Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

I know I mentioned this before, but I struggled with the same problems you did. I mean, I could have written your post exactly 7 or 8 months ago!

First of all, I'll say this: baby steps. Don't worry about meeting anyone else's idea of adequate calorie intake all at once - it's too much for your body, and it's too much stress on your mind if you're worried about triggering. Since you've hit 1000, staying at 1000 or above is a good goal... for a few days, or a week. Then start to do what I've suggested in the past - add a little here and there, and make 1200 your goal for a few days... then 1400... etc. Increasing incrementally, your body will hardly know the difference.

Second, eat the bread, pasta, etc. Don't stress about nutrients just yet. Yes, nutrients are important, but so is stabilizing so that your body can actually absorb all those nutrients. See what I mean? The bonus is that the breads and pastas and such are pretty high-calorie, compared to vegetables and fruits, and that's another thing you need right now.

Potatoes. Seriously, potatoes. I probably never would have gotten back up to a reasonable calorie intake as quickly as I did if it wasn't for oven fries - peel potatoes, slice 'em up, and bake them at 400 for an hour. Salted, even when I was really sick, I could eat 3 potatoes' worth in a sitting! At least in my mind, it has a little more nutrition than a serving of pasta, and potatoes are pretty calorie-dense.

Honestly? I found my stability IBS-wise was helped dramatically by eating MORE. I'm an A, but tend more to the D side, and seriously, I was still having D almost every day, even eating safely. I noticed a drastic improvement when I finally worked up to eating 1500 or more calories a day, even when most of it was bread. It's like my insides finally had something to work with, rather than just cramping on themselves all the time!

For protein, stick with what's safest right now. Chicken breast and white fish are good. If you can tolerate it, soy milk has protein too. If you can tolerate soy, that opens your options considerably - you can also boost your calories and protein in one shot, without a lot of bulk in your stomach, by trying a Spiru-Tein shake. They're IBS-safe, and most health food stores sell them in small trial packets, as well as big containers. But I know I just aim for getting protein in every meal. Read labels; sometimes things you wouldn't expect, like oatmeal, have protein.

I have the low BP problem too. I salt everything like crazy, hehe.

I also had the same problem with cold foods and drinks. It was only very recently that I started being able to do those again. In that case, if your body says no, avoid it. Otherwise, though, forcing isn't such a bad idea.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now... I just woke up so I don't even know if I'm being coherent.

My inbox is always open, by the way, if you feel like you want to email somebody who's been through the same problems.

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