To suspect vegetables are crucifying me?

[LittlePotOfCress]

From a family of IBS sufferers, mine has worsened in the past few years.
Always loved veg, eat it every day, and have generally aimed to consume the low fodmap variety to be on the safe side.
Had tests, no allergies, other issues, etc.
I did the FODMAP exclusion last year and had mixed results, although followed it to a tee.

Recently had another bad bout, lasting a few months so kept a food diary.
I observed the following within a day or 6 hours of eating
:
Potato, carrot, green beans with chicken breast - lots of uncomfortable gas.
Mixed low fodmap salad with tuna - less painful but still bloated later.
Cheese on toast - no symptoms.
50g of penne pasta with peppers and tomato - no symptoms.
Roast with root veg and stuffing - raging hell.
Homemade coleslaw with cabbage, carrot, radish and cress - fartsville.
Small Co-Op margherita pizza with olives, spinach and chilli peppers - no symptoms.

Cutting a long story short, I can conclude that I am safe with tomato, spinach and various peppers. I am safe with some wheat and lactose.
I simply can't eat other low fodmap veg without issue.
Most people I read about say gluten, dairy or high fodmap veg caused their issues but I seem to be an outlier. There is so little veg left that I can comfortable eat that I am a bit fed up. Is this even enough to get by on?

So much messaging about how veg can be consumed in great quantities but not for me. I feel a bit shortchanged.

Fodmap never worked for me. I realised I had to quit dairy, gluten and nightshade veg (potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers). But I've also found I get pain with uncooked veg.

Unfortunately it's an arduous process of elimination. One veg at a time.

Have you looked at the Monash FODMAP guide? It gives a breakdown of what’s in the fruit and vege- mannitol, fructans etc. It might help identify some other vege like cucumber and tomato you can eat. It can help identify the different types of vege you can eat. I can only eat Japanese pumpkin, not any other kind.
I second the previous poster who said go see a doctor and get a referral to a dietitian. For now, just eat that really restricted diet and take vitamins.

It makes total sense to me that potato and cabbage had aggravated your symptoms, those two vegetables do the same for me so I limit them where I can. When you have salads do you use lemon? This can be a trigger also. What spices/seasoning are you using when you cook?

I don't blame him! The problem is the pesticides and I stand by that, otherwise vegetables are extremely important in the long run for us and our digestive system. I've learnt that organic doesn't mean pesticide free, it's a marketing ploy. Best best it to buy from local farmers and actual organic shops not "fake" ones. Easier said than done when living in London 🙃

Same here, I struggle with potato in most forms, salad leaves, tomato, cucumber, cauliflower, cabbage, peppers, soft cheese, milk, cream, chocolate, alcohol, oils and fats, some spices (Indian food kills me), most fruits go right through me.
This can happen the following day after I’ve eaten something or be a cumulative effect I’ve I’ve eaten too much over a few days.
It can also happen immediately depending on my anxiety levels (eating out can make me rush to the loo within a few mouthfuls).

I fucking hate my guts, it ruins my life. I’m always thinking about where I’m going and access to toilets, I worry I’m going to have the sudden shits in work, I darent eat too much in work and often take a preventative Imodium which then backs me up and gives me a day of almost constant shitting a few days later.
My husband wakes in the morning, goes to the loo and that’s him done for the day. I’d pay good money to be like that. I can go up to 8 times a day when I’m at my worst, just constant soft, loose urgent stool.

Have you seen your doctor recently OP? As well as trying to identify triggers and modify your diet as you have been doing there might be medications that could help.

I have a lot of gut issues going back well over a decade and more recently trashed my gut eating quorn. I started eating the Zoe 30+ whole food and that has made a massive difference. It was a bit of a gamble as there are so many things I don’t tolerate. But this is healing my gut a little.

Have you tried fasting for a while. There’s been some data that shows resting your gut may help repair. Anything from 16:8,18:6 to one meal a day.

I tried fodmap and it didn’t really work for me, as everything I reintroduced upset my IBD in the medium to larger quantities
After a particularly bad few months I decided to try it again and realised the issue for me is quantities
Even with the supposed low fod map I was eating far too much
Eg suggested amount of courgette is less than 1/2, melon is an 1/8, blueberries (20) and that would be my daily limit, it should also be spread out over 3 meals
To those of you who have suggested seeing a dietitian - my gastric surgeon wrote to my GP asking for a referral for help with an elimination diet and was told that this is no longer available on the NHS
I went gluten free over 10 years ago, am now dairy intolerant, and a lot of other milks upset me
I used to have soya milk in Costa until they changed the brand and had a bad reaction to it - I found out it now contains both pea and apple products which are on my banned list
Some days I just wish I could give up food altogether!

Vegetables are trying to crucify you? Surely only brocolli and cauliflower...

