What to eat before bedtime? Help!
#367398 - 05/06/12 05:23 PM
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emigig
Reged: 04/24/12
Posts: 13
Loc: Vancouver, Canada
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Hello everyone
My husband has IBS and struggles with nightime. Indeed, it seems like because he does not eat for a certain period of time during the night (as he is asleep...), his body does not react well. He eats before going to bed (oatmeal, corn or oat cereals with rice milk) but wakes up in the middle of the night (maybe 4-5 hours later) with spasms that just will not go away. He is someone who has to eat regurlarly (every hour or so) and has been on the Heather's diet for some weeks. No dairy anymore and lots of fennel tea. But somehow, the night is not his friend. He does drink fennel tea at night, but still, spasms come and will not go away for a full 24 hours no matter what he does. He is in pain and normally, not in a really good mood when it happens....
Any suggestions as to what he could do before he goes to bed to prevent spasms? As I said, he is already drinking fennel tea and peppermint tea and eating plenty of soluble fiber.
Any suggestions welcome as this is a very recurrent problem!
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Corn and oat cereal unlike oatmeal has a more insoluble than soluble fiber which can cause GI spasms. He might have better results with something like rice krispies (the kind without high fructose corn syrup i.e. glucose/fructose in Canada) or toast and jam and/or peanut butter.
Also, you might read the first two links in my signature that talks about a dietary approach that has been clinically tested on individuals with functional bowel disorders like IBS. The clinical results show a 70-80% improvement in symptoms. Many of us on the board use this approach in conjunction with Heather's diet with reasonable success.
It would be helpful if you could list the meals and snacks he has eaten in the past 2-3 days. It might give us some clues for suggestions. 
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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thank you. I meant to check out the FoodMAP diet but forgot...
Well, recently I've been cooking a lot of Heather's recipes. The night his spasms started he had spaghetti (white pasta) with homemade meat sauce, the night after, I made Heather's mustard salmon and potatoes. For breakfast, he always has either a bowl of cereals (corn or oatmeal) or more frequently, a bowl of oatmeal and a slice of Heather's banana bread (I cannot seem to bake it fast enough!) and almod chocolate milk. His lunch is always a bit of rice or plain pasta followed by a half sandwich made on white bread with chicken or turkey. He eats the other half 3 hours later. His daytime snacks are oatmeal cookies, rice cakes or corn chips. His nighttime snack is either banana bread, toasts with peanut butter or cereals.
And no dairy. I also made the homemade rice pudding with almond milk.
So any suggestions? It is very hard to pinpoint what causes the spasms. And he drinks fennel tea quite a bit.
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He might be careful with the oatmeal cookies, rice cakes or corn chips.
Typically regular oatmeal cereal is cooked for in boiling water for 15-20 mins. This cooking processes produces something called resistant starch which acts like soluble fiber. However, when cooked in cookies the amount of water is reduced, the cookies are crunchie and the soluble fiber isn't produced as readily. The result is they can be high in insoluble fiber.
Rice cakes are usually made with brown rice which has a insoluble fiber content. And corn chips naturally can have a lot of insoluble fiber. Low fat baked potato chips might be a better option.
Caution with cereals too. Make sure they are low in insoluble fiber and don't contain high fructose corn syrup. Cereals like rice krispies and cream of rice usually are okay. Also, it is important to remember that spasms can occur up to a few hours or even a day after a problem foods is eaten.
Out of curiosity what was in the meat sauce?
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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Wow, good to know! I had no idea. Are Oatmeal squares type cereals okay? Or Chex?
The sauce I make is quite simple: a jar of tomato sauce, same extra lean ground beef and herbs (like basil and oregano).
I have also tried Heather's spaghetti sauce (the one with the bread soaked in balsamic vinegar and roasted tomatoes) and it was quite good. We just had leftovers from the meat sauce and he ate that one. Could that be responsible?
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Beef can be problematic. If you want meat in your pasta sauce you can try extra lean ground turkey - I usually do well with that(except when it's made as a meatloaf - I'm still working on that one!).
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IBS-A and GERD since 1983
Low FODMAP since 2012
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I almost picked up the ground turkey at the supermarket but changed my mind! So turkey in a spaghetti sauce tastes good? Otherwise, he's cut out all red meat and only eats chicken. I don't eat meat so we eat more fish at our house.
