AIBU to think I should be able to eat whatever the fuck I want?!

[Thorsday]

Apparently so, because I'm running back and forth to the toilet again trying not to puke up from the agony of IBS cramps. I don't even know what it was this time! I tried something new like...4 days ago, which by all standards should have caused a reaction way before today if it was going to. I've also been having that new thing every single day since then so I'm buggered if that's what it was.

I'm sick of my diet being so limited. I'm envious of people who can have SALADS. fucking SALADS. I'd kill to have a salad with green leafy bits and fresh vegetables without having to worry that I'm going to shoot myself to Mars on the toilet later while screaming in pain.

(ftr, I've been to the doctors multiple times and had everything tested - I just have really severe IBS, the worst my particular doctor has seen and they don't give a damn about finding out how to help me so I have to help myself with a boring low FODMAP diet).

I just want pizza. Or garlic bread. Or anything nice.

Your post could have been written by me. I feel your pain. Literally.

Have you looked into bile acid malabsorption?

I've looked into pretty much everything it feels like and had everything turn up normal. :(

Poor you! Sounds miserable Hope it's soon sorted.

After three months off sick, two hospital admissions and all the drugs I could get I went completely gluten free for a year and also cut out all fried food, then reintroduced them both slowly. It worked. I have occasional running to the loo, but can pretty much eat what I want.

I honestly don't mind getting the runs - it's the pain I can't handle. And the vomiting that comes from the pain.

Sounds very painful OP, both physically and mentally. I'm on a low FODMAP diet, but for IBS-C, not D which seems much harder to live with to me (while I get painful cramps and bloating when things flare I don't have the bathroom visits to contend with). One thing I tried to do with my diet is to try new foods which have been assessed as low FODMAP that I've not eaten before so I don't feel quite so sad about dropping things I liked to eat before. I use the Monash FODMAP app as it's very up to date with their testing program. There are also some cheats that help like garlic infused oil instead of garlic cloves and using the tops of green onions instead of onions (I keep a couple of bunches in a jar and cut the tops off and then let them grow again). I've also found a sourdough I can eat (sourdough is naturally lower FODMAP) which made a big difference to me. Eating out is very challenging though.

Low FODMAP diets are just the pits, aren't they OP? Although, with the Monash app you can stay up to date with things - I've been pleased to know some things which were totally 'off' the menu are now considered safe in small amounts - this really expands options!

Wish I had some magical advice to help, but instead all I can offer is empathy and

Ouch!
re. the new thing - sometimes it can take the body a couple of days to notice a new thing, and then "loading" causes the reaction. Just something to consider.
Other times of course it goes "Fuck NO!" immediately so you know instantly that that particular food is not an option.

I do feel your pain though - I used to have IBS that struck at the most inconvenient times! What fixed mine (and I'm sorry if you're not into "woo", neither was I but this worked for me so I don't care if it's not particularly accurate science) was reading the Blood Group Diet book. As a blood scientist, I read it in a spirit of pure scepticism, scoffing at some of the "science" - but when I got to the foods that I, as a group B, should be avoiding, lightbulbs started to ping on in my brain.

So I tried it - got rid of my acid reflux, IBS, falling-asleep-after-lunch, nausea after 2 out of 3 meals, and 90% of my migraines - it was revelatory. And revolutionary!

So just offering it up as something else for you to try. It's a lot less boring than FODMAP, although can still be tricky - I used to eat a lot of Mediterranean style food so having to drop wheat and tomato was quite difficult to start with! They're still my "big 2" - can cause REALLY fast recurrences of issues if I accidentally eat them now.

It wasn't that bad of a reaction in the end - just a bit of cramping (I hope) with some bathroom dashes. If oat milk is off the menu I'll cry because it's the only one reliably in stores that isn't soy milk.

Have you considered eliminating gluten? Some people have clinical signs and symptoms of gluten sensitivity but do not have evidence of intestinal damage on intestinal biopsy. This is referred to as non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or NCGS, and it is becoming a more common problem.

I'm really hoping I just massively overdid it on food/wheat yesterday. On my period and I ate like, 3 bowls of cereal, half a packet of biscuits and an entire baguette last night

I eliminated gluten for 2 years or so and didn't see any major change. I reintroduced it and wheat recently and I've been mostly fine, although I do notice when I go overboard.

I'm going to have another coffee with oat milk today and hope it doesn't happen again. It's too good to pass up.

Highly recommend Buscopan or Mebeverine. Deffo get your GP to check liver and gallbladder.

I don’t have IBS but I can’t eat salad (I don’t digest it) or anything other than any a small piece of bread (from a baker - no industrial bread), or any cereals except an occasional weetabix or shredded wheat. One shop bought biscuit at most.

Have you read Tim Spector’s The Diet Myth? It’s a very useful perspective on what we eat.

So, yes, basically, I think you are being unreasonable! I’m really sorry that you are in such pain... but I do believe that humans aren’t designed to load their bodies with rubbish and get away with it!

User I don’t think your post is helpful, in fact it’s really tremendously unkind to say that IBS is brought on by people filling themselves with rubbish. IBS can torment every aspect of your life, people will do anything to minimise it including massively restricting their diets.

OP, is stress a trigger for you? It can be a huge problem and often increases sensitivity to foods you’d normally be ok with. Likewise being rested and relaxed can dramatically improve your tolerance. Are there any other factors that you feel contribute other than food?

I do believe that humans aren’t designed to load their bodies with rubbish and get away with it!

And the irony of you not being able to eat salad yet making this comment is not lost on you, eh?

i cant eat dairy, eggs or red meats ( or anything cooked with red meats and red meat fats) or its pure acid and completely liquid and sometimes can pass thru in under an hour.... fucken nasty

Salad is generally absolute rubbish! Unless you buy freshly picked heads of organic salad which you wash copiously.

And of course every IBS sufferer is not overloading on rubbish. But since the OP described the rubbish she overloaded on and seems to think it is not unreasonable to do so... of course I feel sorry for her - it’s absolutely gruesome to suffer IBS. But why provoke it?

Thorsday, don't know if this is helpful or not, but my friend who has IBS found changing her diet to soya products gave her great benefit from her symptoms.

"Salad is rubbish" hahahahaha yeah alright then.

Did you do a controlled reintroduction Thorsday? I can eat one piece of (wheat flour) bread not more than every three hours, but if I eat two pieces of don't space enough then I get stomach ache. I use lactose free milk at home, of the substitutes I can only drink almond milk in fairly small amounts so I usually avoid milky drinks and just have straight coffee or herbal/green tea. I have some lactase tablets but I've not tried them yet (there are a couple of other enzyme tablets that seem to work too but I've not tried them, just seen that they have some fairly good evidence of efficacy).

Have you tried strong probiotics?