thanks everyone
#326510 - 03/12/08 12:46 PM
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AndrewIBSC
Reged: 03/23/07
Posts: 159
Loc: PHiladelphia, PA
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well I am officially stopping the Efi diet. After one year on it I definitely feel somewhat better physically but the emotional toll it has taken on me is ungodly. I wish everyone the best and hope that you can fair better than I did. I hate to say it but I feel so free right now. Best of luck, andrew
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Good luck Andrew. Hope wellness finds you.
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Crohns, lactose intolerant
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Good luck! Do you have another dietary plan or are you going back to eating everything?
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant 
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Hi Andrew,
I visit this website because it is so informative, and I believe the EFI's basic principles are sound. However I no longer follow the diet to the letter since that wasn't the answer for me. I highly recommend you seek out a naturopath. I am having lots of success with mine. Best of luck!
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IBS-C, lots of spasm and trapped gas.
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Good luck to you..
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IBS-C gas, bloating and acid reflux
Babies is the plan for 2008!!Hope this IBS cooperates.
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Renee21
#326557 - 03/13/08 09:46 PM
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Hey, can I ask how your approach deviates from EFI? I know what I do slightly differently. Just curious about how you've modified. Thanks...Jen
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Hi Andrew. Not sure if you will be coming back to check your responses but I wanted to say I give you lots of credit for following your "gut" and moving on to something that may free your mind up for the better. IBS seems like a prison when you are eating and doing everything right, yet still suffer plus have the addition of emotional toll. Sometimes I wish I hadn't read so much as now I am symptomatic and emotionally so drained and confused as to what I must still be doing wrong. I just haven't had the courage to do what you have done...and move on. Maybe, one day, I will follow your decision? It's hard to know when you have given it enough time....or wonder if relief is right around the corner and not wanting to let go of a year of getting to that point, even though you don't feel it yet. How do you know when you have given it enough time?? I don't know.
Do you really think you will be able to eat/drink things that you previously read (and have not had) in a year?
I was wondering what Zara asked also....do you have any plan? Are you going to continue to follow any of the principles of the EFI diet? How "liberal" are you going to be? Gonna eat a pizza and soda! Or just not read labels so compulsively?
I know you will most likely continue with the Acacia, as you seem happy with it. I'm just really curious as to what your plan is.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy your emotional freedom.
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IBS-C with pain and bloat
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I'm also interested! 
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IBS-C with pain and bloat
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I just wanted to post and say that I stopped following the EFI diet about 6 months ago because of a lot of reasons but I still like to watch the boards here. This website was very helpful, and I still follow the basics, but not everything to the letter anymore.
I have no problems with milk or any dairy problems, I cut it all out when I first started this and found no benefits from it so I added them back to my diet. I always try to base my meals around fiber, especially when i eat out. I make sure to eat bread or rolls before I eat my actual food. I feel that gives me a cushion where the food doesn't bother me as much as it would have otherwise. I also drink alcohol, very little but I do drink. I drink fruity drinks when I go out to eat with my boyfriend.
I have not done bad at all over the last 6 months, I get constipated every once in a while but I am not having the severe cramping and pain I was having when I first found this diet. I think that this diet helped get my stomache back to normal, and now I may not be normal but I can find something to eat almost anywhere I can go. I just try to make sure I snack on the basic that help me. These are graham crackers, pretzels, cold cereal and sourdough bread along those lines. I have been eating more vegetables than I used to and that has been giving me gas which I am haivng issues with getting rid of, but other than that I feel good!
I just thought I would share my insights. I don't want to offend anyone on the diet, that's why I don't post that often. I just like to watch what others have to say and see if anything applies to me!
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Melinda
IBS-A but leans toward C mostly
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How liberal are you with your diet, besides the dairy? I miss coffee and pizza!
Are you taking an SFS or anything else? Doing anything else? (ie, hypno, etc).
How do you read the boards without going all the way back to the EFI way of eating? You must really believe in yourself! I envy you! I get so scared.
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IBS-C with pain and bloat
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I was never really a coffee drinker, so I've not actually had any since I started the diet over a year ago. i do drink very small amounts of diet pop every once in a while. But I never really drank that much pop before anyways. One of the few bad habits that I did not have! I do eat pizza from time to time, I make sure to have breadsticks or something so that I have a good base. I do not ever eat any fast food places except for Subway. I dont think I ever will again, I had some really bad experiences with them. I have eaten a few grilled sandwhiches from Wendy's that have been okay though. I go out to eat often with my boyfriend to regular restaurants and I haven't had a problem since knowing the basic rules. I had quite a few severe attacks before I found this website, so I know the consequences! I eat a lot of frozen meals too like Healthy choice or Lean Cuisine, along with a lot of soup. Either Healthy Choice or Progresso. None of these have bothered me much over the last 6 months.
I am doing acupuncture. I have been for about 6-8 months. I do it for a variety of reasons, but she has helped a lot with my IBS. I had severe diarrhea and cramps and went to her and literally within the hour of leaving I had felt better. I am taking acacia fiber. I added that to my diet about a year ago gradually and have never stopped it. the other thing that I do that Heather advocates is use heat therapy. When I eat a meal that I think may upset my stomach or my tummy starts to feel a little like there could be trouble I sleep with a heating pad. I truly believe that has prevented attacks for me. I have one that automatically turns itself off after an hour. It's amazing how much an effect that has on me!
