Activia Yogurt

I love Christmas, I love the food, the decorations, the presents, did I mention the food!

Of course all this good living and having fun means that my very boring diet undergoes a bit of a change. Instead of yogurt for desert I enjoy ice cream and brownies and chocolate, so much glorious chocolate.

It will come as no surprise that after a while i started to feel bloated, and had a weird feeling in my stomach. A bit like a minor stomach cramp. It took me a while to realise that the only real continued change in my diet was that I wasnt eating yogurt for desert anymore. So i started eating Activia again, and in a few days  my stomach settle down and the weird niggling cramp was gone.

Given that I already take 2 dairy free inner health plus a day, you wouldn't think I would need anymore probiotics, but it demonstrates how much our body needs a variety of things to flourish.. not that i am flourishing. But i am getting there, one tiny change at a time!

Bring your own food

I have been on the FODMAP diet for many years now... and I will be honest, it has taken me a long time to finally realise that if I go to someones house... especially a relatives... for dinner I MUST bring my own food.

Just one example if you will, i recently went to my mother in laws... she makes zucchini slice, I ask her the ingredients, she tells me a few things, nothing to worry about.. and then I eat it. Is there onion in here. Well yes there is! And the salad is full of Mango, the other salad is broccoli, raw broccoli.. thank goodness for the day old croissant and ham.. otherwise I would have had to rely solely on the frittata I had thought to bring along :)

SO save yourself from the frustration and possible illness and bring something along. Something to share, which will look generous and not like you are making a pointed remark. People don't really change, so do yourself a favour and take care of yourself.

I also find catching up hard... but breakfast food.. bacon, eggs and toast, always work for me. So maybe do brunch, its fun and hopefully you can enjoy the rest of your day pain free :)

Water

As a breastfeeding mother i hear about the importance of water. I drink as much as i can and if i dont get enough i have a crabby baby and a desire to sleep for a week.

When i do get that much needed water in I feel so much better, in that i dont feel the need to cram in an entire packet of chips in the 20 mins that my little one is down. Just half a bag!

And when i am drinking lots of water, and not ravenous hungry, i find that my FODMAP tum is happier. Now i am not sure if it is the water itself, or if its me not shoving all that processed food in my face, but it helps.

I also found that porridge and a glass of water means i feel full and not in that i have an entire bottle of clag glue in my stomach way.

So maybe give it a go. Water at least 2.5 litres throughout the day, no substitution and see where it gets you :)

Mental health and gut health

When my stomach starts to bloat, and my back begins to smart at such a wearying burden, my tongue shoots sharp and insensitive barbs at those around me. The self loathing starts and then the chocolate biscuit binge ensues.

Ah the trials and tribulations of a dodgy gut!

Its so hard to keep it together when you feel so uncomfortable.

I am uncomfortable most of the time, back, shoulders, neck, knee  and my stomach varies. But on those days when they collide i am such a crappy person.

Its not easy to eat fodmap friendly when you have so little control and so little time.

But today is a new day and a new opportunity to eat lowfodmap and keep the insanity away.

Intestaclear - Second Round

After 6 months with my child in daycare I had endured gastro 6 times. It left me exhausted, sore and uncomfortable. After I had weaned my child, and given my past success, I thought I would try intestaclear again. I was able to source it without a nutritionist sign off.

But in hindsight, I probably should have seen someone.

Each time I took it, I had stomach cramps and shooting pain. It was not intense, but it was uncomfortable.

My body did not react the same. I did not feel the cleanse that I had last time. I don't know if they changed the ingredients, but it did not feel the same. I tried every few weeks, but instead of seeing an improvement, my symptoms worsened and my stomach became even more sensitive. I could no longer drink coffee and beer gave me cramps.

I became increasingly sensitive to heavy breads ect.

My experience was totally different, and I felt only negative side effects.

I don't know if they have changed the recipe or if my body is just very different, but its been illuminating.

Mum and my tum

I love being a mum. I love being my daughters mum. I love it.

But that doesn't mean that a mum hasn't had an impact on my diet and therefor my FOMAP symptoms. I go for the easiest options... and that's sugar filled processed biscuits, chocolate and well that's it. My husband cooks meat and veg for dinner... pretty much every night so i am spoilt. But with very little fruit, a diet full of flour and sugar i find myself exhausted, uncomfortable and putting on  allot of weight.

I should be totally honest and explain that i was doing ok, until i returned to work and got hit with regular bouts of gastro, the flu, colds and returned to uni. With my health deteriorating i relied on caffeine and chocolate to gets me through the 3 1/2 months of insanity that was university, work and my childs first year in childcare (going to two childcares to boot).

