Anyone NOT having success with this diet?
#318863 - 11/16/07 03:27 PM
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Erilyn
Reged: 11/14/07
Posts: 743
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Canada
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Hi everyone. I am new to the message boards but not new to this site, and certainly not new to IBS. I am 29 years old, diagnosed with IBS when I was 17, but have memories of IBS-related problems since at least the age of 14, if not before. I could post my life story here, but I'll stick to the basics - my main problems are D, with occasional C, and I used to get AWFUL bloating and gas, but have recently (miraculously) fixed that simply by cutting non-rice breakfast cereals from my diet altogether.
After debating trying this diet for probably over two years now (I am a HUGE lover of dairy), I finally decided to give it a try. I started on Monday, and Wednesday evening I had a horrible attack of D - just out of the blue. Thursday I was fine, and then nearly all day today I've had intermittent attacks of D-like cramps, but no D. Frankly my confidence in this diet is already shaken. 
Has anyone else had this experience when starting out with the diet? Or can anyone offer some advice? Do I need to provide more info?
TIA and sorry so long...
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IBS-A since age 12, and fructose sensitive; with the exception of my pregnancy, have been following Heather's diet since Nov. 19, 2007.
Taking 12g of Acacia per day. Relatively stable since March 2008!
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Give it a longer try then 5 days. Giving up something you love is really hard but soon enough it will seem normal to you NOT to be eating dairy. There is a substituion for most. Keep at it.
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Crohns, lactose intolerant
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Many have been helped with this diet. I think it is too early to tell. Give it a fair try. For me, this diet didn't help. I found the only thing that helped me get well again was to eliminate refined/processed sugar and limit my grains for awhile. Have you ever been on antibiotics?-even when you were younger? If so, this diet may not help you. You may have a fungal/yeast condition that needs to be addressed. You may want to experiment with an antifungal program (Basically eliminating processed sugar/grains/yeast for awhile) if you are finding this diet doesn't work for you. It was the only thing that helped me, and even now I need to monitor my sugar/grain/yeast intake. Do you have pasta/bread/or sugar cravings? Could be an indicator of fungal overgrowth. Don't give up though. 5 days is too early to tell with any change in diet.
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Kim, how did you find out about the infection? Is this something a test for SIBO or Candida would show?
And what about your diet, do you basically follow the candida diet? Or are you not as strict?
I used to take a lot of antibiotics when I was a little kid but all my recent tests were normal. Are you a c or a d?
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant 
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Well, I didn't know for sure when I actually tried an antifungal diet. I experimented after learning antibiotic use/birth control use could cause a fungal overgrowth. I had no preconceived ideas about fungus/yeast being a problem for me. I really didn't think this antifungal thing would make a difference for me. Why wouldn't my doctor have told me about it, if there was truth to it!? No common test that you have done in the doctor's office will pick it up. I had many tests done and all my doctors told me changing my diet would not help.The only way is to experiment with an antifungal diet. Pretty well eliminating all refined/processed sugar(all processed foods), all yeast/grains and most dairy. I ate from a variety of all the veggies I could eat,except corn (universally contaminated with fungus), no mushrooms and no potatoes(too high starch/sugar), ate all berries(strawberries,raspberries, blueberries, etc.), all meat/poultry/fish allowed, absolutely no grains (commonly contaminated with fungal poisons)for awhile, no dairy except whole plain yogurt,butter, sour cream and occasionally cream cheese. It is very similar to the candida diet, I think. Not sure exactly, but this diet is to starve the fungus/yeast. I'll bet you will notice improvement within a few weeks, if not days after trying it. Caution however, you may feel worse before feeling better during the initial die-off period of fungus/yeast.This may last a few days and usually happens within the first week of the diet. I felt miserable when I first went on the diet, but that was a sign it was a fungal problem, so I didn't mind finally knwoing what was wrong with me. I have heard of others with IBS who have found the same relief after following such a diet. The only way to know for sure is to experiement. Doctors will tell you changing your diet won't make a difference or only eat what doesn't seem to bother you. What used to bother me, before my bowel flora got re-establised, I can now eat with no problem...raw veggies, salad, etc. I also take natural antifungals and probiotics. If you do want more info, email me and I'll be more specific on the diet. You can also check out www.knowthecause.com and read the FAQ section on the home page. Some info there. Fungus is a real deal. Not enough doctors know about it or are telling their patients about it. They are only schooled in handing out prescriptions. As for what I eat now, I eat pretty well anything I want, but am careful not to overdo the grains/sugar. I get D usually when I overindulge, rarely C.
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I have had great success with the diet getting my BMs under control. I would be C for 3-4 days and then have a day of horribly painful D. It was an endless cycle that included nausea. I now have 1-2 BMs a day normally and was feeling pretty good. I was still in pain, but found out that my gallbladder was only functioning at 10% so just had it removed on Thursday which should elimate the pain and I might be able to add a few things back to my diet. It did take awhile for the diet to start working. Give it time. It can take up to a year or more for you to stabilize. You should start seeing a difference though soon. Experiment with the recipes on the board. I enjoyed lots of the muffin recipes for snacks and eat cream of rice cereal every morning with cinnamon sugar. If you are using soy you might want to try Rice or Almond milks instead. Soy can give you gas until you get used it. Good luck.
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Susan
IBS-A, Gas, Pain, Reflux
"The first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature. Every day, the sun; and after sunset, night and her stars. Ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows."
Emerson, August 31, 1837
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Thank you both. I am going to try decrease my consumption of sugar immediately but I think I need to wait after the holidays to take a good shot at the diet. I'm already trying not to eat processed grains except for white flour so I will need to work on that a little as well.
I don't use soy products for that very reason, I believe that they make me worse off.
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant
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ABSOLUTELY this diet isn't working for me- In fact- w/ the high amt of carbs, and sugar content- it isn't goood at all- I agree with kim123- that this diet feeds sugar and that isn't good for people w/ bloating and gas at all.
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That's incredibly interesting. You know I tried the Atkins low-carb diet back in 2003 - did for a year. I never felt so good in my life - no gas, hardly any D, no C (except at the very beginning). But this diet is so anti-low-carb (Heather even says so herself), I always wondered how I did so well on such a high-fat, low carb diet when THIS is supposed to help IBS. I figured it was because my main triggers seem to be high insoluble fiber grains like bran, and fructose (fruit juice is like Drano to me), both of which are nearly eliminated on a low-carb diet.
I think I will try Heather's diet for another few weeks, and see what happens. I agree 5 days really isn't a fair shot.
Ugh, it's all so frustrating. 
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IBS-A since age 12, and fructose sensitive; with the exception of my pregnancy, have been following Heather's diet since Nov. 19, 2007.
Taking 12g of Acacia per day. Relatively stable since March 2008!
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I feel like the only one....but I am not alone. Guess it isn't appropriate to post that the diet hasn't worked. Just keep giving it more time...
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IBS-C with pain and bloat
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