keepswimming
Senior Member
- Messages
- 304
- Location
- UK
I'm so fed up about this and really need to have a little rant 
Just a background - I've had IBS for years, long before M.E. I actually had a bad flare due to stress just prior to getting EBV/that leading into M.E. But the last few years it hasn't really bothered me too much, other than loose stools and a bit of stomach ache.
So I decided to try an exclusion diet to check nothing was making my M.E. worse. I cut out legumes/grains/dairy/gluten for about 3 weeks then introduced them one at a time. I didn't feel any better during the diet, and I was fine with reintroducing all of them until I reintroduced gluten. I had bad headache, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain etc. So I thought, OK, gluten seems to be problematic, and I cut it out.
But ever since then my IBS has been worse. I've been experiencing stuff like acid reflux (a new symptom for me) and nausea regularly. Increased stomach pain and symptoms. Eventually I thought, well this isn't helping so I might as well go back to eating gluten...
I reintroduced a small amount and didn't seem to notice any difference. So I thought I may as well eat what I like... But then two weeks ago I ended up eating a lot more wheat products than I had been... And I got so ill. I felt terrible, fluey and I could see from my heart rate I had massive inflammation in my body, as well as gastro symptoms.
Now I just don't know what to do with myself. I've obviously cut out gluten again. Low fodmap foods seem safest and minimise symptoms, but I am having problems whatever I eat. I'm wondering about the full low fodmap diet plan but on the other hand I'm afraid that as the exclusion diet seems to have triggered all this, whether another exclusion diet will make things even worse again?! If I lose my tolerance to even more foods...??
Or maybe I am just bad with gluten (or perhaps fructans as I am suspicious about onion too??) and the effects of reintroduction have caused a IBS flare which had made me more sensitive to everything else... But how long will it last?? It's weird how I've eaten gluten for years, but after cutting it out I'm getting such a bad reaction to it.
Honestly I'm just fed up. I tried to do something to make me better, and its made everything worse. I'm also anxious the effect all this will have on my M.E. In the long run...
Just a background - I've had IBS for years, long before M.E. I actually had a bad flare due to stress just prior to getting EBV/that leading into M.E. But the last few years it hasn't really bothered me too much, other than loose stools and a bit of stomach ache.
So I decided to try an exclusion diet to check nothing was making my M.E. worse. I cut out legumes/grains/dairy/gluten for about 3 weeks then introduced them one at a time. I didn't feel any better during the diet, and I was fine with reintroducing all of them until I reintroduced gluten. I had bad headache, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain etc. So I thought, OK, gluten seems to be problematic, and I cut it out.
But ever since then my IBS has been worse. I've been experiencing stuff like acid reflux (a new symptom for me) and nausea regularly. Increased stomach pain and symptoms. Eventually I thought, well this isn't helping so I might as well go back to eating gluten...
I reintroduced a small amount and didn't seem to notice any difference. So I thought I may as well eat what I like... But then two weeks ago I ended up eating a lot more wheat products than I had been... And I got so ill. I felt terrible, fluey and I could see from my heart rate I had massive inflammation in my body, as well as gastro symptoms.
Now I just don't know what to do with myself. I've obviously cut out gluten again. Low fodmap foods seem safest and minimise symptoms, but I am having problems whatever I eat. I'm wondering about the full low fodmap diet plan but on the other hand I'm afraid that as the exclusion diet seems to have triggered all this, whether another exclusion diet will make things even worse again?! If I lose my tolerance to even more foods...??
Or maybe I am just bad with gluten (or perhaps fructans as I am suspicious about onion too??) and the effects of reintroduction have caused a IBS flare which had made me more sensitive to everything else... But how long will it last?? It's weird how I've eaten gluten for years, but after cutting it out I'm getting such a bad reaction to it.
Honestly I'm just fed up. I tried to do something to make me better, and its made everything worse. I'm also anxious the effect all this will have on my M.E. In the long run...