After going back and forwards to the doctors with numerous stomach & digestive problems I am going to work on the assumption that it is most probably IBS which is behind it all. As there is no actual test for IBS the diagnosis is a bit hit and miss. Last year they found I had a helicobacter pylori infection, acid reflux & gastritis after numerous tests. I was on antibiotics & other tablets for just over 2 months, everything settled down for a while but the last 6 months have been hell.
I have lost count of the number of things I’ve had to cancel over the last few years as I’ve not been able to leave the house because of stomach problems. Regularly when I was working (I’m self employed and I do shows & events mainly at the weekend), I couldn’t eat from lunch time the day before so I could leave the house early the next day. I would regularly not dare to eat for over 24 hours when I was working. This of course made my digestive system worse though, and the vicious circle started again.
I have already found a few foods that cause me problems such as onions, anything fizzy, fried/fatty foods & some vegetables. A doctor suggested FODMAPS which I had never heard of but I’m willing to try anything to get out of this cycle of stomach cramps, diarrhoea & bloating so I can start to enjoy life again.
Let me explain about FODMAP, in case you, like me, have never heard about this. FODMAP stands for: Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides & Polyols, bit of a mouthful I know. These are a collection of poorly absorbed simple & complex sugars which are found in a variety of fruits & vegetables but they also found in milk & wheat.
I have done a fair bit of research on what foods are likely to be bad for me but last week I found this page which contains a list of bad and good foods. I am starting changing my diet from tomorrow and I am aiming to just stick to the ‘good’ foods for between 2 and 4 weeks and then I will start to re-introduce some things and see if I have any reaction to them.
There’s one thing that I can’t cut out, milk. I cannot drink tea & coffee black so that has to stay in my diet but I will cut down as much as possible. The rest I will stick to, it is going to be hard but I have to look at the long term benefits. I will keep you posted on how I do with this.
A New Adventure 