Testing for FODMAPs
#363612 - 02/23/11 04:05 PM
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I am considering giving the FODMAPs approach a try. I already follow almost everything on this diet except for wheat, apples/applesauce, and some occasional soy.
I am primarily interested in seeing if eliminating wheat will help my symptoms.
How does one test for an intolerance for wheat (Fructans) and the other categories for FODMAPs?
If I eliminate them from my diet how long before I would notice any change if I do indeed have an intolerance?
I have not had any wheat or other FODMAP triggers since Monday (it is now Wednesday evening here) but have been feeling terrible since Monday when a tunafish salad with Smart Balance Mayo on a white flour tortilla had me half dead. This prompted my wheat-exclusion trial. Still been feeling sick yesterday and today when I didn't have wheat, but this should be normal since it generally takes me a few days to recover from a bad spell.
Is there a certain point I should add wheat back in to test for symptoms? It seems like I have nothing to eat at home it all has wheat!
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I am currently on a Fodmap-elimination diet that my dietician has put me on. I started to feel improvements after only a week, but now (four weeks in to the diet) I feel like a completely new person! I´ve had D for many years (as long as I can remember, actually!), but no more! It stopped after ten days. I had to be really strict in the beginning of this diet, but since my symtoms have approved so greatly, now I can start trying out small amounts of new foods to test my tolerance level. I only try one new food every four days, and in very small amounts. Right now I am trying wheat (only white flour, I can´t tolerate whole grains). I have noticed some bloating but no D, so hopefully I will be able to consume small amounts of wheat in the future as well. Right now I am extatic about the progress I´ve already made, it feels almost to good to be true, since I´ve been so severely sick for years.
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Only two FODMAPS, lactose and fructose, can be directly tested for malabsorption. Fructans, galactans and polyol have to be tested by eliminating them from your diet for a period of 2-3 weeks.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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Thanks for the replies!
This is already proving to be quite difficult. Went to the store to pickup some wheat free products (boy are they expensive!) and I noticed a lot have soy ingredients. Went through my kitchen and found a lot of hidden soy (soy oils, soy lecithin, etc.) Do I need to eliminate all possible soy ingredients?
I've already slipped on the wheat with some corn pops I didn't realize had wheat until I had finished a bowl...
As for the lactose and fructose tests where can I have these done? Do I need to go to an allergist or a lab diagnostics facility?
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Talk to your GP about the fructose and lactose tests.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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I ate a lot of oatmeal, salad, rice and chicken. yes, your diet will be bland for a while. i was lucky and found improvement in a day or two. well worth it, i wish i had done it sooner.
(wheat is my main problem.)
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I have been on the FODMAPs diet for 11 days now and have been getting worse, much worse.
The symptoms I was looking to eliminate (flatulence, urgency, and D) have not improved and the D and urgency have gotten WAY worse. This morning was one of the worst days I have had in months.
I am assuming this is not a normal adjustment? I have been eating Gluten/Wheat free products during this time. Could these have any significant impact?
I am wondering if I should try and tough it out another week or if I should give up now. And I am hoping that if I go back to just the EFI diet my symtoms will regress to where they were before.
I am also getting pretty worried because I really cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. I want to work at getting better but don't know what to do if I follow the diets and still feel this way.
Any input would be very much appreciated right now. I feel very lost.
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I find that I can not eat most gluten free products becuase they often have some odd ingredients. Usually they have soy or maybe corn. For me, I cannot handle soy flour at all and corn is insoluble. What gluten free products are you using?
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As Syl knows, I have been on FODMAP for a month.
Not much better.
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Thanks for the replies guys! I'm having another tough morning and have to go into work in a little while.
I have been using Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour and Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum to replace wheat flour in my baking. This wheat/gluten free flour has these listed ingredients: Garbanzo Bean Flour, Potato Starch, Tapioca Flour, White Sorghum Flour, Fava Bean Flour.
There was already a thread about this flour mix here: http://www.helpforibs.com/messageboards/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=recipe&Number=16759&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&vc=1
I also had Rudi's Gluten Free bread with the following ingredients: Water, potato extract, rice starch, rice flour, sorghum flour, organic high oleic sunflower/safflower oil, organic evaporated cane juice, organic honey, egg whites, organic inulin (just noticed this as I am typing! Missed that one in the store. Fiber in nutrition facts only listed at 1g though. And I didn't start eating that one until yesterday afternoon after I was already ill), yeast, sea salt, organic molasses, xanthan gum.
Also had Baked Lentil Chips with Bean Flour (Lentil, AdzukI, and garbanzo beans), potato starch, vegetable oil, and then a mix of spices.
And finally I had a Pasta with Organic Rice Flour, Organic Rice Starch, Organic Potato Starch, Organic Soy Flour. (From what I had found researching FODMAPs and Soy it was the soybean one has to stay away from. Was this accurate?
There were some other products I had last week but I don't have their ingredients in front of me.
I don't know how to proceed. Normally when I feel this sick I rely on basic toast (which has wheat), oatmeal, and cereal to get me through. Debating if I should go back to wheat now or eliminate the gluten free products and try FODMAPs without them for another week. (But then I am at a loss for what a person should be eating.)
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If this FODMAP is not working for you, why continue with it? People who offer advice on these boards are not doctors. So, if you get a bit of bad advice, then discard and move on. And you might want to check with your doctor, but it seems they aren't much help either.
