New here

[BipolarBear75]

Hi, I am relatively new to this site...however not new to IBS. I am just wondering what are the best diets for this. I am finding conflicting news or advice and I know I eat very healthy foods...and junk foods too...but I really don't know what it is that I am eating that has triggered my symptoms in a big way right now.

[BipolarBear75]

Thanks so much....sorry I haven't been on here in a while...but I am checking my posts now. That sounds very good....I must try. It makes sense really. How is your weight then? Are you very bloated? How was your weight after the soup regime?

[Humminbyrd]

I have IBS combined with FMS.  I got so bloated with such severe stomach pain that I went to a Chinese doctor. ( Western docs couldn't seem to help me).  She told me that I could not eat any fresh fruits or veggies.  The only exceptions are ripe bananas and mandarin oranges.  All my fruits and veggies must either be boiled or steamed.  She told me that I have "a cold stomach" and it cannot "cook my food".  She told me that the only time that I can eat fresh fruits and veggies is when the weather is extremely hot.  I live in the Yukon Territory in Canada and we haven't had a real summer for 5 years so there is little chance of that.  I did find that when I went to Florida last winter for a week and a week the winter before I could get away with a lot more fresh stuff than here.  We plan to go to Florida for 3 months this winter so I guess I will be able to find out for sure.  She also put me on a three week regime of soup.  Soup for lunch and soup for dinner or three weeks!!!  I could eat my regular breakfast of oatmeal with oat bran, wheat bran, wheat germ and flax seeds.  (She also told me once I resumed a normal diet to limit breads (only 2 slices a week for a treat), fats, chocolate and dairy products).  

The regime was as follows: The first week was just clear broth.  The next week I added some meat and barley and a few carrots.  The third week I made really thick barley soup with lots of carrots.  I then went back to a regular diet following her advice.

Its a good thing that I like barley soup.  The barley soup also helps my FMS and I go on it whenever that flares up.  It is an anti inflammatory food.  It is also good for helping to maintain good blood sugar levels.  I came out of that three weeks with a much improved condition.  I have followed her advice for the past 8 years and have very little difficulty with my IBS in all that time.  It is always lurking in the shadows, however, waiting for me to slip off the "straight and narrow".  

Hope the above helps.  Anyway, I wish you all the best on your journey.

[BipolarBear75]

Thanks for the advice...I will try it and let you know...but it is so hard since...I love all that stuff.

[crumy]

Okay, you say you have ibs-c, i know for myself, before i started becoming really bad with ibs and now am not able to eat very much of anything, that when i would eat salads or veggies, especially raw ones, that i would have bad pains in my stomach, intestines and also bad pain in the back, thinking that the food was not digesting properly, this maybe what is happening to you, sometimes as we go from year to year, our systems changes and we are not always able to handle what we once could, so maybe try backing off of some of the veggies and fruits, eat them less often and see what happens, you might start to feel better as far as the back pain, also, i had really bad pains in the front and around the back for a period of time and had to have my gallbladder taken out, which has caused a new set of problems, but that may also be your situation, let me know how you are doing first by cutting back on some of the roughige ( spelling ?).

thanks
crumy

[BipolarBear75]

Hi, I have constipation mostly. And the pain can be so severe that I feel it in my back. I eat so many fruits and veggies....I always have because I love them....but maybe I am eating the wrong ones.

[crumy]

It all depends I think on what type of IBS you have, is it IBS-C or IBS-D, if you have constipation then eating healthier with lots of good veggies and fruit and lots of water should help you, if you have diarrhea like myself, then you can't eat alot of fruits and veggies, fried foods, fatty foods, junk foods with alot of sugar, and drinks with a lot of sugar in them, so lets find out what you are sufferiing with first and then maybe we can help to figure out what is best for you.  let us know.

crumy