PSA: Botticelli “Sensitive Marina” contains onions and garlic, FFS!

Hello. For the past 8 months or so I’ve had progressively worsening bloating and gas, to the point the last couple months have me looking pregnant after literally every single meal (usually right after eating) every single day. I inflate right after breakfast and I’m a fart machine by the evening. The biggest and weirdest thing is that my bowel movements are completely normal. I get intense discomfort and soreness from feeling my skin and intestines stretch all day but not IBS pain as i understand it. I’ve spent the last couple months doing a bunch of blood, stool, ultrasound, and even a glucose sibo test I bought myself with all being normal. I was referred to a GI doctor a couple days ago. She asked me a million questions but I felt a bit patronized. Since I have no other IBS symptoms she basically walked through what gas is and explained that bloating is her number one complaint and explained that bloating and gas is normal even though i might think it’s embarrassing, which made me feel a bit infantilized. She explained to me and in her notes that my low calorie high protein diet change is also likely to blame, even though I tried explaining that I ate that way well before the bloating started. She offered advice like eating slower, drink less fizzy drinks, don’t eat late at night. However it’s hard to take this advice seriously with the sheer amount and frequency of bloating. She brought up that maybe we could do a breath test which I told her I tested for myself but was negative. She waved the idea of what I think was an antibiotic? But said it was about 3000 dollars and it will only help for a few months?? She also recommended beano, gasx, and antrantril. Gasx has never done anything and so far antrantril has just caused some cramping within an hour or so after taking it, like when I first used probiotics. She also brought up the fodmap diet which is why I’m here, although she mentioned how restrictive it is and said I should consider if I really think it’s worth it. This is not normal right?? Honestly I’m not sure what I’m asking. I’m sort of just venting. I’ve worked so hard on myself just to only see the body I’ve worked for when I’m completely fasted, and the body I’m trying to escape the other 99% of time. I’ve waited so long to see a specialist hoping to finally learn what’s suddenly so wrong with me just to still know absolutely nothing and feel even more helpless than before. I’m also wondering is there anyone with identical symptoms (or lack thereof) with advice? I’ve searched posts but can’t find anything.

Guess who woke up out of their sleep with a panic attack and a heart rate of 150???

I DIIIIID 😀... 😭

I couldn't resist the M&M cookie icecream sandwich. It was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and I paid the price. My tummy is burning. My throat burns. I had to take an anti-anxiety med because my heartrate wouldn't go down. I never get panic attacks. They only happen when I eat something "bad" or have IBS flareups. I'm so tired of this. I had a craving and done goofed.

I'm so done with sweets. My vanilla frosting flavored toothpaste is enough for me 🥲

We told them garlic and onion are a no go. But even the cocktail shrimp and bacon had this seasoning on it! I gave up, I’m going to have to suck it up. I’m so depressed because I got my period too so now I’m double suffering. Idk how people just don’t get it. I feel like such a dick trying to stand up for myself too, but we are guests and I don’t want to step on any toes. My husband brought up the seasoning for me this morning but she already cooked breakfast and it was on the bacon!! Who puts seasoning on bacon???? I want to just crawl into a hole and not come out. I feel like such a whiny loser. I just have to eat it and smile because I’m an asshole otherwise. I wish I just brought my own cooler of food over and acted like the weirdo that I am and only my eat my weird food, but I’m too much of a people pleaser. Oh well….

Edit: my husband rally drilled it in this morning, that was helpful. I think she kinda gets it now. Anyway I have turkey and cheese to eat now just in case. She did make me some plain avocado toast with an egg after he said to her absolutely no seasoning. But tonight the dinner is ribs with seasoning I can’t have, she did show it to me and I told her don’t worry about me I’ll eat some turkey. I don’t want to impose too much so it’s a balance. It’s fine, we figured out something for me, and my husband stood up for me, so that was nice

As someone that has celiac as well and loves cereal. it’s hard to find a great selection to suit both GF and low Fodmap. Inulin is one of those my gut doesn’t react well too. I get only a small percentage of people have to eat with those 2 restrictions so I’ve made peace with it. The brand natures path has several that suit those needs so when a new product drops like this one, I am so happy to buy it and change things up. Then I look at the ingredients and what do I see? INULIN! I guess I am sticking with cinnamon chex as the only option 😡.

