Hungry but Terrified of Eating
Over the past few months, I have had some massive issues with IBS. I'm willing to believe 90% of it has to do with stress. I'm pretty much going through the wringer with one thing piling on top of another and there's not much I can do about most of it other than waiting for it to play out. Even being aware of this and trying as hard as possible to relax, ignore, or detox from stress it doesn't seem to work. Lately, it seems no matter what I eat, I will get sick. It could be plain rice and toast and my stomach will have a problem with it.
I am seeing my GI doctor in about a week but I'm almost positive that he's just going to tell me nothing is seriously wrong and just "watch my diet" (that's what always happens). The thing is, I already do that. I don't drink milk anymore (haven't for years cause it's one of my triggers). I limit cheese because I know about my dairy issues. I limit red meat, I limit butter, I rarely have fast food (even though that's not easy). Over the past 5 months I've been eating healthier and blander than I ever have and that still hasn't seemed to change anything.
I've had weeks at a time where I'm in and out of the bathroom so much that the idea of leaving the house just for five minutes to run an errand gives me anxiety. I can't have normal relationships, I can't go to the movies, I can't do anything. Now I'm actively afraid of eating anything because I can't figure out one thing that doesn't make me sick. The holidays are coming up and those are always stressful for me no matter how hard I try to manage them not to be. I'm just not sure what to do anymore since I'm so tired of always feeling sick. It's not even a lack of hunger it's more the severe terror of knowing that the moment I eat something it's going to go right through me and I'll be on the toilet again. Any advice? Keeping in mind I've tried yoga, medication, CBT, mindfulness, deep breathing, and almost everything other homeopathic thing that's supposed to reduce stress. That doesn't work any more than changing my diet has.
Ok so I'm just overcoming my latest (maybe SIBO-related?) flare-up and I know how ugly things can get. Whatever you eat, it just doesn't seem to work. Almost all of my typical FODMAP foods that have proven to work suddenly didn't work anymore. Bloating/gas/strange stool/belching/stomach pain after meals.
So here's the kicker (and I know it sounds wrong in your current position) but not eating is actually the worst thing you can do. Whatever your underlying problem might be, if you strave yourself, your body will fight you, it needs nutrition and it needs stuff to do.
Leaving asides all the special things that help me sometimes (like certain strains of probiotic) because I don't know your specific problem, here's stuff that should at least (theoretically) not make things worse:
1. Meal spacing - Give your MMC (moving motor complex) enough time to digest and always space meals 4 hours apart. In between only drink (only water/tea)
(noises from your stomach should indicate that enough time has passed and the food is moving further)
2. Try a really gentle IC valve massage (google it) around 5 minutes before eating to get things going in a none-aggressive way. You might also want to gently massage in the direction of food traveling through your intestines (also look that up). Don't worry about any noises or the urge to visit the toilet soon after, that can be perfectly normal and healthy.
3. Test the entire FODMAP diet list slowly. Only living of rice and toast (the last one being a horrible idea for different reasons) will make things worse for you.
Here are a few low-FODMAP foods that are really benificial and should be included if you can stomach them (always try them out in low quantities):
- eggs (high in zinc,phosphor a.s.o.)
- raspberries and blueberries in really small portions (fibre, phosphor,vitamin c, antioxidants a.s.o. - those two berrietypes can easily turn your life around)
- oats (to make it easier to digest and to get the healthy benefits: mix a cup of oats with water and let that sit for at least 30 min/ warm them up afterwards)
- walnuts (1-2 at a time)
- chicken (should be organic)
- a few good vegetables (FODMAP) that you should prepare by steaming! (so they keep most of their vitamins): zucchini/ cabbage turnip (don't let its name fool you, it's in the carrot family and has nothing to do with cabbage)/ carrots/ hokkaido pumpkin (in quantities of half a cup per meal)
- salmon (in small quantities) ... important because the foods named above lack B12 otherwise
- carefully try herbs with your foods ... my personal friends are: caraway seeds (good against blaoting)/ basil/ rosemary
- if you keep on eating bread, avoid wheat (aka your aweful toast), this only makes inflamation worse - try bread made from spelt (most people can stomach that much better)
Good look and get in touch if you need more advice or other suggestions.
Be gentle to your body. It's easy to loose hope but you never should. Your stress-reduction efforts should stay part of your routine but please keep on eating properly!
Sad to hear about your struggle. One thing I should mention is that onions/garlic might be 2 of the biggest FODMAP foods. They are really hard to digest (you'll hear about a lot of people avoiding onions because of this - even without IBS).
Well in the end it's your life 😀 You shouldn't starve. I personally would rather avoid foods/change my diet than live in pain and discomfort but who am I to judge your decisions in that regard?
Hope you'll get better soon! Best wishes!I can eat sweet Vidalia onions, but any other kind upsets my stomach. And crushed red pepper flakes are my Kryptonite.
I'm wondering if you have had a colonoscopy with biopsy? Maybe ask for this? Could it be that there is something more happening than just IBS? It could be inflammation in which you need medication for. -Elizabeth (team member)
I'm so sorry that you're going through this, it must be incredibly hard and frustrating. I would definitely ask the doctor for some tests, just to be sure that there isn't another reason for your symptoms. I also wanted to share the following articles with you: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/why-do-i-react-to-everything-i-eat, https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/missing-treatment. From my personal experience, if my symptoms aren't related to what I eat but rather stress or an infection, I try to eat easy to digest foods without limiting myself too much - after all, I'll be sick no matter what I eat. I also try to do yoga and hypnotherapy to help me deal with stress. Wishing you quick relief, Karina (team member) Imodium and liquid Motrin are your friends. When your stomach hurts, liquid Motrin (made for kids) will soothe stomach pain within 20 minutes. Imodium will stop the diarrhea. Check with your physician first before you use them.
