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Posted 11/7/2011 10:11 PM (GMT 0)
How long have you been experimenting with fodmap, Kiwi? And why did you go on it? Did someone recommend that you try it, or did you adopt the diet by yourself?

I've been having lots of bloating and an embarrassing amount of gas and flatulence, which has done nothing for my self-esteem, as you can imagine. Many of those symptoms disappeared almost overnight, once I started the diet, which is amazing, I think. Still having lots of pain and some nausea, though, so I don't think they've addressed all the problems I've been complaining about.

Do you follow it strictly, or just generally? I'm still weaning myself onto the full diet, as I've more sense than to go cold turkey on sugar.

How much would you say it has helped you?

I'm trying to be a good sport about the whole thing, but am not looking forward to a summer without watermelon and peaches and mangoes.

Ivy.
Posted 11/8/2011 4:14 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Ivy

I have been on it over a year now. I first heard about it from a local Dr who was involved in the Oz trials. (Ricahrd Gearry). Then I read a number of medical and lay articles on it and the Barrett one in particular rang a lot of bells for me.

My gastro specialist and GP were both supportive and I went to a dietician who recognises and specialises in it. She gave me a lot of advice but by that time I had pretty much worked it out for myself.

I think it has REALLY helped me in as much as I have been able to reduce my steroid dependency over the past year without a bad flare. No mean feat given our earthquakes and a number of other stressful family matters!

Overall bloating and gas / pain are pretty much non existant if I stick to it and a reasonalbe daily bowel motion is my norm. If I stray I pay the price but it seems to settle within a week if I go back to being 'good'.

I am lucky that lactose doesn't appear to be an issue and now I am able to have small amounts of some forbidden foods like a tablespoon dried fruits in my morning GF meusli or the odd piece of sour dough bread without ill effects.

Things that really don't suit me are wheat, onions and honey.

I actually find it really easy to follow now and although I missed some foods to start with there are a lot I can now enjoy that I wouldn't have dared eat in the past like nuts and mandarins. My strawberry daiquiris are legendary ;P

This summer I am going to find some tasty recipes for polenta and quinoa!

I have been taking a good probiotic and also a couple of other supplements which I think have helped - certainly not done any harm that is for sure.

I do wonder though if your pain and nausea are symptoms of strictures or medication? Diet can only do so much and I was lucky to get onto this post resection surgery. It did take a good six months before I really felt the full benefit.

Sorry such a LONG waffle - take care and do keep us posted and feel free to email me if you need any FODMAP support :)

Hugs
Lesley
PS was over in Queensland last week and loved the GF aisle in Coles (yum yum)
Posted 11/8/2011 5:31 AM (GMT 0)
Wow! Was that for a holiday, or for husband's work again?

I think the pain and nausea may be from a stricture, too, as did the doctors, until they did an upper and lower scope earlier this month and saw nothing. But then, the scope doesn't do the whole gastro tract, so maybe an MRI is in order: I'll find out in a few weeks.

In the meantime, the doctors put me on fodmaps themselves, to see if it might help symptoms.

I can't believe you're down to one bm a day! That's incredible! How many times were you going before fodmaps, do you think?

Have you found any decent recipe books? I'm tossing up on whether I should buy the Sue Shepherd ones, but am not sure yet. I was able to get another of hers from the library, that's for gluten, wheat and dairy free cooking, and it's full of fruit-based recipes and uses fructose instead of cane sugar, so that's not going to work, obviously!

What are the meals you eat most often, if you don't mind my asking?

It just so happens that I LOATHE tomatoes, so a lot of the "legal" recipes are out for me, no matter whether they're allowed on the diet or not...

It's nice to have someone to talk to about this, so thanks for your replies.

Ivy.
Posted 11/8/2011 12:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Leslie

So nice to hear that you are doing well. YEA!!!

What a crazy disease. We are both doing our best to fight this with diet, yet stuff I am eating would be classified as "bad" by your diet and stuff you are eating would be classified as "illegal" (not just bad) by my diet. If these experts can not get their act together, how are we supposed to??

In any case it is always great to hear that you are doing well, and that diet is working for you ;-)

Dave - your Commonwealth buddy
Posted 11/8/2011 8:49 PM (GMT 0)
yes lucky old me tagged on to hubby's work trip again and went to Brisbane (missed the Queen by a day - thought they had done up south bank for us ha ha) then had a few days in Burleigh Heads which was simply wonderful. I really love  Queensland - everyone is so RELAXED and getting around on my own by bus was a breeze esp as most of the drivers were kiwi!  We are thinking hard about retiring over the ditch but am not sure I will be able to drag hubby away from daughter when she starts nesting ;P

ANYWAY  back to FODMAP ....  for ease of undestanding when I talk about 'bad' food I just mean those foods that have FODMAPS in them ... took me a while and like I said it is only now a year later that I have been able to add small portions of bad foods without ill effect but through perservering my diet is now quite varied and enjoyable.