Overtime i found myself having bouts of nausea brought on by chocolate and overeating. My stomach is so sensitive that almost anything sets it off.

I thought for so long that i would just fix my stomach and it would be done.. but its not. Its a life time of ups and downs, its just up to me to stop pretending that it will be all ok while i scoff my third tim tam for the day.

As i drag myself out of the deep whole of frustration that is my sore and abused stomach I have returned to my old faithfuls, two inner health plus a day, activia yogurt, some more nuts and a new recipe book. The Happy Kitchen. As i learn more about the link between the gut and mood, I grow increasingly concerned that my exhaustion isn't from the illness', the constant waking at night (my baby sleeps but i have a sore back and live in a busy area), but the food that gives me those little highs and joys throughout the day. The ones i turn to for comfort to get me through. Could they be the ones responsible for this... well yes my dear... just because they are FODMAP friendly doesnt mean they are good for you.

For those of you caught in the "safe" food trap like me.... its time to take the plunge and see how much i can tolerate and see what it brings!

labyrinthitis many years later

I have had many recurrent bouts of labyrinthitis over the years. I got used to so I put it at the back of my mind and pretended like it didn't bother me. This worked... well not very well, but for some reason I thought I had to just put up with it. I didn't want to go to doctors or go on any more medication (which had made things worse!). So I lived with it for years, even during my pregnancy. But it was when I was holding my little baby in my arms and I felt my body teetering about that reality set in. It was no longer just me I had to worry about, I had a little one to take care of now.

I saw my kinesiologist who gave me some Gaze stabilisation exercises... they were ok.. but they weren't enough.

SO I went to google and I found the following exercises

http://www.brainandspine.org.uk/vestibular-rehabilitation-exercises

I tried them all, they didn't all work but I got there in the end.

I found that by building on the gaze stabilisation exercises by quickly bending over then standing, at first a little alarming, really got me there. I don't know why, but it helped.

But if I am honest they worked well with the combination of not cleaning my ear so much! I have always been a bit nuts about it, but I left it a little to see if it would help.. and I really think it did.

I have been fine for months now.. just exhaustion sets my eyes to fussy these days but that's to be expected.

I hope this helps someone out there looking for a little hope. Its a truly awful experience and a little maddening. Your not alone!

Chips!

I love chips. I love them anyway they are made and in any form... however, that does not mean they always love me.

Those tasty morsels with just a hint of fish batter always send my stomach into melt down. I feel so dreadful and it can set off my IBS symptoms. But these days its not burger and chips that are sending me to bed early... its chips in any delicious form!

Particularly Pringles... I mean what has happened there. They taste different and my goodness they feel different. And it's not just me, even my husband is running what used to be a fan favourite in our house. It isn't the only brand to. It seems the cheaper the chips, the more we end up with stomach cramps.

I don't know if it is my age or something that manufacturers are putting into their products now, but I am finding it harder and harder to find anything that wont give me a stomach ache!!

Surviving Christmas

Christmas is one of those amazing times of year when dried fruit appears in everything. Its tasty aromas fill bakeries far and wide and no department store is free from the sweet smelling goodness of fruity treats.

As I have a rather annoying case of Fructose intolerance I spend the season desperate to taste the yummy Christmas puddings and fruit cakes of my childhood.. but alas.... I must refrain.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't tasty morsels for us fruit deprived!

Nigella has of course provided with an amazing chocolate spice cake that tends to fill my much needed Christmas tradition of cake with brandy custard!!

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/christmas-spiced-chocolate-cake

also lovely with maple brittle icecream : )

https://www.woolworths.com.au/Shop/Recipes/christmas/christmas-dessert-recipes?name=pecan-brittle-ice-cream-sandwiches&recipeId=3342

You could also make Pavlova...so many to choose from... I would recommend looking at Nigella's website!!

I also recommend .. if you can.. some boozy Belle De Jour Truffles (sorry I have the book.. but there are a few different versions out there if you like)

Shortbread and ginger/spice biscuits can also fill that Christmas tooth! As a lucky Australian lady I have access to many very good Women's Weekly recipe books.. but if you are going to make them.. make sure they are from a good source.. internet recipes can go SO wrong.. and Christmas is frustrating enough as it is!!

I hope this helps... well anyone.

FODMAPing whilst pregnant

Pregnancy is that glorious time when more and more delicious foods become unavailable. My goodness how I miss coffee!!!

