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IBS elimination diet - advise needed

Posted , 5 users are following.

kayvg
kayvg

Hi - I have had stomach issues pretty much all my life - going from contipation to boughts of ibs. Recently it has settled down but I have had a lot of trapped wind on my chest where I feel like I need to burp to release it. I have had a colonoscopy and gastroscopy and been on numerous amounts of medication...

Now the doctor has put me on an exlusion diet, but the only advise she gave me was eat white rice, fish and chicken for a wekk then start reintroducing foods 1 by 1 and keep a food diary - for anymore info go to patient.info. I don't want, nor can I afford, to have chicken or fish for 3 meals a day and have been looking to find what I could eat as a breakfast alternative but everything on the internet is contradictory (some say you can have fruit - but my doc has said no fruit due to fruit acids and I need to see if that is a trigger, others say you can have egg, others not...) I'm really confused and the next available appointment with my doctor is next week when this very restrictive section of the diet will be over anyway, and I can't delay starting it due to other comitments which a restrictive diet would not fit around. Can someone please help?!

1 like, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • aveline
    aveline kayvg

    Posted

    What about canned tuna and chicken?  I wouldn't want those for three meals every day for a week, either, but how else can you get a clean start to see what your triggers are?  It's going to be a very difficult process, and results can be unclear and/or frustrating. If you can't stick to the diet in the near future, you're better off speaking with your doctor now. She'll have to come up with something else for you - starting it and not introducing foods slowly is pointless for both of you...  I wish you luck!!!
  • pamela75667
    pamela75667 kayvg

    Posted

    You could try plain porridge or rusks? They tend to be quite bland and shouldnt irritate too much. Hope you get sorted.
  • p3t3r
    p3t3r kayvg

    Posted

    Fish can be very cheap. Chicken is hardly the most expensive thing you can buy either. Do you have to eat three meals a day? Rice Krispies are practically nothing but rice, so you could have those for breakfast, although I suppose it would have to be with water or dry. I eat mine nearly dry anyway due to not being able to take much lactose.

    I would have thought that the main problem is how bland a fish/chicken diet might be. Did the doctor say anything about herbs and spices? In any case try smoked fish as a change, or livening the fish with chopped anchovies.

    • aveline
      aveline p3t3r

      Posted

      Just be careful with Rice Krispies. They don't contain much, but they do contain gluten. They're flavored with malt, which comes from barley. So either buy a GF brand or if it's acceptable try another rice cereal like Rice Chex (in the US it's GF). GF Rice cakes could be on the diet this week, too...also not exciting but it's something in the way of texture.

      Did the Dr. tell you to keep a diary?  I kept one while my son was on his elimination diet (a year before we knew about his Coeliac). It helped us for some of his symptoms.

    • p3t3r
      p3t3r aveline

      Posted

      Gluten isn't a problem unless you're a Coeliac. I'm not and nothing says that Kay is either.
    • aveline
      aveline p3t3r

      Posted

      You should try telling that to those with sensitivities/allergies.  I'm sure they go out of their way to avoid gluten as much as a Coeliac for good reason.  I'm not either, but I wouldn't tell her to eat Rice Krispies based on her situation.

      Of course, it's rare to have trouble with gluten and most of the population tolerates it quite well!  But kayvg wrote because she's on a strict elimination diet...so her doctor feels that something she's eating is triggering symptoms. Eating rice with gluten can be confusing at this stage of her special diet, that's all I'm saying.  

    • p3t3r
      p3t3r aveline

      Posted

      Except gluten isn't part of the elimination. IBS already eliminates a lot more than a gluten-free diet does.
  • leeniepie
    leeniepie kayvg

    Posted

    a traditional elimination diet does involve eating nothing but white rice white fish and chicken to begin with as these are foods that are least likely to cause problems. its only a week im sure you can cope.

    if your doctor isnt much help then try the low fodmap diet (search for it online there is lots of info)

    • p3t3r
      p3t3r leeniepie

      Posted

      Interestingly when I had my colonscopy I had to eat nothing but these for my last meal. I made kedgeree.
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