Potentially heretical question
#231374 - 12/13/05 05:04 PM
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Emily H.
Reged: 02/28/05
Posts: 83
Loc: Luxembourg, LU
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So, I've been thinking about something, and I wanted to run it by all of you at the risk of sounding completely crazy. Three of the women I know (all in their late 50s now) were diagnosed with IBS in their 20s. They were given variations on what used to be the theme: lots of fiber, bland foods, excercise. All of them followed it, all of them suffered moderate-to-horrible symptoms for 2-5 years, but all of them are now fine. One can eat anything no problem, and the other two just have to be careful about eating too much really rich food.
This makes me wonder, given something else: I've heard from reputable sources that completely cutting something out of your diet makes it harder to introduce (sometimes even impossible) later, because your body "forgets" how to deal with it - even for totally healthy people.
Is there any evidence to suggest that just "toughing it out" for a while will allow us to recover, while following the diet strictly just means that we're reinforcing our various intolerances? Bear in mind here that I'm as averse to pain, suffering and embarrassment as the next person, but if a few years of misery lead to a lifetime of being a "normal" person, I'm tempted to try.
So, am I a heretic?
~Emily
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I've had IBS for 18 years. I tried that - toughing it out, I mean. And it didn't work. I was able to go a couple years without symptoms, but then they came back again with a vengeance.
For the most part, the things that we're supposed to cut out of our diet completely (or at least almost completely) - dairy, red meat, caffeine, fatty foods - are things that aren't healthy for *any* person anyway, whether they have IBS or not. You really have nothing to gain by "toughing it out"... and a generally much-healthier lifestyle to gain by following a low-fat diet, eating plenty of veggies safely, and getting exercise.
Just my .02, of course.
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It's true that all of our diets are healthier, I guess I just get weary of the explaining and restaurant issues that go with IBS. And I love cheese. A lot. I grew up in Switzerland, where heavy, fatty, yummy cheese meals were what defined the winter. But you're right... Sigh.
I've tried toughing it out, too, and that didn't work so well for me either. Mostly curious about others' experiences.
BTW, I see you're from Maine - I'm going to be up there for Xmas week, and am really looking forward to it. Beautiful state! 
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First of all, let me preface by saying that I think my IBS is moderate. I have had excruciating bouts, but I'm not sure I suffer as much as some other people on the boards, so what I do might not work for everyone.
We only get one trip through this life, and I'm not going to spend it depriving myself of everything I crave. So, if I want a piece of cheese, I eat a piece of cheese. I know I'll pay for it for days or even a week, but sometimes it's worth it, in moderation. I'll probably never have a serving of fettucine alfredo again, but I might have a bite, or two, or three, and be gassy and crampy later but live to tell the story. I think the anxiety we can give ourselves by banning certain foods and thinking of them like poison can hurt our gut as much as the food itself. So, I don't go nuts. If I'm having a stable day, I'll get a slice of swiss on my turkey sandwich. I know it's not going to kill me, and I'm willing to put up with the discomfort for a while. Same goes for alcohol. I'm in law school, I live in Manhattan, and I'm 24. Abstinence from alcohol simply does not fit into my lifestyle. So, I drink, and I pay the next day (as do most people, incidentally).
All this being said, I do have one policy from which I do not waver: I do NOT keep "cheat" foods in the house. No dairy, no red meat, no alcohol whatsoever. I allow myself to have bits of these things on special occasions out of the house, and that's it.
If your symptoms are not crippling, maybe this is something you can try?
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Amanda
I live in the Big Apple, but I don't eat the skin
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But you know what? It's getting a lot easier to eat out than it used to be. Back when I first started having to eat low-fat, I had to special-order food EVERYWHERE I went. These days, I can almost always find something that ok... I just have to "hold the cheese" or ask for "sauce on the side". As for the explaining... well, I'm pretty blunt about things, so I almost always just tell people that that's the way it is so shut up. 
Hey! Small world - I'm actually a native New Yorker! I moved up here 2 years ago. Whereabouts in Maine will you be? I'm assuming you'll be downstate from where I am - I live waaaaay up in the boonies, hehe. But it's a beautiful state no matter where you are in it, that's for sure. I love it here.
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I was going to get into that too, but... well, I didn't. LOL!
I'd be lying if I said that I still follow the diet so religiously and never allow myself "cheat" foods. I know what I can get away with, and I even have a pretty severe case of IBS. Dairy just kills me, so I don't eat it. EVER. Chocolate, on the other hand... *ahem*. Ditto for red meat, and the occasional soda or glass of wine. HOWEVER - these foods are not part of my regular diet, and like Panda, I don't keep them in the house, because I know that if I did, I'd eat them all the time and I'd end up right back where I started.
It really is all about balance - staying healthy, but allowing yourself enough "goodies" to be happy. Just remember that they're "treats" and not something to be eaten with wild abandon. I know that eating "whatever I want" isn't going to work.
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Ditto.
(I wish this board had a thumbs up icon)
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I am able to cheat in moderation...I will NOT eat fried food because it is my worst trigger but I don't like it anyway.
I do keep triggers in my house because I have a husband and two kids and they can manage cheese and red meat but on a whole I don't eat it.
You just need to find a proper balance for yourself...IBS isn't like the common cold, everyone has different triggers.
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Have a blessed day!...Rachel
stable and sooooooo thankful!
I have IBS but it doesn't have me!
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Even following the diet "strictly" still allows for several of the trigger foods so that the body is used to them; e.g. eating 20% fat in meals helps the gut stay tolerant of fats and making sure to eat plenty of IF with meals makes that tolerable too. In fact the only foods that are completely forbidden are foods to which a person has a specific intolerance. Even Heather says having small amounts of chocolate, dairy products etc (or a bite or two of steak) is okay when stable. So the principles of making your gut tolerate things are a part of this diet IMO.
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IBS-A for 20 years with terrible bloating and gas. On the diet since April 2004. Remember this from Heather's information pages:
"You absolutely must eat insoluble fiber foods, and as much as safely possible, but within the IBS dietary guidelines. Treat insoluble fiber foods with suitable caution, and you'll be able to enjoy a wide variety of them, in very healthy quantities, without problem." Please eat IF foods!
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And I guess I do the same. Chocolate is my biggest weakness - since I've always preferred dark anyway, I eat it like (lowfat) peanut butter: in small doses, but more frequently than I probably should. Although aside from that I do tend to follow the diet pretty strictly, to the point that I pretty much only eat out at Asian restaurants. It's that part that I need to loosen up on, I know, but I've had some wretched experiences trying to get other restaurants to modify things, so I'm skeptical. Mostly, since I work and I hate having to go anywhere when I'm feeling the least bit icky, I'm too paranoid to eat anything I know will be bad - don't even enjoy it, really. And hey - at least on Manhattan there are 1001 Asian restaurants of all varieties, even all the way uptown where we live.
Casey - I'll be in Bridgeton, right next to the ME/NH border in S. ME. My fiance's family has been skiing up at Shawnee Peak for years, and it's my first Xmas with them. I'm pretty excited - haven't been skiing in two years! And, actually, we may be up in the boonies sometime soon - thinking about doing the Appalaichan Trail. Eek. 
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