Keep hitting an invisible boundary with my food choices.
First of all I'd like to say that over the past year or so my IBS has been so much better. I know we're all different, and for some it's just terrible all the time. But maybe it's good that I pass on a little bit of hope maybe?
I haven't done anything special. I did go to a homeopathic practitioner for some time which did seem helpful. But I haven't needed an appointment for at least a year now.
I can't yet shake off the feeling of not knowing what to expect from IBS, as I know it can come and go and spring surprises. But anyway, I'll take what's happening for me right now.
But...nothing is perfect and neither is this!
I eat well, and eat a healthy diet every day. But it is a much narrower diet than I used to have pre-IBS.
I'm actually doing OK on the foods I eat and am doing well, (except of course, a few years older than I used to be!)
But it's quite strange that even with a food my tummy will accept, I can't push any boundaries. I can eat yellow pepper but find red ones don't suit me. Then I can only eat 1/3 of a yellow pepper with other veggies for dinner. If I try to even eat half, my tummy will behave a bit badly in the morning.
I have tried to, gently (such as re-introducing fruit) And I have got nowhere.
The boundaries seem quite firmly set!
I am still not free to eat out or eat someone else's recipes.
There are quite a number of other foods I still can't have also: cheese, tomatoes, cauliflower, many sauces, garlic, onions, oatmeal cakes, coconut, most all root veg (except carrots, but that's only occasionally my gut allows me to eat them)....the list goes on.
It seems if I just plod on in my own steady way my tummy feels okay. But certain foods still remain off-limits to me. I find I can't explore outside a certain framework. That tells me all is really not as well as it should be?
But considering what I can usually eat, perhaps I just need to be grateful?
Does anyone have any experience with re-introduction of foods, and any tips perhaps?
Dieting and IBS symptoms can make eating stressful and literally suck the joy out of it. It can cause anxiety and even lead to malnutrition in some cases, we totally get it here. Just wanted to share our recipe section with you: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/recipes and also a post on the low FODMOP diet, not sure if you have ever looked into that: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/ibs-diet
Both of these I think offer a good place to start to help make eating less of a mountain to overcome every day - the recipes are even submitted by others in our community who found dishes that work for them! Over all, it is going to take a lot of trial and error, unfortunately, to find what works for you personally, and, well, the bad news is it can even change week to week or month to month, but we keep on fighting. At least just know you are not alone in this! Keep on keepin' on, DPMThanks Daniel!
Yes, I did the Low FODMAP trial very strictly some time ago. I found that it didn't help me tremendously at that time, but there was about 30% or something success with it. When I re-introduced foods, I found that naturally some high Fodmaps suited me anyway, and it seemed they would have all along.
So I did a gradual re-introduction phase after that, found some good successes, and some definite road blocks. But I did manage to extend my food choices without too much drama.
I was pleased with that, yet obviously, kept trying to re-introduce other foods I'd been able to eat before. A number of those just didn't work at all, even in the tiniest amounts. And I find the same thing happening now. Every so often, I give each one another try (in the same way as I did the FODMAP re-introduction phase) Some are very stubborn and my tummy refuses to accept them.
Even the nicest easy things like bananas or blueberries etc! I try with the tiniest amounts but the next day I see negative results. It seems weird that evan one inch of banana or four blueberries can cause such a reaction!
Someone I know suggested that the microbiome has altered, and that introducing foods in very tiny amounts can get the microbiome to slowly begin to accept them.
But I just hit road blocks with mine.
However, the foods I CAN eat seem to be great, and I seem to be doing well on that. My dinner plate always looks so healthy and well balanced! I AM very grateful as I always did like food and could always eat anything, but I just yearn to be a bit more free with what I can eat.