The really fun thing about pregnancy is the wind... cause its not like I haven't had to deal with that before.. and the worry that peppermint oil (my favourite remedy) is not really the greatest option when pregnant. So what to do... stick to your diet like everything naughty will send you into a fructose overload (I can only have 1 piece of fruit a day.. so for me its the very worst of the worst).. or whatever your most brutal FODMAP food is.

Its hard though... because I crave the very things that I know will hurt me....like smoothies!!!

But trust me.. its not worth it. Pregnancy is hard enough. People, well some of them go just weird... lunch conversation is now just them talking at you and lecturing you about their baby and pregnancy for four hours... and if your like me and you just want to have a nice conversation and not talk about babies...and are full of pregnancy hormones ; ) well... lets not put a FODMAP reaction on top of that. It's honestly hard enough.

I know for some people their food issues get better, and if you wanna take that chance or you cannot help yourselves I completely get it... but just tread lightly and take care of yourself.

FODMAPing through Europe

I am one of those lucky ones that have started to tolerate some of those nasty GOS ect... so I could eat baguettes, croissants and drink cappuccinos to my hearts content (well with lacteeze).

I got through Europe with only one incident (see Turkey below), I did this by bringing my own cereal and making our own dinners. In order for this to work I organised for us to stay in a self contained apartment. In Paris we were able to go to a locate market.. and the produce was fantastic. They have a website which can help you locate local markets which I cannot for the life of me find right now : )

However, this does mean that you will have to factor in making it home in time to make dinner. To make things easier for you make sure you have kitchen utensils that will assist in making a quick meal.. keeping in mind that those kitchens are going to be tiny and rarely have a microwave (also many places that have microwaves rarely had microwave safe dishes so be careful and perhaps pop something in your bag if your really worried.)

Through Turkey, my most feared destination, I got around allot of my issues by being very careful of what I ingested, never mind whats on your plate! I just pushed aside what I couldn't eat and hoped for the best. It makes for plain eating but, it will get you through. I ate allot of plain meals, but it was better than the alternative. I did get stung with honey once though. And whilst trying not to 'pop' on the tour bus I was really regretting that choice. Its really not worth it... unless your there for the food... then go for it.. just be prepared for the consequences!

I also took some crackers from home that I knew I could eat if there was no suitable lunch option. For me these are the large sandwich size vitabrits. They will fill you up, but of course if you have issues with wheat.. not a great idea. I found they travelled very well in a glad bag and they came in handy . ..more than I would have thought. My husband also kept a stash of tiny teddies with him.. just in case he got peckish. Its weird to take something foreign into another country... but its well worth it if you have issues.

I found Spain and Italy had Lactose free milk in their supermarkets.. however, in Barcelona I found two supermarkets right next to each other.. one with lactose free milk, the other without... imagine which one I found first : (

Health food stores are around, but don't expect the variety you have at home unless you have some feedback first. I long trek to a health food store with the promise of lactose free milk had me hauling oat milk all the way home.. tasty yes. But not with coffee!!

An incredible trip, amazing food... you just have to be careful, and never tell yourself I will be alright, its not a good time to test these things ; )

Goodluck ox

When is it too much of a good thing?

I would say its too much when your stomach loses its mind and you have to go home in agonizing pain. This happened to me recently... It appears that Bananas' and I, lifelong friends, have gone the way of Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC! With a vengeance.

I had a banana almost every day, it filled me up and was full of goodness.. but it appears that my body just couldn't do it anymore. It also can not do spelt every day, neither can it do anything else daily for lunch. This was a real shock, I have always been one for consistency and with my FODMAP issues it helped.. now I am back at square 1 trying to figure our my body again for the umpteenth time.

On the up side I am tolerating salad again :) Carbohydrates and I still have a shaky relationship, but it turns out the way to move forward is inconsistency.... which has me baffled. I shake up my daily meals.. through breakfast and dinner seem to be ok if I stick with the same, but lunch.. well lunch is a different kettle of fish. One that I have long struggled with. Its rare that I eat without feeling unwell after lunch. but lately.. I have been feeling a little better, light meals. Salad and some crackers/slice of bread.

This is what is getting me through.. salad... I am grateful... but I just wish it would settle... in the hope that my body would settle. It just keeps changing... if yours does to.. just know.. your not alone.

Its not your fault.. your body is just that sensitive!

Reality

The reality is even when you start to eat normally and be adventurous, for some of us the reality is we will never be able to eat certain foods or type of foods. The damage that got us to our life of FODMAP hell will inevitably lead us to a system that is easily stressed or lets be honest just plain irritable. This reality is frustrating, but its reality. We may never be able to eat fatty foods or lots of fruit.. that's just part and parcel of life.

