Chris Nilsson, 44, Sweden
“I’m f**king going to pee myself - Chris! Please open up!” My work colleague's voice trembles with desperation, by the sounds of it, he is close to actual tears.
I don’t like sharing a hotel room. Actually, I don’t like sharing the toilet. If you have IBS, you know the feeling.
I was diagnosed with IBS 15 years ago but for some reason I didn’t feel comfortable telling people about my condition. Today I’ve opened up a bit more about it thanks to all the information about IBS that is surfacing - I’m not alone!
After being told by my doctor that IBS was incurable, there wasn’t much to do but to get on with life. So I lived this life always close to a toilet, for a couple of years I even had an office at work with a private toilet in it - heaven! It was bearable for the most part, but two years ago my IBS started to get more and more vicious. I would find myself out representing with clients and feeling that not all was alright down below. I had this slowly growing pool of mucus working its way through my underwear into my pants. It was kind of like a wake-up call that I had to deal with my IBS.
I wanted to continue to have an active lifestyle and not by stuck at home. I found the low FODMAP diet and got myself an appointment with a dietitian. Two weeks later my stomach was behaving normal - which for me was totally a weird experience. Instead of visiting the toilet 5-6 times a day I only went once. I had managed to wrestle back control over my body from IBS and that felt incredibly good - to know that I’m in charge.
The low FODMAP diet is a very complicated diet. It doesn’t seem to have a simple logic that helps you figure out what you can and can’t eat. I’ve always been into creating stuff so part of my learning lesson with the diet has been to create an app that help me figure out what I can eat. You can find out more here: https://fodmaptracker.com/
If you feel very motivated to do something about your IBS, I would encourage you to try out the low FODMAP diet. It has made a huge positive impact on my life.
Thanks for reading!
Chris
Web: https://fodmaptracker.com/
Twitter: @fodmaptracker