Recently diagnosed with IBS

Digestive health
1

Hello,

I have recently been diagnosed with IBS. I have had testing for Chrones and Coeliac's but I am currently on a gluten free diet.

I am still trying to work out what affects me - peanuts are a complete no no and tomatoes (which is a problem because I love bolognese).

I am going for allergy testing for dairy soon - I really hope it's not that!!

Is it common for a person with IBS to be on a gluten free diet? All this change is stressing me out a bit, which doesn't help the IBS!

I would be grateful for any tips to help me with this new lifestyle change, thank you.

 

2

Hi,

I have been tested for Celiac all clear but tummy gets bloated and discomfort lower tummy, Was thinking of going gluten free.

Is it hard to follow, my brother has Celiac and gets on fine with it .

 

3

If your under any kind of stress,you also get IBS symptoms,if it's anxiety again IBS symptoms.Look at the Fodmap diet,which my dr put me on to,even printed it out and gave me in surgery.Lots with your symptoms not on your own,,keep a diary of everything you eat and drink,I did,see then if certain food giving you probs Good Luck 

4

Hello JoJo,

I have IBS and I have dairy intolerance. I think there are very few actual allergies. When I ingest any dairy product, my nose gets stuffy, I often sneeze, my chest gets tight (asthma) and I COUGH....and cough and cough. As far as it affecting my IBS, YES! It can give me cramps and diarrhea. 

Instead of going for tests, why not figure this out yourself which can be done so quickly. Cut out dairy products of ALL kind...and see if this helps you.

When you suffer from IBS and the excruciating bowel cramping to expel its contents, you are highly motivated to change your diet to stop the symptoms of this condition. 

 You need to keep REGULAR and ....everything will be fine. When you eat constipating foods and you don't eat enough fruits and vegetables in a day and maybe don't drink enough water...your bowels block up.... then the muscles in your bowel walls need to work harder than ever to push along the bowel contents. To keep your insides working well you can do the following:

1. Eat 6 - 10 servings of vegetables and fruits per day. No more beige meals! Only delicious, jewel coloured vegetables on your dinner plate.  

2. Get some exercise every day to keep things moving...whether it be walking or a sport or an exercise class. 

3. Limit constipation causing foods such as white rice, cured meats which are  salty like ham, salami, hot dogs, too much meat in general, salty foods like crisps, dairy and tea until you get things under control.

4. omit dairy products from your diet if you can...or limit them and replace them with delicious almond milk.

5. Drink plenty of water. (I have a pitcher by my computer so first thing in the morning I drink down 2 full glasses). For every cup of coffee or tea, both of which are diuretics (cause you to pee) you have to take one cup of water to replace the water lost.,...and then drink a cup of liquid such as water to be a cup ahead.

 6. I often take 1 tsp of psyllium husks (Metamucil or Fybogel being the expensive but identical alternative) in the afternoon in a tall glass of water. 

7. If you have particularly sluggish bowels, take 2 -3 tablets of magnesium before bed. In the morning you will produce a foot long, soft, stool that passes in 3 seconds. And that's it, no pain, no cramping. Everything should pass easily. You will need to gauge whether to take 2 or 3 tablets of magnesium often depending on how bulky your stool was from the previous day. You will learn that in order to avoid the intense cramping,  you need to be on top of your bowel activity.

When you have IBS as we all have, you will do anything to avoid the intense pain of bowel cramping.If we all just drank plenty of water, filled our dinner plates with colourful veggies (no beige meals) and moved our bodies more, we would be fine. Listen to your body. Lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle! Treat your bowels well and they will thank you. Good luck!`

 

5

Hi Joan, thanks for replying.

Having a gluten free diet is a lifestyle change. It can be expensive buying the bread (£2.40 approx per loaf of bread!) but If I have to carry on this like this I will buy a bread machine and buy gluten free bread flour.

It's like having an allergy, you have to check the ingredients on things to see if they contain wheat flour. You need to go on a fresh food diet really, very little frozen stuff (frozen chicken from Birds Eye has wheat flour in them). Eating out is getting easier though limited. Pizza Hut do a gluten free pizza and I know one Italian restaurant where I live do gluten free pasta. Your brother will be the best person to talk to, I am still learning!

 

6

Robin, thank you for replying it has been helpful.

I am only going for the blood test but I really do hope I am not dairy intolerant. I can get round it, a friend of my can't eat dairy so I am used to finding things she can eat when visiting.

As to almond milk - almonds give me eczema so a complete no no. The hazelnut milk might be interesting. Does the milk taste like nuts?

When I was first having problems I was eating a lot of fruit and salads and now I have cut it out, I feel so much better, but I don't know if that's down to the tomatoes I was eating each day. I have a large glass of orange juice in the morning and veg with my dinner. I am thinking of eating dried apricots or rhubarb when I am constipated and I do drink lots of water per day. I have given in a food diary to the doctors but it wasn't looked at so I am still guessing really. Everyone has been helpful so far but I am still unsure whether to stay gluten free. I do feel much better but I hope it's not hiding another issue eg something else I am intolerant to that I don't know about. I will have to carry on learning I suppose!

7

Thanks for replying,my Brother having got celiac gets a prescription monthly to help with the price of food,I don't know how much it is he is not on benefits he is a retired Police Seargent.

