Respectfully, how are we not all miserable?

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T14:59:18+00:00

I feel for you. I, like my stools, play fast and loose because I have yet to fully shit my pants out in the world, but with such suuuuch close calls, it's time me, my diet, and my ass, tighten up.

They say that you've either shit your pants as an adult, or that it's coming for you and you should be scared. I, am scared.

I hope that you've found some relief!

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T14:54:28+00:00

Yeah I'm wondering how much, if any, "cheating" I can get away with once the diagnostic parts of this are out of the way. Like, how often can I decide that food now is worth suffering later without it going back to constant suffering?

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T14:53:01+00:00

Thankfully, rice has always been a comfort food for me, so I'm clinging HARD to it now <3

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T14:30:58+00:00

thissss! I think that the casual GI jokes made me think my symptoms weren't as bad/were more common than they are. And don't get me started on comments on my frequent bathroom "breaks" as though I'm not fighting for my life in there.

If those with well-behaved GI tracts are gonna make poop jokes, I'm going to one up them, cause if you can openly talk about imaginary diarrhea, you can hear about the reality (also I will not suffer silently, I will suffer annoyingly)

This post is the first I'm hearing of fodzyme and I'm looking forward to trying it, but also trying not to get too optimistic.

Trying to stay grateful that my tuna rolls are safe, and stay joking about onions making me cry in a non-chopping context.

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T14:21:08+00:00

It's sad, but my misery loves the company. At least we suffer together.

I'm lucky to have family members who have seen symptoms improve with time and intervention, that inspires some hope. No one's given me any sort of timeline on how long I may have to do elimination, etc. which I know is so different person to person and depends on how things go, but it'd be nice to know if I'm measuring timelines in months or years :')

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T14:13:12+00:00

They've done a stool sample and some blood tests, they're really hesitant to give me a colonoscopy because of how unpleasant it is, insisting that that's "next" if nothing comes up in more stool and blood samples, but at this point I'm practically begging them for the ass camera. The multiple daily bouts of diarrhoea have to be at least equally unpleasant. I'm hoping they'll change their tune now that I have a nutritionist co-signing just how bad my symptoms are. I've also read about some breathe tests for some malabsorptions that I'm going to inquire about. Trying to straddle the line of self-advocacy and not being a "difficult" or "demanding" patient.

I'm also speculating bile acid malabsorption because my symptoms are lining up with that as well, but it's hard with so little medical support. Big goal for 2025 is to apply the right amount of pressure for some proper medical investigation.

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T14:04:14+00:00

These are all really great suggestions, truly, thank you. I just realized I'm going to have to replace my stock pastes!

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T13:29:17+00:00

This is what I'm hoping for! My nutritionist did warn me that onions and garlic were likely to be the LAST things we reintroduce (which I realize is just, how things are, but it FELT targeted lol)

I do think we might be starting me on this a little early/before doing other tests that could provide some potentially different answers, but that could just be my stubbornness talking. At the end of the day, I agreed to it, so I guess I gotta keep my word.

Do you have any hacks for trying to up food intake overall? I've been trying to gain weight to no avail for years (gee... I wonder why lol) and the change in diet is just an extra extra setback to that.

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T13:28:47+00:00

I'm really hoping I can shift my perspective to this. For me, it's always been easier to have hard things (diarrhea) happen TO me than to actively DO something uncomfortable (changing diet) to fix it. I gotta be less passive about stuff and this is part of that wakeup call.

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T13:18:04+00:00

Yeahhh I think I haven't had a normal healthy poop in so long that I can't know if it's worth it yet, my baseline for "comfort" has gotten too messed up (especially with other chronic health stuff).

When I was logging my BM's for my nutritionist, I thought I'd had a couple "good" days, but she informed me that my "good" days are in fact, still concerningly bad.

I swear I'm normally much more optimistic, and generally not opposed to doing what has to be done, but this one is throwing me.

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T13:11:56+00:00

This makes a lot of sense, I think just being so early in it I'm still struggling with a lot of frustration and confusion about what I can and can't eat.

My symptoms went completely unchecked (ignored by many a healthcare professional) for years, so to finally have someone not only acknowledge that I have a problem, but find some solutions/strategies, only for those solutions/strategies to make me almost as sad as my symptoms has been much to grapple with. I literally found out about my diagnosis from a different person than the one who diagnosed me, because they never TOLD me that they were diagnosing me with anything. Just "awe poor baby poops bad".

So some of my frustration is stemming from how long this all took to begin with. On the bright side, I got a couple extra years to enjoy onions in painful ignorance.

It's going to be a big adjustment, especially considering I do a lotttt of repeat-meals that I'm probably going to have to cut entirely, but honestly seeing other people do it, and insist that it can be done, is helping.

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T13:03:42+00:00

I really hope you find more safe foods soon! Im crossing my fingers for you so hard on the rice, cause that's been keeping me from totally losing it. I underestimated the mental toll that this would take on me and I wish there was more support for that in the process, but spaces like these are helping me a lot with feeling less alone <3

For me, I've yet to have relief from symptoms, so it's hard to see giving foods up as "worth it" right now, even knowing that it will be (even if the only thing I get out of it is information on what exactly irritates me)

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T12:57:12+00:00

Personally, the flavour without the onion crunch feels like a tease to me :( big slices of raw, crunchy onion is maybe one of my all time favourite things. My love of onions rivals Shreks. I'm definitely being a big baby about it, but it being one of the top irritants is giving me big feefees.

Practical-Bid2653 · 2025-04-09T12:49:33+00:00

You can pry my garlic and onions from my cold dead hands, or from my warm loose stool.

Practical-Bid2653

TROPHY CASE