living with IBS
Jun. 27th, 2011 08:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julesjonesSince what if IIRC is the third friend in as many years has posted about being diagnosed with a gut disorder that results in needing a low fibre diet, I have copied and pasted below the cut some TMI posted to various flocked threads about my two decades of living with fibre-intolerant IBS (with the added twist of being a supertaster). I may at some point get around to writing a coherent post, but at least this will give me an open post I can point at if I think it may be useful to someone. These were replies to posts by other people, so they're missing a bit of context, but you can probably fill in from what's there.
Dec. 30th, 2008 02:49 pm
This is why I will not, ever, be going on a full vegetarian diet, never mind a vegan one...
I find that it is wheat fibre in particular that causes problems -- other types of fibre seem much less troublesome. Cut out *all*, and I do mean all, wheat fibre, and you may find that you can tolerate moderate amounts of other things on the banned list. Half a weetabix and I spend the next day regretting it, but I can manage oat porridge and a wide variety of fruit and veg as long as I'm sticking to white flour and rice. The other specific trigger I have is soya mince and meal-size quantities of tofu, which might well be an issue for a vegan.
For protein, nuts are generally okay, but they can be a problem for some people. Ditto mushrooms.
For a change from pasta, mashed potato made with vegetable stock where others would use milk. Baked potato but don't eat the skin. (You can try a bit of the skin once your gut has settled down.)
***
[feoreg and tanngrisner mention something I hadn't known -- soya mince often contains wheat]
***
Dec. 30th, 2008 03:02 pm
It certainly wouldn't help matters if it includes bran (and suggests why it's worse than tofu), but even tofu is a problem for me in more than small amounts.
A thought -- I don't know what Quorn's like as a trigger, because I tried it when it first came out and thought it tasted disgusting, and never knowingly ate it again. But for people who don't find it disgusting, it might provide a bit of variety to a diet without overloading on the insoluble fibre. It's not vegan, but if egg protein isn't an issue, it might be a feasible option.
***
Dec. 30th, 2008 03:11 pm
It took me a while to work out what I could and couldn't eat, and people do vary in their triggers. Pulses can be problematic for me and I have to be careful not to eat too much, but they are much, much worse in combination with wheat bran.
The other thing I would note for any vegetarians reading this thread is that it is possible to go lactose-intolerant as a result of the damage to the gut lining, even if you have the full Northern European set of genes. The relevant bits can and will grow back given a chance, but in the meantime avoiding lactose or using lactase capsules with milk and soft cheese would be a good idea. I'm having mashed banana on toast instead of porridge for breakfast this week for this very reason. :-/
***
Dec. 30th, 2008 03:35 pm (local)
One of the problems with IBS is that there is a large group of people who need a low fibre diet, but an awful lot of the advice out there assumes that the appropriate treatment for everyone is lots and lots of fibre. And it's fashionable to add bran to anything and everything because it's seen as healthy. Which makes life difficult if you're one of the people who needs to avoid the stuff. :-/
When I had the fit of severe lactose intolerance a few years ago, I basically decided that I was not fitting my diet around that and low fibre requirements and the soya problem, and went the lactase supplement route instead; but I was living in California where pre-treated cow's milk was a standard supermarket item and lactase tablets were on every pharmacy aisle.
Which reminds me -- next to the lactase tablets were enzyme tablets intended for people who had trouble digesting pulses. I have no idea whether they are effective or whether they are available in the UK at a sane price, but it might be worth asking on the vegan communities if anyone has experience with them.
***
Jan. 16th, 2009 11:07 pm (local)
It took me a while to learn how to navigate menus, and I don't have the complication of avoiding meat (although I do have the complication of being a supertaster). For me it was particularly bad because when I first got it, the standard reaction was "oh, you have IBS? You need lots of fibre!", and it was impossible to get across to some people that actually, no, I didn't. I think there's a bit more willingness now to listen to people who say they need to avoid fibre.
One of my solutions is a strong preference for Chinese if I've got a choice of restaurant. Especially if you're in a group doing the shared dishes thing, it's fairly easy to find a dish that can be the major part of your meal, and then pick odd bits that you can tolerate out of the other dishes. This does require being with a party that will respect your primary dish as being *yours*, of course. If you're willing to eat a small amount of meat, this is also a way to get a tablepoonful or two of something like chicken to boost your protein without overloading your system with meat.
***
***
2009-11-12 07:59 pm
Yes, it does sound as if you have a similar problem to mine.
One immediate suggestion -- you can acquire lactose intolerance simply through stripping the lining of the gut during a bad IBS attack. It will often grow back if given a chance to recover, but in the meantime lactose in dairy products can be a problem, and you can get probably get around this by using lactase enzyme tablets. That immediately removes one of the major restrictions on diet that can make it difficult to eat out. Yes, I did find out all this the hard way.
More to follow after I've had dinner.
***
These days I really only have serious trouble with wheat bran and soya (which may be hidden wheat bran anyway), and the occasional bout of lactose intolerance. White bread is fine, if boring. Almost everything else I can manage in moderate quantities as long as I don't overdo things -- although I avoid some of the problematic items such as chili anyway, because they also do not mix well with being a supertaster. But the more irritated my gut already is, the less I can tolerate of the borderline foods, and this seems to be a common experience.
