Benefits of FODMAP diet

[Terri]

I am 72 years old and was first diagnosed with "spastic colon" when I was 19. I had no idea what it was then but I just coped with it. As I have aged it keeps getting worse. It seems like Ihave tried everything to get it under control. I am now thinking I may try the FODMAP approach. Has anyone had much success with it and is it hard to do ?

[Jeffrey Roberts]

Hello Terri,

I too was diagnosed with "spastic colon" way back when.

A large group of people respond positively to the low FODMAP diet. Some don't.

Are you more constipated or is it diarrhea for you?

[Terri]

Diarrhea

[Terri]

I fell in Sept. and broke my shoulder requiring shoulder replacement. During all of this my diarrhea started full blown. My stress level is through the roof. I know this all contributes to the problem. I start getting panicky about it. Now my blood pressure is way up. Sorry to lay this on you but I just needed to talk to someone who has IBS.

[Jeffrey Roberts]

I'm sorry to hear that you broke your shoulder. Were you taking an antibiotic afterwards? If the diarrhea is very bad you could have developed an overgrowth of clostridium difficile from the antibiotic.

If not, the low FODMAP diet is reported to be up to 70% effective in IBS-D patients. It is best administered by a Dietitian who is familiar with the diet.

I can imagine how stressful this must be. You'll get through this. We know how you feel.

[Terri]

Thanks so much for your reply. I did take an antibiotic but that was 7 weeks ago. Anyway, thank you for your concern and your words of encouragement. 

[Jeffrey Roberts]

You can develop clostridium difficile up to 3 months after an antibiotic. I recommend you talk to your doctor about that. It could be the reason you have such bad diarrhea.

[Terri]

I wasn't aware of that. Thanks again.

[Esjie]

Hello @Terri and I am sorry things have got so much worse for you recently. I am older too (67) but am lucky because this is all fairly recent for me. You have had many years of managing this.

Re: the low FODMAP diet. It;s not difficult to do (well I didn't think so) but of course I did miss some foods I had always been able to eat, but which suddenly had started to upset my gut....such as lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes etc.

But I did find some low FODMAP didn't suit me, whereas some high FODMAP were still no problem. For instance I could still manage avocados, oranges (with all the tough bits peeled off) and honey. But couldn't tolerate carrots (most of the time and especially if in a flare-up) and tomatoes.

When  my gut starts to settle, I then test out some of my favourite high FODMAP foods in small amounts again, and see what happens.

We are all different, and low FODMAP in my experience is really best used as a guide. The best thing to do is write a food diary and then you can trace foods which you react badly to. I can handle some nuts and seeds in moderation for example sometimes, but tahini is always bad for me..... For you it may be different.

But the sad thing is I can't tolerate a high fibre diet any more. And I always ate lots of fibre. Going low-fibre at the first sign of a flare-up will often settle my gut so I can slowly introduce more veggies and fruits at least for a while until it  flares up again.

Tonight I had steamed cod with just salt and pepper, some peeled white potatoes (mashed with a bit of butter) and some lettuce leaves and peeled cucumber. Hard boiled eggs and white rice are also friendly for my gut, which I can usually have with some steamed kale or green beans with just salt.

 

Good luck and I hope you find a helpful solution. Take care.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Esjie