Throughout this whole journey the focus is on getting better, and getting your body to a place where it can eat as many different varieties of food that you can. So if you get to that end goal and you are still struggling... don't let it get to you.. this is just your body and for better or for worse we have to accept these changes.

And its not easy. I have come out with a very different digestive system then when I started. Its very sensitive and since my ulcer last year (and the ensuing gastritis) somehow I have become lactose intolerant. All just part of the game. Many of us are just sensitive or there has been so much damage that it will never be like it was.. other will have other outsides issues that will continue to influence our digestive balance.

This is life.. in the end its an opportunity to eat better, have a healthier body and in this day and age.. that isn't that bad.

Reintroducing onion

Of all the FODMAP foods onion is the one that I am the most.. well fearful of. Its in everything!!! I have also had some really dreadful experiences with it.. i recall one horrible night in Tokyo and a fraught train journey to the airport with a backpack and a suitcase on a rush hour train.. there are no words.

The long day of pain, unending movement of gas through my intestines with raucous intent. I have had worse trips.. before i went on the diet, but this was the first plain ride .... a descent into hell i will call it. I swear the cabin pressure makes it worse!

So its the one i am being the most careful when introducing. I am starting with chips.. they have onion powder in small doses and so far I have had no reactions. Its funny though, I really don't like onion. I used to before all this, but now.. yuck!! I don't get why people put it in everything.

I will work up to real onion, in time, but for now its onion in chips, then onion in stock.. and then... well i am sure something will come up. I have been on the FODMAP diet for over 3 years.. so i guess i should start being brave.

Its hard though, before, when it was bad i got used to the pain. Now.. when it hits it throws me for a sixer. I don't know how i did it before.

The friend dilema

I have been on the FODMAP diet for over 4 years now and though I am the one who has done the research and live it day in and out, I still have people tell me what I can and cannot have.

They mean well. Its just that they have taken a small amount of knowledge and have defined your whole body by it.

At least they are not as bad as family who aggressively demand knowledge about your body and take the small information you uncomfortably provide and tell you that you have to have and colonoscopy and endoscopy...I have no idea why people in their 50s are so obsessed with these procedures but they do go on about it. I have been pushed to tears by supposedly "well meaning" relatives as they try to bully me into having expensive procedures whilst informing me that my Dr. and Dietician don't know anything and they, generally someone with not a hint of medical training, do.

Its not easy to have your friends argue with you over basic details of the fodmap diet... you say I cant eat wheat, then your gluten intolerant they say, and no matter what you say to the contrary they will aggressively tell you that because you cant eat wheat or rye you are gluten intolerant... over and over and over again.

What's worse is that you tell them you eat spelt bread and they start lecturing their celiac relatives that spelt bread is gluten free (thank goodness they knew their breads and didn't fall for the terrible advice!)

After so many years I sometimes forget that people don't know about my food issues, but most of the time its right there. Its there because of the rudeness and disgusting behaviour some older people have shown towards my health issues. The exasperation and frustration they have shown when I have said I cannot eat what they have made is inexcusable.

You know there is something wrong with someone when there pride is more important then caring for you... cause if they cared about you they wouldn't want you to be in pain... which makes things SO awkward!!!

Friends are great, family can be great, but when it comes to them and your health issues, whatever they may be, don't take anything for granted or you will go hungry or end up in agony.

Reintroducing foods

When you get to that great place where the symptoms start to abate its time to start considering when you want to reintroduce certain foods. Some foods will always result in a negative reaction, but its important.. if your willing.. to try to introduce some of the foods that once sent you into agony.

My first real step was by accident. I had a quinoa salad at a restaurant and as I took my third bite it finally twigged, there was apple in it. I hadn't had it in so long I it took me a while to pick it.

I hadn't had any other fruit that day so I gave it a go and fours hours later (when I knew I would be home) I was still fine. I was careful that day to make sure that I didn't have any other fodmap foods and took extra care to chew everything well (something I struggle with).

Other foods, such as wheat, can still be a bit sketchy if I have to much of it and I have really gone off really processed foods because of all the Gluten free food I ate for years. But its been good to try. It makes life that little bit easier when I am dining out. 

I am still not brave enough to try onion, but I have started eating foods that may have some onion powder ect, but only in small amounts.

Reintroducing foods can bring up new and unexpected issues; like your now a little bit gluten intolerant or gluten free foods turn your stomach. Some foods may never be able to be introduced or even though you can eat something, such as garlic, it gives you slight indigestion but then goes down smoothly.

When something gets taken out of the mix, when you reintroduce it, your body may engage with it differently.

