IBS

[Bekabeech]

My DD has been to the Doctor and told her symptoms are probably IBS. Then she was given a sheet with foods to avoid and foods okay to eat. The issue is they are still doing tests, and DD has huge issues with food anyway.
A lot of the foods she can't eat are among the few she will eat. And of the okay ones there are a lot she won't eat, which is going to lead to a very restricted diet.
What is the up to date advice? I had heard that GPs weren't supposed to just diagnose IBS without more investigation.

And finally would it be worth trying to get her seen by a dietician or someone via BUPA if necessary?

Does she have constipation or diarrhoea as her main symptom? If diarrhoea, see if she can try a bile acid sequestrant (Questran or Colestid). Worked like magic for me. Good luck!

Paap where did you get those from, are they on prescription? Or from chemist?

Try Buscopan - you can buy it from supermarkets and chemists.

How old is your DD?

IBS (from my experience - although this was a long time ago!) is a diagnosis that's given when they've ruled everything else out.

But it can be exacerbated by food. Some people respond well to a high fibre diet and some to a low fibre one.

What diet/foods has the GP recommended?

To be fair to your GP, if they're still doing tests then it looks like they are still investigating - but it wouldn't do any harm in the interim to see if dietary changes help.

Did you talk to the GP about your DD's food issues? And what are those, by the way?

She's 18 so an adult.
The GP should know she has mental health issues, probably doesn't realise the food issues.
DD wanted to be Vegan - but has put that off. Only meat she eats is Chicken (or processed sausage or beefburgers). She will eat Trout or Mussels. She eats quite a bit of fruit, but this in now restricted. She will eat Carrots, sweetcorn, salad. She ate a lot of cereal but now believes this was part of the cause. She won't eat bread except one type of gluten free. She did eat yoghurts (but they are on the banned list). She does eat Pasta - and the fact she went a week without symptoms while eating pasta every day convinced her that it probably wasn't the gluten.
Basically the doctor has given her a sheet with the low FODMAP foods on it.

Now her food issues may be related to how food makes her feel - but it is a real issue, when she doesn't like talking about it or what she might "like to eat" much.

Yes, the bile acid sequestrants are on prescription. My gastroenterologist who had, it seemed, run out of ideas, said "you might as well try these and see if they do anything".

Sounds to me like they're still at the early stages of investigations with your daughter. It took them ages to go through them all with me.

I have IBS and know of several others with it too and I would say that most people with it understand which foods give them the bloating, cramping, pain, diarrhoea, constipation, etc. So ask your DD to write a list of the foods that she thinks are her triggers. Common ones for sufferers of IBS are wheat/gluten, nightshades (peppers, potatoes, aubergines, etc), spicy foods, fatty foods, alcohol, and in some cases dairy. However, I can eat dairy with no problems at all. And that's the thing - everyone has their own list of triggers.

When I was diagnosed with probably IBS the doctor recommended I cut out wheat/gluten for one month and see if that helped. If it didn't make any difference he suggested I add it back into my diet again and try doing the same with dairy. He advised me to avoid fried food, Indian/Chinese food, and nightshades, since those things make me feel so ill. It IS restrictive and it can be difficult and annoying when I'm out with friends, at someone's house or limited by what food is available - such as while travelling - but not eating the things that make me feel ill has made a huge, positive change in my life.

Your DD's MH issues and self-restricting behaviours with food should be addressed with therapy, as she needs to eat properly for her health and with IBS, quite frankly, her diet is going to be limited enough without her being faddy about the things she CAN eat!

She is being more reasonable at present - she got hungry which is not a good time to talk.
She is going pretty much Gluten free - except the pasta which so far seems to be fine - oddly. Is there anything special about Sainsbury's high fibre macaroni? Or is it because she likes it overcooked?
We've relieved that the lists include eggs and almond milk.

Its odd about the comments about nightshades - as most lists we have say Potatoes are okay? I think we have an approach now, of trying to map which foods are triggers which will help.

Thanks for the advice so far.

Two things trigger my IBS, I have learnt over the years.

The initial trigger was undoubtedly emotional stress - getting married, and the inevitable tensions with my mother (who was doing all the arrangements)!

The second, but the most important for me, is carbohydrate. I started a low carbohydrate diet in order to lose weight, but I realised when I was some way into it, that my IBS symptoms had disappeared. If ever I go 'off piste' for any prolonged period of time, they tend to come back.

I think, though, with IBS it is a very personal thing, and it's a bit of trial and error to work out was does/doesn't trigger symptoms for you.

Potatoes belong to the nightshade family, but not everyone has a problem with them. I seem to have a problem with the skins only, so as long as I avoid those I'm fine. Peppers and aubergines though have a very nasty effect on me.

And yes, stress and anxiety are massive triggers too, so if she's 18 and has just been doing A levels it's not surprising her IBS has been bad.