What the consultant has told you is pretty much what I did -- cut out everything suspicious, and then try small quantities of one at a time, and gradually build up variety and quantity.
The cut-n-paste is from replies to someone who had the added complication of being vegan, which is why there are comments about finding a healthy low-fibre vegetarian/vegan diet and workarounds for pulses. If you're avoiding red meat some of the same problems will apply, particularly the iron deficiency issue. Small quantities of red meat served in the same meal as a high vitamin c/high iron veg like broccoli or Brussels sprouts is one way to up your iron intake without overdosing on either red meat or fibre.
kalypso_v is a saint for having me as a houseguest for a couple of months when I first moved back to the UK. While I'm perfectly happy to eat vegetarian occasionally, finding something compatible with my dietary restrictions does tend to make for a bland menu after a while...
From my stint with Weightwatchers some years ago: bananas are a useful option for dealing with hunger pangs, either one on its own, or mashed onto a slice of white toast. Ditto a microwaved/baked potato without the skin (and with a low calorie topping, although if you get a good potato it may not need one).
***
***
And a thread on why I'm not going to Milford unless I have a car and can get out to the shops for food I can eat:
There are two separate things going on.
One is that I have the form of irritable bowel syndrome that needs a low fibre diet -- wheat bran is a particular problem, to the point where three or four slices of wholewheat bread could mean refusing to go further than 50 yards from a toilet the next day, but a week-long diet of whole grains in general would leave me feeling pretty poorly. Soy mince is also a major trigger, although I've been told that soy mince typically has wheat bran in for texture, which may be what's doing it.
Individual low-fibre veggie meals are fine, but it's likely to be tricky to find something edible every time on a menu heavily slanted towards wholefoods -- particularly as the lactose intolerance part of the IBS will also kick in once my gut has been upset by fibre.
The other issue is that I'm a supertaster. This means that my sense of taste is both more sensitive and oddly skewed from the perspective of a standard or non-taster. For example, chili *hurts* me at a level where standard tasters can't even taste it. Bitterness is both extremely obvious and extremely unpleasant, so that until I found out about supertasting I couldn't understand why anyone would want to eat marmalade -- it tastes utterly vile to me. It's also why I'm teetotal, and why I don't drink orange juice that isn't either heavily pasteurised or very freshly squeezed.
Both of these are normally easy to work around, although I was less than enamoured with the Indian restaurant that used curry-flavoured flour to batter its English fish and chips with. But a kitchen heavily slanted towards both wholefoods and towards vegetarian is highly likely to hit one or the other on all dishes several times over the course of a week, even when trying to cater for meat-eaters.
Dec. 30th, 2008 02:49 pm
This is why I will not, ever, be going on a full vegetarian diet, never mind a vegan one...
I find that it is wheat fibre in particular that causes problems -- other types of fibre seem much less troublesome. Cut out *all*, and I do mean all, wheat fibre, and you may find that you can tolerate moderate amounts of other things on the banned list. Half a weetabix and I spend the next day regretting it, but I can manage oat porridge and a wide variety of fruit and veg as long as I'm sticking to white flour and rice. The other specific trigger I have is soya mince and meal-size quantities of tofu, which might well be an issue for a vegan.
For protein, nuts are generally okay, but they can be a problem for some people. Ditto mushrooms.
For a change from pasta, mashed potato made with vegetable stock where others would use milk. Baked potato but don't eat the skin. (You can try a bit of the skin once your gut has settled down.)
***
[feoreg and tanngrisner mention something I hadn't known -- soya mince often contains wheat]
***
Dec. 30th, 2008 03:02 pm
It certainly wouldn't help matters if it includes bran (and suggests why it's worse than tofu), but even tofu is a problem for me in more than small amounts.
A thought -- I don't know what Quorn's like as a trigger, because I tried it when it first came out and thought it tasted disgusting, and never knowingly ate it again. But for people who don't find it disgusting, it might provide a bit of variety to a diet without overloading on the insoluble fibre. It's not vegan, but if egg protein isn't an issue, it might be a feasible option.
***
Dec. 30th, 2008 03:11 pm
It took me a while to work out what I could and couldn't eat, and people do vary in their triggers. Pulses can be problematic for me and I have to be careful not to eat too much, but they are much, much worse in combination with wheat bran.
The other thing I would note for any vegetarians reading this thread is that it is possible to go lactose-intolerant as a result of the damage to the gut lining, even if you have the full Northern European set of genes. The relevant bits can and will grow back given a chance, but in the meantime avoiding lactose or using lactase capsules with milk and soft cheese would be a good idea. I'm having mashed banana on toast instead of porridge for breakfast this week for this very reason. :-/
***
Dec. 30th, 2008 03:35 pm (local)
One of the problems with IBS is that there is a large group of people who need a low fibre diet, but an awful lot of the advice out there assumes that the appropriate treatment for everyone is lots and lots of fibre. And it's fashionable to add bran to anything and everything because it's seen as healthy. Which makes life difficult if you're one of the people who needs to avoid the stuff. :-/
When I had the fit of severe lactose intolerance a few years ago, I basically decided that I was not fitting my diet around that and low fibre requirements and the soya problem, and went the lactase supplement route instead; but I was living in California where pre-treated cow's milk was a standard supermarket item and lactase tablets were on every pharmacy aisle.
