Struggling to cope with ibs

Yeah I have started writing down what i eat, I just struggle finding variations of what i can eat for lunch i get sick of having just scrambled egg and salad. 

That is my diet though the other day after scrambled egg I was so ill but I do not think it was just down to the scrambled egg.

Try adding smoked salmon to the scrambled egg

 

Unfortunately I don't like any fish apart from cod, but then I could add that with salad, just feels weird going from being able to eat anything to now having to find creative ways of making my meals now , luckily all the fruit i am aloud i like, so not hasn't been an issue, but veg is as i only like carrots and green beans thats on the list of veg i can have, and im not sure if you can have gravy?, struggling to know what sauces i can use with my meat i only have chicken, cod or lamb. 

No I agree and that is what I said to the dietician and she said try and my ex had the idea of scrambling it with the egg and now works a treat.  It is oily so very good for you.  I think oily fish like salmon are different to the other type of fish.  I am not an expert but they were saying salmon, tuna and mackeral.  The last 2 were non starters so decided to try smoked salmon and found it was bearable. 

I completely agree.  I do not really like salad but have to eat it all the same like serving pennance.  I am good with fruit.  I eat carrots and green beans..  I do not eat gravy so I do not know about that.  Luckily I like my food dry and I have cut out red meat so I have chicken breast 2 in a pack real chicken not frozen with a little mash peas and carrots. Later in the week I will have the other breast.  I have scrambled egg twice a week and that is 4 meals so only another 3 so to so baked beans and a baked potato and then I can decide on the two but if I have been ill I tend to consume soup and that gives me one free day.

I didn't think you could soup? what flavours are you allowed?, I was having potatos but since starting the diet properly this month I am just having meat and veg for dinner, as i was still getting pains last month so decided to do a total detox, I really like gammon but not on the ''allowed'' list which is annoying cause i could have that cold with lunch and for dinner. 

I am not following a diet at the moment so I eat tomato soup and never made me ill yet. I have cut out wine but I like potatoes so I bake one weekly and add beans.  Are you on a special diet?

 

On the low fodmap but im also going off my own ideas, I decided i dont want to eat any kind of potatos for a month, see how i feel at the end of the month, then start adding potato in etc, I don't actually know how to start introducing foods back into my diet, is it just adding something into one meal a day or adding the same thing into a whole days worth of meals? 

Just had this recommended to me too so I will have to look into it but I am so anal about my food it may not suit me but we'll see.

 

I am getting a diary tomorrow, thats helpful as i was wondering how to montoir my spasms and stuff, writing down when i have eaten is a good idea too , my toilet habbits have luckily calmed down for me just seems to be once in the morning i go now, 2 max, ibs isn't taken seriously to anyone who doesn't has it, I find since having it people assume I am being rude when i am quiet at times and always being asked why i am quiet which annoys me. and I feel I am now a pain for people to cook , also feel like they think i am being dramatic and making up being in pain  

Good news.  Spreadsheet was better for me so I could sort and analyse but still no patterns.  That is good re: loo habits mine have too but once or twice a month less so and that is what I need to smooth out before working again. I do not go daily which is annoying no matter what I eat. I agree and many people find it funny so I am not going to put my hand up and say guess what I have. I am quiet but I can also be rude mainly due to ASD so people tend to leave me alone.  I cook for myself that one is not a problem.  Oh yes I know what comment you're beiing melodramatic and using it as an excuse not to go anywhere but many of my friends have been there when I have been ill and disappeared off for a few hours.  I have said I have not been shopping I have been stuck in the damn loo.

It's ok in the week as i cook for me and my boyfriend and luckily he wants to eat healthy for dinner so don't have to make two seperate meals, but at the weekend we usually get invited for Sunday dinner and I feel I will be a pain as she will do cauliflower with broccoli with cheese which I can't have any of that, so have to make sure she does carrots and green beans for me, and she does loads of cakes for desserts and il sat staring at them wanting them, looking at my bowl of fruit  

Before i knew i had ibs I was scared of being let alone, still don't really like being alone as leaves me to think about my ibs, i like to keep my mind off it, even got loads of boardgames so i can play with my bf and not think about ibs. Luckily I have a few friends who have understood what i'm going through and trying to help me with what i can eat, but some friends have let me down by not caring. 

meant to add in having sunday dinner with my bf's mum....fingers type faster than my brain thinks 

I do not have a partner.  Too frequent illness can kill off a relationship I have found. I can understand your predicament and obviously I would not go but that is just what I am like.  With ASD I do not like being around people anyway and most people know this and being around strange people can make me sick as one friend of my ex found out.  The thought of talking to people makes me very anxious. I do not eat cake so I would prefer the fruit.

That is where you and I differ as I prefer to be left alone and if I have an attack I am on my own.  I feel incredibly nervous being ill when I am around other people.  Also pacing up and down clutching my stomach when I have cramp gets comments like sit down and stop being so melodramatic.  More reasons I prefer to be on my own.  That is a good idea.  It is good you have understanding friends. I am not big on friends it is an ASD thing which is why I am glad I have found this site 5 years too late but at least I have found it.

