Stomach problems are still there?

[KBarbano]

Hi!

I’m not sure what to do! I initially decided to start Whole 30 because I was always suffering from stomach issues ( gas and painful bloating) and I wanted to rule out my food as the cause before I went on a pill for IBS. Over the past 25 days I have experienced so many wonderful successes such as: more energy, happier and more consistent mood,  much more focused and productive, and overall less anxious! It’s been great, but my stomach is still the same or sometimes even worse. I think my next step is to eliminate foods listed on the avoid side of the FODMAP list - even though I really don’t want to. It eliminating even more foods that I’ve grown to love over this experience. 

Since I’m close to the reintroduction phase, I’m not sure if I should extend my time to the Whole 40 or Whole 60 due to not feeling any relief from my stomach issues. My boredom gets pretty bad at times, and now I would have to cut out even more foods. I know I probably should just suck it up and stick with it to be able to rule out the foods on the FODMAP list. I guess I’m just looking for some support and guidance from anyone that had similar issues. I also don’t no whether to look into probiotics or digestive enzymes at this particular time in the processes.

Thanks for letting me vent! - Kristen 

[BabyBear]

I’m sorry you haven’t found relief yet.  Although I don’t have experience with your particular issues I can attest to a high quality probiotic and digestive enzyme.  Even my children take these as they help immensely with gut health and immune system.  We use probiotics that must be refrigerated to ensure the probiotic strands are live and active.  If the thought of eliminating more food is discouraging or seems like a bigger task than you are up to you may want to try the probiotics and enzymes first while remaining whole 30 compliant for a few more weeks before removing more food.  Best of luck and I do hope you find answers.

 You may also want to look at having a blood test done to identify possible intolerance markers.  The test can sometimes be misleading if you’ve been eating a lot of one particular type of food, as sometimes something you eat every day or large amounts throughout the week can show up as a possible issue.  But the blood test could give you another place of reference for foods to eliminate in a reset and then slowly reintro.  I had a friend who did this and it was hard because it seemed she was allergic to everything she ate, but through elimination and reintro she found that she was not having enough variation and so her body would reject the food she ate a lot of trying to tell her she needed variety.  Most of those foods are back on the table for her but in moderation, no binging on cantaloupe or spinach.  

[Jihanna]

Given that you're already thinking you probably need to eliminate high-FODMAP foods, I wouldn't extend your Whole30 (where you state you're using and enjoying some of those foods) because that just seems like you're dragging out your torture. You've only got 5 days left of your 30, but it doesn't sound like you have anything near a primed and stable environment in which to test foods during your reintroduction... so...

I'd bite the bullet and talk to my doctor, in your shoes. My suggestion would be to learn about the differences between the FODMAP diet and the AIP diet (such as detailed here) and then talk these possibilities over with your doctor. In both cases, foods that are part of a "natural" Whole30 would be removed, but there are also a ton of recipes online that can help you navigate both types of diet to help you determine what's going on with your body. (Unbound Wellness is a site I used often during my rounds even without a need to trim down to AIP, and I used several recipes from both Feed Me Phoebe and A Little Bit Yummy when I had to go low-FODMAP for several weeks for my mom's sake, while neither of us were doing Whole30.)

I don't have any advice or suggestions regarding enzymes, but I agree with @BabyBear that a blood test could help give you a point to jump from, also.

Here's the tough love, so be ready --
This is your body. Ultimately, it's up to you. You can suffer while eating foods you enjoy and wondering if they're hurting you, or you can pull up your big girl britches and find out if those beloved foods are doing more harm than good. If you do chase that knowledge down, though, you'll be armed and ready to make informed decisions about your ongoing dietary needs.

Oh, and an eye-opener based on my own opinion (which may or may not be supported by mods here) --
You don't actually have to further pare down your Whole30 diet. You've successfully gone through 25 days by the time of your post here, during which you hadn't experienced reduced gut symptoms. I would personally say that you've determined that Whole30 does NOT pull out the foods causing you the most problems. In your shoes, I'd make a decision (with my doctor) about which elimination diet to try next and then move on. I wouldn't worry about Whole30 again until I was armed with the knowledge that _____ food(s) cause me a great deal of problems, and thus will not be part of my next Whole30 experience. That way, Whole30 can still be a great way to reset food habits and thinking/eating patterns without causing pain along the way.

Make sense?