Haha sorry, I'm an idiot. Seconding pp saying look into the carnivore diet. Some people do a less extreme version, so they'll have a few veggies in there. Anecdotally, it does seem to relieve a lot of health issues. Jordan Peterson's daughter Mikhaila put her severe rheumatoid arthritis into remission by eating just lamb, essentially.

Depending on how bad you feel this is, Dr Alan Desmond is on loads of podcasts as well as Instagram, with adverts https://www.alandesmond.com/revolution

interesting you can tolerate some nightshades and not others.

I did a private allergy blood test (IGE) as I got fed up with my IBS. Turns out I have a few allergies and since cutting them out my gut has been soooooo much better.

I did find once my GI tract was annoyed it was extra sensitive.

I have ulcerative colitis and my can eat/cant eat list is very much like yours @LittlePotOfCress

Leeks, oh my god leeks absolutely devastate me!

I am advised to remove as much fibre as possible from my diet during a flare up:
remove all fruit and veg skin (peel potatoes/apples), all seeds and pips (tomato, raspberry, sesame etc) and do not eat anything wholemeal.
I also remove whole nuts, beans (except green beans) and lactose heavy dairy foods (parmasan and the cheap soya milk is fine for me)
I can't tolerate much UPF or a lot of fatty food either.
Certain additives seem to make me worse: maltodextrin, gums, emulsifiers.

Twice cooked carbs seem to be better than once cooked ie. toast, pasta cooked the day before, potatoes reheated etc.
Very safe foods for me when I am particularly unwell are avocados, eggs, live organic yogurt, porridge.

HTH

Yours is the second thread about this in the past few weeks. Exactly the same issue.

Just eat what you know you don't react to. All this nonsense about loads of veg being good for you is making you ill and there's absolutely no point eating it as you won't be absorbing any nutrients from it.

Are you using vegetable oils (or sunflower, rapeseed). These are supposed to be inflammatory. I don’t use them now and have far fewer digestive problems. If I eat out it can come back as I suspect they have used these oils.

I can't eat cauliflower or leeks, they leave me in absolute agony for some reason, so I just avoid them. Eat the veg I can eat and take a vitamin.

Chicken breast with avocado is a nice combination.

If you know you react to certain foods, why are you putting yourself through eating them?

Just eat what you can tolerate and take a good vitamin to cover your bases for the rest.

Are you sure you arent actually constipated and this is leakage round the sides of a blockage somewhere? This is common in kids and often turns out not to be diarrhoea at all, but a blockage in their bowel. Just thinking of the fact you take immodium sometimes...

I've found intermittent fasting enormously helpful in calming my gut down, basically I skip breakfast and try not to eat anything until 1:00 - 2:00pm. You have my sympathy, my list of "safe" foods is pitiful really. I can't tolerate any kind of bread, pasta etc, too much fiber, too much sugar....it's genuinely depressing at times

You have my sympathies OP. Currently mid-flare and also wishing I didn’t have to eat, it’s such a pain.

Any chance you get hay fever or have any other allergies? Even if not (because for some people no allergy symptoms are apparent), look into oral allergy syndrome (OAS) and cross-reactivity. OAS is about oral symptoms (obvs) but they can cause digestive issues too. Having had gut issues for longer than I can remember, I’ve recently discovered I have OAS and cutting out some of the trigger foods has also had an impact on some gut symptoms.

Also check out histamine intolerance. Thought that’s a slippery bugger and also wildly different for everyone, which makes tracking/eliminitation tricky, it’s a very useful framework you think it might apply to you.

I hear your pain.
For me it's cabbage and still working out what else. I'm not ok with onion it seems or meat.
Did one of those allergy tests and I was allergic to everything except cats. I was very happy about that 😁 worst offenders were nuts and chicken followed by onion.
Everything was made worse by surgery to remove appendix I haven't been pain free since and have flair up days and mega bloat when I get stressed. I second the GP visit idea. Though I'm very good at telling others to do it and not do it myself.

Yes!

A small window of eating helps me hugely too.

Gives your system a good rest and helps to heal.

Hi OP - sorry that you’re going through this.

Your food diary is a good start but there could be individual ingredients that are triggering gut issues.

I suggest contacting a dietician to support you with an elimination diet.

You start with just eating very basic foods which are the least likely to cause a reaction. Not sure what the latest advice is but it was previously something like white rice and white fish for 3 days, then on day 4 you can introduce one more item. It’s a very slow process but also very methodical.

The elimination diet can be depressing, but the insights gained should help you in the long run.

(this is assuming GP has ruled out auto immune conditions like crohns and colitis)

I can't eat rye, wholemeal or sesame. The pain is horrendous! And I can't eat huge quantities of veg generally. Or hard cheese. Again it's the pain as it works through my system. No advice, but you are definitely not alone.