Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Irritable Bowel Syndrome Health

Question:
A friend of mine with long standing digestive problems has been diagnosed firstly with a small hiatus hernia and secondly with irritable bowel syndrome. She is an otherwise healthy individual with a well developed health self-awareness and a reasonably sensible diet. She can't kick this thing and it is reducing the quality of her life. Symptoms: nausea, lots of wind upper and lower, slight reflux, bad taste, bowel muscle spasms.

Answer:
I was plagued by irritable bowel syndrome, and after years of seeing doctors and trying to reduce stress and increase fiber, I finally caved in and tried the yeast-control diet thing.  Now, I should say that I don't buy the whole yeast syndrome thing.  I'm openminded, but I haven't seen much in the way of proof. However, I did find that after spending a few months on this diet, then gradually adding foods until I had no food restrictions, my symptoms went away. I don't know why, maybe it just cleaned out my system. It's been two years since then, with no recurrence. The diet consisted of limiting yourself to meat, vegetables (but no corn or potatoes), and plain yogurt for some period of time, then adding rice and potatoes.  No fruit, sugar, oil, or vinegar. (Or fun!).   I don't remember all the details, though, so you should consult a book before trying it. Any experts want to comment on why this might work? My mother was misdiagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome earlier this year. She continued to get sicker and sicker as doctors told her she was just too stressed. It was becoming quite critical when she was finally diagnosed last week with a condition called Celiac-spru(sp?). From what little I've been able to find out about this disease it seems that people suffering from the disease are very commonly diagnosed initially with irritable bowel syndrome. It's horrible to watch someone you care about go thru something like this. Suggest to your friend that she have her doctors test for celiac if they haven't already done so. Exactly this happened to me. My GP was flummoxed - as I was obviously in good health. The symptoms of my celiac-like gluten intolerance came in progressively longer bouts, over a year until continuous. Then I remembered my mother had developed gluten intolerance at the age I am now. The symptoms stopped as soon as I adopted a gluten-free diet. Worth a try - though my symptoms were confined to bowel effects - blowing up pain and the runs. Strangely no effect on appetite. I don't know how much help I can be, but I think I get intermittent bouts of IBS. Either that, or just nervous stomach. I go through periods of days, weeks, sometimes months of queasiness, nausea, belching, gas, bloating (to the point where I look pregnant), indigestion, etc., and then for no apparent reason it'll just go away. I've been trouble-free, though, for about 6 months, despite all the unbelievable stress I've been under. I'm starting to believe, however, that it may have something to do with my diet. Last month I started experiencing some of those symptoms again, but I noticed that I only got them at night. Every day for lunch I have a slice of tomato, broccoli, and cheese pizza, and I've been doing so for the past month. Three days ago out of the blue I started eating something else for lunch instead (potatoes), and I haven't had those symptoms for three days. I believe the broccoli was causing problems because I do have a hard time digesting veggies. I should have realized this before I started eating that pizza, but I figured that since the broccoli is cooked it wouldn't give me a problem. Wrong! So now I may have to give up that yummy pizza, or just go for it and suffer the consequences now and then. Celiac sprue is an intolerance of a protein called gluten which is found in wheat and related grains, oats, barley, rye and possibly other grains. The only cure for celiac sprue is not to eat any gluten containing products. There is a mailing list for celiacs, and I think it is gluten-f...@armory.com. You could try it anyway, if interested...