Onset of symptoms
#157416 - 03/06/05 06:38 AM
|
|
|
|
Suze
Reged: 02/24/05
Posts: 30
Loc: Virginia
|
|
|
I'd appreciate some feedback on how long it generally takes to get symptoms after eating a trigger food. I sometimes have trouble figuring out what's zapped me because my symptoms don't seem to show up for at least a few hours...My impression is that a lot of people get them pretty quick after eating - Is that right? Is my experience different? I'm IBS-A, and it's especially hard for me to figure out triggers when I'm in a C phase, but it's also a problem for me with D episodes, too.
Thanks for your help!! 
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Hi.I'm IBS D. Mine range from exactly 2 hours or the next morning. I usually can pinpoint what mine is from but sometimes I account mine to hormonal and my time of the month. I can eat a hoagie one week then if I'm ovulating or going to get my period the hoagie can come right out 
--------------------
~~~Lisa~~~
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I don't eat really bad trigger foods anymore, but back when I did, before I started the diet, I'd have attacks within an hour of eating it - sometimes even before I'd finished eating! But it's different for everyone.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I can get an attack from food the next morning (usually from eating too much or a bit too much fat), or a few hours later (again, too much fat, or a little bit of a trigger food), or before I've even finished eating! (a major trigger food - this is what I get from even a bite of dairy). But yeah, I don't eat any of the trigger foods any more so that helps!
Really, this is somewhere where EVERYONE is different though.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I think it is more difficult to pinpoint a tigger food reaction when you are a C, as I am usually. It can take up to 48 hours as I have read, to react to something.
This has been a frustrating ordeal for me to pinpoint problem foods. I kept a food diary for over 6 months and did not come to any conclusions on any foods 
If you come up with a way, please share, as I have no clue as to what any of mine are.
--------------------
~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
A bit late to reply, but in case this is helpful to anyone: when trying to identify triggers it helps to have an idea how fast food usually passes through you. There's an easy way to find out your normal 'transit' time, just take a spoonful of corn kernels (sweetcorn) - the important thing is to swallow them without chewing. They will pass through undigested and be very easy to identify at the other end!
Sweetcorn can be a trigger - it is for me - but if you don't chew them at all it should be okay. Take them at the end of a safe meal and you will get a good idea how long it took to pass through.
Obviously, different foods move at different speeds, but doing this will provide a basic timeline to use for future comparison and should make it easier to judge whether the D you get on Monday was caused by what you ate on Friday, Saturday or Sunday!
Hope this helps.
Josephine
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I just noticed what you said about it being harder to pinpoint triggers if you are C. The sweetcorn test would be particularly useful for you, because you really need to have an accurate idea of the time you take to digest food, so as to judge what is affecting you and when. The test gives you a starting point and combined with a really good food log, you should soon be able to draw some conclusions.
Hope this helps!
Josephine
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
I don't get Diarrhea at all from foods. My trigger food symptoms would be pain and cramps and gas and bloating.
How would swallowing a kernal of popcorn help me to know what food was the culprit? And how do I know which food was the problem by how fast or slowly I expel the corn.
Would you mind explaining more about your method?
Thank you.
PS. plus the thought of swallowing a kernal of corn is scary! I don't know if I could put that into my GI system!
--------------------
~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
Sweetcorn is corn-on-the-cob without the cob! The yellow stuff. What do you guys call it?
I find that sweetcorn tends to go through me whole even if I don't have D and I think this is what josephine was referring to.
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
|
|
... I don't know if you call it something different in America, perhaps someone who is bilingual can translate!
Well, before you can identify triggers you need to know during what time period the culprit food must have been eaten. For D people it may be as simple as the last thing they ate. For C people it is obviously a lot harder to know. I am A, used to be D a lot of the time, now mostly C. I can tell with a lot of things because I have the charming habit of passing food undigested - either whole or semi - and, yes, I do make a habit of looking at what I've done!
Okay, the way it works is that unchewed sweetcorn will pass undigested through anyone, giving a clear indication of transit time. Say, for example, it's 24 hours: using that as a guideline, you can relate your current symptoms to what you ate 24 hours ago, which you know because you are keeping a detailed food log. (You are doing that, aren't you - because otherwise it really is impossible to identify triggers.)
Knowing the transit time alone is not enough to identify triggers, but if you are C, or A tending to C, the transit time helps to narrow the possibilities, so instead of making wild guesses you can at least be methodical about it all.
When I have the kind of symptoms you describe, it usually ends with a marathon session on the toilet and then I feel better, so in general I think that the food I just excreted is the culprit. Then I can test it by not eating it for a while and then trying it again ... Some things cause problems consistently, others are a bit more variable, but at least I am building up knowledge about my body and its reactions which is even more valuable to me than reading about other people's experiences (although I do do that too!)
About the risks of eating sweetcorn - well, I know just what you mean. If I eat sweetcorn as part of a meal and chew it normally, the next day I can guarantee pain, nausea, headache and - eventually - diarrhoea. So it is really important to swallow without chewing - anyway, if you do chew it will be harder to see the little blighters anyway, which would defeat the purpose! Only take one spoonful and take it after a good safe meal. And keep a food log!
I didn't make this up myself - found it in a book called "Bloating" (yes, I really felt good handing that to the sales assistant!) by Susanna Olivier (I think that's her name - I am not at home at the moment.) She is a nutritional therapist here in the UK.
I hope this makes it clearer. If not, please ask again or email me if you prefer.
All the best,
Josephine
Print
Remind Me
Notify Moderator
|
Posts
