Hello! First of all I would like to say I have found the information on this site well presented and though I haven't begun implementing it I can see that it has helped many people.
I have been "preliminarily" diagnosed with IBS. That is to say, I am still being tested, but I have had an unstable digestive environment for about a month now. I am an unusual candidate as I am a male and almost 30. From what I hear it appears most IBS sufferers are female and have it from a younger age.
I guess my main question is this: Just six months ago I drank Rockstar energy drinks loaded with artificial sweetener and caffeine with no ill effect whatsoever. Now on your site I am being told I cannot even drink green tea (which is a huge letdown as I just recently got really into the history and culture of tea) which has about 10% the caffeine in a cup of coffee, and less than 5% of the Rockstars I used to drink. Also, up until my diagnosis I would eat Promax Protein bars, loaded with sugar, whey protein, fat, etc. as my staple food. I had at least one nearly every day and some weekend days when I had no food and was too lazy to shop I would subsist on them and eat 4-5 a day - with NO ill effect. That was four weeks ago. In fact, before my diagnosis but after my stomach problems started (which I believe was caused by a stomach bug but who knows) I continued to eat them and though of course I had problems, they weren't exacerbated by the bars, and I have been without them for two weeks now and am no better off than before.
In summary: how is is possible for my system to so radically change in such a short period of time, where just recently I could eat pretty much anything with no more ill effect than a normal person, and all of a sudden my digestive system can now no longer function unless I adopt the draconian (and I say this with love, I am well aware of the amount of work put into the diet and how many lives it has improved, but one must admit compared to eating everything it's kind of strict) diet plan laid out here. I know the experts here are not doctors and scientists, but frankly I feel I may get a more sensible answer here because of that.
Finally, my assumption is that IBS, like anything, is a condition of degrees. My further assumption is that the active participants on this board likely have it leaning to the more severe side. This may be just wishful thinking, but is it possible that many with IBS may benefit from this diet but could survive, aside from the occasional binge/stress fueled "flare up", without negative effect by going off the track a little bit?
Thank you so much for your help and I wish all of you the best!
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