FODMAP diet

disneychrista

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 26, 2002
Has anyone tried the FODMAP diet to help with IBS or other functional disorders of the GI tract? I was diagnosed with a functional disorder of the GI tract about 6 years ago and had it mostly under control until a few months ago. It is now getting worse again to the point that I need to be near a restroom anytime I eat. I have been reading that the FODMAP diet can help with GI issues, so thought I'd try it. But as always would like to hear others experience.


I am going to the doctor a week from Monday and am hoping to a Rx for Cholestyramine. I used to take Cholestryramine but then due to my GI doctor moving and my symptoms being mostly under control I stopped taking it.
 
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I tried it and it helped with gas and bloating but was so restrictive. I have realized after many food diaries that my issues happen when I eat too much fiber and too many raw vegetables.I also really have to be aware of portion sizes and not overeat. Big meals almost always means an IBS attack.

My GI recommended IB Gard and I have started using it regularly over the last few weeks and it makes a huge difference. Maybe try it. Take 2 per day. I take mine an hour before lunch. That seems to be the best timing for me.
 
I tried it and it helped with gas and bloating but was so restrictive.
It does seem very restrictive and I know that it is not something I could maintain long term unless I absolutely needed to. It eliminates a good 50% of my normal diet. But I thought maybe by doing it for a month or so and slowly adding foods back that I might find that it is only certain foods that are causing my issues.
 
Yes. A lot of people commenting about it being restrictive may have never moved past the elimination phase. It’s a diagnostic elimination diet and you should get help to challenge the different types of FODMAPs to know which you can tolerate and which you can’t. You then try to slowly add foods back in and work out your tolerance level.

There are a few helpful discussion forums out there on popular social media but I’m not sure I’m allowed to post links to them here. I also recommend the Monash University FODMAP food app. That’s a University based in Melbourne Australia who have done a lot of research and the app is really useful to have when you’re in a supermarket and want to lookup foods. Good luck. I hope you find some helpful solutions.
 


Yes. A lot of people commenting about it being restrictive may have never moved past the elimination phase. It’s a diagnostic elimination diet and you should get help to challenge the different types of FODMAPs to know which you can tolerate and which you can’t. You then try to slowly add foods back in and work out your tolerance level.

There are a few helpful discussion forums out there on popular social media but I’m not sure I’m allowed to post links to them here. I also recommend the Monash University FODMAP food app. That’s a University based in Melbourne Australia who have done a lot of research and the app is really useful to have when you’re in a supermarket and want to lookup foods. Good luck. I hope you find some helpful solutions.

I did move past the elimination phase. What ended up being a trigger for me are onions and garlic, neither of which I am willing to remove from my diet, so that's how it became too restrictive for me. Almost everything I eat and enjoy has one of those two things in it and I'm not about to completely give up every food I love. I'd rather find other ways to manage the IBS, like the aforementioned IB Gard (peppermint oil capsules).
 
I did FODMAP for several months and really found no specific triggers, so I'm back to normal eating. I found the first 6 weeks somewhat challenging, but doable. It got way easier as I was able to add things back in. The first things I added back were onion and garlic, because I found those the hardest to do without! (Not only adding them, but they are in pretty much every kind of pre-made sauce, broth, etc.)
 
I started having issues with IBS nearly 40 years ago. I suffered horribly until I started recognizing what set me off. I don't take any medications for IBS and rarely have an attack now because I know what food combinations to avoid and what foods are a trigger for me.
My suggestion would be to keep a journal of what you eat and try to figure out what you need to avoid.
 


My suggestion would be to keep a journal of what you eat and try to figure out what you need to avoid.

I started keeping a food diary yesterday. But my diet is VERY limited & bland right so I am not sure how helpful it will be. It has gotten so bad that I am almost wondering if there is something else going on or that maybe I have COVID.
 
I started keeping a food diary yesterday. But my diet is VERY limited & bland right so I am not sure how helpful it will be. It has gotten so bad that I am almost wondering if there is something else going on or that maybe I have COVID.
Please have your MD refer you to a Registered Dietitian who knows about FODMAP, and help with the elimination diet, food diary etc. I am an RD and we can help you with this - majority of MD's don't know anything about nutrition, even the GI Docs might have limited info.
Good luck to you-keeping a food diary, recording symptoms, and also make sure you record your STRESS level as well-stress plays into IBS-as well as that "time of the month" may help pinpoint trigger items.. Unfortunately for women we have that added dimension of hormones!
 