On a day to day basis I only drink fresh ground barista coffee (limit to 2 cups a day), dilmah tea and lots of soda water with a splash of lemon and plain water. Treat drinks in moderation are mainly sparkling / dry white wine or a gin and tonic (recently aquired taste - I must be getting old !)

Most GF books I have borrowed from the library are pretty basic and I don't actually rate Sue Shepherds that much either as they are what we cook anyway - I often get my inspiration from a GF recipe then tweak it to remove FODMAPs.

Check out these for inspiration and filter with 'gluten free':

www.taste.com.au

www.bbc.co.uk/food

www.glutenfreeliving.co.nz

www.healthyfood.co.nz/recipes/gluten-free

 

I mainly use fresh ingredients (apart from tinned tomatoes, tuna and salmon) and make my own sauces unless I am sure a bought one has not bad ingredients. I try to use seasonal ingredients to keep $ down and get my fruit and veg from a market garden I pass daily on the way to work - I pass it daily not buy daily ;P

some of the meals I eat most often now ...

Breakfast/weekend brunch

- GF Muesli (now able tolerate small amounts of dry fruit and coconut in it)

- dry fry ups (no extra oil) mix whats in fridge scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes, hash browns, mushrooms

- GF waffles with bacon and bananas

- banana, blueberry and greek yoghurt smoothies

weekday lunches

- chicken and bacon kebab with salad

- GF bread sandwiches - plain or toasted (variations of cheese/tomato/ham/chicken/BLTs etc)

- GF fritattas with potatoe salad or hot chips

- omelettes

- plain corns chips with bacon and cheese melted on top in the oven

- GF pizza - home made with no bad toppings

Mains at night

- Steak and veg (par boil spuds, kumara, parsnip, pumpkin for 3 mins then spray with olive oil and roast on high) serve with peas, steamed carrots and courgettes.

- Stir frys with rice (GF soy) 

- sweet and sour chicken (my own recipe)

- Special Fried Rice (GF soy) 

- Roast or slow cooked whole chicken with veg as per steak above

- now able to eat phyllo so do a nice chicken and brie in filo with a dash of cranberry jelly (bad but in small amounts OK)

- GF sausges either with mash spuds, carrots and peas or as part of a dry fry up

- FODMAP friendly crustless quiche with salad

Snacks

- plain rice crakers with brie or cheddar

- GF biscuits

- chocolate ;)

- just added cashews

- olives

I make a nice GF chocolate cake using orgran GF flour and another one using ground almond instead of flour. I find I can substitute orgran GF flour into my old recipes with great success. My whole family east GF without realising it! I can dig out some recipes and post them if you like or email them to you ?

hope that is not too much information!!!

mmmm hungry now - must be time for a cuppa and GF biscuit

hugs

Lesley

 

Posted 11/8/2011 8:51 PM (GMT 0)
I do SO agree with you ,my commonwealth buddy, that although we both seem to have found what suits us that it is so crazy they contradict each other in many ways.

I guess we are just lucky to have found what works for us - long may it last :)

Posted 11/8/2011 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
Where in the Commonweath are you, Dave?

I beat you on missing the Queen: I just had to go down to the city for the aformentioned scopes etc, and she was 500 metres away from me, driving up one road, while we were driving to the hospital. We hit all the road blocks very soon after they were reopened. And yes, I was annoyed. I'd have preferred to enjoy the pomp rather than go to boring old hospital.

Cheese???? How can you do cheese???????

Taste is a good website, isn't it? I'll check out the others. And thanks for the feedback on Sue Shepherd's books. I stumbled across one of the fodmap books in a discount shop once, flicked through it, and was underwhelmed, so I'm even less likely to buy it now I've heard what you think.

How do you manage travelling? I'm guessing that's hard?

Eek! Got an appointment in 45 minutes and I haven't even showered yet. Been sitting here faffing, trying to wake up....

More later,

Ivy, hot and humid.

ps. were you involved in the demonstrations / petitions etc about saving landmarks and the cathedral post earthquake? We heard about them on the news this week.
Posted 11/9/2011 4:17 AM (GMT 0)
LOL underwhelmed was EXACTLY the word I was looking for!

