Recently been diagnosed with ibs and need advice

so what would be the best thing to reduce constipation and i thought fiber just makes gas worse

If I can butt in on this one - I don't think there are any firm rules as to whether fibre makes gas/constipation either better or worse. It seems to vary from one person to another, so we all have to try and find our own way through the maze.

In my own case, fibre quite definitely makes gas worse but cutting it out increases constipation.

I'm still experimenting with different kinds of fibre, but even if I found the right balance it wouldn't necessarily be right for you. For example, many people swear by prune juice or eating prunes. I've done several trials of both, and in my case prunes in any form make the gas problem totally unbearable while having little or no effect on constipation. However, you might find it's completely different for you.

The only thing I've found so far that very slightly improves constipation without significantly increasing gas is eating a big handful of sultanas or other raisins every day. However, you might find the opposite - and so might I in a couple of months' time, as this thing seems to be variable even in the same individual.

The bottom line is that suggestions from others can be helpful, but we each of us have to find out what works for us.

Hi, there is evidence that reducing fibre helps with constipation, in studies fibre causes bloating and constipation, so just read labels and avoid high fibre foods, check online high and low fibre foods, referring to the FODMAP diet is very useful.

Hi, prunes contain a lot of sorbitol which causes bloating, some studies have been done that show reducing fibre helps greatly reducing constipation.

Prunes and prune juice don't affect everyone badly because not everyone has adverse reactions to sorbitol. They help me.I was told to increase fibre for my constipation and this worked for me. My doctor gave me this advice. People are paid to do research and negative articles sell better than positive ones.Increased fibre works differently for all of us. There is no one size fits all approach. . Research is not always accurate, is very general and doesn't tell you whether it will help you personally or not. If you were to listen to everything you hear and read, you wouldn't do anything out of fear and anxiety. The best research is to try a certain food types to see if they suit you or not. Only then will you be able to tell what effect they will have on you.. If you don't try, you will never know.

I recommend trying to increase fibre first of all before assuming you need to reduce it,

thanks guess thats what makes this so hard is because it can be different fir everyone like you said but its always helpful to hear peoples recommendations hopefully we can all eventually find something that works for us

yeah thats the part im going through at the moment just trying different things out and yeah im starting out by increasing fiber to see how i go

This is the best thing to do because it is more accurate than relying solely on scientific papers. Science does not tell us how each of us individually will respond. Experimentation is the key.

Yes this is true, try it is the only way.

Medical research into fibre has moved on in recent decades and it is recognised that for some people, increasing insoluble fibre can worsen symptoms of conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome. However, there is high quality evidence that low fibre diets are linked with a higher risk of medical conditions including heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/tl-pss011019.php).

Many patients who cannot tolerate insoluble fibre in their diets find that they can tolerate soluble fibre, and that it improves gut-related symptoms.

You can find out more at https://patient.info/news-and-features/fibre-food-and-gut-bacteria