I did move past the elimination phase. What ended up being a trigger for me are onions and garlic, neither of which I am willing to remove from my diet, so that's how it became too restrictive for me. Almost everything I eat and enjoy has one of those two things in it and I'm not about to completely give up every food I love. I'd rather find other ways to manage the IBS, like the aforementioned IB Gard (peppermint oil capsules).
That’s the good thing about intolerances rather than allergies. You can make a choice whether you want to be careful, say during a stressful time when you know you’ll be more sensitive, or each whatever looks good, something I do during birthdays, Christmas, etc. I think it depends on how bad the consequences are and how much they interfere with your life.
 
That’s the good thing about intolerances rather than allergies. You can make a choice whether you want to be careful, say during a stressful time when you know you’ll be more sensitive, or each whatever looks good, something I do during birthdays, Christmas, etc. I think it depends on how bad the consequences are and how much they interfere with your life.

I agree. I'm glad I'm not actually allergic to anything! That would be so hard.

My IBS is notoriously unpredictable, though. Sometimes I can eat tons of onions and garlic and other times, it causes me distress. I've been eating them a LOT over the last week. I've been fine.

I think my issues are mostly hormonally triggered, to be honest. Although eating too much fiber is a DEFINITE trigger that even my doctor advised me against. I've been doing much better since following a "low residue" diet.
 
I've never found a real trigger for mine. I've had it since I was about 35 years old.

My biggest trigger that I know of is stress. I will usually get an IBS attack if I'm doing something I don't want to and have to get out early in the morning and get moving. The hallmark is that is predominantly a morning issue and I'm fine later in the day.

The second trigger can be various combinations of a high-fat meal. I generally have no issues with fast food and that sort of thing but if I eat something that's ultra concentrated in fat, I'm suffering within an hour or so and then possibly the next morning. My last two triggers were a Tillamook Brand Ice Cream Sandwich and some homemade buttercream frosting that I made this past weekend. TONS of butter in it. I didn't get a bad bout, but I had cramps for a bit and some problems the next morning.

My last issue is certain fruits. I can no longer eat grapes and plums. But I do fine with watermelon, peaches, cantaloupe, honeydew, bananas.

Last year (and I posted here about it), I ended up having 6 weeks of diarrhea every day. It was triggered by something that stressed me out big time but when that passed, the diarrhea wouldn't stop. By the time I got in to see the gastro specialist it was over. I did follow up with a colonoscopy to check for microscopic colitis (didn't have it). I will say, though, that one of the easy treatments for microscopic colitis is daily Pepto Bismal. I started that and within a day or two my situation began to resolve completely. Weird.
 
I tried it a few years ago for DS. He was having problems. Doctor recommended it to narrow down what it was that was bothering him.
He stayed on it for several months, then went gluten free, then decided it wasn't that. Appears to be beans and grease......and he was already lactate intolerant.
 
I agree. I'm glad I'm not actually allergic to anything! That would be so hard.

My IBS is notoriously unpredictable, though. Sometimes I can eat tons of onions and garlic and other times, it causes me distress. I've been eating them a LOT over the last week. I've been fine.

I think my issues are mostly hormonally triggered, to be honest. Although eating too much fiber is a DEFINITE trigger that even my doctor advised me against. I've been doing much better since following a "low residue" diet.
I've never found a real trigger for mine. I've had it since I was about 35 years old.

Last year (and I posted here about it), I ended up having 6 weeks of diarrhea every day. .

I’ve had issues since my 20’s (so 25+ years). I haven’t found anything that consistently causes issues other than muffins from the bakery by my work. If I eat one I am in the bathroom within an hour
My main issue is diarrhea. In fact my diagnosis is functional diarrhea. It has gotten progressively worse the past 6 months or so. To the point when I can’t remember the last time I had a solid BM (sorry for the TMI).

I’m really hoping the doctor will prescribe the medication I was in previously so I can get some relief. Though I do expect to have to go through all the tests again, which I’m okay with if it means being able to get back to semi-normal.
 
I’ve had issues since my 20’s (so 25+ years). I haven’t found anything that consistently causes issues other than muffins from the bakery by my work. If I eat one I am in the bathroom within an hour
My main issue is diarrhea. In fact my diagnosis is functional diarrhea. It has gotten progressively worse the past 6 months or so. To the point when I can’t remember the last time I had a solid BM (sorry for the TMI).

