First "Challenge": Xylitol

Things were going well with my low FODMaP eating plan, I was feeling good with my symptoms reduced, oh, 80% or so. Then I went back on my supplements. I take B12 (when you get older you don't absorb it as well from food so a supplement is beneficial), vitamin D (I had blood work that said I was deficient), and pro-biotics. After a few days I started feeling a heaviness in my lower belly area, which wasn't a good sign. The next day I was back to pre-diet pain levels and almost didn't go to an event I was looking forward to. (I went anyway and I got through it!! I was distracted with the great people I was able to talk to so I didn't focus on the pain as much, and I was very thankful I wasn't gassy.) Later that night I was trying to figure out what I could be doing wrong, what was I eating that I shouldn't? Light bulb- check the B12! It's a chewable so they put sweeteners in it, and sure enough, xylitol, which is a polyol, was on the label. (The "P" part of FODMaP.)

That counts as my first "challenge"! I didn't do it on purpose, but at least I figured it out. So I was eating cherries and honey AND taking the supplement with xylitol in it every morning. Good grief. Now I'm wondering about the cherries and honey though, were they really the problem? Maybe they were, but I'll have to challenge with them later to find out. Right now I have to wait and get the xylitol out of my system and get my symptoms back under control again. Sigh...

What this points out, though, is how difficult it is to tease out what's causing symptoms. I took the B12 for four or five days before it started to bother me, and my worst day was when I had a late breakfast one day then an early breakfast the next. I take my supplements with my breakfast, so it was less than 24 hours between doses. Some triggers are OK in small amounts, or when they are spaced out far enough. They cause symptoms only after building up in your system.

I've posted about IBS and this low FODMaP eating plan on Facebook a few times and now so many people are talking to me about also having IBS, or telling me their loved ones have IBS. Statistics as to how many people have IBS vary from 10 to 25% of the population, and since so many people are undiagnosed, or wait years before getting diagnosed, the 25% is probably more accurate. That's a quarter of the population!! Of course lots of people have it or know someone who has it!! We need to talk about these things more. Eating a low FODMaP diet will be so much easier if more people are talking about it and looking for low FODMaP food; there are organizations that will certify processed food as low FODMaP. Look at the gluten free craze and how many gluten free products there are now! The thing is- for people with IBS and not celiac disease or gluten allergies specifically, going gluten free helps them by cutting out not the gluten but the fructans that are in wheat. So they feel better, and they think it's because they are gluten free, but really it's due to cutting out a FODMaP.

My advice from everything I've researched- if you are having intestinal issues, stomach pain, not-normal bowel habits, gas, bloating, etc., go to your doctor. If your doctor rules out Crohn's, colitis, cancer, celiac disease, etc., and gives you a diagnosis of IBS, then try the low FODMaP eating plan. If the doctor gives you the same print out mine gave me, don't despair!! The "good" list and the "bad" list on that print out are very short. You can eat a lot more than it says, and there are lots of resources on-line to help you out. It helps to eat whole foods and cook for yourself, but you have to know which whole foods to eat and which to avoid. Eating out and processed foods will be difficult- I haven't faced that yet, but I'll learn as I go! (Eating out is something I'll have to talk to a dietitian about.) It's possible to get through this, and 80% of people with IBS feel better when they know what to eat and what to avoid. Sometimes it will be "damn the torpedoes", I'll eat what I want and suffer the consequences, but at least I'll know why I'm hurting and will keep it to a once in a while splurge when I can recuperate the next day.

PS: I mentioned that the doctor recommended daily Zantac in my last post. I only took it for a day or two then I was feeling so much better I stopped taking it!! :) I'm taking the pro-biotics she suggested every day.