi and look for food there. Thank you for the suggestion Cat Glad it works so well for you.

I am upstairs going to bed. My family are downstairs eating takeaway...I could scream but I know it is not their problem and DH made me a piece of plain salmon to go with my plain jacket and it was nice. Just nowhere near as nice as a takeaway.

Oh well. I will have a shower and get to bed.

If you're hungry, you're not doing it right I'm afraid. I did it for 8 weeks and was the most comfortable I've ever been with my IBS and certainly never hungry. You are massively restricting your food rather unnecessarily.

If the family can afford take away for themselves, you can afford to buy a pack of gluten free pasta. They even sell it in B&M sometimes. Or gluten free wraps and bread are often in Lidl.

As for not being able to cook, time to have a go at simple things! Omlettes with lots of fillings. Massive home made soups with lots of chicken in them. Can you have lentils? I forget. If so, fling a handful into the soup mix.

Spag bol is an easy one. Serve with rice instead of pasta if you want? Or add cumin and make it into a chilli.

Hi @Wantacurry I know how miserable fodmap can be. However, stick with it. I remember a fortnight after I started suddenly my energy levels were up, the awful stomach pain had stopped and I was on top of the world! I still do the occasional week or two of the diet if I feel I need to. My dietician at the time explained that because gut problems are cumulative and a lot of the time your pains are from previous meals it can take a while before the unfriendly food is out of your system.

Garlic oil is your friend, as is batch cooking. A lot of things can be made fodmap-friendly. I used to cook shepherds pie, fish cakes, spag bol ... There are also some great apps, blogs and books now with recipe ideas.

If you miss take away, Emma Hatcher (she can't eat what blog) has a delicious, piss-easy sweet and sour chicken recipe I still cook.

Xxxxx

The food budget doesn't cover fancy stuff. My DH choose to buy takeaway with his money not part of the food budget.

I will try Aldi tomorrow.

I know I am not doing it right but I can't cook much. Jacket potatoes and veg soup are my limit.

I can't have oil or high fibre food because of my other bowel problem.

If I can get GF pasta..I could have that with tin of tomatoes. Not keen on meat if I can avoid it but maybe sweet and sour sauce could be used with rice. I will goggle it.

I bought some GF rolls today, they are nice. Can I freeze them ?

Another day down.

Yes you can freeze anything gf, schar frozen bread cobs are our absolute favourites (£2.40 for 6)

I make my own bread, as I’ve mentioned before I use Pinterest for recipes and bulk cook in my slow cooker, that way sauces contain only what we can eat

I bulk make my own pasta sauces and then freeze likewise my own sweet and sour sauce

Got you I would also recommend a high quality prebiotic as research is starting to identify people with gluten intolerance having gut flora issues particularly with pre biotics

Apparently inulin found in gluten produces prebiotics and gluten avoiders have an imbalance because of this which causes bacterial overgrowth and can lead to a leaky gut

I’ve certainly noticed a huge difference since I started taking Bimuno

Please could you share your pasta and or sweet and sour sauce recipes with me ?