Which reminds me -- next to the lactase tablets were enzyme tablets intended for people who had trouble digesting pulses. I have no idea whether they are effective or whether they are available in the UK at a sane price, but it might be worth asking on the vegan communities if anyone has experience with them.
***
Jan. 16th, 2009 11:07 pm (local)
It took me a while to learn how to navigate menus, and I don't have the complication of avoiding meat (although I do have the complication of being a supertaster). For me it was particularly bad because when I first got it, the standard reaction was "oh, you have IBS? You need lots of fibre!", and it was impossible to get across to some people that actually, no, I didn't. I think there's a bit more willingness now to listen to people who say they need to avoid fibre.
One of my solutions is a strong preference for Chinese if I've got a choice of restaurant. Especially if you're in a group doing the shared dishes thing, it's fairly easy to find a dish that can be the major part of your meal, and then pick odd bits that you can tolerate out of the other dishes. This does require being with a party that will respect your primary dish as being *yours*, of course. If you're willing to eat a small amount of meat, this is also a way to get a tablepoonful or two of something like chicken to boost your protein without overloading your system with meat.
***
***
2009-11-12 07:59 pm
Yes, it does sound as if you have a similar problem to mine.
One immediate suggestion -- you can acquire lactose intolerance simply through stripping the lining of the gut during a bad IBS attack. It will often grow back if given a chance to recover, but in the meantime lactose in dairy products can be a problem, and you can get probably get around this by using lactase enzyme tablets. That immediately removes one of the major restrictions on diet that can make it difficult to eat out. Yes, I did find out all this the hard way.
More to follow after I've had dinner.
***
These days I really only have serious trouble with wheat bran and soya (which may be hidden wheat bran anyway), and the occasional bout of lactose intolerance. White bread is fine, if boring. Almost everything else I can manage in moderate quantities as long as I don't overdo things -- although I avoid some of the problematic items such as chili anyway, because they also do not mix well with being a supertaster. But the more irritated my gut already is, the less I can tolerate of the borderline foods, and this seems to be a common experience.
What the consultant has told you is pretty much what I did -- cut out everything suspicious, and then try small quantities of one at a time, and gradually build up variety and quantity.
The cut-n-paste is from replies to someone who had the added complication of being vegan, which is why there are comments about finding a healthy low-fibre vegetarian/vegan diet and workarounds for pulses. If you're avoiding red meat some of the same problems will apply, particularly the iron deficiency issue. Small quantities of red meat served in the same meal as a high vitamin c/high iron veg like broccoli or Brussels sprouts is one way to up your iron intake without overdosing on either red meat or fibre.
kalypso_v is a saint for having me as a houseguest for a couple of months when I first moved back to the UK. While I'm perfectly happy to eat vegetarian occasionally, finding something compatible with my dietary restrictions does tend to make for a bland menu after a while...
From my stint with Weightwatchers some years ago: bananas are a useful option for dealing with hunger pangs, either one on its own, or mashed onto a slice of white toast. Ditto a microwaved/baked potato without the skin (and with a low calorie topping, although if you get a good potato it may not need one).
***
***
And a thread on why I'm not going to Milford unless I have a car and can get out to the shops for food I can eat:
There are two separate things going on.
One is that I have the form of irritable bowel syndrome that needs a low fibre diet -- wheat bran is a particular problem, to the point where three or four slices of wholewheat bread could mean refusing to go further than 50 yards from a toilet the next day, but a week-long diet of whole grains in general would leave me feeling pretty poorly. Soy mince is also a major trigger, although I've been told that soy mince typically has wheat bran in for texture, which may be what's doing it.
Individual low-fibre veggie meals are fine, but it's likely to be tricky to find something edible every time on a menu heavily slanted towards wholefoods -- particularly as the lactose intolerance part of the IBS will also kick in once my gut has been upset by fibre.
The other issue is that I'm a supertaster. This means that my sense of taste is both more sensitive and oddly skewed from the perspective of a standard or non-taster. For example, chili *hurts* me at a level where standard tasters can't even taste it. Bitterness is both extremely obvious and extremely unpleasant, so that until I found out about supertasting I couldn't understand why anyone would want to eat marmalade -- it tastes utterly vile to me. It's also why I'm teetotal, and why I don't drink orange juice that isn't either heavily pasteurised or very freshly squeezed.
Both of these are normally easy to work around, although I was less than enamoured with the Indian restaurant that used curry-flavoured flour to batter its English fish and chips with. But a kitchen heavily slanted towards both wholefoods and towards vegetarian is highly likely to hit one or the other on all dishes several times over the course of a week, even when trying to cater for meat-eaters.