 

Ah family difficult to get out of I suppose. I do that too and miss out words as I type like a demon. I have been told to slow down as I started to get pain in my fingers and doc said repetitive touch typing leading to arthritis symptoms. When I did not type as much they went away but back to typing and they return but I find it difficult to be a 2 fingered plodder.

 

Luckily i have been with my bf for 4 years so he can put up with me suddently being different and unhappy alot, as he knows it isnt to do with him he puts up with me, I can still be happy and have a laugh when i'm with people aslong as I don't have an attack, but when on my own i am miserable, I will have to go to the dinners and just be a pain until she is used to it, I have such a sweet tooth so im struggling with not having chocolate, cake, icecream etc. 

I find if i get some spasms and I am around people i find the attacks go quicker when i am distracted talking than if i was on my own thinking about every spasm i feel, I wasn't sure at first if i wanted to come onto forums but glad i have now, as I still don't much about how to control my ibs yet and know what my intolrances are, so good to get advice. 

Sounds like a good chap.  For me I let me partner down too much missed weddings, missed christenings. ill on holiday, ill on the way to holiday, late to leave anywhere due to illness.  To be honest it was too much for anyone to put up with and when I was not ill I was asleep from the after effects of illness. 

I think for me I was having attacks all time at that time as it was new to me so it was 2 or 3 attacks a week and I would make her late for work if I was having a lift. It was just a nightmare situation.

When I am around other people and have an attack I suppose I am embarrassed.

Interestingly my doc said to have a few squares of dark chocolate after a meal as good for digestion. I do not eat much ice cream.

My spasms are too violent.  I have to go out of the room and do my melodramatic act elsewhere as each spasm lasts for a while. 

Me too re: forums as I am not on social media Twitter, FB etc.

Don't worry I have been on this treadmill for 5 years and I do not have a much better idea. 

 

Yeah I do worry how it will stop me from going on holidays etc

Thats a new one for me, I do have dark chocolate at home, but i'm waiting till after my months detox to have anything like that. be a hard month i love my food. 

I havent had a bad attack since my first one which lasted 6 hours a couple months back, then i had a few attacks over the next few weeks, but havent had anything bad since last Dec, i've had spasms and trapped wind which have lasted like an hour. 

I just don't like the thought of how long it will take me to figure out what I can't have

I ruined a number of holidays and special events for my partner. In the end I was just too embarrassed for her.

I think his idea was loo visits should be like a tap slow and steady so certain things were needed to keep the tap running.

That is a bad attack.  I thought mine were bad usually between 3 and 4 hours and then I collapse from exhaustion.  I think I would fall asleep on the loo if it was another 2 hours.  You definitely have my sympathy there. 

It is very good that you have managed all that time without one.  Yes I get that as normal spasms and trapped wind but that is fine.  It is when the cramps become more explosive when I know I am in trouble.

I don't either but I have to say I have not worked it out yet.

 

I'm supposed to going away for 2 weeks next year and hope i can handle it. hopefully by then il be better at knowing what i can ans can't eat.

I thought it was my appendix when the first attack happened but my bf said it wasn't cause i would literally be on the floor, and i was still able to walk, although was in pain.

I have had bad days, just nothing like that night, the first day of my period is the worst for me, seems to make it worse. 

I just hope these tablets i am on works for me, least my doctor is taking me seriously he has ibs too, not as bad as me, but he understands how i feel. 

If you are going to do low fodmap you need to do it properly. If you can afford to go and see a dietician who has been trained in it. You have to cut out all high fodmap foods for a set period of time then challenge each fodmap group individually. It's not something you can do unless you have a good understanding of what you are doing. And you have to be careful about getting a balanced diet. The whole process from elimination to end of challenges will take at least three months, then it takes longer after that to test your tolerances of your acceptable fodmap foods, as it is not just food type but quantity too.

Distraction is very good for taking your mind off pain as you have found. Have you been given anti spasmodic drugs? Hot water bottles or wheat bags help too.

Oh and in response to your question about gravy- made with meat juices it may be too fatty for your system. Instant gravy isn't allowed on the elimination stage as it contains wheat and usually onion powder too.

Fat isn't high Fodmap. Never had any problem with fatty foods. In general medical opinion appears to be changing regarding fats, especially animal fats.

Bisto uses cornflour, which is supposed to be OK, but wasn't for me.

Proper Mayonnaise should be low Fodmap if you want something to make food less dry. As always, check ingredients on any shop bought version.

I know fat isn't a fodmap, I said it may be too fatty. It depends on if your ibs reacts to fat. Many people find anything fatty or fried leads to cramps and diarrhoea as fat can cause the contractions of the intestines to speed up. But some ppl don't react.it depends on your body.

I agree although I don't cope well with foods with a high fat content. Butter,in moderation is fine, double cream isn't. 

Jan

Double cream is high in lactose, which is a high Fodmap food! It's nothing to do with the fat.

I don't have any problems with lactose, as I discovered when reintroducing foods after the Low FODMAP elimination diet but I do not tolerate food with a high fat content. 

Yeah Distraction has definately helped me, had some twinges yesterday then i went out for dinner and was talking away and then noticed after a while the twinges just went. 

I am on Amitriptyline, and going back to the doctors in a month to see if these have helped me or not.