Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Take lots, but go up slowly (m)

My recommendation is to start with 1/4 teaspoon PER DAY. Do that for 3 days. Then add another 1/4 teaspoon, so you're taking 1/2 teaspoon PER DAY. Do that for 3 days, then another 1/4 teaspoon, do that for 3 days, another 1/4 teaspoon, and so on. I didn't go up steadily. Once I was getting at least 1 Tablespoon total per day, I'd stick at a dose for a few extra days every so often and see how I was doing. I always felt like there was room for improvement until I got to my current dose of 8 teaspoons.

As for splitting doses, my first 1/4 teaspoon dose I took in the morning. When I added a second 1/4 teaspoon dose, I took that in the evening. The third 1/4 teaspoon dose I added at lunch. As I upped the dose after that, I upped it in the same pattern: added to morning first, then evening, then lunch. Once I got to a whole teaspoon in the morning, I added the rest to evening and lunch, because I start my mornings with applesauce and my breakfast is always high SF.

Right now, I do 1 teaspoon in the morning in at least 1/2 cup applesauce. The other 7 teaspoons I mix into 24 ounces of water. I drink at least 8 ounces with lunch and 8 ounces with dinner. Whatever is left after lunch and dinner, I have after dinner.

I know taking a LOT of SFS is important for me (8 teaspoons of acacia per day = 20 grams of SF per day) and I'm IBS-D, so I'd imagine it's even more important for IBS-C. However, I also know going up slowly was important for me, too. I figure IBS tummies are so touchy, anything strange is going to freak them out, so it's best to give them a lot of time to get used to something new and foreign.

As for the question about whether to vary the SFS does based on how much SF you're eating, I would say absolutely not. A SFS supplement is not medicine, but I find it best to think of it that way. My SFS is my base, my absolute irreducable minimum. Any more SF than that is just gravy (sigh, gravy). I don't see any downside to getting "too much" SF if I take my SFS and also eat a lot of SF foods and, besides, the issue of how much SF you're actually getting in food is pretty darn iffy, so why take chances?

HTH.

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