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Yes, it's very good (I personally like it better than beef). Hubby likes it, too. Make sure to get the extra lean (it's around 96% lean or something like that) rather than the regular lean (which is around 85%).
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IBS-A and GERD since 1983
Low FODMAP since 2012
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For sure, I'll go with the extra lean. I'm definitively trying it out next time
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I have spasms and pain after too much fat, so make sure you keep almond milk and peanut butter intake not too high as your husband may also be sensitive. Both can be extremely high in fat, esp the peanut butter. I can tolerate 25% of kcal coming from fat PER MEAL and anything above is not good. Bread is low in kcal and people normally use peanut butter generously. Non-IBS people can get away with it, I know I can't...
I cannot eat lean beef, again, too much pain and spasms. Red meat even if supposedly low fat means trouble for me, so yes, try white meat instead.
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now: stable through EFI+FODMAP dieting (no lactose/no fructose/some fructans and some polyols)
before: IBS-D(pseudo-diarrhoea), bloating, often unbearable pain esp from too much fat: Apr 2007- Dec 2010
FODMAPs: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/072710p30.shtml
[I've tried VSL#3 -> I could tolerate v good amounts of IF (even with less SF), it worked great (but overall I find it too expensive)]
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Good to know. I had not thought about almond milk and its fat content. I buy low fat peanut butter and my husband dos not put that much on his bread but he does drink almond milk almost every day. I am trying to reduce the fat we eat for sure. I have always loved to cook but now I am cooking even more. Every meal has to be homemade...
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There's many advantages to home-cooking.
Heather recommends 25% of kcal coming from fat. I am v sensitive to it but I too can tolerate that much. The challenge is of course that I have to limit 25% of kcal PER MEAL. Not per day. Otherwise I have an attack  Non-IBS people may similarly get 25% of kcal from fat per day with eating peanut butter sandwich but other times only eating say fruit. I eat fat with all meals (occasionally fruit on its own is the exception) and I check labels, use my Maths skills (9kcal=1g fat, 4kcal=1g protein, 4kcal=1g carbs) and then limit fat intake to a quarter of kcal maximum. I am in no pain at all this way, but I know I would be even from a bit more fat than that per meal!
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now: stable through EFI+FODMAP dieting (no lactose/no fructose/some fructans and some polyols)
before: IBS-D(pseudo-diarrhoea), bloating, often unbearable pain esp from too much fat: Apr 2007- Dec 2010
FODMAPs: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/072710p30.shtml
[I've tried VSL#3 -> I could tolerate v good amounts of IF (even with less SF), it worked great (but overall I find it too expensive)]
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Hi I know about the cramps. Has he tried any med for the doc? Like bentyl is good for cramps. Also try a heating pad at night I sleep with my quite often. also walking after he eats for about 30 mins or more will help. Try taking bean-0 before you eat and maybe some gas -x if needed after wards. Stay with the tea its amazing. Also check out chicken buger (make sure its lean) it makes great meatloaf, shepards pie and theres a couple of my own I have come up with on her like chciken ball soup and chicken carrot zinnie bugers, biscuits and gravy. If you would like the recipes let me know I'll be more than happy to share them with you! Hope this helps.
emmasmom
ibs-c gas
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Well he is seen by a gastroenterologist but he seems more focused on his acidity problems than anything else. He does not seem to want to hear his other symptoms. But I'll schedule another appointment for him so he can discuss the possibility with him. My husband seems to forget everything he wanted to say when he gets in front of a doctor....or he talks too much.
He is not a big fan of heating pads, he does not seem to see a difference. I'm always trying to get him to exercise more but having him put it into his schedule is not easy. I'm a morning person and wake up super early so I can go the gym, but him, not so much. I might need to set an after dinner walk routine....
Thanks for the offer for the recipes. I am going through Heather's recipes book and I'll let you know if I need more inspiration!
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I use ground turkey breast a lot. My non IBS boyfriend prefers me to use it in chili when I make it for him. I don't usually eat the chili because of my acid reflux but he loves my chili and only wants turkey in it.
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well ground turkey it is! I don't eat meat but I stopped buying red meat for my husband a while ago. It is just not a good match with IBS and acid reflux...
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