Given that you may have some bizarre reaction, I would recommend that you make sure that you are going to be home if any negative side effects raise their head, and if it does go well, don't gorge!

Just because it went well the first time doesn't mean your free to eat it everyday. Take it easy and let your body get used to it.

I hope this is helpful

Good luck :)

Pumpkin .. too much of a good thing

The Monash University FODMAP list tells me that I can eat Kent/Japanese pumpkin with impunity... but when eating my beautiful homemade pumpkin soup for a few days I find myself doubled over with pain I cant help but think that perhaps there is a catch with this one.

My FODMAP app tells me that 1/2 a cup should be alright... so ... which is right? Does it even matter because no matter what I am told, pumpkin and I appear to have a limit which much be maintained so I don't end up in hell.

And it is hell now. I used to endure the pain of gas pushing everywhere all day long. Now when I have a flare up I cannot imagine how I once endured this for long periods of time. Its strange what we can get used to.. and very telling as to the person we are : )

Living with IBS

This is a bit of a ramble, but I thought it might be good to get some ideas down on what its like to live with IBS:

For some people IBS is a aberration that comes and goes after some incident. Sometimes it can last for 1 year and can be very upsetting and unsettling. For others, like me, its been something that developed over time and peaked in moment of exhaustion and an inability to cope that sent you spiralling off to the doctors defeated and exhausted. The truly unfortunate have had it since they can remember. Its apart of their life now.

IBS is stressful, anxiety and stress inducing, demoralising. It effects so many people and yet to date they don't know why... perhaps because there appears to be different causes for different people. Our guts are this sensitive organism that works endlessly to keep a whole human being going, to keep us alive, to keep us healthy. No wonder its so sensitive and in the end it keeps us running to the bathroom with diarrhoea, gas or constipation, or all three, in droves!

IBS is frustrating, humiliating and its takes so much from you. Time with family and friends, beautiful occasions. I still cant go to the theatre without my system telling me that I have gas (my biggest problem) and being uncomfortable the whole time! I have seen the Russian Ballet prancing with a beauty unmatched by anything I have ever seen, but I squirmed through the whole thing desperate for the interval. Holidays away can leave you a mess for days afterwards as your body tries to deal with all the crap that you put into your body. Things that were seemingly harmless have you running around Putt Putt golf like you have ants in your pants.

Its slightly ruinous to us and yet, there we have no real answers.. well not that they can really tell us. Our incredible complex body just doesn't like something at that time and is sending you to hell or the stresses of life have you sweating over the bowl in new and horrific ways. We can take medication, change our diet, change our life. There is no quick fix though hence so many of us continue in the cycle of discomfort and agitation.

Living with IBS is difficult. Its exhaustion and it really takes it out of you. Fear of IBS creates IBS!!!! Its just that frustrating.

So when you have someone in your life that has this.. have a think about how much it takes from them, how low it makes them feel and how much energy it takes just to get up everyday. Its a huge challenge and a massive achievement when its conquered. Not that I have yet... but I have hope : )

Stomach Acid

I was recently put on tablets that decreased my stomach acid. I had been diagnosed with Gastritis earlier in the year and put on tablets to try and limit the amount of acid I was producing.


I was sure it was the Bio Hawk I had taken, my Dr thinks I had a small ulcer.


Anywho I noticed in the past two weeks that I had a recurrence of what I recalled were FODMAP symptoms.


I went through all the old culprits, and then it dawned on me... the tablets were not allowing me to produce enough acid. Last night I didn't take one, and I had no gastritis and other negative side effects. My gastritis appears to be history.


The biohawk helped me develop more acid...a little too much... but then the cure had the opposite effect. Its not always easy to figure out how to keep this balanced, but it was a huge eye opener to what it used to be like for me.


Allot of Dr's don't believe you can have low stomach acid... but if you think you might have it and something like red meat is an issue for you. Try a glass of red wine with dinner and if you see an improvement then I think perhaps you may have low stomach acid.. you may also be like me and have your acid go up and down with your emotions so be careful of that too.


Trust your body and if you are having FODMAP symptoms don't rest until you figure out what is setting you off.. life is too short :)

Wheat

Now on the FODMAP diet we are told to restrict wheat... I restricted my wheat quite allot for a year... stayed away from wheat biscuits, pasta ect. I thought that by being really restrictive I would have a better outcome.

However new advice from Monash indicates that a bit of wheat is ok. In order not to develop a gluten intolerance its a good idea to keep some in your system.

So have some crackers and biscuits and a spot of cake sometimes and see how you go. Gluten intolerance on top of what we already have to put up with is just not worth it. So enjoy that Tim Tam : )