I took the fructose intolerance breath test two years ago, and it came out negative (aka I'm not fructose intolerant). However, I noticed on my own that fructose and sugar in general do contribute to my symptoms greatly. I get bloated and more constipated.
I only realized this recently, and I'm actually grateful that this topic has come up on these boards, because it helped me gather my thoughts together. A few years ago I wanted to tone up for Summer so I tried the South Beach Diet. The first phase requires cutting out most carbs, except for small amounts of non-sugar sweetened dairy. I didn't lose as much as I wanted so I quit after a week. However, I felt great during that week. No bloating, no pain, C was still there but it wasn't uncomfortable. About two years after that, still searching for my "cure", I tried the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, seeing that many people got good results from there. The foods allowed are like those of SBD plus fructose - fruit and honey. I'm a sugar addict so I had at least 2-3 servings of fruit per day, plus honey to sweeten my SCD-legal yogurt. Guess what? I felt horribly, and I had to quit after about 4 days because I felt like my intestines were about to burst open. Gosh, I was in so much pain! The only difference between SBD and SCD was the added fructose! So that gave me my answer.
LM - the tests you're talking about (drink three glasses or apple juice and see what happens). I think three glasses of AJ might cause problems in anyone, not just IBSers. My non-IBS husband gets gassy and bloated after eating certain kinds of apples, although he eats just one at a time. I agree that it's not worth going forward with such tests, especially because an IBS person is more likely to get bloating, gas, and C/D.
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I do, and my FI test came out negative