Travelling is OK at the moment but I am very careful what I eat in the run up so I don't get sick and have to cancel (had to do that thre times last year and dear hubby gets miffed if it is self inflicted). Didn't even have to use the toilet on the plane coming home - that was a first!

I am lucky lactose is not a problem for me so I tolerate milk, cheese and dairy - albeit in small amounts. My big issues are with wheat, onions, green vegetables (but Ok with courgettes if I peel them), legumes, honey, some fruits are OK in very small amounts unfrequently but only recently.

Hope your appointment went well without her majesty to cause delays ;P

cold wet and shakey here - woken at 4am with an earhquake almost under our house grrrrrrrrr

sadly I was at work earning a buck and not demonstrating - IMHO whilst I loved the historical buildings now I think they need to go - simple put ... they killed people and we need to move forward not look back. It IS hard but the governement is being very fair - a bit of the you can't please all of the people all of the time. My daughter just moved out of her wrecked house last week - a whole year with no flushing toilet so I didn't visit her much ;P
Posted 11/9/2011 11:03 PM (GMT 0)
I do envy you for being able to cope with dairy. Cooking is much easier when you are able to throw in a bit of cheese or whatever. However, to be honest, I've never been a big fan of cheese anyway, unless it's in lasagne or something similar.

What I'm missing is coconut milk and cream, which have been my substitutes for regular cream in cooking (and making ice cream) and now I'm not sure what I can use instead. But I'll get there; I'm sure.

I find it very encouraging that you don't have to follow the diet as strictly as you once did. How long did it take before you were able to start experimenting and introducing new foods? And did you always know which foods you were sensitive to, or did you discover that while on FODMAPs?

Glad travelling is ok: I've been worrying about that. So you have no trouble finding foods that work for you while you're out and about?

I'm amazed, and impressed, you didn't have to use the toilet during your flight! Congratulations!

Regular breakfasts here are porridge made with rice milk, or an orange & carrot & herbs whizzed in the Vitamix (I love that thing).

I seem to be doing a lot of stir fries: meat, capsicum, ginger and herbs, with either mash or rice.

Sweet treats are smoothies, made with bananas or cooked pumpkin (yum).

Do you find that you're hungrier than you used to be? I am STARVING and still feel as if I'm losing weight, despite eating more than I did before FODMAPs.


HRH - I kept having visions of the Queen doing one of her hospital tours, and sitting down to have a chat and keep me company during bowel prep... :-)...

How many tremors is it you've had now? You must be into the hundreds, or thousands...

No views on the demolitions myself: just thought I'd ask about it, as it was on our news...

Ivy.
Posted 11/11/2011 9:01 PM (GMT 0)
pumpkin smoothie is a new one to me and sounds interesting - just adore all pumpkin ( only one in my family who does though!) certainly got me thinking.

Yes I did feel hungry at first so upped my protein which helped and now I rarely feel hungry between meals which is good.

I think it has taken a full year off FODMAP foods to get to this point and don't forget I am still on 3mg budesonide which I support with prebiotics and a couple of other supplements so not purely diet.

I AM lucky on the dairy I don't have much and use A5 milk when I can get it. Small amounts of grated colby and thin slices of brie are about my limit. I do fine coconut milk/cream have me running to the loo very quickly but the odd coconut flakes in muesli are now tolerated - quantity and concentration I guess.

After about three months I added peeled courgettes, peeled mushrooms and the odd teaspoon of tomatoe paste. At about six months I added a tablespoon dried fruit to muesli and later added cashews and almonds - I do chew a lot more carefully now though ;P

When I add something back I just do one food a week to make sure it is Ok (or not). I still don't tolerate oat porridge which I try every now and then for some reason oats are not my friend! same with legumes but bowel effects still not pretty.

I sometimes cook with onions for flavour but take them out before eating (dietician told me that trick and it seems to work).

This weekend I had a small plain pita bread for the first time in years - warmed in the toaster, cut it in half with crispy bacon, tomato and shredded lettuce and a dash of GF mayo - HEAVEN not to mention a major break through as no problems afterwards.

My big worry at the moment is I have to come of the budesonide (apparently I am 'steroid dependent' and they say it like it is a bad thing ha ha) and I am well aware it has played a big part in keeping the inflamation down. Mind you in the past alone it was not enough but with this diet it has truly put me into the best remission I have had in 20 years.

would you beleive 7600 earthquakes since last Sept and still going - truly and officially OVER IT!

would have paid good money to see you chatting to the Queen during a bowel prep ROTFLOL
Posted 11/12/2011 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
I keep having visions of disastrous curtsies :-)

7,600 is just ridiculous. You poor thing. Your nerves must be well and truly shot.

