# Does this sound like IBS to you?



## Palegoth (Jan 19, 2015)

Hi, so I'm new here and would like to start off by asking if my symptoms sound like IBS to you. I won't self-diagnose, I don't do that kinda thing, but my symptoms are bothering me a lot and I can relate to many IBS posts...

The symptoms I get are Constipation, Abdominal Bloating, Abdominal Pain, Anxious, Back Pain, Brain_Fog, Depressed Mood, Dizziness, Fatigue, Flatulence/Gas, Headaches, Heartburn, Incomplete Emptying, Incontinence, Insomnia, Joint Pain, Leaky Gas, Nausea, Odor, Panic Attacks, Urgency and Vertigo.

I copied from my profile because I'm lazy and that way I won't forget any of them, lol. Anyway, I've recently started getting a pretty good overview of my "danger" and my "safe" foods.

My danger ones are apples, pears, dairy, wheat, regular chocolate, most candies, broccoli (and its white equivalent which I forgot the name of in all of my languages right now so even translate can't help me), barrel sprouts, onions, garlic, most candies, fruit juice, anything with a high concentration of acid, energy drinks and many more yet to be placed in the "danger food" category. Large amounts of anything is also danger, I have to stick to small portions.

Safe foods are, so far, potatoes, oatmeal, whole meat and fish, most potato chips (I've got all the safe brands and kinds memorized







), dark chocolate, carrots and most lactose-free dairy products. Some products that'd usually fall in the danger-food category are safe if they're gluten-free. But going only gluten free didn't remove my symptoms.

I've learned that I can't just eliminate this or that and then be fine. It's more the overall amount of danger foods determining the outcome and symptoms. During research I made another observation, which was that most of my safe/danger-foods I've determined so far seem to fit into the low-FODMAP diet, and when unsure I've sometimes consciously made some choices based on the low-FODMAP diet and it seems to work. From research I've come across lots of information about decreasing FODMAP-intake in IBS patients showing good results, and also many sources mentioning that it's not every single food holding FODMAP that makes the outcome, but the final amount of FODMAP consumed causing symptoms. Pretty much exactly my experience.

What are your opinions on this? Does it sound like IBS or something completely different?

Also, how to you completely control your diet when you don't live alone and you're expected to eat at least three dinners together with your family per week?


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