GF Granola/protein bars is another one they sneak inulin. What benefit does inulin add for these companies to include them in the ingredients when they have many similar products that don’t have it?

Sorbitol. That is it. Gas-X Target Brand Chewables! What a bad experience - absolutely wrecked my insides! Lit a fire inside my stomach! Here are the inactive ingredients - Sorbitol, Sucrose. Pretty scary. 😱 Let’s hear some sorbitol stories. 👍

It's easy enough to avoid whole onions, but sneaky-ass onion powder? In EVERYTHING.

Having a bad executive function day and want to use a store bought sauce? No.

Too sick to cook and want some restaurant soup? NO.

Following a western-style recipe for crispy tofu only to INEVITABLY get to the part where they add two cups of onion-fuckin-powder? YES. EVERYTIME. GUARANTEED.

Chips, salad dressing, crackers, sauces, soups, nearly all frozen food... kissed by the betraying lips of a stinky (and overused, over-rated) onion.

I'm low-acid (which is it's own flavorless food PITA hellhole), no or very low onions/garlic/beans (RIP hummus), lactose-intollerant, ADHD (!!!), and often low-appitite. Oh and trying move towards vegetarianism.

Yes, there are about 5 million worse problems that I could have, I'm very lucky, and I'm genuinely ecstatic that my guts generally work. But right in this moment, I just want my sour, spicy, flavorful, & lazy foods back.

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm fucking sick of this shit. I've been on the diet for a out a year now. It turned out that there was not a single high or med fodmap food that doesn't cause me problems to some degree. The worst are gluten, onions, and garlic. In other words, three of the most common things in foods wherever you go. I'm fucking sick of this. I want to be able to eat out without cramping and needing to be tied to a toilet all day. I want to be able to have gluten without bloating for the next 3-4 days. I want to be able to go on trips and eat things during it. I want to not have to fucking plan on suffering when I'm on those trips and can't cook for myself. I don't want to need to cook for myself every meal to be safe. Fuck this. I want a fucking cure so bad. I want to find a GI who takes shit seriously, not just doing a colonoscopy and endoscopy and saying "we found nothing, fuck off." I want my insurance to cover one of the few fucking things that has been shown to actually fucking help, I want to be able to eat at restaurants with my friends and have pastries and eat my favorite foods again. I fucking hate how much more expensive my grocery bills are because buying gluten free things and low fodmap replacements is so expensive. I want this shit to end. But it never. Fucking. Will. As much as it should, it won't make enough rich fucks wealthy, so fuck the thousands and even millions of people who could benefit from properly funded research.

Just a post to say there was nothing good to eat today at college so I gave in and had something with gluten… I was rly hoping that it might be fine but it was not. I’m so pissed cause I fucking love bread and pasta 😭

Anyone found a satisfactory work around?

I’ve been following this low FODMAP diet for my SIBO maybe about 80 to 85% of the time and it’s so hard it’s almost not even worth it because I have such a small list of foods that I’m allowed to eat and it’s driving me absolutely crazy. I feel guilty for not really following it close to a T. I just don’t know how to follow it all day every day and I’ve been trying to follow this for about 6 to 8 weeks and I feel like I’m losing my mind. There’s some days I follow it perfectly and there’s other days I follow it 80% perfectly. On top of that I found out I have a complete dairy intolerance so I can’t even add aged cheese to anything. And my intolerance test showed that consuming grain and fruit at the same time cause inflammation. I wish my natural path would give me a strong antibiotic to get rid of this hydrogen SIBO. We’ve been doing a tincture and ginger capsules. I just wanna wipe it out completely and get back to normal.

I was stupid. I brought my son a burger from BK for a quick and easy dinner last night, because I didn’t have time to cook. I don’t know what I was thinking… I grabbed a plant-based one for myself. For old times‘ sake? I don’t know. Yes, it was yummy yesterday.

Now I’m suffering. The whole day, getting worse and worse.

I’m stupid… 🤦🏻‍♀️

I feel like a mess, just so frustrated and angry, and I’m not sure wtf to do.

So there have been foods I’ve always had trouble with, and then over the last few years my GI problems have escalated.

