One fed up IBS sufferer....

[snowfairyy]

Okay so I really need some advice.

I've been back and forth to hospitals and GPs for over a year now. Finally diagnosed with IBS (as per a previous thread of mine).

I've recently had an allergy test, and it has come back negative.

I still continuously get really bad episodes - such as this weekend. I was out to do the weekly shop and had to literally RUN to the nearest loo. I've been like it now for almost 36 hours, it's horrendous. I haven't eaten any triggers.

My general normal food day goes like this -

• No breakfast, I do the 16:8 fast!
• Homemade fruit pot made of melons, apples and grapes for lunch, sometimes have a side of chicken breast for substance but the fruit pot only genuinely fills me up most days! I also have an Actimel yogurt every lunch time.
• Dinner I usually have a chicken breast cooked on my no fat grill with either new potatoes, jacket spud or mash. I will occasionally have home made chips.

I stay away from chocolate (it's also my migraine trigger!), I don't eat anything dairy other than my Actimel.

I can tell when an episode is starting because I can hear and feel my stomach "popping". I know that sounds silly but there is no other way to describe it! My partner says he can hear it too if he puts his head against my tummy. From there on out, the urges to go are constant.

Is there any way I can calm my episodes down? There is nothing more the doctors can do apparently, so I'm feeling really shit that this is now my life at 22 years old... it's stopping me from living my life

Sorry for how long this ended up being, I didn't want to drip feed.

Have you done the FODMAP exclusion diet to identify your triggers? I would recommend doing it under a proper nutritionist, not trying it on your own as the Internet is full of misinformation.

I paid privately rather than wait on the NHS and it wasn't expensive at all.

Sophie Medlin was who I saw: www.citydietitians.co.uk/our-dietitians but that was a few years ago when she was down in Plymouth.

Just to tell you that I can't go near chicken - if I eat it, I just need to wait a few hours and bang - off to toilet

Eating too much fruit on an empty tummy would give me tummy pains and urgent loo visits. Stress, or anything that causes anxiety, sets me off too.

I had very similar symptoms when I was fasting.

I had my gall bladder removed but have excess bile in my system as a result. When I was fasting within 20 minutes of my first meal I was rushing to the loo. The consultant explained it was a 'bile dump' and people with gall bladders can also get them. I loved fasting but it really did not work for me. I have a fatty liver and was also advised against it for this.

Now I eat little and often and take Lansoprazole my urgency symptoms seem to have mostly gone.

I'd second the FODMAP diet. I did it with an NHS Dietitian - I only had to wait a couple of weeks for my referral. I also got the Monash App for my phone. I was really strict doing the exclusions and reintroductions and it was 100% worth it.

For instance I couldn't tolerate the potatoes, apple, grapes and actimel from your list. Everyone's different though but an exclusion diet was the way to go for me.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will phone the GP tomorrow and ask about seeing a nutritionist! I have heard of the FODMAP diet but I've seen so many different varieties online