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.

nannybeach apparently it's braised?! (Think that's what user said a while back).

07.56

^user1499173618

Vegetables are easiest to digest and retain most nutrients when braised (ie you eat all the juices): soups, stews, casseroles, fricassées, risotti...^

Not sure how that is "plenty" of other ways to cook veg though

Just seen this thread but @Thorsday try taking 3 forms of probiotic a day (tablets or yoghurt drinks etc) for a few days then reduce to 1 form a day.

Acidophilus is good too

Oh I feel your pain. Really hope it settles down soon.
I remember the pain being so bad once I passed out on the way to the toilet. Gave myself a lovely black eye. Came round and still needed the loo. So sat their crying not sure if it was from the tummy pain or from the pain of smashing my face up!
I hate the bloating. One minute I’ll be fine thennall of a sudden rock hard stomach and I cannot passwind which doesn’t help relieve the pain. Can’t work out what sets me off.

I got to the point where I coildn’t eat fruit. I had colon irrigation once a month for 12 months (this lady was also a trained nurse). It cleaned out my large intestine, the food stuck for decades in my small intestine had a chance to work themselves out of my body. I’ve not had Ibs since and that was almost 20 years ago. Probiotics are important too.

I had talk stones when I was in my late teens early twenties and I had the same symptoms. Ask the doctor to refer you to a consultant and get a ultra sound

Gall stones*

Have you been tested for crohns ( sorry can't spell it ) or colitis? Or Coeliac.

User, your posts just sound like a load of woo. Organic food is the same nutritionally as its conventionally farmed counterpart - at best it's just a marketing gimmick.
Anything sprayed on crops is diluted in the first place, and it's washed off by the time the salad etc gets to you, especially if you do a final wash before eating.
It's not chemicals from farming, or indeed "rubbish diets" in general that's causing anyone to have IBS or Coeliac disease, if it was it would affect a lot more of us.
It's like saying peanuts must be bad for everyone on some level just because some people are fatally allergic to them.

Jesus this blew up while I was away! Yeah, I know eating all of that was bad. But normal people can generally get away with eating a bunch of crap (I definitely used to before this flared up as badly as it is) without being in agony the next day. That's what I'm pissed off about.

I don't really believe in leaky gut and things like that - I honestly have tried everything to try and fix this and nothing's worked. The only thing that stops me being ill all the time is being stress free (lol) and other than that, eating a very very limited diet. Pretty much all I have in terms of actual meals is potatoes and tomato soup (I make my own with nothing I can't eat in it).

They checked for gallstones when I was first diagnosed - no dice. I had a colonoscopy (although only half way because I couldn't take the preparation so it had to be done with an enema) and that came back with just inflammation but no IBD. Once I was diagnosed with "just" IBS I was thrown to the kerb with 'sorry, can't help good luck kiss kiss'.

It doesn't help that I have severe anxiety, depression, my periods are heavy and awful and make me so ill (i'm sat here trying not to keel over from being dizzy) and I have arthritis. It's all pretty bleak and hopeless and I honestly don't want to live anymore, but sure, grill me for stuffing my face and not wanting to get sick from it for once.

The chemicals in salad are the chlorine in the bag.

Organic is so far from being a marketing gimmick that, if you believe that, there is no hope for you.

Obesity and digestive disorders originate from the same huge issue: appalling diets resulting from the unethical practices of agribusiness and supermarkets.

Please try kefir. My IBS has improved loads since I've had some every day.

Yeah, periods definitely make it worse - it's because the smooth muscle for the bowels is pretty much in the same place as for the uterus so when the uterus contracts the bowels are like "oh, it's my turn too!" buddy, it really isn't. Stop.

I had menstrual cramps in my dream the other day when I had them IRL which was pretty bloody grim.

Haven't rtft but surging progesterone before a period causes ibs-d symptoms to flare for some people regardless of what they eat.

to anyone with this condition. I used to bemoan my lot (getting about a minute’s notice of needing to ‘go’, loose, sometimes explosive - mentioned it to a gastroenterologist in the course of something else and was told that as I averaged less than 4x a day, this was “normal “ ). However, mine is nowhere near as bad as many others’ experiences.