Also let me say that I dont think that I am as bad off as many of you are. In the begginning I thought I had it awful, but after reading everyone's stories I realized that mine was bad, but not awful. I also believe that when I got diagnosed with cancer last year that my stomach kind of let up on some of the eating issues. i could be crazy but i let my diet go when i was going through chemo and my tummy was relatively okay. it will just be interesting to see how okay it is now that my last chemo was back in january. And I was scared too but my thinking was that I had to deal with the cancer and couldnt handle freaking out about my stomach like I had for so long.
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Melinda
IBS-A but leans toward C mostly
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What kind of cancer did you have? I had Hodgkin's 10 years ago and I'm pretty sure the treatements caused me to have IBS. I too am not nearly as bad as some people on the boards, but I'm trying to not feel so bloated/crampy, etc...I pretty much gave my tummy free reign during treatments (which was probably the wrong approach), but if I was hungry for fast food, I ate it. I didn't really have anybody cooking for me and there were a lot of days where I didn't have an appetite. You'd think after having cancer I would be a health nut, but I'm not. I'm just the average american trying to lose some pounds and get this tummy under control.
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I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 25 last July. You sound a lot like me in that during my chemo i ate pretty much whatever i wanted. If elt so crappy that I decided that if I wanted a milkshake I would have a milkshake and not worry about the calories or the IBS stuff. Since I am just getting done with my treatments now I need to go back to a somewhat healthier way of eating that I was doing before. But it is soo hard! I need to lose weight now too. I gained wieght during chemo. Also the kind of chemo that I took is leaving me bloated even 2 months away from it. I am hoping that goes away soon. My energy is finally back so I am going to head back to the gym next week. We'll see how that goes!
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Melinda
IBS-A but leans toward C mostly
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I was 25 when I was diagnosed with Hodgkins. Mine is the type they can't tell how it happened (like yours at such a young age). I have had a lot of issues with eating, not disorders, but i've probably been harder on my body than I should. I let stress stop me from eating right and exercising. I feel like since I had cancer I should make my health a priority and it is not. But then I think, well, it wasn't really food that caused it so what does it matter. It's just very emotional and the IBS doesn't help. I can't even eat fruit without getting sick. But yet, I can handle a pizza? It makes no sense whatsoever. My sister thinks I'm crazy that fruit get me ill but not pizza. I'm just to my wits end with it all at this point. As far as your bloating from chemo, I think that will get better. I think it's great that you can get back to the gym. I lost 20 pounds while on treatment, but then over the last five years, I've gained about 40 or so. I really want to lose some weight too, but can't follow the conventional fruits/salads type diets.
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Sorry to jump in on your conversation, I just wanted to say that most of the people on the IBS diet do lose weight because it is so low in fat. Personally I've lost over 18 lbs since last November, and I'm not even exercising!
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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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Thanks Erilyn. I'm still in that oooh maybe I can do this with having cheat days. It really is a bit psychological to convince yourself NOT to cheat. I'm keeping a food log so that should help. But I do think about you losing weight without exercising. You are very inspirational.
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I am becoming to believe, after much reading, that there is no connection between food (sensibly) and IBS. It's the act of eating.
Of course, this doesn't mean eating greasy, fried, high fat foods...but not as cut and dry as single foods being helpful for IBS (or harmful, except for the obvious listed above). I know too many people and posters who "do their own thing" and it just depends on the day how the IBS reacts. It come to a point where the sufferer beats themselves up for not being able to "figure out" their food tolerances and it can make you, literally, lose your mind, your time, your emotions.....your very quality of life.
I envy the people who have found this approach to be so cut and dry helpful for them. But for some of us, the situation will never be the same. Just like SFS works wonders for some and hurts others. There are so many opposing views on diet. I read so much that says the total contradictory food advice.  I just don't know what to do anymore. Or what and who to believe. I need a break. My current approach is obviously not working for me.
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IBS-C with pain and bloat
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Well I just saw this post and I officially stopped following the diet so strictly, I just stick to the basics and believe it or not I have been amazing! I still take my fiber and peppermint but i have been enjoying more fresh fruit and veggies, drinking caffiene, eating some cheese and dairy(icecream), and basically eating whatever just as long as I have some soluble fiber. I feel so free eating whatever I want and am going to continue to do so until I have a bad bout. But as for now I'm enjoying lots of fresh fruit and veggies and even chocolate!
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IBS-D
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I understand. I think sometimes the stress from having to follow a strict diet contributes to IBS even without having to eat trigger foods. Every time I go out I start getting slightly stressed out when they hand me the menu. I haven't even eaten anything and I already worry about whether it's going to make me sick, thinking about all kinds of ingredients that could have sneaked into my meal without me realizing it. Usually I end up getting sick anyway. I can't have a stress-free meal because I know I'll get sick so I worry about it up front. IT's driving me nuts!
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IBS-C, bloating, cramps
pregnant
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