When I was a cute little girl, I was already suffering from stomach pain when Santa Claus came to school. As long as I can remember, I suffered from bowel pains when something exciting was going to happen or when I was stressed. The abdominal pain was annoying, but fortunately not so bad that it caused problems in my daily activities.
Antibiotics affect your intestines?
When I was about 20 years old, I suffered from an extremely persistent bladder infection. I had to take antibiotics for 2.5 years. My stomach pain got worse after that. By now I know that antibiotics are not good for your intestinal flora! The cramps became so intense that I did suffer from it during work. After some tryouts I found that starting with a probiotics drink would help me. Nice!
Living with abdominal pain in another country
Two and a half years ago I emigrated to the beautiful Lisbon. If you move to another country you notice that you have to adapt to the country and it´s food. During the first weeks I noticed a difference in my bowel movements. I expected this, so I was prepared for this. Always having Immodium in my bag, drinking lots of water and being careful with alcohol were my precautions. When the excitement of the move was gone, the regularity in my life returned. I went shopping and started cooking myself again. Unfortunately, the regularity in my bowel movement did not come back. The cramps got worse again, and my belly was bloated. People even asked me if I was pregnant!
Left is me normal, right is when I ate fodmaps
The low FODMAP diet
After a lot of hassle at different doctors, one of them suggested that I should start with the low FODMAP diet of the Monash University; perhaps my abdominal pains became less. She scribbled a website on a piece of paper and I was outside again. Skeptical, I started googling. After reading a lot, I finally started the diet. First the elimination phase. After about a week I started to notice a difference and after 3 weeks I was completely free of symptoms! I was happy and energetic again, it was a miracle!