IBS-D and simple FODMAP traffic light System to use

[Graham Wraith]

Good Evening

I have suffered with IBs-D for over 10 years, main cause was due to work related stress, but then normal stress is another big trigger for me.

Down side is over the last year I was really ill with my IBS-D, I did not know which way to turn regarding food! or the pain.

I actually lost 15kg in weight, this is another post I would like to make in regards to muscle loss.

I will say we are all individuals, and have found in discussion that some foods can affect one person, but not another? yet so often they try to label us all in one group?

I found the fodmap systems on you tube/internet (for me) so confusing, hence I would eat to much of the wrong food, after 4 hours my stomach would bloat, the pain on the pain scale in my stomach was 9! I just did not want to eat anything !  you just knew if you ate the pain would follow, then it was 6-8 trips to the toilet, once again followed by pain in my stomach, only help for me was a hot water bottle.

It is very hard to describe to anyone the pain you feel in your stomach! words are very powerful, so I for one am very aware of 2 words, sympathy, and empathy.

I can only sympathize with someone if I have had the medical problem they are talking about, such as IBS.

Yet I can only empathise  with someone if I have never had their medical problem.

Yes I have had 2 colonoscopies, every blood test they can think of! now after my last hospital visit they are saying I have a problem with my pancreas in regards to food digestion, so now I am prescribed Creon 2500 mg to be taken with every meal.

Sorry digressing, the reason for this post is one very early morning in bed with my best friend Mr hot water bottle I was once again flicking through IBS channels on YouTube, when I found 1 sites of interest.

This was an Australian site with a female discussing her symptoms of ibs, what made me sit up and take note was how simple she made the fodmap work, how? she introduced an app from Monash university in Australia, they have taken all food groups and uses a simple traffic light system, simply put it is red/amber/green, red for danger foods, and green for safe foods, when you look at specific food it can give you all 3 options, the easy part is to open up the specific app then scroll down to the part in green, here they give you the amount you can safely eat per meal, it could be 1oz, or 1 tablespoon for liquids, again this is per meal, so my plan would be to one day start to re-introduce the foods that I thought affected me, but in the quantity size they recommend.

Such a simple tool to use, yes it cost me £6 to download the app to my phone, but it has opened up my food options again, yes I can eat again and not have to worry about the pain or 3am trips to the toilet.

I made the decision after watching the video to stop using lactose or gluten in my foods, to use lactose and gluten free foods, I thought what do I have to lose? 

Now don't get me wrong It is still new to me and there are trial and errors, I still have the diarrhoea and yes still 3 or 4am visits to the toilet, it takes time, I get that, but all I can tell you is to check it out and see if it helps you with you fodmap.

I for one did not know that any! chocolate was not good for me, I tried the nut bars with chocolate, and yes 4am awoke with the need to run ok not rut to the toilet, yes I still had pain after going, so you see trial and error.

I though in regards to milk it would be one of the many nut types of milk I could drink, soya, oat, etc, (sorry YUK!) yes I did try a few of them, but for me they left a bad taste in my mouth for ages?

By accident looking around Tesco's milk area I found k a lactose free milk, it tastes exactly like milk, I could not believe it (Victor Meldrew) sorry i am old so if you do not get the reference it does not matter.

I have found I am starting to have more fish in my diet, plus chicken breast, I still only manage normally 2 meals a day, I know the sites say go for 4, but for me as an individual I can only manage 2 meals.

I will keep saying we are all individuals, we know our bodies better than anyone.

The upshot of my fingers going on a rant is for you to check out the Monash wed site or their app and see if it is something that may help you with your ibs.

Regards

Graham