I’m really hoping the doctor will prescribe the medication I was in previously so I can get some relief. Though I do expect to have to go through all the tests again, which I’m okay with if it means being able to get back to semi-normal.

I'm not trying to probe in on you but is this being caused by stress/worry? I know you have mentioned still working in office and some people not wearing masks and then your mom being sick and other things going on as well. A lot of women suffer with stress bathroom sessions. On the flip side, I always know I'm having major hormone issues because bathroom things start up even though they shouldn't.
Do you still have a gallbladder? Have you had it tested if so? That was how it started for my when I needed my gallbladder out. Good luck getting some relief.
 
I’ve had issues since my 20’s (so 25+ years). I haven’t found anything that consistently causes issues other than muffins from the bakery by my work. If I eat one I am in the bathroom within an hour
My main issue is diarrhea. In fact my diagnosis is functional diarrhea. It has gotten progressively worse the past 6 months or so. To the point when I can’t remember the last time I had a solid BM (sorry for the TMI).

I’m really hoping the doctor will prescribe the medication I was in previously so I can get some relief. Though I do expect to have to go through all the tests again, which I’m okay with if it means being able to get back to semi-normal.

Have you investigated the Microscopic Colitis diagnosis? There were several DIS'ers who gave me information about it when I was having my problem last year. I ended up not having it but I did go have a colonoscopy with the extra biopsies along the entire length of the colon to rule it out. I believe it is basically treated with occasionally steroids for flares, Immodium, and pepto. It's always nice to get a diagnosis so you can just give up on trying difficult and hard-to-prove methods.

As I said, I can never find that "thing" that's the culprit. I can say to you on any given day that XXX caused it this time, but another day I might be able to eat that same food. Other times, I just have no idea what causes a bout of it.
 
I'm not trying to probe in on you but is this being caused by stress/worry?
Do you still have a gallbladder?
I wouldn’t rule stress out but I don’t really feel “stressed.” But I also realize our bodies react to stresses our minds may not.
Yes, I do still have my gallbladder and I have wondered if that might be the cause. I donot necessarily have the classic symptoms but my family never seems to present with typical symptoms. We have to fight some times to get doctors to listen to us.
 
Have you investigated the Microscopic Colitis diagnosis?
I hadn’t until you posted this and I did a quick search. It seems very similar to functional diarrhea but with a much nicer name. I always took my diagnosis to mean there’s no reason for why you’re having these issues so we’ll just call it this. I’d much rather there be a reason for my issues.
 
I ended up having 6 weeks of diarrhea every day.

I have gastrointestinal issues too, so there's no way I should be laughing about this. But this gave me a good giggle. I totally misinterpreted this and my first first thought was "man can I relate! What a good way to describe it." and then realized you meant you had diarrhea every day for six weeks. My thought was 6 weeks worth of it every day! :scared: It sure seems like that sometimes when you're having issues.:fish:
 
I’ve had issues since my 20’s (so 25+ years). I haven’t found anything that consistently causes issues other than muffins from the bakery by my work. If I eat one I am in the bathroom within an hour
My main issue is diarrhea. In fact my diagnosis is functional diarrhea. It has gotten progressively worse the past 6 months or so. To the point when I can’t remember the last time I had a solid BM (sorry for the TMI).

I’m really hoping the doctor will prescribe the medication I was in previously so I can get some relief. Though I do expect to have to go through all the tests again, which I’m okay with if it means being able to get back to semi-normal.

I've been dealing with it since around age 15. Coincidentally (or not), right around when I started to menstruate.

I deal with the super fun "Combination type." So, what that means is that I won't have a BM for a solid week or week and a half, and then I will be wracked with horrible cramps for hours on end, culminating in insane diarrhea. Then, diarrhea for about 2 days afterwards. Then nothing for a week/week and a half. Repeat cycle every 2 weeks or so.

Some months I will be okay, but generally my issue is constipation. This is why I can't eat too much fiber. I have a VERY SLOW intestinal transit time, so any added bulk just makes it even slower and more painful.

I took Zelnorm for awhile and it worked really well, then it was taken off the market. I heard it was reapproved for use late last year. I should ask my doctor to prescribe it again. I tolerated it well.

I don't know which issue is worse, this or my migraines. Also, super fun fact: I often have IBS attacks alongside migraine at the same time! Super fun!
 

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