Please Help
#303962 - 04/04/07 09:50 AM
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AndrewIBSC
Reged: 03/23/07
Posts: 159
Loc: PHiladelphia, PA
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I am really questioning whether this diet actually works or just makes my life more restricted and does not really pay dividends. I have been following the diet for about two months now....I take benefiber three times a day (1 teaspoon) and I am still constipated. At times I question whether I should go off the diet and just live my life. If it doesn't work why go through all the trouble. Also I know this website is based on a business....does soluble fiber actually make C'ers go. It seems to bind me up. I would really appreciate any help you may have. Also, I am on peppermint, probiotics, digestive enzymes, natural calm, fennel and ginger. The only thing that seems to help is the natural calm. Please Help.
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You need, need, NEED to also be eating INsoluble fiber foods. Especially if you've been on the diet for that long, you should be starting to work some roughage back into your diet. If you haven't started doing that, you're not really following the diet - or, rather, you're only following it halfway - and it's not going to work for you.
Introduce insoluble fiber foods - gradually, but keep working at it. Expect that you might be gassy or bloated at first, but it will even out. Basically, you need to keep increasing the IFs until you're eating as much of them as you can humanly tolerate. For me, for example, that means that probably 75% of what I eat in a day is INsoluble fiber.
Also, keep increasing your soluble fiber supplement. Three teaspoons of Benefiber a day is good, but I *think* that's nowhere near the recommended 12-15g a day that Heather suggests. You can easily go higher than that.
For me (granted, I'm an A, not a straight C, but still), it's not so much that "soluble fiber makes me go". That's not really the point of the diet. The point is that your guts need the soluble fiber to "cushion" all the other foods, so what you're really trying to do is strike a balance between the 2 types of fiber. (The bonus, by the way, is that it's extremely healthy for your entire body - this is how we humans should be eating!)
You also need to pay attention to some non-diet aspects of this, too. If you're prone to a lot of stress or anxiety, do what you have to do to manage that, because you probably will not stabilize if you don't. Exercise is also key, especially for C'ers, as is drinking a LOT of water.
Finally, you do need to be patient. This isn't a quick fix. It took me over a year to stabilize, but I have to say it was TOTALLY worth the trouble.
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I 2nd what Atomic Rose said. I am IBS-C and it has taken me over 8 months to strike that balance of SF & IF. I would not be able to tolerate the IF with out a cushion of the SF.
Snookie, IBS-C
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Snookie, IBS-C
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Atomic Rose...if you have read the threads I've posted lately, I'm having a tough time with gas/bloating and sf/if ratio AGAIN! I was just wondering...you said you used to take an SF supplement but stopped, right? You just get your sf from your foods? I definitely think the acacia is what helped me to stabalize from d, but I think the lexapro has really changed my bowels and now I am not c, but eating lots of IF to go once daily and feeling gassy (but...good, complete bms).
I'm confused about increasing the acacia...most people, including you (to the poster in this thread) have suggesting INCREASING it...but how is it then that you do okay without any sf supplement? Part of me thinks maybe I don't need it. Maybe the diet along with the lexapro and now being much more stable is enough? I'm so torn b/c I don't want to decrease/increase, etc., etc...I feel like I was making such great progress and now it may takes months to figure out the right ratio again. Any thoughts?
Also, did I read correctly that you can eat IF without an sf cushion for some of your snacks/meals? I know you are an exception, but I'm finding that I'm getting bloated b/c I'm always eating TWO things even at a snack and it's just too much. I don't get d if I just grab some fruit as long as it's not first thing in the morning. Could that be why I'm getting gas though? b/c I ALWAYS need to have an SF base? Also, everyone suggests that ww is gas-producing...but I was figuring it was good for me as a source of IF and it gives me no d. Sorry...I'm completely lost again on how to proceed.  Thanks.
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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... I can answer a few of those.
Yes, you ALWAYS need to cushion meals and snacks with SF.
As for WW, it is one of the hardest whole grains to digest. If you want whole grains, start with simpler ones like brown rice, quinoa, barley, etc. They're much easier on the tummy. 
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Lisa, IBS-C (Vegan)
Stable since July 2007!
Mommy to Rhiannon Marie (Dec. 13, 2008)
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Exactly. Keep in mind that fiber supplements that everyone and every doctor knows makes you go, are SOLUBLE FIBER. so obviously it isn't constipating. But the diet works better and faster for D people, and C people have to drink enough and eat a lot of IF. That is what will move the gut along.
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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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What are the IF foods you eat? Is cream of wheat considered IF?
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How are your sleep patterns. How much water are you drinking and what are your exercise patterns. The diet will not work by itself for those of us with ibs c unless you are having the right amount of water and sleep, and if you are working out regularly. The exercise releases stress which lets you sleep peacfully which will calm your insides. Maybe this could help? Let me know
Time
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...but I can tell you that cream of wheat is NOT IF.
The sort of IF that you should focus on is fruits and vegetables. Chopping/cooking/pureeing them will make the IF more tolerable. Please read the dietary info on the rest of the website - Heather explains this in detail!
--AC
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Which post was that in response to Astrochick? I do eat cream of wheat on occasion but not as IF, just as a stable breakfast. I don't eat any veggies raw, not even carrots...everything steamed really soft. Fruits I have some raw but no skins yet. Mostly banana blueberry smoothies, a slice or two of a peeled apple(gassy for me), or cantaloupe/pineapple...just chopped up. I just reread some of Heather's guidelines in my book. I think I have been following them pretty much 95% except that I can't get the IF/SF ratio right. I'm working on it! Also, I do drink lots of water when I am eating. I read that we should try not to do that as it doesn't help with digestion. How much impact does that have? I seem to get my most water intake at meals to wash things down.
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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