I've been working very hard maintaining the IBS diet for 6 months now and I get frustrated because even though I may follow the diet to the letter of the law I won't get enough sleep or I'll be stressed out and I'll have an attack. The IBS diet isn't just a diet it's a total lifestyle change. And for someone who is naturally anxious I am beginning to wonder if I'll ever be able to getting my guts and my mind in harmony.
I also have a hard time because I feel alienated from the mainstream. (Live in Madison, WI - home of consumption of mass quantities of cheese, beer and brats.) I didn't know how to cook at all before discovering this diet. Had to learn how to cook because the easy fixes I was used to were suddenly not an option anymore. I miss the convienence of eating out. And to top it off my boyfriend is a diabetic with high blood pressure so when we cook together we have to make our food work with even more restrictions. (We do alright, the main one I haven't solved is dessert because I can't eat the artificial sweetners and he can't have much reg. sugar.) Anyway, the point is, food rules every minute of my life. I have to take food with me, can't share food with non-IBS people and I often feel left out and unsatisfied. I like the dairy alternatives like vegan cheese and vegan chocolate/cookies but that involves going to a 3rd grocery store (1 already for cheap groceries and another for good produce, meat and bread) and everything thing at Whole Foods is expensive it seems to me. I don't eat any trigger foods but have a hard time with caffeine. I clean people's homes on the side (as well as my own and the hallways and empty apartments of the building my boyfriend and I manage) so sometimes I really need that ZAP. If anyone knows of a safe natural stimulant that doesn't upset IBS so much please let me know.
This turned out to be a real ranting message but I've been so frustrated and just needed to get my thoughts out. Anyone in a similar place right now? My stepmom studied alot of Hawaiian natural healing techniques and one of her best phrases she got from that training was "energy goes where attention flows." I wonder often how much just WORRYING about my gut and what can I eat tonight or whatever is affecting me.
Well, thank goodness for this website which has seen a few of these late night postings from me and also thank you to those who respond. Honestly, without this website and its resources I would not be in as good of a place as I am now. There's a way to cheer yourself up, no? You think you're bad off now huh? Think back to 6 months ago when you lived attacks and diarrhea day in and day out.  Alright, enough, goodnight.
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down in the dumps with a rumble in my tummy
