A random pollthing, and eating with IBS.

[baratron]

[Poll #89628]

Someone posted this link to chronic_health, and I thought I'd pass it on. I was going to write a summary, because that site is terribly verbose with huge swathes of text and an advert for the book it's trying to sell every other paragraph, but I have a headache and can't be bothered. The list of trigger foods is fascinating, and it comes across to me as approximately scientific. I also find that it agrees about 95% with the list I've worked out for myself. Obviously mileage can and does vary, as I remember seeing ailbhe say that she needed to avoid white bread and only eat wholemeal for her IBS, whereas my digestive system cannot cope with anything more exciting than white bread and simple crackers - on a bad day, I can't even eat white bread with seeds on (which I love). The basic point is avoid heavy proteins and fats, eat insoluble fibre only in moderation, and eat lots and lots of soluble fibre.

The thing I liked about this site was it highlighted citrus fruit and tomatoes and sulphur-containing vegetables as trigger foods, but rather than suggesting you stop eating them, it gives you ideas for how you can make them safer to eat. This could be useful, because I've had to cut out virtually all the fruit and vegetables I used to eat. I don't know if it'll work for me, but if I can eat more vegetables without pain, it'll be much better for me - not least of all because I really like vegetables! My current diet is absolutely awful in terms of what you are "supposed" to eat to prevent cancer and keep your weight constant and all those things, but I am usually only curled up in pain around my stomach and kept awake by needing the toilet all night a couple of times a week instead of every single day. Hrm. Writing that out, I suppose even that is unacceptable, really. I should only be in pain when I've taken a chance and eaten something I know I shouldn't, rather than as a matter of course. I suppose I should ask for some anti-spasmodic drugs. But I already have a stupidly large number of drugs on prescription every month, and I'm reluctant to add any more to that pile. It makes me look like a complete hypochrondriac, when actually I'm just really damn unhealthy.

Does anyone know what serotonin antagonists are? Apparently they are used in the treatment of IBS. I'm just intrigued because the most commonly-accepted theory of depression involves sufferers having a problem regulating serotonin levels, which is why most of the modern antidepressants are serotonin reuptake inhibitors. I have a general theory that all of my health problems are due only to one or two things being wrong, and everything is linked somehow, but even modern medicine isn't very good at taking the holistic approach. Although there are a reasonable number of studies involving comorbid problems like depression and anxiety or asthma and eczema, it's quite rare for multiple, apparently unrelated illnesses to be studied together. It's just assumed that they are unrelated because they involve different parts of the body.

Comments

[lizw.livejournal.com]

They're similar to SSRIs - their main use is to treat depression, but as you say, they're also used to treat IBS, particularly where the attacks appear to be related to stress more strongly than to diet.

I think it's fibre

[ailbhe]

I think my gut needs a certain amount of fibre or it just can't and won't digest the food. Interestingly, I can eat white rice or white bread occasionally if I eat them with very spicy toppings.

And problems with my digestion directly relate to my mood and well-being generally - as in, if I "fix" something temporarily I stop crying and suddenly have enough energy to do something. And if I'm miserable my innards gradually get worse and worse, even if I'm not under stress, just miserable.

My near neighbour sometimes reaches a point where all she can eat are dry cream crackers. That only happens to me if the IBS is manifest as vomiting or diarrhoea, though, which it isn't always.