Dietary and stomach update

[andrewducker]

So, I've been doing the FODMAPs diet for IBS for about 16 months now. (Good explanation here from a friend of mine who was recently put on it by his doctor.)

It's been going very well, so long as I stick to it. I've managed to isolate what works and what doesn't - turns out I can manage small amounts of onion, garlic, pulses, etc. I can manage wheat in small amounts, provided I don't eat it every day (and by small amounts I mean "in sauces" not "a sandwich"). And I really, really cannot have milk. Which isn't a surprise considering I don't have the gene for digesting milk in the first place.

Thankfully, having discovered lactase tablets has really helped. I can now eat milk-based food without it causing more than a short period of uncomfortableness.

Which means that my stomach has become altogether a less dramatic part of my life, for which I am very grateful.

(I would still rather have it working correctly. And be able to eat sandwiches. And cereal. And doughnuts. Although that would also require my insulin to be working properly as well. Oh, how I miss doughnuts. *sigh*)

Comments

[myka]

I'm glad this is improving for you, even though it's inconvenient. I must have told you I was diagnosed with IBS years ago, and it can be very demoralizing. It doesn't trouble me often nowadays.

[yalovetz]

It sucks to have restrictions on what you can, but very glad to hear that you're feeling better physically as a result. At the very least, you have knowledge and control now that you didn't have before and can make informed choices about what you will and won't eat under what circumstances, knowing full well the effects that'll have.

[cmcmck]

I wasn't aware you were dealing with diabetes! My nephew has to do likewise.

[andrewducker]

Not diabetic, but I get hypoglyaecemic if I don't watch my diet.

Basically, if I eat sweet things then I get about three days of cravings afterwards. And if I keep satisfying those cravings by eating sweet things then I get to the point (after about a week) where not eating sweet things causes me to get very shaky and have cold sweats.

I'm fairly sure that this the kind of thing that turns into diabetes if you let it.

[andrewducker]

Oh yes. It's now an inconvenience rather than an appalling thing I was suffering through.

And I'm still really grateful I don't have celiac.

[darkoshi]

People think that being a vegan is hard, but the FODMAP diet sounds more complicated to me.

I'm glad that you're figuring out what works for you.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, Vegan food might be a pain to find, but it's clearly marked when available.

I end up ordering "burger, no bun" and hoping that they didn't use wheat as a binder...