Pumpkin smoothie - throw some cooked pumpkin in the blender, along with some milk / milk alternative, and cinnamon, nutmeg, a dash of ground cloves and another dash of ground ginger. Add some maple syrup / agave / whatever. Blend. Yum. It's even nicer if you put it in the fridge for a while, to get really cool. Apparently sweet potato works well, too, but I haven't tried that yet.

Until FODMAPs I used to make pumpkin ice cream with this basic recipe, with the addition of an egg and lots of coconut cream :-(.

You can also add an egg or two, and cook the puree in the oven, just like baked custard. That's lovely, too, especially if you put a nice coating of maple syrup in the base, as if it's a creme caramel.

I am already feeling oh-so-bored with this diet, but am going to stick at it. I'd love to hear some of your tasty sauce recipes, if you can spare the time and energy. That might help perk me up a bit.

Today I'm hoping to try to make some sort of savoury mince, using chives from the garden instead of onion and garlic :-/, no mushrooms, no tomato paste (but tinned tomatoes and red wine) and a stack of chopped up veg. I'll let you know how it works.

That pita sounds lovely!!

I had a dietitian's appointment earlier this week. She's a general medical dietitian rather than an IBD one, and she seemed oh-so-bored (and cynical) about the whole thing, which was hardly inspiring or encouraging.

That's scary, and a huge step, coming off the budesonide. Are they going to step you down to normal pred and wean you off very slowly, or do you have to stop the tablet all at once?

Ivy.
Posted 11/13/2011 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
thanks for yummy yummy pumkin tips hmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm

I am very sorry you hit a lousy dietician. I have also had dud in the past so finding the FODMAP keen one was such a blessing. Suspect they are few and far between though.

My daghter made a nice pasta salad last week - GF pasta, kumara (roasted but chopped up cold) and cooked GF bacon with a shop bought GF Thousand Island Dressing.

I bought a nice GF Lemon Vinigrette dressing at the supermarket this week so another 'new' tolerated tasty addition to my diet. Hopefully when you settle down and find the foods that really don't suit you will be able to expand you diet too :)

I buy a Sungold brand soya sauce that is GF and I saw it in OZ so maybe you would be able to get it. It was cheap and tasty (unlike Kikkoman which is expensive).

Not strictly FODMAP but close so not sure if this will suit you as it has 1 tablespoon of vinegar but has never upset me and it is very tasty.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

- Thinly slice a large chicken breast and mix with in a bowl with 1 tablespoon cornflour, 1/2 tsp salt and an egg white.

- Melt knob of butter and a teaspoon of rice bran oil in a frying pan (leave out butter if dairy free but it is nice) and saute chicken over medium high heat until golden.

- Drain a 225g tin of pineapple pieces in juice and make the juice up to 220mls with water. Stir in 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 tablespoons GF soya sauce add to pan with pineapple pieces and simmer 10 mins until cooked.

- Thicken with 1 tablespoon of cornflour and simmer 5 more mins.

Serve on plain basmatic rice (best rice for fodmappers apparently!)

Nice next day or even cold for lunch :)

Pushes all my buttons - tasty, sweet, sour, filling, healthy ;)

will post some 100% FODMAP recipes seperately :) Hugs Lesley
Posted 11/13/2011 11:05 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks! That sounds yum.

I've found a recipe for a satay sauce that isn't full of fat, so might try that at some point, too.

Not sure about soy sauce - my guide says no soy products :-/ so I might leave that for a bit.

Fortunately, my big city doctor gave me the contact details of a group of big city dietitians that specialise in IBD, and who will consult by phone etc, so I might see if I can transfer over. I know I'm not very exciting as a patient just now, but I still don't see why we should be made to feel as if we're boring the staff, when we've been *told* to consult with them!!!!!

Ivy.
Posted 11/14/2011 7:38 AM (GMT 0)
Yes it is so annoying to be made to feel like you are being difficult with some dieticians :P

I think you will find just soy sauce made with wheat (most) is a FODMAP no no - so have a look for GF one and treat yourself :)

I make my own satay sauce with peanut butter which is quite simple but tasty yet OK for me but it too has soy in it.

wrapped bacon around a chicken fillet tonight and baked it till the bacon was crispy and chicken well done - that was nice
Posted 11/18/2011 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
I suppose the key is to work out what's ok for you, and stick to that and discard the rest of the diet, yes?

