Stomach trouble

With the greatest of respect, you need more nutrition education.

Please watch the podcast on YouTube that I posted earlier in the thread.

Atm you are blindly guessing, Dr Spectre's ZOE programme would allow you to actually know, because of tested data on your work own biology, you would 100% then know what foods are beneficial to you.

All the best

Good point.

At school I had stomach trouble but being out of that environment has helped me.

My food situation is as follows: 

I have a coffee subscription which i use until 1800 and then I eat one meal.

That keeps me from over-eating.

I walk a bout 4 miles a day broken into several parts.

the coffee probably makes me more ….anxious?  I’m not sure.

But I don’t eat carbs or sugar foods

I focus on nuts blueberries

cheese

black bread 

If I take chocolate and biscuits etc it sets off a beast within and there is no offswitch I get a high but a type of weird dependence and withdrawal from those foodstuffs.  I’m 57 and am predeiabetic.

It's super interesting what you say about the bread- My mum is adamant that the type of bread and quality really makes a huge difference and it's the same for me. I also tried gluten free bread and it never went well for me... and some bread give me instant acid reflux, others give me bloating and some types work well. I think with bread a big factor is also how long it was left to rise and whether it is yeast or sourdough and the type of  grains that were used etc. My mum also feels that for her bread is often more digestible when it is toasted... not sure if there is truth in this or what the scientific basis would be but it's interesting... 

Work can be a nightmare in many ways.

There was a period in my more recent past where I was working, caring for a mentally and physically ill mother and my sister had terminal cancer.

I already use Simeticone, thanks.

Ann :) said:

I feel like a lot of this is trial and error and highly individual ... There as so many factors that can impact digestion which just makes it so hard to deal with as there is no easy fix as far as I know.

I agree.

Take care.

Water intake is something I really struggle with, how anyone can drink 2 litres a day is beyond me. My wife bought me some Berocca tablets, she dissolved one in a glass of water and couldn’t understand why I was nearly drowning.

I am 100% with you on movement - helps loads for bloating too and it relieves stress so it does even more good :) Sadly I'm a bit limited in what I can do since 3 years now due to injuries... 

Oh, and upping water intake, and movement helps a lot (especially if you have constipation).

And meditation, sticking to a daily practice has also changed my life completely. It take years to get confident with it, but is so worth doing

Good luck guys

Wow, thanks for the response everyone, I think this has confirmed my theory!!

So, let me share with you my progress in the hope that it helps somebody here.

I've had IBD since 2012, and spent over 10 years trying everything with the help of my partner who is a food expert in industry (I got lucky there).

I've tried FODMAP, Low Fibre, BRAPS, Keto, Paleo, Gluten Free, Vegan,.... I've tried it all based on the latest research available today, and it has led me to...

...the ZOE study (yes, same company who do the Covid study). It is run by Dr Tim Spectre (wrote the Diet Myth) etc. He ran the biggest study of identical twins ever, over 15,000, where he found that the same food reacted differently for two identical twins.

Drum roll, this is because of the profile of their microbiome in their intestines. It's different in each of us. So this means we react differently to foods based on this microbial environment.

Long story short, the programme has a waiting list, but is worth the wait. It's totally revolutionised my diet and my energy is through the roof.

This week I reintroduce gluten in the form of food quality bread. And I'm fine 

So, what the food industry doesn't want us to know is, it's the quality of food that is the major issue. The amount of ingredients in a loaf of GF bread for example, it's full of rubbish!!

Instead, buy a loaf of properly made bread and you'll likely be fine. Not many people are celiac, but everyone thinks they must be. Not true, it's just rubbish quality processed foods causing you issues.

Stress is a big issue, so not surprised by your responses. So focusing on developing coping mechanisms and changing your environment to lesson stress has really helped me.

Anyway, hear it is from the Dr himself, then join up to ZOE. I promise you, it's helped me more than anything else.

This is long, but full of wisdom:

https://youtu.be/66hWntvp0_4

This is for the ZOE programme:

https://joinzoe.com/

...I have no affiliation with ZOE, just like to help people

I still have IBD, but this has made me feel whole again

Hope it helps you to x

yes... it's super hard- I am back to work on Monday and I have no idea how I'll cope- the past days i've never fallen asleep before 2:30 or 3 am because of this... 

In terms of wind/bloating, you could look into simeticone (which you can get over the counter or in boots). It helped a little for me. I am not qualified to give medical advice though, can only say what I tried... About simeticone - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

I've been told by my GP to try pepper mind capsules for the IBS but they don't work for me and give me acid reflux... 

I feel like a lot of this is trial and error and highly individual ... There as so many factors that can impact digestion which just makes it so hard to deal with as there is no easy fix as far as I know.

Thank you.  Ditto.

Sometimes I do get nausea but my most destructive problems (other than the cough) are lack of food motility and bloatedness/wind.

I just take sickness tablets for the nausea.

Thanks re the ginger, but ginger is the spawn of the Devil as far as I'm concerned 

As with you, I lose a lot of sleep over these issues, and I already wake every 2 hours or so and have done for many years.

I'm no longer working though, which is a huge relief.

It's managing these issues whilst trying to hold down a job or having caring responsibilities (as I did) which is hardest I think.

I'm sorry, I am struggling with similar issues on a daily basis and it is also disrupting my sleep... it's so hard. But I do think it will get better eventually. That's what I am telling myself at least- I am hoping that at some point I will feel more settled and calmer and become better at dealing with stress and that will help a lot... Have you had any help for the anxiety? (I've not really had any useful support for that yet but I would like to have some help with that.... ) 

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling :(. Do you have issues with nausea? Apparently (according to my dietitian) ginger capsules can help for that. I haven't tried in recent times but I do find ginger tea can help a little. 

Hi, yes I was on the low fodmap diet for quite a while... it did help a bit but I still had issues and in the end it was a bit too restrictive for me, but it can be useful to try maybe or even to just look at what fodmaps (if any) are present in foods you think you react to... the Monach university app is good: Low FODMAP Diet App | Monash FODMAP - Monash Fodmap

I also find that keeping a food diary can at times be helpful. I think for me I realised that it's always a combination of factors- the food itself but also the context (ie was I super stressed out when eating or in general etc). 

I’ve had problems for most of my life with certain foods, I have cut nearly all wheat out of my diet and have been much better.

Stomach problems are a common occurrence for people with autism. Stress intensifies stomach problems to. I have anxiety and Irritable Bowel Syndrome and I would say both are severe. I get nausea, pain, wind, acid reflux, upset stomach almost every day and this increases my anxiety and that makes it worse.

A lot of the time it causes disturbance in my sleep and my eating. I have seen the GP and had every test you can think of but it is just anxiety and IBS. 

I've have a chronic, productive cough that can last for hours and this has been for over a decade.

I've had tests at the hospital and they believe that it's caused by stomach acid (I have a small hiatus hernia).

Medications might help but definitely don't eliminate it.

I've never come across/read about another person with this.

I've heard of dry coughs but not productive.

That's useful too as I do get the opposite to you.

Thanks.

Most of my safest foods are high fodmap. I've heard it can be helpful if you have constipation, which is the opposite problem to be. But I definitely got worse during the elimination phase and better after reintroducing fructans.

There's a FODMAP chart to download here:

https://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-diet-chart/