Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | New here--saying hello and seeking help

Hi everyone,

I've been reading some of these threads today while trying to recover from a bad IBS week. Cramps and tightness under ribs, frequent goose poop, anxiety about it all, confusion about diet . . . I've had symptoms for about 10 years, very sporadically. I've tried lots of dietary things in an attempt to "guarantee" that I won't have a flare, and nothing has been trouble-free so far! I can go months without a flare, then have a stretch of weeks when I have numerous flares. My primary symptom is nausea, but it seems to be attached to lower bowel activity and pain/tightness across the transverse colon.

I've resisted the soluble fiber thing because I have ankylosing spondylitis, and it's been surmised by my doc that my IBS symptoms are similarly autoimmune. (Which to her explains the unexplainable nature of this all.) And one of the things that has helped some people with AS (and accompanying syndromes like IBS) is a low- or no-starch diet. I followed that for awhile and didn't have any big flares, but I lost so much weight that it clearly wasn't going to work for me on a longterm basis. I'm barely 115 pounds at 5'5.5".

Then I tried the Clean program (Alejandro Junger), which is a detox-type thing. I did a three-week Cleanse (and felt nauseated much of the time), then shifted to the "elimination diet," which excludes some of the common IBS trigger foods, but also excludes some common sources of soluble fiber (white rice, potatoes, wheat in any form). I've felt pretty good on that, with occasional flares--the flares have almost always been during times of "cheating," although no one cheat item has reliably caused symptoms.

Coffee can be a trigger for me. Not always, but often. I did myself way wrong this past week by eating ice cream laced with espresso nibs a few hours after indulging in a half-caf with lots of half-and-half. That, on the heels of a rough point in my cycle (my gut always reacts as things shift from the heaviest day to much lighter), and I was a near-vomiting mess for a whole night last week. It happened again last night, after another half-caf and a long car ride, and lots of high-fat, high-wheat "food." The first incident, which included frequent BMs, was followed by a four-day stint of constipation (perhaps brought on by the anti-nausea tablets I took). The second incident reared up after the constipation resolved itself. We were on vacation, and I was eating all kinds of potential trigger foods--besides coffee, I had wine, ice cream, beef, nuts, french fries . . . My usual diet is highly organic, loaded with fruits and veggies, nuts, and brown rice is about my only grain. (Quinoa and buckwheat nauseate me.)

So I'm ready to try the soluble fiber. I already drink smoothies every morning (two favorites: almond milk, berries, spinach, brown rice protein powder, flax or chia; OR almond milk, mango, kale, avocado, protein powder, flax or chia). Here's my dilemma: White carbs (white rice, pasta, white bread) often make me so sleepy that I can't function. Also, oatmeal gives me cramps, nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers) trigger achiness from my AS and I'm just not sure that wheat/gluten is my friend. I need some non-high-starch forms of soluble fiber. I figure I'll get some of the Tummy Fiber and "up" my chia/flax in my morning smoothies, but if anyone's got any ideas for getting soluble fiber that are gluten-free, soy-free and low-starch, I'd love to hear about them.

Thank you so much, and it's nice to be here.

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