I have always tended towards constipation but it tipped over into full IBS-C in 2022 after 2 abdominal surgeries + getting covid immediately after. I am on multiple laxatives just to be able to go and also deal with bad trapped gas, horrible bloating, some acid reflux as well. Endoscopy colonoscopy SIBO test gastric emptying study allergy/intolerance tests all negative, celiac and lactose intolerance neg. too. I may also have MCAS - one doctor thinks I do but testing was inconclusive and low histamine diet/antihists haven't shown any improvement yet, but it's still in consideration and I have more meds to try
From 2022 until now I have always been on one elimination diet or another. No dairy, no gluten, no wheat, low fodmap, low histamine, anti inflammatory, even keto/carnivore despite having alpha gal since childhood (that was the worse, horrible nutrient defs and lost so much hair). I am NOT looking for more elimination diet recs. I promise I have tried them. No diet worked for me but I cut a lot of stuff out that was higher symptom (most fruits, whole grain anything, a lot of cheeses, etc). I have been working with a monash certified dietician throughout
With the dietician I was able to identify a few foods that have symptoms "less than 50% of the time" (a specific brand of white bread, sunflower seed butter, white rice, carefully washed black beans, unseasoned chicken or turkey, cooked and mashed carrots & a few other root veg, mozzarella cheese, melon, some teas) and my diet essentially consists of small amounts of these, rotating as much as possible. But nothing is truly safe. Red potatoes roasted or boiled with the skin removed is the safest and I would still say it's only safe 8/10 times and 2/10 times it bloats me up and has me running for gas x and extra senna. The only truly safe things for me are water and apple flavored Pedialyte powder. One time I got into a really bad disordered eating state where I would just have water and apple pedialyte for over a week because I loved how symptom free I felt...and then of course ended up in the ER nearly dead and needed IV fluids for days to recover
Last appointment my dietician sat me down and basically had a come to Jesus where she said, look, you have to eat, insurance will not approve a feeding tube, you do worse with shakes/formulas than chicken/potatoes/rice/etc, you can do fasts but only for a few days at a time, you need to keep eating your foods even though they are not "100% safe." I broke down and just said I wish I had a safe food I could rely on in flares, because everything is so dang unpredictable, and she said I understand but your reality is you dont' have that. And I am exhausted and would give anything for 1 food I could eat without having to wonder if I won't poop for 3 days. Yes I'm in therapy too but not prescribed any meds for anxiety/depression as they all made my digestion worse.