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Just noticing your diet consists of alot of things with beans (the flour mix, the chips, etc.). While beans are a great source of protein, I for one, cannot tolerate much of them. There are alot of other choices for flour mixtures which do not include beans....also pasta without soy flour (can be a trigger for some). I like Udi's bread better than Rudy's because I can't tolerate that inulin either. Just some thoughts....
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IBS-D. Eating gluten and dairy free.
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Are you following the EFI diet with low IF, fat, pureed, peeled and well cooked veggies as well?
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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I think we need to go back to the basics...Heather's diet. That is what these boards are all about! If FODMAP or any other diet is not working for you, drop it. Go back to the basics of Heather's diet, get that down, and then evaluate how you feel. We are straying too much from the purpose of these boards. Maybe if you keep it a bit more simple for now, by following Heather's guidelines, instead of the FODMAP/fructose that seems to be pushed so strongly here, maybe you could stabilize a bit. I think if we try too many different things at one time, then we don't know what is working and what isn't.
And by the way. Don't feel like you are doing anything wrong! You are trying to find your way like everyone else. Don't let anyone here make you feel that you are not sticking to their advice and it is all your fault. That is not the case. I sure hope you feel better soon!
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Again thank you for the replies. It is very nice to have people to communicate with about this.
To Syl: Yes, I was maintaining the rules of the EFI diet as well. My fat and IF were very low. I knew it was not either or with EFI and FODMAPs, but a combination that you were recommending.
To Gerikat: I think I will go back to Heather's basics, starting with the breaking the cycle page. Thank you for your message and encouragement. I don't feel anyone is pushing me with their advice or blaming any fault on me. I see this as an open forum for people with different ideas to exchange them and try to help each other out. I understand that some things work for some people and some things don't. And I, like many others, am always hoping for that next piece of advice that will be the answer and solve all my problems. I have to keep remembering it might not be that simple.
But honestly, I am beginning to think 90% of this is all in my head. About 2 years ago I had stomach issues for a month or so and began reading about IBS online, which is what put the idea in my head. Then I went to my GP and described all the symptoms and he concurred it must be IBS. I went to a GI and went through tests to eliminate other possibilities and right away started following Heather's advice.
But before that I had no problems. I was 20 years old then, and eating fast food, greasy fried foods, donuts, you name it and I didn't have any issues. Then out of the blue it seemed to go downhill so fast after thinking I had IBS. It just doesn't make much sense to me.
And after doing Michael Mahoney's IBS Audio Program 100 the first time I was back to eating pretty much whatever I wanted and didn't have too many issues until after some stressful times I seemed right back to where I was before.
But it seems the more and more I concentrate on IBS and I try to fix it the worse I get. And I just can't seem to get it out of my head. I keep seeing my life being controlled by it. Everything I do revolves around IBS, or how I will feel if I go there or eat that. It is such a difficult cycle to escape.
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Then I would encourage you to do the hypno tapes again. I did them 3 times before I no longer suffered with IBS. I was like you. I could not figure out where I was going wrong. Then after I bought the tapes and went through them again and again, I kept seeing improvement.
And, wow is it true that once it is in your head, it is IN YOUR HEAD. Your focus is on IBS and that will be all you think about.
I can't tell you the difference I feel after the hypnosis tapes. It used to be when I would drive to work in the morning, I would fret the whole way. My problems were always in the morning. So, any little twinge I would feel, I would panic. Then, I realized, I felt twinges on the way home from work too, but did not give those a second thought. So, I thought why can it not be the same in the morning? That is when I really realized how strongly my mind came into play. My mind expected problems in the morning and when I felt a twinge... panic, but did not expect problems on the way home, so gave those twinges no thought at all.
I hope that makes since, because it was like a light bulb went off for me. Since then, I have been well and never looked back. But, I have to say, it did take awhile, and as I said, 3 rounds of the hypnosis.
This dissecting of diet for every little thing, I do not think works. Before the tapes, I could not tell you what morsel of food I put in my mouth on Monday, that was affecting my belly on Wednesday. It all just got a bit riduculous to me.
It is probably not good to be here when you are having problems. Even though I know you are looking for help, you really are just re-enforcing the problem.
My advice to you, and again it's just advice, is I would go back to the basics of Heather's diet, go through the tapes again, and stay away from any focus on IBS. Hope this helps.
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I Seem to have trouble with those different flours (bean, soy, and even rice flour seems to make me constipated). I also sometimes have trouble with sunflower oil. And I think molasses can cause problems too. After trying all those gluten free products, I found Im better off with the wheat.
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I'm feeling a little more normal now that I'm back to the EFI basics. I also reduced my fiber supplement down to 1/2 teaspoon twice daily as instructed in the Breaking the Cycle page. I'm interested to see how a low dose goes compared to the 6 teaspoon equivalent I had been on.
I am currently on Michael Mahoney's Anxiety Tapes but it has't been working too well. I really just cannot seem to relax and listen. My mind is racing the whole time and I feel like nothing gets through. The same thing happened the second time I tried the IBS tapes. I don't know why it wasn't like that the first time. The first time I was relaxed and listening.
I'm not sure if I'll finish off the Anxiety program and then wait a while before starting up the IBS ones again but I need to change something so that I'm comfortable while listening to any program.
I might stay off the boards for a while and see if I can get IBS out of my head. Not sure it will work but it's worth trying.
Good luck to everyone else in the meantime! And thanks!
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