Low-FODMAP Diet

[Jaybeez]

Originally Posted by Floridatilly

A blood test alone will definitely not rule out Crohn’s or colitis. They need to at least do a stool sample to check the faecal calprotectin levels. If this is raised then they will definitely do a colonoscopy to do a definite diagnosis.
You can’t diagnose or rule out IBD with blood tests alone so I would definitely be chasing that up and don’t let the doctors fob you off. I wish I had known when Mason first started with symptoms, he was fobbed off for years with allergies until he was so poorly he couldn’t walk.
His early symptoms were tummy ache, leg rashes, swollen lips, aching legs, fatigue. These symptoms would come and go but at the beginning if 2020 they were constant and got worse, the bowel movements were up to 16 times a day, feeling or being sick, severely swollen lips, loosing mucus constantly, blood in stools, uncontrollable urges to go to the toilet and accidents especially when passing wind. Ulcers in mouth, painful anus etc hicups and sore throats all the time (he has it in his oesophageal too) extreme fatigue.
The symptoms continued to get worse over time.

My daughter has gyno issues and bowel issues. Her stool sample came back in the normal range so she has been diagnosed with IBS she doesn’t follow a certain diet but after keeping a food diary she avoids the foods that irritates her bowel. Its still not great to be honest snd she has been waiting to see someone for her periods for over 12 months.
Her bowel issues are, swollen stomach, stomach pains, gas and she needs to run to the toilet after eating certain foods.

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Your poor son, it’s good to hear that he has a diagnosis now, but he shouldn’t have been misdiagnosed for so long. I hope that his treatment is helping him now. Sending you hugs, it’s horrible when you kids are poorly. In the last few years I’ve had breast cancer followed by gynae issues and more surgery and that was so much easier to cope with than my kids being ill.

[Jaybeez]

Thanks for the comments on Crohns diagnosis, I honestly don’t think she has it but the doctor mentioned the previous blood test to her.

He did say that the diet is hard to follow and these comments seem to have confirmed that, she is going to give it a try though. The GP is going to phone her back in a few weeks with a date for the ultrasound & to see how she’s getting on.

[Jaybeez]

Originally Posted by Ladyshopper

There is a gluten-free blogger called Becky Excell. She is also low fodmap. She has 2 brilliant recipe books out (one is just out) and they have low fodmap adjustments on the recipes.

She has a website (glutenfreecuppatea) that you can look at, and also a big FB group (if you search her name on FB you'll find it).

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Thank you, I’ll look that up.

[Borderbairn]

Originally Posted by Jaybeez

Thank you, I’ll look that up.

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Just a wee note of caution. When I was on Fodmap I had a look at a few bloggers who seemed to follow the diet as a long term way of eating. It definitely can be dangerous to do this without proper advice. Also some of the bloggers on Facebook suggest buying ready made Fodmap foodstuffs which are quite expensive. This is definitely not necessary.

[Silvercat]

I have IBS and a friend at work suggested I try the FODMAP diet for a couple of weeks to try and identify triggers for me. I already knew that anything in the Allium group of foods, (onions, garlic etc), would affect me badly, and also cooked tomatoes and peppers. I found a copy of the diet online, and tried it for about 4 weeks, before slowly reintroducing things like dairy. It really did help me as there were a few things I didn't realise were also triggering my IBS. Doctors say that this definitely isn't a long-term diet though as it is very restrictive and hard to follow, but I felt it helped me massively and am glad I did this short-term. It is hard, but it will be worth it for a lot of people who try it.

[Jaybeez]

Originally Posted by Borderbairn

Just a wee note of caution. When I was on Fodmap I had a look at a few bloggers who seemed to follow the diet as a long term way of eating. It definitely can be dangerous to do this without proper advice. Also some of the bloggers on Facebook suggest buying ready made Fodmap foodstuffs which are quite expensive. This is definitely not necessary.

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Good point. I try to cook everything from scratch and so we should know exactly what is going into her meals.

[Jaybeez]

Originally Posted by Silvercat

I have IBS and a friend at work suggested I try the FODMAP diet for a couple of weeks to try and identify triggers for me. I already knew that anything in the Allium group of foods, (onions, garlic etc), would affect me badly, and also cooked tomatoes and peppers. I found a copy of the diet online, and tried it for about 4 weeks, before slowly reintroducing things like dairy. It really did help me as there were a few things I didn't realise were also triggering my IBS. Doctors say that this definitely isn't a long-term diet though as it is very restrictive and hard to follow, but I felt it helped me massively and am glad I did this short-term. It is hard, but it will be worth it for a lot of people who try it.

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It's good to hear that it has helped you to identify triggers. She's been pretty sure that milk and onions are triggers for a while now, although she's fine if I make a sauce with whipped cream.

[mitch84]

Originally Posted by Silvercat

I have IBS and a friend at work suggested I try the FODMAP diet for a couple of weeks to try and identify triggers for me. I already knew that anything in the Allium group of foods, (onions, garlic etc), would affect me badly, and also cooked tomatoes and peppers. I found a copy of the diet online, and tried it for about 4 weeks, before slowly reintroducing things like dairy. It really did help me as there were a few things I didn't realise were also triggering my IBS. Doctors say that this definitely isn't a long-term diet though as it is very restrictive and hard to follow, but I felt it helped me massively and am glad I did this short-term. It is hard, but it will be worth it for a lot of people who try it.

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You might find that you have an intolerance to fructose. My brother was diagnosed in Germany and they do not believe in IBS. You either have something medically wrong or an intolerance to something. He struggled with the same things

[Jaybeez]

Just a quick update, just in case anyone else does a search for the low FODMAP diet…

My daughter has been following it for a week now and the difference is amazing, no more waking up in pain every day, able to eat large meals without feeling bloated, the list goes on. We will have to start introducing foods next week to see what she is reacting to, I have a feeling that one thing might be onions.

Cooking meals hasn’t been too bad, although very limited. I’ve got some low FODMAP veg stock now, so I’ll make up some batches of soup this weekend.

[Borderbairn]

That's really good to hear. It will certainly reduce a lot of anxiety around food if you can identify and eliminate triggers.