What seems to have helped is sauerkraut - the home-made kind. I still get the urgency, but the other elements have improved. It’s a bit of a faff to make , but cheap and easy. Am obviously not selling it as a miracle cure in any particular situation though.

It's been suggested that a lot of the time IBS is actually SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth). It's diagnosed by a breath test and treated with antibiotics. If you haven't been tested for it yet, it's probably worth ruling out at least. Doctors don't seem to routinely test for it unfortunately so it can be overlooked easily

I went on the fodmap diet and it stopped my diarrhoea type ibs to a bloating type with more or less normal bowel movements.
I drink kefir and take optibac probiotics.

I hated the fodmap diet, it seemed so unhealthy to me. I was on it for 6 weeks but it did seem to reset my biome and gut lining.
My diet is better now as I reintroduced the beans and rare chickpeas (lentils still a problem) and occasional steamed veg. Though I still get terrible bloating from wheat, so I look pregnant, I no longer have to absolutely rush to the loo, before I explode, and I mean rush no matter what’s going on. I do get diarrhoea if I eat lentils and fruit.

If i eat cheese and olive oil with oatcakes I’m fine, so like a PP I’m happier with a higher fat diet. I’ve found an organic rye flour sourdough bread and can eat two slices a day with peanut and almond butter and that’s fine too with no reaction except a bit of bloating.

Another thing I found I’d that if I chew and have food in my mouth for ages, it gives my amylase enzyme time to start working on the well steamed veg. and I don’t get diarrhea.

I also found out I’m allergic to egg white with a blood test so I avoid egg. I get diarrhea in about 15 minutes if I have eggs. Literally shoots out.

I took a medicine to stop my cramping periods as it dampens down the
Prostaglandins, it’s called ponstan, or mefanamic acid, and it really works to stop the period diarrhoea. (Gives you stomach pain if taken on an empty stomach though)

When I’ve not been as careful as I should have been and I’m post dose of diarrhoea, doubled up waiting for the next explosion, and able to take an hour off to lie down with a hot bottle and recover from an episode, I offen think how lucky I am in the big picture though.

Could you imagine living somewhere where there was no running water or loos? Like a refugee camp, in a cramped tent, and under so much stress too?

I know having IBS sucks, big time, but I think we’re so lucky in a way.
I ❤️ Piped clean water🚰and my loo🚽

AFter years of investigation they said I had "a very fast transit time" I pointed out that was a symptom not a diagnosis

But huge doses of B12 & Vot D and I am generally down from 12-15 trips to the loo a day to about 6 - massive improvement

Still FODMAPping 3 or 4 years later every introduction causes massive problems - very restricted diet

As a fellow sufferer I sympathise massively. I've been curled up on the floor crying with pain at times.

Luckily I only have a few food triggers but it's amazing how may times one of them pops up in places it has no right to be and I'm caught out. I'm also finding that as I get older things I could eat safely now trigger an attack

Docs told me for years (10+) I had ibs, but as there’s no test they couldn’t prove it. I knew it wasn’t right. Well my now 3 year old son has food intolerances and quelle surprise so have I. I dont have ibs, I’m dairu, egg and nut intolerant. NHS don’t test intolerances btw. I’d recomended going privately. I had dairy recently by mistake and the pain and cramps, I’d forgotten what it was like!! Not saying this is you but it may be worth looking into if you haven’t already. I hope you get some relief soon xx

what a nightmare for you OP.

I have started taking the Combined pill for 3 months at a time now as I just get such bad symptoms when I’m off it. Worth considering perhaps? Depends how it impacts you I guess.

Have you been able to access help for your other medical problems?

I was diagnosed with IBS and it turned out to be a lactose intolerance. I also can't eat garlic or raw onions. I ask for no onions in my salads and I'm ok.

I have no help to offer but wanted to say I feel for you. I have IBS too and have tried everything. Nothing worked so I gave up trying to find an solution.
Luckily mine isn't as bad as yours and it comes and goes. I have gotten used to my stomach being upset pretty much all the time and I can take the cramps but I also suffer from nausea which I find is the worst. Lucky for me I havent had cramps or nausea for weeks now though.