Lynxiebrat said

IBS sufferers here? (Irritable Bowel Syndrome.)

Ok, been having an issue with cramps and things I don’t want to mention…(IBS victims I’m sure you can guess what I’m referring to.) So after a long while (A few years really.) of trying to decide whether or not to go to the doctors, (I don’t have health insurance.) I finally went, armed with a list of symptoms and a 2 week log of everything I ate and drank.

After waiting in the exam room for close to an hour (Without my book, I was silly enough to think I didn’t need it.) the doctor came in, we chatted, he listened with the stethoscope, talked some more. Then he gave his assessment:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Which truthfully is what I’ve been thinking it was, kind of hoping because it’s easy treatable, no $$ scripts. He just told me to avoid Caffeine and Dairy. The dairy, I don’t have much of a problem with, at least in regarding milk, though I had been drinking Lactose free milk vanilla flavored and have gotten a little addicted to the taste. Cheese I will be having more trouble with avoiding…I love melted cheese. lol. I am however going to look into cheese alternatives like by Go Veggie! and similar just to see how they taste, and leave real cheese for special occasions.

Caffeine: Now, I don’t drink a lot of caffeine, havn’t for several years and in this past year and more, been working on whittleling it down even more. I drink 1-3 cups of some kind of Black tea, Mate or Guayusa a week, at best. (Only if I get up early enough to make it in time for before work, or for me to drink on the way to my Grams, when I take care of her for tuesday, or for volunteering.) The rest of the time, it’s a Green, White or Oolong. (Yes I know some Greens can have a fair amount of caffeine in them.) But even then it’s not much. Even though I love tea, I don’t drink it everyday, even during the winter. Sometimes I’ll get to where I’m craving a particular tea, and depending on the time of day, I’d have to forcibly remind myself that it’s too late. (Like right now, talking about Mandarin Silk by Art of Tea on another thread has got me craving it right now, but if I have any tea right now, it’ll be herbal.

So, this is a multi-reason thread. For IBS sufferers to grumble about it, chat about different foods, teas etc, that helps (or not.)

Now, if you want to chat about certain aspects of this, go ahead, just because I’d rather not mention it doesn’t mean that others have to follow my lead.

15 Replies

I too am an IBS sufferer. Some days are better than others and it certainly does depend on diet but I also find that some desert teas and thick black teas can set it off. What does help are mint teas, preferably something not black based. It eases the stomach cramps and discomfort. It may be worth a try for anyone suffering from stomach cramps to try a pot of mint tea and see if it works for them. :)

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I’m sorry to hear you are suffering with the IBS thing. I also was diagnosed with IBS after many, many years of suffering. The gastro did the usual stuff, and then the IBS diagnosis. I wasn’t satisfied with being stuffed into the IBS category and wanted more, since I had an extreme crash and really needed answers. I went to and endocrinologist and told him all about my long list of symptoms etc. Long story short I wasn’t absorbing certain nutrients in the small intestines including Vit D, A, E etc. The parathyroid was affected and I had severe symptoms. Yada, Yada, Yada.

Anyway, I take meds, but also I went gluten free. I have an autoimmune reaction to the proteins found in gluten. I had an immediate improvement and now I get fewer bad days than good. Perhaps that would be good for you also.

As for tea, I drink Jason Winter’s original tea. It is a tea he formulated to fight his cancer and it worked for him. The other side of the coin is that it is extra specially gooooood on the digestive tract and helps with problem IBS victims suffer.

I hope that long story actually helps you. These things did help me. Good Luck

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I also suffered with IBS for a long time. Over the years, I gradually eliminated various things. First dairy & sugar, which was easy because I had been a vegetarian for awhile by then & became a vegan around that time, which I was for years. That cured my kidney issues & rashes, but the gut problems continued. I also kept gaining weight, even though I didn’t eat sweets. I also had frequent migraines, arthritis, tendonitis, chronic lung issues, & other stuff. Gluten turned out to be my biggest problem, but over time I’ve discovered that all grains, soy & other legumes are also problems for me. Too many nuts or seeds (even sprouted), spicey spices, & any chemicals in my food also cause problems. I’m no longer a vegan, because the cure for me turned out to be a complete turn around, food-wise (This has happened to many of my vegan/vegetarian friends, especially the ones who went with a raw lifestyle, which I also did on & off for a couple of years). I’m basically following a Paleo type lifestyle now:
Homemade chicken or beef stock daily, homemade cultured veggies with each meal (sauerkraut, kimchi, etc) or kombucha (some people can also have keifer), locally raised meat & eggs, & well cooked veggies. I keep my nut consumption down. I don’t eat much fruit.
I eat most of my veggies cooked, but do eat some raw veggies too.

It was really hard for me to make this switch. I really believed the vegetarian path was best for the environment, social justice, etc. My children had all been raised vegetarian, & although they weren’t totally vegetarian at that point (they are all adults now), they couldn’t believe the changes I was making. neither could I. I did a lot of searching on the internet, tried going with veggie stock, but it made no difference. The collagen & fats in meat stock heals the lining of your gut, the cultured veggies help restore the healthy bacteria. Eventually balance is restored. You quit having aches, your body starts absorbing nutrients again. Systemic irritation goes away (although I do still have seasonal allergies, but my lungs are clear). I lost a lot of weight.
Everybody I know that has tried this path has been healed. I only have problems if I eat things that are not on this program, then I have debilitating gut pain, etc. Some people also have issues with certain veggies, like broccoli (that would devastate me, I live off greens). For those people there is something called the SCD – specific carbohydrate diet. I’ll post some websites for anyone that is interested.

