Week two of my low FODMAP diet (and the other changes) has gone interestingly… to say the least.
I started having severe abdominal pains and crippling nausea on Monday, the ninth. The nausea actually started on Sunday, the eighth, but wasn’t as severe as it became on Monday. I also spent a huge amount of Monday stuck in the restroom; I didn’t have diarrhea, but my intestines were spasming so badly I kind of wished that I did. The repeated restroom trips told me that it was likely due to my magnesium dosage and looking it up in my nutrition textbook confirmed my suspicion. I decided to switch back down to the 750mg dosage Tuesday night (the magnesium is taken with dinner). However, I woke up on Wednesday with more severe pain and nausea, and decided to skip the magnesium entirely. I’m still nauseous (on Saturday) but it’s finally starting to ebb a little, despite skipping the magnesium Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. When I emailed the dietitian, she was surprised that the magnesium made me feel so ill, so I’ve no idea why this has happened other than my body hates me messing with my digestive system.
Because of all the severe stomach problems, I have no idea if the diet has done what it was intended to do or not. However, I’m now going to reduce the magnesium back down to the dose I was taking for my fibromyalgia (250mg a day) and hope I can start to see results from the diet soon!
I’ve decided to include my fluid totals starting this week, because it’s an integral part of my health plan. The dietitian said I need a minimum of 2 liters of fluid every day, but 3 liters would be ideal to help manage my POTS.
(LF = lactose free; GF = gluten free)
Week 2 FODMAP Diet: January 7 – 13
Saturday, January 7
- 11:30am: hardboiled egg; whole banana
- 1:40pm: ½ of a ProNourish; GF English muffin with margarine
- 4:00pm: 375mL smoothie (berries, banana, kale, LF milk, keifer)
- 6:15pm: chicken and tomato nachos
- 9:00pm: mashed potatoes
- Fluids: 1.27 liters (I may have forgotten to record something, however)
Chicken and Tomato Nachos
Sunday, January 8
(Today was the day we went to the Star Wars: The Power of Costume exhibit at the art museum, and it messed up my eating schedule because I wasn’t allowed to eat in the exhibit and you couldn’t leave and get back in.)
- 7:30am: oatmeal with brown sugar (make sure it doesn’t contain molasses); hardboiled egg
- 12:00pm: Sunbutter and jelly sandwich
- 2:30pm: ham and cheese GF English muffin sandwich
- 4:50pm: ProNourish; Andean Dream Cocoa Orange Quinoa cookies (1 package, individual serving)
- 7:30pm: grilled ham, cheese, and tomato sandwich
- 10:30pm: 1 1/3 cups (this is how big my small glasses are) LF chocolate milk
- Fluids: 2.89 liters
Monday, January 9
- 7:10am: oatmeal with brown sugar; LF vanilla yogurt
- 9:40am: 375mL smoothie (other half of Saturday’s smoothie)
- 11:50am: ¼ stuffed bell pepper
- 2:45pm: Sunbutter and jelly rice cakes
- 5:00pm: 3 slices of deli ham; one bunch of grapes
- 7:15pm: GF blueberry lemon muffins; scrambled eggs
- 10:00pm: small scoop of LF vanilla ice cream
- Fluids: 2.82 liters
Tuesday, January 10
- 11:50am: oatmeal with brown sugar; hardboiled egg
- 2:00pm: vanilla coconut yogurt; 3 slices of deli ham (coconut yogurt has no protein)
- 4:20pm: two handfuls of mini tomatoes; ProNourish
- 7:00pm: GF pizza
- 9:20pm: LF vanilla ice cream
- Fluids: 2.84 liters
Wednesday, January 11
- 12:00pm: jelly sourdough toast; hardboiled egg
- 2:30pm: 3 rice pancakes with maple syrup
- 4:30pm: GF blueberry lemon muffin; ProNourish
- 7:00pm: 2 oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup
- Fluids: 3.02 liters
Thursday, January 12
- 11:15am: oatmeal with brown sugar; hardboiled egg
- 2:00pm: Sunbutter and jelly rice cakes (1 ½ because they’re really filling, Dan ate the last ½ for me)
- 4:00pm: kale banana smoothie
- 6:40pm: grilled chicken, cheese, and tomato sandwich
- Fluids: 2.45 liters
Kale Banana Smoothie
Friday, January 13
- 11:45am: jelly toast; hardboiled egg
- 1:45pm: ProNourish; banana
- 4:00pm: GF blueberry lemon muffin (with glass of LF milk for protein)
- 7:00pm: GF raspberry shortcake
- Fluids: 2.30 liters
As you can see, I usually drink over 2 liters of fluid a day. I was not trying to increase my fluid intake; this is how much I usually drink. If this is how much I’m supposed to be drinking to resolve my POTS symptoms, it’s not working. I can’t really increase my fluids much, because the days I drink 3 liters or more I feel extremely water logged. (Oh, and she – once again – said that fluids are supposed to help with chronic constipation, well, guess what? They don’t.)
You can also see how much the nausea impacts what I’m able to eat and drink. I was struggling horribly to get the “meals” down (and you can see how many of them are liquid), and drinking fluids was a huge challenge. Yes, most of the time, fluids hurt my stomach when I’m nauseous.
I’m really hoping that cutting my magnesium back to what my body was used to will help with this horrendous nausea. My use of Zofran has increased dramatically (one a day, minimum) and my insurance only covers 9 pills a week. Luckily, I had a small stockpile (I call in refills every week whether or not I need them), but now I’ve depleted it. So keep your fingers crossed for me, please!
And any recipes you requested are on the way, don’t worry! I’m sorry, the nausea knocked me out this week and I got quite far behind on my blog. I’ve already photographed a few recipe posts, I just need to edit the photos and write up the posts! Hang in there!
Other Posts About My FODMAP Diet
Finding Life's Silver Sun 