You should have seen me in hospital over the last three days. NOTHING is ok for FODMAPs, let alone the very basic not-too-much-fibre, dairy free, diet I was on before this month.

Every now and then, a remotely clued in nurse found me a (tiny) packet of corn flakes, but that's pretty much all I got during my three long "shifts" there this week.

I've lost three kilos this week! And I'd probably have lost more, had I not had a bit of safe chocolate in my bag.

:-/

Unimpressed...

Ivy.
Posted 11/18/2011 1:16 AM (GMT 0)
ps. It doesn't help that hospital cafes have gone on a health-food craze, so things like hot chips, that would be ok (though not ideal) are now no longer available...
Posted 11/18/2011 8:14 PM (GMT 0)
Poor you - it is frustrating that hospital food is so unaccommodating. I have a packets of FODMAP friendly sweet biscuits and rice crackers in my emergency hospital case for that very reason.

I agree healthy food is hospital cafe's is NOT helpful - you would think they of all people would be sensitive to all nutritional needs! Mine didn't even have GF options last time I looked <sheesh>

big fan of hot chips when in flare mode - had some only yesterday for lunch with my Mum as I settle from my pie transgression :)

It did take me at least six months following FODMAP strictly to feel the full benefits and only then did I start reintroducing some foods gradually. This has allowed me to pin point those foods that make me really ill and those that might make me a bit grotty but not that bad so OK as a very occasional treat. Not a quick fix but it has helped me in the long term.
Posted 1/4/2012 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
loving this thread hi im new here and want to start the fodmap diet but stuggling for meals, im a little bit fussy hehe.......any help with recipes guys? thanks Diane
Posted 1/4/2012 8:51 PM (GMT 0)
It'd help if we knew what you were fussy about, what foods you didn't like, things like that.
Posted 1/4/2012 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
im not a fish lover or meat , like chicken pork etc.......also what breads are you all eating, thought spelt bread was ok on fodmap iet but just been told it isnt?
thanks d x
Posted 1/4/2012 9:48 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not eating bread at all, and I don't miss it.

I do oats (porridge) for breakfast, and rice or quinoa when I want some sort of grain. Where I used to do eggs on toast, I now do eggs on peas (or peas and potatoes, or peas and corn, or spinach / silverbeet when it's in season) and, again, I don't miss the bread that much.

Ivy.
Posted 1/16/2012 5:59 PM (GMT 0)
New here as well, and I'm so grateful to he on this thread with people who can relate to my crazy diet restrictions. I do not know a single solitary person with these food restrictions so I'm excited to find you all. : )

Thank you again ivy6 for sending me this way. Your pumpkin smoothie recipe sound delicious. I bought some canned cooked pumpkin which I'll use to give the smoothie a whirl!

 

*Just to clarify, I do not have Crohn's Disease. I have fructose malabsorption and SIBO.

ody...we will learn together. I have been using the FODMAP diet for about 7 months now. So much trial and error and mistakes considering I haven't have the best information to keep FODMAP free. I'm doing much better at it now having figured out the hard way that some 'safe' foods from the list weren't safe for me. Info I was given had contradictory information as well. Sometimes I didn't know what I could eat safely because I was following a list that wasn't quite accurate. With most of the research taking place in AU, it's difficult for those of us from the US and elsewhere to get what we need to do it right. It took me longer to eliminate the "unsafe" foods. I found the  best way for me was to restrict my diet to only what I knew for sure didn't bother me, then add one other food at a time and wait 2 to 3 days to see how I felt. Most times I knew immediately, but other times it took a bit longer. The quantity of safe foods makes a difference for me. For example I cannot eat a whole banana or whole orange...even a small one. That took me forever to figure out why those "safe" fruits were bothering me. So watch your portion size and experiment to see what suits you best. *I posted a Spelt Bread recipe for you on the thread where you requested one. Haven't tried it myself yet so I don't know it comes out. Spelt was on my "safe" list. I'm waiting for a bread machine to be delivered so I can hopefully try some GF and FODMAP free recipes that make a tasty bread. I miss it so much! : ( 

Kiwi...you've listed some yummy sounding recipes which I'll definately try out like the sweet & sour chicken also. Most of my meal preparations have been so bland that I don't look forward to meals so I have to find ways to make my food more tasty and interesting. I like some of the ideas I'm reading on this thread. Did I mention how happy I am to be here!!!

Post Edited (hope floats) : 1/16/2012 11:14:07 AM (GMT-7)

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