That’s great info. I’m still suffering from gut pains and horrible headache over right eye followed by diarrhea, although it is so much better and a little less frequent. I have puritis, urinate lots and lots at night, and still feel sick in the am. I did lose my eyesight in my right eye from the autoimmune thing and lots and lots of broken meetings, appointments etc. I still can’t plan to far ahead to go places as it is still unpredictable. The paleo sounds very interesting, but I’m very new at the gluten thing and struggling with lifestyle change. I figure one thing at a time.

when it comes to tea, I still do black teas and herbs. The Jason Winter’s tea has been great and so has peppermint. Thanks for the links to great information.

Sharon, I strongly recommend a ‘whole 30’. I’ve done a few, & during the first couple of weeks I did feel pretty crappy, while my body detoxed, but by the end of that month a large part of my autoimmune problems was noticeably better.

Terri, what do you mean by “whole 30?” Does that mean a 30 day fast? I have done that, but maybe it is a special fast. Let me know. Thanks

Sharon, in the post below this one I gave a link to whole9life. Their writing style a little ‘sassy’, but the info has turned out to be dead on accurate for me. A whole30 is a 30 day commitment to eat free of all of the usual causes of systemic irritation. Other than that, it’s all you can eat. It’s amazing what happens to your body when you remove all the irritants: gluten, dairy, sugar, artificial junk, etc. It started off as a 30 day thing for me, but now I eat that way most of the time. That doesn’t mean I can’t occasionally splurge on something, but when I do I usually regret it, if you know what I mean.
Some other websites that offer recipes supporting this lifestyle:
nomnompaleo.com/
www.thesmakethegirl.com/

Terri, great info. I’m willing to try anything, if you know what I mean. I’ve been gluten free for about a month and it helped, but I’m still going through down swings in a big way. I think the only problem for me to do the Whole30 is figuring out what I can have. But, that’s the challenge. I’m still drinking the Jason Winter’s tea and it does help calm the tummy.

Serenity said

Wow, Terri, great information, thank you for sharing that. Sharon have you suffered with uveitis/iritis? I have. The SCD and paleo approach has helped me a great deal.

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BTW, not everybody has to eliminate all of those things!

Here’s a few links:

Although her website is heavy on promoting her products (which I don’t recommend. It’s very easy to make your own ferments without her starters), none the less, there is good info here. This is where my transition started.
http://ibsleakygutheartburn.bodyecology.com/

Lots of great info here! I’ve never read her book, not interested in purchasing ‘products’, but have followed some aspects of her introductory diet.
http://gapsdiet.com/Home_Page.html

This website changed my life. I strongly recommend the book.
http://www.whole9life.com/category/whole-30/

Tons of info on making homemade ferments, all good for your gut
http://www.wildfermentation.com/

Caffeine, from tea, doesn’t cause any problems for me at all, I’m please to report. And did I mention that I feel Fantastic? Cuz I do! Better than I’ve felt my entire life.

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MissB said

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when I was 16, and only once have I had to resort to steroids to get my health back on track again. I’m almost positive I can avoid any sort of crises from now on in in this regard, as long as I follow a few things:

- I avoid all fresh fruit, except for berries. It’s an instant trigger for me – like knife in the stomach trigger. I can drink any fruit in teas however, except for strawberries which I’ve now found I’m allergic to.

- I eat grain-free and sugar-free. I feel like a million bucks when I do, and it’s pretty easy once you get used to it. I rarely crave bread now, and if I do, I just make something from the Wheat Belly cookbook, Against All Grain, Satisfying Eats (free blog), or a few others.

- Caffeine in some forms is a trigger for me. Black and green tea in moderation, and a maximum of two matcha’s a day. (I REALLY love matcha). Rooibos actually helps with my symptoms.

I find when I eat this way and exercise, I often forget I have ulcerative colitis. My last colonoscopy was healthy; my doctor actually questioned my having ulcerative colitis anymore.

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OMGsrsly said

I have it. A couple years ago I ended up trying a gluten free diet, because I had eliminated dairy and caffeine and was still having horrible problems. Now I can tolerate caffeine, and some coffee (it’s so acidic!), and some dairy. No gluten at all, and I have to be super careful with legumes and nuts (soaked/sprouted then cooked are best).

Today I’m courting disaster because I had coffee, I’ve eaten about 2 cups of cherry tomatoes (again, the acidity), and I made and have consumed a lot of gluten free bread. I don’t use gums in my baking at home, as I find they can trigger problems as well. However, too much of anything can be bad!

A more paleo diet would be better for me, I’m sure, but I need to bulk out my diet with rice and some beans. Meat and eggs are fairly pricey here, especially if I get the good stuff.

I love coffee, but it hates me. It is acidic for my body, & it also makes my kidneys hurt. Luckily tea doesn’t seem to have that effect. I can’t use arrowroot or any of the typical things in gluten free breads, but I do make some things with almond flour sometimes, & sometimes sweeten with a little maple syrup. Mostly I’ve just pretty much given up on any kind of bread like thing…sigh…

OMGsrsly said

You can make custard cakes with almond flour, butter, eggs and honey or maple syrup… SO good.

The Frangipane here, but I’d use less sweetener, and whole fruits or berries. http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/jamie-oliver/jool-s-pasta-with-frangipane-tart-meal Works well even without a crust, although you have to spoon it out of the container. :)

I should give up on bread, but I get suckered in. At least making my own is better than paying $6-8 for a subpar loaf!

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I’ve never heard of frangipane tart meal. It sounds intriguing. I’ll give it a try.

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