IBS and food allergies?!
Question: I have just been diagnosed with IBS and I wondered if food allergies could make IBS symptoms worse,I also wanted to know if I could ask my doctor to refer me to have the food allergy tests done or do I have to look for a place that does it myself.Any advice is appreciated.
Answers: I have just been diagnosed with IBS and I wondered if food allergies could make IBS symptoms worse,I also wanted to know if I could ask my doctor to refer me to have the food allergy tests done or do I have to look for a place that does it myself.Any advice is appreciated.
Food allergies should really be an independent issue, but it depends on what's causing the allergy. Anything that upsets your system (such as a food allergy) will upset your IBS.
I had a food allergy that was caused by a parasite in my gut, and oddly enough, I felt better IBS-wise once that was taken care of. If you're a bit hippy with regard to medicine, you could try seeing a kinesiologist (private I'm afraid, but I can recommend if you're in South East England), who could try to find a more holistic approach to your food issues.
With regards to Western med (GP), there's no harm in asking. If he doesn't think it's appropriate for you, or if the resources aren't available, the worst he can do is say no. You might find an allergy clinic on your own, but you'll be really lucky if they'll help you without a referral.
Sorry I couldn't help more, take care and be stress free!
ETA oh! just thought! I can help more!
With IBS you can have something called a trigger food, which is something you're not actually allergic to and won't cause your body any harm, but will clog up your bowel. Spicy, rich, greasy, tomatoes and carbs seem to be biggies. Mine are berries, tomatoes and carbs. And sometimes dairy. Unfortunately the only way to find these is to watch what you eat and when you react, and try to link the reactions to possible triggers. As you're not allergic to triggers they won't show up on an allergy test, but you might get a similar reaction when you eat them, so you might find that an allergy test comes out all clear.
You can test for allergies and triggers using an exclusion diet (more reliable with IBS than allergy testing), such as the lamb and rice diet (easy enough to find if you google for it). You remove everything from your diet except the least common allergens/triggers, and then add them back into your diet slowly to see what prompts a response. You should do this under the suprvision of your GP, and if nothing else you should feel quite good at the end of the first week for having had a bit of a detox!
food will effect your IBS big style....
ask your doctor to refer you for all the tests you can get.
one of my daughters has IBS and food plays a big part in it - she has to have soya stuff and wheatfree helps her - get test done if you can - she just did hers by trial and error - but in general avoid spicy foods
food allergies will make IBS worse, because if you are eating something you are allergic to, then naturally you wont react well to it. With IBS though its kind of similar, in that it reacts to certain foods.
You can ask your doctor for a referral (I did), but when I found my local test centre, there was a 2 year waiting list & mine would not be NHS paid for, because really I didn't need it.
As for IBS, its hard finding out what foods you can and cannot take well to, each person is different. I would suggest keeping a record of what you've eaten etc.
Many people struggle with the following though - tea and coffee big no no & also alcohol.
Products high in dairy (although I have no major problems with this).
Spicy food....this is a big problem for me so I rarely eat spicy food now...
Very greasy & fatty foods...takeaways and things like that.
Certain things high in carbs...white bread...pasta...sometimes rice (though this doesnt affect me).
Also, too much fruit & veg can also bring problems.
At the end of the day, its just a case of being sensible, and balancing it out.
I have IBS but every person has different intolerance's.
Some can't have anything dairy,
I can't have preservatives, you tend to just find out by having a funny tummy a day after what you eaten look at if there was anything new in your diet and that's it you figured it out. Chances are you will always have to be aware when eating new foods but don't not have them just because of IBS!
Also i can't eat in the morning because of my IBS so you should try that in case it makes it better, not eating until 10am...
Also you might want to keep some medication with you like Imodium, kaolin and morphine mixture.
I also want to point out everyone is different i can have tea/coffee/acholol and greasy foods and i am fine it all depends on the person rather than certain foods to always avoid with IBS
I'm getting my allergies and intollerances tested on Thursday to see if it will help my IBS... I hope it will help? I could email you and let you know how I get on?
Sure you're not Coeliac?