4 ms·

I have Crohn's and I did the FODMAP diet when I had very severe symptoms. What I found: it does actually work and remediated a lot of my severe abdominal pain c

by bignaj 12y ago

I have Crohn's and I did the FODMAP diet when I had very severe symptoms. What I found: it does actually work and remediated a lot of my severe abdominal pain centered around eating (in conjunction with medication) BUT... I also found it absolutely miserable on its own. I think Soylent might be more appetizing to me by an order of magnitude. Good luck!

graeme 12y ago
What did you find miserable about it? Elimination of certain foods or something part of what you were actually eating?
- erichmond 12y ago
  Replying to your paleo comment. Yeah, I think for those of us with "Generic IBS" we need to be aggressive in trying out different approaches to try and heal our gut issues. I went paleo once I realized wheat was causing me all sorts of stomach issues, and over the years I drifted more and more towards a "natural and whole food" diet, and as my intake of veggies grew, I realized that asparagus and brussel sprouts seemed to do a number of me. When I went to the gastroenterologist to try and figure out what was going on there, he first recommended drugs, which I declined, but he then suggested looking into the FODMAP diet, and it turned out that most fructans were triggers, as well as some polyols. When I ate wheat, I suffered from tenesmus, depression, back acne, short-term memory loss, alternating constipation/diarrhea, migraines, etc. Now my only symptoms are diarrhea and some stomach pain when eating fructans. I'm hoping going FODMAP only will solve the remaining issues I have. All that said, I'm just advocating that we try whatever we can so collectively we can get data on what works and what doesn't. If we just accept the doctors diagnosis of IBS and treat it with drugs, we'll never collectively solve the underlying problem.
  - graeme 12y ago
    I completely agree. Had bowel issues for years. Finally figuring out how to avoid that was worth all the tinkering. I hardly think about it anymore. And I'm very glad to have figured it out without pharmaceuticals.
bignaj 12y ago
@Graeme (can't reply double-nested): I just found it to be very bland, boring and depressing. Chicken and rice, rice and chicken, tuna, rice crackers, blah. Go to the printer room in your office and start chewing on the printer paper/some cardboard in there. That's about how tasty the FODMAP diet is after about a week. It's even harder socially when you are restricted from basically everything on the menu. I guess your mileage may vary but those are my personal thoughts. I did Low FODMAP for about 2 months and by necessity (staying out of the urgent care/emergency room), not really by choice.
- graeme 12y ago
  Ok, interesting. I eat paleo, and I seem to unintentionally eat low fodmap. Sauerkraut and some onions are the only ones I eat regularly. I checked the wikipedia list. But not much rice. I eat a lot of local, pastured meats, sweet potatoes, much coconut oil for cooking and seasonings, so it doesn't seem bland. I find chicken very bland and would have trouble eating it more than a few times per week. Used to have digestive upset, though in my case I'm not convinced FODMAPS had anything to do with it (like I said, unintentionally low fodmap). Nightshades seemed to have the greatest correlation for me.

by bignaj 12y ago

graeme 12y ago

What did you find miserable about it? Elimination of certain foods or something part of what you were actually eating?

erichmond 12y ago
Replying to your paleo comment. Yeah, I think for those of us with "Generic IBS" we need to be aggressive in trying out different approaches to try and heal our gut issues. I went paleo once I realized wheat was causing me all sorts of stomach issues, and over the years I drifted more and more towards a "natural and whole food" diet, and as my intake of veggies grew, I realized that asparagus and brussel sprouts seemed to do a number of me. When I went to the gastroenterologist to try and figure out what was going on there, he first recommended drugs, which I declined, but he then suggested looking into the FODMAP diet, and it turned out that most fructans were triggers, as well as some polyols. When I ate wheat, I suffered from tenesmus, depression, back acne, short-term memory loss, alternating constipation/diarrhea, migraines, etc. Now my only symptoms are diarrhea and some stomach pain when eating fructans. I'm hoping going FODMAP only will solve the remaining issues I have. All that said, I'm just advocating that we try whatever we can so collectively we can get data on what works and what doesn't. If we just accept the doctors diagnosis of IBS and treat it with drugs, we'll never collectively solve the underlying problem.
- graeme 12y ago
  I completely agree. Had bowel issues for years. Finally figuring out how to avoid that was worth all the tinkering. I hardly think about it anymore. And I'm very glad to have figured it out without pharmaceuticals.

bignaj 12y ago

@Graeme (can't reply double-nested): I just found it to be very bland, boring and depressing. Chicken and rice, rice and chicken, tuna, rice crackers, blah. Go to the printer room in your office and start chewing on the printer paper/some cardboard in there. That's about how tasty the FODMAP diet is after about a week. It's even harder socially when you are restricted from basically everything on the menu. I guess your mileage may vary but those are my personal thoughts. I did Low FODMAP for about 2 months and by necessity (staying out of the urgent care/emergency room), not really by choice.

graeme 12y ago
Ok, interesting. I eat paleo, and I seem to unintentionally eat low fodmap. Sauerkraut and some onions are the only ones I eat regularly. I checked the wikipedia list. But not much rice. I eat a lot of local, pastured meats, sweet potatoes, much coconut oil for cooking and seasonings, so it doesn't seem bland. I find chicken very bland and would have trouble eating it more than a few times per week. Used to have digestive upset, though in my case I'm not convinced FODMAPS had anything to do with it (like I said, unintentionally low fodmap). Nightshades seemed to have the greatest correlation for me.