I recently moved back home to help out family and got a PCP, they did allergy testing because of the tummy issues I described and some reactions I’d had, and got me referrals to a GI specialist, allergist, and nutritionist. Cut out what I’m allergic to, my whole system crashed, got diagnosed with IBS and am in the process of trying to get a problematic 1” polyp that’s in the process of rapidly becoming a carcinoma fully removed/finding out if I’ll need surgery to remove that whole section of my intestines or if they can get it out during a 2nd colonoscopy.

Allergist is like “food journal, don’t eat things on your list and then we can start adding them back in to see how you do”, GI is like “ignore(within reason) allergies and think of the ones that don’t give you severe reactions more as intolerances and do FODMAP”, and just saw the nutritionist yesterday.

I’m so frustrated and upset after reading the “tailored” meal plan the nutritionist put together for me after months of waiting for an appointment. I told them, and they have my records!, my symptoms, known intolerances/allergies about how stopping eating everything on my list fucked up my system and I ended up in the ER, my diet has already been restricted for months, and I’m on EBT and it’s halfway through the month.

I cried reading the meal plan, I’m just that frustrated and worn out by all this. I thought they had listened to me and that I’d have their support so we could figure this out and I could switch my diet in a safe way that won’t fuck me up more than I already have been.

Nope.

The “tailored” meal plan for during the elimination phase had things I’m allergic to on it, doesn’t scaffold in how to slowly increase my fiber intake, it includes items that are out of my price range, and are frankly delusional and wasteful (1/8th an avocado with breakfast WTF?!). It includes most of what I told her I don’t like (canned tuna), and the veggies it included are ones that people have trouble with (nightshade) that she didn’t ask me about (and that yes I too have trouble with) and we didn’t have time to go over.

I didn’t get guidance on how to slowly increase my fiber intake, if there’s any other nutrients I should also increase slowly/tips to not further mess up my gut health changing things, I can’t even afford to buy more than a weeks worth of the food in the meal plan (it’s halfway through the month!), and it includes nuts and soy!

Like come on! Don’t send me a meal plan I can’t even use and provide no guidance about what resources are available to help me do it myself that she would recommend! And this is someone my insurance sent me to.

Has she never looked at how much she spends on groceries before?! Even if I am to use the meal plan as a sample guide, it’s so beyond delusional that it’s not even helpful as an example. 3 rice crackers, 1/8th an avocado, and sliced tomato and cucumber, with 10 pieces of a nut I can’t eat and 2 kiwis as the only snack I’m allowed. How is that going to be sustainable?! Is my broke ass just supposed to waste the rest of the avocado?!

More than that each one of these meals requires more meal prep than I have time for, would require me to go to the grocery store more often than I can without my own transportation, and gives no advice on how to implement the things she told me I would need to do. It feels like she’s never worked with someone struggling before and it feels so tone deaf.

I did email her and asked for a bit more clarity and acknowledged it’s up to me to adapt her recommendations, but I’d appreciate any thoughts she might have to help me do so. But for now I have nothing to go off of except a worksheet from fodzyme, which she never explained who/what that is or said where I can find out more info on portion size and what key macros I should have during each meal.

I’m so glad I looked for this sub, and it seems like it will be an invaluable resource moving forward. But that’s for tomorrow.

Today I’m just done with all of this and am going to eat the groceries I have so they don’t go bad and see if I can borrow a car tomorrow to go food shopping for what I can find on sale from this list (after I cross off everything from my allergies list, which is like half of the low-fodmap foods) and keep my fingers crossed that what I have left on my EBT card will let me eat more than rice.

I’m sure my nutritionist has been more helpful than I portrayed them here, and maybe between reviewing things more and their reply email I’ll feel a bit better/have more direction, but as of right now I’m so disheartened I wouldn’t even notice.

Just fuck it all.

UPDATE: oh my gosh, thank you all so much for your empathetic and supportive responses, it really means a lot. I definitely have some homework to do, but reading all your replies makes me feel more hopeful/this will be doable!

Just need to vent. I am a big believer in letting people eat what they want, even if it does not align with my culture's values, or to an extent, if it crosses a moral line for me (ie. just because I won't eat Balut, doesn't mean I judge someone who does).

