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IBS-D Symptoms Ruining My Whole30


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I am on day 4 of my first Whole30. Each morning I wake up with terrible stomach cramping, diarrhea, and gas. As the day progresses, my symptoms improve until I am only experiencing mild and consistent stomach cramping. Then about two hours after I eat lunch, the gas returns with it's buddy bloating and I deal with that for the rest of the night. Before I started the Whole30, I was already gluten and dairy free and had been for two and a half years. The biggest adjustment to my diet was just cutting out sugar. My hope was that the Whole30 would help alleviate these symptoms. Here is what I ate for the first three days:

 

Day 1

Breakfast: 3 eggs, sautéed spinach in olive oil, homemade breakfast sausage, 2 cups of coffee with coconut milk

Lunch: chicken salad (chicken, mayo, cashews, apple, celery, raisins) with butter lettuce, olives, 1/4 cup cashews

Dinner: Almond crusted pork chop, sautéed asparagus, roasted potatoes with balsamic aioli, mandarin orange, green tea

 

Day 2

Breakfast: egg salad (3 eggs, 1/2 avocado, mayo), pineapple, mandarin orange, 2 cups coffee

Lunch: Chicken salad (same as day 1)

Snack: 3 slices prosciutto, six dried figs, olives

Dinner: Sauteed bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, shrimp, and green chiles. Leftover roasted potatoes with balsamic aioli

 

Day 3

Breakfast: 3 hard boiled eggs, 2 kiwis, 1/4 cup cashews, 1 cup coffee

Lunch: Chicken salad with arugula, left over roasted potatoes with balsamic aioli, mandarin orange

Snack: Cherry Larabar, green tea

Dinner: Meatloaf (ground turkey & beef, onions, spinach, over dried tomatoes) topped with marinara, mashed cauliflower (cauliflower, chicken broth, ghee), roasted carrots, green tea

 

Any thoughts or suggestions as to how I might alleviate my symptoms or do I just need to tough it out as my body adjusts to not having sugar?

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It could be but if you are having problems with IBS type symptoms you may want to follow the low FODMAP's version of the whole 30.

 

Another possibility is nuts.  Nuts cause a lot of bloating, gas issues for many people.  (I am one of them) So maybe try eliminating the nuts.http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-shopping-list-FODMAP.pdf

 

Secondly - your need to snack tells me that your meals are not big enough.  You should be good to go 4 -5 hours between meals.  However I just saw your second note about breast feeding - so if you feel you need it - add a fourth meal.  If you want to drink coconut milk throughout the day (because you need fat sources) do it.

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Unless the nuts or FODMAPs are a problem for you, I don't understand the symptoms you are having. As a breastfeeding mom, you might benefit from eating more starchy veggies like sweet potato, parsnips, plantains, rutabagas and, as Carlaccini said, adding a fourth meal to eliminate the snacking on less nutritious foods. I like that you are taking a probiotic. Maybe it is just going to take time to come together.

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Your symptoms sound like mine! Mine accumulated during the day -- gas, bloating, pain, then the "D" part of IBS-D the next morning. The Whole30 FODMAP list is not a great reference from my experience, I have trouble with many of the vegetables in blue. Another one to look at is this one http://radicatamedicine.com/2014/06/03/paleo-low-fodmap-diet-food-list/ as it breaks it down into "Safe, Limit, and Avoid". Assuming you have a FODMAP problem. 

 

Reviewing the foods you mentioned, and bolding FODMAP foods:

Breakfast: 3 eggs, sautéed spinach in olive oil, homemade breakfast sausage, 2 cups of coffee with coconut milk (if with guar gum)

Lunch: chicken salad (chicken, mayo, cashews, apple, celery, raisins) with butter lettuce, olives, 1/4 cup cashews

Dinner: Almond crusted pork chop, sautéed asparagus, roasted potatoes with balsamic aioli, mandarin orange, green tea

 

Breakfast: egg salad (3 eggs, 1/2 avocado, mayo), pineapple, mandarin orange, 2 cups coffee

Lunch: Chicken salad (same as day 1)

Snack: 3 slices prosciutto, six dried figs, olives

Dinner: Sauteed bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, shrimp, and green chiles. Leftover roasted potatoes with balsamic aioli (garlic)

 

Breakfast: 3 hard boiled eggs, 2 kiwis, 1/4 cup cashews, 1 cup coffee

Lunch: Chicken salad with arugula, left over roasted potatoes with balsamic aioli, mandarin orange

Snack: Cherry Larabar, green tea

Dinner: Meatloaf (ground turkey & beef, onions, spinach, over dried tomatoes) topped with marinara, mashed cauliflower (cauliflower, chicken broth, ghee), roasted carrots, green tea

 

Your lunch would just kill me for the afternoon! But everyone is different. 

Are the foods in bold new for you, or are you eating more of those foods than before? 

 

Here's what I did: Keep tracking your foods like you have been, see if you can tie symptoms to a particular pattern of foods. Then you can gauge the role of FODMAPs in your symptoms. Not everyone is sensitive to each type of FODMAP, and a lot depends on the amount you are eating. For me it works like a points system, I can eat only so much FODMAP before symptoms will appear, so I'm careful to eat only one type per meal if any. 

 

I can answer most questions if needed, gotta go for now! Hope you are feeling better. 

 

Lucie

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Thanks all for your replies! Lucie, thanks for identifying which foods are FODMAPS. I've dabbled with taking FODMAPS out of my diet before, but I've never really stuck with it long enough to figure out which foods are problematic. I know that onions, garlic, and apples cause me trouble if I overdo it. The only foods that are new to my diet are coconut milk and cashews. I ate cashews previously, but not the amount that I have been eating over the last few days. I'm going to cut the nuts out and see if that makes a difference. I've also increased my overall fat intake, and I'm wondering if that's just not working for me. Do you notice you have any trouble with nightshade vegetables? I would really hate to cut those out of my diet, but I've had that suggested to me as well.

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Regarding nuts and diarrhea.  Yep.  I don't normally eat nuts because they are a food without brakes for me, I haven't had nuts in probably.....3 months.  Last week I decided that I could handle a can of macadamia nuts from Costco.  And I did.  One closed handful, three dinners in a row.  And yesterday?  Worst bloating and diarrhea in the late day.  Just terrible.  

 

Super curious to see if you feel better after ditching the nuts.  If it is nut-related, you should feel better by this afternoon if you haven't had any since yesterday.

 

Let us know!

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Well, no nuts since Wednesday, and I am feeling better. I only had mild gas and bloating last night, which is a huge improvement, and no tummy trouble this morning. I'm hoping that means that nuts were my biggest issue. I would be so sad if it were eggs. I really love my eggs. Thanks everyone for your help!

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