Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: I need some help, please!!

Hi Janet,

I'm sorry to hear you are going through this, I know you must be feeling really frustrated.

I was really suprised at a few things in your post. The first thing that struck me was that the doctor is suggesting you limit your food intake so much, did he give you a reason for this aside from just reducing caloric intake? On this matter, I would get a second opinion. If this is your GP, I would consider consulting with another GP or requesting to see a specialist. I would also try to seek out the advice of a dietician who is familiar with both IBS and weight-control issues.
Generally speaking, to maintain or reduce weight you want to be eating several small meals throughout the day. I don't know your weight, so I can't so what your caloric intake would be but anything under 1200 calories a day is starving yourself. 1/2 a papaya and some almonds 3 times a day is probably between 300-400 calories a day, being generous.

That isn't enough to fuel your body to get through a day, not to mention working out and burning even more calories. This is something I think you should definitely talk to a nutritionist about, because to me that seems to lack all common sense.
The second thing that really suprised me was that you are exercising so regularly and your weight is continuing to climb. My only really shot-in-the-dark guess would be that if you are restricting your food intake so much that your body is starving itself and storing everything rather than burning it off.
There are a lot of tests that I think your doctor should do, or re-do maybe, to make sure that there isn't another medical issue behind your weight fluctuation and the swelling in your lower body. I honestly don't think it can just be the IBS, because even if the IBS itself and your diet for it contributes, it can't be the only factor.. and it's certainly not one that can't be worked around.

I am reluctant to give you any other general weight loss advice until you see your doctor, but a site that I found really helpful for tracking food and stuff is www.sparkpeople.com. It is a free site to sign up and tracks your calories, as well as different vitamins and minerals, which my guess is that you are extremely low on right now.
I think your next steps have to be going back to your doctor, or seeing a new doctor, requesting that you get blood work done to check for other underlying problems and then see a specialist and/or a dietician/nutritionist that can get you back on track.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Steph

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~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.

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