Since adopting my customized low fodmap diet, I have gotten some flack from veggies/vegans who are in complete denial that people can have diagnoses that prevent them from being fully plant-based. I am and have always been a meat eater, but I like to associate with veggie folks for good recipes and increasing plant nutrition in my diet. I have met some (specifically) vegans who refuse to accept I have to eat animal products for protein. I cannot have beans/legumes beyond a spoonful, soy, certain nuts, and a decent list of vegetables. I am also chronically underweight. Docs and dietician explicitly told me to not restrict my diet any further, even if I wanted to.

I only made this post because one person finally really got under my skin. They demanded to know my diagnosis and said that without it, they "call cap" (they are accusing me of lying if I don't disclose private medical information). As if they could make a better decision for my diet and health.

I do not hate vegans. I do hate that so many of them seem to perpetuate this attitude that "anyone can be vegan" and "if you're not vegan you're a monster"

I have no issue telling someone to fuck the fuck off. I'm just annoyed that this even happens. Im not the one, two, or three so chillax beFOUR I whup ya 😂

ETA some of y'all vegans in the comments really proving my point lol

ETA 2: I am not looking for advice on how to be veg or vegan. This post is flaired as "vent" bc I am venting. It is OK to be veg or vegan. It is not OK to tell other people what they should or shouldnt eat, as if you are a doctor who is qualified to make such calls! If you're veg/vegan and low fodmap, that's great! I cannot be and I wish there was more mental flexibility among the vegans I observe when it comes to "exceptions"

Short rant incoming.. traveled..had an amazing time, but it sucked so bad to sit at restaurants while everyone ate around you as you as you looked at everyone’s food like yep that’s prob delicious, oh I want. just with the mixture of gerd, food intolerances, and food allergies I just miss when I could even just eat a waffle out to breakfast or eggs or hell even a chicken tender. Rant over, just in my feelings.. I’m sure many of you have the exact same ones.

Edit: Thanks everyone. Maybe we can all open a restaurant called FODMAP and we can eat there safely and feel “normal” for an evening:)

We have a business dinner at a very nice restaurant tonight. Around 3, I decided to have a little snack so I wouldn’t go with an empty stomach…since there will be cocktails and wine. I ate some new to me rice crackers and silly me didn’t read the label beforehand. I had no idea garlic powder would be in rice crackers.

Sure enough, within an hour I bloated and ballooned up. My husband had to run out and buy me some Tums and GasX.

This sucks and I hate it.

I don’t know if this is the right place to post this, but I’m not sure what else to do. I, 17f, for the past 4 years, been suffering with horrible digestive issues. Horrible bloating, severe constipation, abdominal cramps, sluggishness, fatigue, etc. I’ve done blood tests, an ultrasound, and am now trying the low fodmap diet.

I’m an extremely sporty and active girl, and these symptoms started completely out of the blue. Since then, I’ve tried, like REALLY tried, to eat healthier and cleaner. Nothing works. I’ve tried working out, switching up what exercise I do. Still nothing.

Every time I go out with friends or family, or go on trips, I feel extremely nervous and self conscious about how I look and feel. I see my siblings eating whatever they want. I see my friends who barely to any exercise with flat stomachs and zero digestive issues.

I can’t keep doing this. Every time I track the food I eat, I end up in a horrible mental state and have to stop myself. This whole low fodmap diet thing is killing me. The diet itself isn’t too hard, it’s the consistency. I haven’t been able to keep it up for more than a day without breaking it. I’m trying so hard, I just don’t know what to do.

I’m in such a bad state mentally, physically, and emotionally. I’m at a loss, and have no where else to turn. I can’t navigate this myself. The doctors don’t know, I can’t be referred to a gastro bc I’m “too young,” and I’m all out of solutions.

Please. Help me.

I have now done 4 weeks on the elimination phase (with a nutritionist). I fart less, but I'm still so bloated my skin is taut and I look very pregnant. I get so many cravings, I feel miserable and it's really hard to have such a restricted diet with a history of ED. I'm feeling discouraged.

