Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Can't get out of the BTC diet...getting depressed.

Eat more often. Three meals a day is almost certainly not going to do it. Eat like a hobbit. ("Daily hobbit meals include Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevenses, Luncheon, Afternoon Tea and Supper, supplemented with plenty of snacks in between.") If I ever let myself get hungry my gut goes nuts when I finally do eat. Even just a handful of pretzels will help tide you over. You want your digestive engine running along smoothly all day, not starting and stopping.

Beyond that, I have some mostly idiosyncratic observations:

I think Pam is weird. I use it now, but when I was first starting on the diet, I swear it bothered me.

I'm assuming you are not consuming any added fat. I tolerated a olive oil and canola oil right from the beginning, but it was months before I could manage any other added fat, even safe soy margarine or Smart Balance Light.

Yes, the SFS FAQ is confusing because Heather first seems to be recommending the same measured amount of all the powdered SFS. Read a little further and you'll see she does talk about it in terms of grams of SF. She recommends a minimum of 12-15 grams - that would be 4-5 Tablespoons of Benefiber. I'm IBS-D (really, really D) and I take 20 grams of SF in the form of acacia.

If you decide to increase your Benefiber, do so slowly. I increased my acacia by 1/4 teaspoon (0.625 grams of SF) every 3 days.

Benefiber bothered me.

For me, the horrible twisting cramping D stopped fairly quickly. It took longer for frequency and urgency to disappear completely. I truly believe it was increasing my SFS - plus just time on the Diet - that got rid of those. It took longer still for all the twitching, gas, growling to subside - and that still flares up from time to time - but I've learned that a little "conversation" from my gut doesn't always mean an attack. (I sometimes suspect that even "normal" people have twitchy tummies occasionally - they just don't think anything of it.)

Try a pre-breakfast. Mine is 1/2 cup of applesauce with 1 teaspoon of acacia. Eat this as soon as possible after getting up, then give your stomach about 15 minutes before eating regular breakfast.

Consider losing the oatmeal. Lots of people report problems with it. If morning is your worst time (it is for me) try really boring pure SF breakfasts like baguettes and dry Corn Chex, Rice Chex, Corn Pops - at least for a while.

Have a bedtime snack. Nothing big, just something to keep your tummy happy overnight. It will probably make the next morning a little easier. I eat a sweet - cupcake, ADB, slice of Pumpkin Apple Spice Bread - but I've seen some people post that they do pure SF, like applesauce.

For me, potatoes and bread were more soothing in the beginning than pasta and rice. I have no idea why - it may have been psychological. I just did a post on the Recipe Board about simple meals for Lucrece. Both of the meals I referred to I ate early on and had no trouble with.

You can try really loading up on SF before protein - bread and rice maybe, then just a little protein as Linz suggested.

That's it. I hope some of this helps. Hang in there. You've come a long way really fast - the rest will come.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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