Stomach won't cooperate with intermittent fasting

October 4, 2023 8:19 AM

I've been eating pretty unhealthy food for the past few weeks, and now feel bloated and vaguely nauseated after every meal. And I'm now obsessed with sugar and simple carbohydrates, and I'm constantly thinking about what unhealthy food I can eat next. I have found that a short (18-24 hr) period of fasting is an excellent remedy for when this happens to me. Unfortunately my stomach hates me and punishes me when I try to do this.

If I stop eating for 18-24 hours my IBS-C will invariably be triggered and then I will have 48-96 hours of cramps and misery. (Yes, I'm not eating during that time and so in some way my small goal of "pause food intake" is achieved, but my larger goal of "stop being miserable" is missed entirely.)
I have a dicyclomine prescription, which helps, but I'm looking for a way to not trigger the IBS. I usually take the pills once attacks start, should I take them before I start fasting? All ideas/related stories are welcome.
I have, in fact, seen doctors about this, but now I am asking you lovely people. I promise not to take your advice as Actual Medical Advice.

posted by Vatnesine to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Have you already done an elimination diet experiment to determine which foods you tend to react to and which you tolerate well? If not that's probably worth trying. Maybe you'll find that it's not necessarily the total fasting that helps you, but that by fasting you are eliminating a particular trigger food. The hope would be that you could find some foods that don't trigger symptoms, and your 'fasting' could include eating those non offending foods.
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 8:53 AM on October 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I don't have those issues, but I do IF, and I've found it works best when I eat healthier food before I start the IF process (lots of fats, protein, and fiber, less sugar/carbs) as that primes my body for fasting and helps switch my energy system from fast calories to slow calories.
posted by jpeacock at 9:09 AM on October 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I'm uncomfortably familiar with that pattern (but have never been prescribed anything to help, so I can't say anything about the medication side of things).

If I wanted to break a cycle by spending a day fasting-without-fasting, I would skip breakfast, then look primarily to rice, fish and vinegar for the rest of the day. My body tolerates them very well, they feel light in my stomach, and they are not... chocolate, or doughnuts, or cheese, or whatever it is that you want to turn away from. Plus, sushi is delicious and feels like a treat not a deprivation, which is good for not being miserable.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:12 AM on October 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

Probiotics? Lots of probiotics? Fasting while eating only unsweetened whole-foods-style yogurt?

Calcium Carbonate?

Drinking a whole bunch of water?

wild idea (ask a doctor or someone) - activated charcoal? I'm focusing on absorbing stomach acid mainly.
posted by amtho at 9:44 AM on October 4, 2023

I suffered from compulsive overeating for many years, and your pattern sounds a lot like mine was toward the end of my being active in that addiction.

Intermittent fasting was one of my control mechanisms, but a period of IF would always be followed by a return to overconsumption of and obsession with carbs.

I still follow a time-restricted eating pattern of 16:8, because I believe that by itself it's a healthy way of eating. Thank God, however, the intervening carb binges are a thing of the past. I consider myself recovered.

Happy to answer questions via DM if you like.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 10:05 AM on October 4, 2023

Yes I have to do zone eating (balanced 30/30/40 fat/protein/carb) for a few days before IF. Because otherwise it’s just another sugar spike/crash.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:04 PM on October 4, 2023

If I am trying to eat a bit less and my stomach is upset - I have a small orange or mandarin to settle it.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 8:22 PM on October 4, 2023

Can you go for some flavored oatmeal / gruel / rice porridge just to tide you over?
posted by kschang at 8:46 PM on October 4, 2023