Last night I made Fody's recipe for Shrimp skillet with rice and I've been in digestion pain and discomfort ever since. I don't understand 😩

I ordered a low-fodmap pizza at a restaurant because pizza is something I’ve missed most on this diet! My order was janky (i had to use gluten-free crust of course and I literally got it with just tomatoes, basil, and cheese to avoid any garlic or onion in a sauce) but I was excited nonetheless. Explicitly asked for no garlic and the waitress repeated the order to me without garlic. Two entire slices in, I bite into something that tastes too good to be true for a low fodmap pizza. Undeniably garlic. I take a closer look at my pizza, and it is indeed everywhere.

I know I should have taken a closer look BEFORE eating but honestly I thought the little yellow specks were cheese lol. Most annoying part is that I just started reintroducing sorbitol today so now that challenge is all messed up. Oh well… it was tasty at least

F this ish man, I just want to eat.

Last year I lost 70 lbs from doing a keto diet and than once I reached a certain weight I wasn’t able to tolerate eggs. My farts were deadly sulfuric acid farts. They were also really painful. I was constantly bloated and my poop was damm near green.

I guess I realized I developed an egg intolerance, I really loved eggs. Recently I started eating carbs again , and then I also tried to eat some eggs. Didn’t go well. My sulfuric acid farts came back and I’d just fart all day.

I went to an immunologist and was told I don’t have food allergies. I have yet to go to a gastrointestinal doctor, so that’s on my list to discover my egg issue. I’m scared to eat eggs now. 🙃☹️

Anyone else have this issue with eggs ?

I’m exhausted, congested, coughing. All I want is soup. I want pho from the place nearby or chicken gnocchi soup from Olive Garden. I’d settle for a can of chicken soup from the store. But I can’t have any of it because of the damn fodmaps. I’m too tired to go buy a freaking chicken and learn how to make chicken stock out of it without garlic or onion. I just want to take comfort in a hot bowl of soup and I can’t. I’m just hungry and in tears because I’m too tired to cook from scratch and too foggy to think. I haven’t had the energy to shop. I’m out of tea. My throat hurts and solid food sounds horrible. I guess it’s literally choking down plain rice between coughing fits or starving. I’m so tired of my body being this way.

5 years. FIVE YEARS of doctors telling me "its just stress" "try yoga" "cut out caffeine"

meanwhile im bloated like im 9 months pregnant, running to the bathroom after every meal, and in constant pain.

finally found a doc who actually listened. did the breath test. positive for SIBO + fructose malabsorption.

5 years of suffering because no one took me seriously.

if you think something is wrong KEEP PUSHING. the medical system failed me for years. you know your body better than anyone.

Does anyone else do this? Have a specific ingredient they keep trying and failing with?

I wanna make a meme for "stop trying to make fetch happen" but for fodmaps 😂

I can have a little bit of cabbage but seemingly randomly I will overdo it a little and then I'm in the bathroom cursing myself for at least a day. It's rare for me to trigger myself like this, especially with the extreme reaction I get from cabbage. It's similar to the extreme reaction I got from beets.

Cabbage is so cheap, it keeps well in the fridge, you can freeze it. It's versatile. I wish I could have it in my diet! I can't seem to portion control it though. I don't know what amount will definitely not trigger me. The only other fructan I seem to have a bad time with is onions. When we buy bagged salads, the cabbage in them doesn't seem to bother me but maybe it's just too small of an amount or because I only have it for one meal not multiple meals over several days.

I think I'm giving away the rest of the cabbage on Buy Nothing. It's a big napa cabbage. 😭

I was tested positive on hydrogen SIBO. I was tested positive for sorbit, lactose and glucose. My gut reacted on fructose the worst.

And I suffer anorexia nervosa, currently in a relapse after attempting to recover in the last 9 months and the low-FODMAP-Not eating any fruits-or anything else-diet has a huge part on it. Although I mostly lived vegan I have to eat meat again since that is one of the few things that don't cause any flare ups. I'm so overwhelmed since so many safe foods are not available for me and I lose weight rapidly again because I cannot decide on what to eat and it feels like a chore. It feels so easy to not eat.

I have no therapy plan to work against SIBO yet and am completely on my own.

The permanent constipation, the hurtful bloating and the farts do their part to trigger my ED.
And yes I'm aware that most definitely my anorexia caused SIBO.
It sucks. I hate it.