 

8

Read up on food in the nightshade family. Nightshade foods contain poison that can cause a wide range of health problems. Tomatoes are in the nightshade family and were once classed as poisonous. (Other nightshade foods - potatoes, peppers, hot spices plus more) 

9

The latest is that it isn't a gluten intolerance that is the issue with non-celiac sufferers but WHEAT intolerance. It's the genetically modified strain of modern wheat that was changed I think maybe 60 years ago from ancient wheat which was tall. Now in order to produce wheat with less disease and faster growth period, it is a short wheat and more cost efficient wheat. If you can find rye and other grains without added wheat, try that.

10

..also recommended reading (from your library if it isn't on a w/l)....Wheat Belly which explains it all. It's a best seller and if you read it, you will see why.

11

Interesting regarding the Toms,since I've had it I can no longer eat Toms,only the tinned variety,always thought down to pressurised cooking killing off what gave me probs with fresh ones.Will make note of the Pots but not been big fan of those,peppers I have never eaten one.Question where did you find the info ? Thanks.

12

Is that solanine? Always disgard green potatoes. They have been exposed to too much light and turn greenish. If you want to use them, at least peel off all the green. It should be avoided by pregnant women in particular. 

I think nightshade vegetables are getting a bad rap. Could it be the name that makes them sound more sinister; night shade. They are called this because they grow well in the shade and the flowers open at night.

There's nothing better or more nutritious than ratatouille with eggplant and red and green peppers, or stuffed peppers....or a baked potato topped with sour cream!...eat the skin!  

Here is an article contradicting myths about nightshade vegetables: http://www.besthealthmag.ca/eat-well/nutrition/4-myths-about-nightshade-vegetables

13

Hi Marlene,

Rush out and buy a lovely, red pepper, cut it into pieces or strips and eat it as is as a healthy and cancer protecting veggie or make a mayo-sour cream dip with onion bits, salt and pepper in it and you won't be able to stop eating them. Add to it, celery, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms for a healthy snack fest! Yum!

14

No way ,I wouldn't like peppers in any colour,no matter how healthy.and I've had 2 cancer scares,and don't think because I didn't eat a pepper.plenty Broccoli Carrots eat them till cows come home. Look at dr Mozzi,blood groups interesting read on foods blood groups should eat,plenty there for my group  O Neg. Took your ad on board .

15

I had a bad do with pain in all my joints. My wife has suffered poor health for all our married life. My work involved machine health monitoring. I've studied  alternative therapy to try to help her. So when I had all this pain I new I'd eaten something that had caused inflammation in my body. I researched and found 'doctor Childers No Arthritis'. I baught the book from America. It's all about the nightshade foods. I went nightshade free and within two weeks was totally pain free and as time went on got better and better. Two month later I tested myself by eating some nightshade foods and was in severe pain the following day. My original bad do was caused by eating jacket potatoes. The skin is the worst  part and I'd eaten it all because it tasted so nice. I'm now nightshade free. The book has lots of case studies and scientific evidence. The poison isn't destroyed by heat. Look up dr Childers on the internet. Best of luck.

16

Thanks for that info will definatly check it out,you may well have helped me out today.Its sad both you and your wife unwell,Never ceases me what you can learn from another person.Will tell my family members who suffer this prob,wears one down.One cousin has had stomach probs most of her life and takes tabs every day for it.she and me find Toms not good for both of us.That dr Mozzi says our blood groups are the prob,were eating wrong foods.You were lucky finding that book.Thanks again,better health to you and your wife x

17

Hi Gailee,

Really? That is so interesting. I will pass this info along to a friend who suffers a lot with arthritis. Going nightshade-vegetable-free is certainly worth a try. It can't do any harm. Thanks for the info!

18

Hi Jojo, I commend you to keeping off the gluten. If you feel better, then it may be better to stay off it for now until you find what else may be going on. Keeping a food diary doesn't seem to interest physicians as they are there to treat disease, not intolerance. Unfortunately so many of us suffer with problems that medicines may not be able to treat. 

I have been off gluten for years, and oats as well - even gluten free oats. I don't tolerate many grains well either, so I don't eat them any longer. I tried going vegetarian, and tho it may work well for some, it wasn't for me. Beans and legumes don't work so well for me either. I even tried vegan, which as you can imagine is difficult without gluten or beans and grains far and few between.

We all have different body types and have to determine what our body needs and does best on. I also started researching Paleo, which is no dairy, no grain, no sugar, but you would be amazed at the delicious baked foods you can cook using coconut flour, almond meal, I make my own sesame seed flour which is cheapest.  You can eat all the meat, chicken, fish, veal, etc., veggies, fruits and nuts that you want (of course not TOO many nuts and seeds as they add up in fat and calories). I love drinking coconut milk, and if it's not sweet enough, I add a few drops of liquid stevia. Yum. There are so many alternatives out there now. And there are several  cookbooks for Paleo as well as what you can find online.

No matter what you decide, make the decision on what you find works for YOU. Keep eliminating things one at a time and track it in a diary as suggested and see how you feel. You will get this figured out. If a doctor says you have IBS, seems to me that's about all the medical help you get.