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[TVgirl]

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Where is the best place to get a guide on how to do an elumination diet?? Like i need a guide that says eat these things not these things for so many weeks then how to reintroduce a food etc.... Is there a book or website????

[Kathleen M.]

There are lots of them, and none of them agree on how to do it, what to eliminate, or how to reintroduce foods. So you may need to pick one and go with it.Do you think you need to do an allergy testing kind of diet where you eliminate almost everything and retest every food you do eat one at a time to see what each food does, or want to do something like a gluten-free or low fodmap diet where if it works it is already varied enough to stay on for the long term. With low fodmap you may play a bit to see how many grams total you can tolerate in a day and some people can loosen up a bit, but will never eat certain foods in large amounts ever.http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/immunology_allergic_disorders/allergic_and_other_hypersensitivity_disorders/atopic_and_allergic_disorders.html has the allergy version of this. There are three diets because usually one of the three will reduce the symptoms from the food allergy.

[TVgirl]

I dont know what i need. I just did a food intolerance test that tested me for 250 food items but still waiting for results. I am going for actual allergy testing in july. I started gluten free 3 days ago but my tummy still hasnt been too happy. Might be because i have been eating activia yogurt so i stopped that. I had a lactose intolerance blood test which was negative. So i really dont know where to start.

[Kathleen M.]

Well you could wait for the testing to be completed, then see which, if any of the full elimination diets would be OK (from the link) and start there. That is probably the most severe way to go, but they do have very limited diets that will keep you going for the week or two it takes to see if that diet makes a difference.If you weren't having testing I'd say just pick one, but you may have some data that will make it easier to pick one, or they may give you one to follow. Either that or just do the low fodmap diet as it gets rid of a lot of the foods that bother IBSers.If you have celiac disease and that is really the only thing going on, and you can really do a 100% totally gluten free diet (that isn't easy to do) it may take a few weeks on a gluten free diet to really feel much better. A day or three of a diet may not be enough usually you want a week for regular allergies or intolerances to make sure everything has cleared the system and give it a chance to settle down.If you are generally fodmap intolerant just getting rid gluten containing foods will not get rid of all the other high fodmap foods in your diet. And check what they sweeten the activia with, the lactose is fairly low, but if it has gums or sweeteners high in fodmaps those could be the problem even when lactose is perfectly fine for you.Diet is really hit or miss, there is no one diet that will be the right diet for everyone with IBS or intolerances AND IBS has many triggers that have nothing to do at all with which food you ate so even if you find the perfect diet for you, you may still have IBS issues when you don't sleep enough or deeply enough, get too hot, get too cold, exercise too much, exercise too little, get emotional, get stressed, etc. And some of us over-react to normal "I ate" signals so it may not have to do with what you eat but the fact you have to eat.

[celiac10+]

Well you could wait for the testing to be completed, then see which, if any of the full elimination diets would be OK (from the link) and start there. That is probably the most severe way to go, but they do have very limited diets that will keep you going for the week or two it takes to see if that diet makes a difference.If you weren't having testing I'd say just pick one, but you may have some data that will make it easier to pick one, or they may give you one to follow. Either that or just do the low fodmap diet as it gets rid of a lot of the foods that bother IBSers.If you have celiac disease and that is really the only thing going on, and you can really do a 100% totally gluten free diet (that isn't easy to do) it may take a few weeks on a gluten free diet to really feel much better. A day or three of a diet may not be enough usually you want a week for regular allergies or intolerances to make sure everything has cleared the system and give it a chance to settle down.If you are generally fodmap intolerant just getting rid gluten containing foods will not get rid of all the other high fodmap foods in your diet. And check what they sweeten the activia with, the lactose is fairly low, but if it has gums or sweeteners high in fodmaps those could be the problem even when lactose is perfectly fine for you.Diet is really hit or miss, there is no one diet that will be the right diet for everyone with IBS or intolerances AND IBS has many triggers that have nothing to do at all with which food you ate so even if you find the perfect diet for you, you may still have IBS issues when you don't sleep enough or deeply enough, get too hot, get too cold, exercise too much, exercise too little, get emotional, get stressed, etc. And some of us over-react to normal "I ate" signals so it may not have to do with what you eat but the fact you have to eat.

As a Celiac with IBS I would like to clarify a few things here. If it is celiac this is likely NOT the only thing going on. Working as a Lifestyle Educator with a husband who specializes in food allergies and celiac disease (natural healthcare practitioner) I rarely see clients who don't have more going on than just CD. Most have additional food allergies and intolerances (I have a laundry list of them myself) and many have additional issues caused by the chronic stomach inflammation and damage. A gluten free diet is challenging at first but is fairly easy to adapt to (if you go in with the right mindset). Unfortunately, for many it can take up to a year on a gluten free diet to feel better if that is the culprit (its taken me a year). Keep in mind that most normal food allergy tests won't pick up on celiac disease or gluten sensitivities (mine didn't) so if your symptoms persist and you have other symptoms that could point to a gluten issue (here is a great self test to see if you have symptoms http://www.wellcor.n...ivity-self-test) I would recommend a gluten specific test (we use a simple saliva test that is very effective to our clients).For a person trying to figure out what is going wrong with them I would start with testing. First I would do the food allergy test then if there are symptoms of a gluten sensitivity (see self test) I would do a gluten specific test to rule gluten out completely (an untreated gluten sensitivity can cause serious health issues if left on treated so it is important to rule that out completely). We offer these tests through our wellness site wellcor.net. From there, if gluten and other food allergies have been elimintated as testing shows necessary, I would try the fodmap diet to remove any additonal problematic foods. I would also suggest a good probiotic supplement and possibly digestive enzymes if necessary. In cases of gluten sensitivity/celiac disease, vitamin D, epa/dha, colostrum, and a good multi are also highly recommended. Just my two cents...

[Kathleen M.]

Celiac testing is definitely a separate test from food allergies or other intolerance tests, and may need a biopsy of the small intestine for confirmation. There are good tests for this offered at the medical doctor, but a lot of them did not get enough education so people may have to push for it.Even when people try to be strict about a gluten free diet it can be difficult to remove every last source as there are many ways for there to be small amounts of cross contamination as well as food additives that are problematic. In some studies people with symptoms that lasted after enough time of a gluten free diet were found to be having issues really getting all the gluten out. There should be a significant difference once the lining of the small intestine heals up, but as you said often people have some additional issues so may need to watch out for other things.

[TVgirl]

Wow thanks for the info. Probiotics scare me because i bought align and after 3 days i thought i was dying. I had horrible flu-like reactions and severe diarrhea. I was toxic. I learned this is called herxheimer. The gluten blood test i had was negative twice and all i know is i tried it for 2 weeks once and felt great. Good point though that it likely is more than one intolerance. I should have my results monday.

[Kathleen M.]

Remember wheat also has FODMAPS which can cause symptoms even if you are fine with gluten. You might try the low fodmap diet to see if that helps, as it reduces/elimnates most of the foods that can bother IBSers for a variety of reasons and should reduce gas volume.