How to deal with an Irritable Bowel Syndrome Episode and Low Fodmap Cheese Pockets

I have made video number four, and this one is full of tips on what to do if you have a belly ache from trapped wind, and life has turned to custard.

Transcript of the Video – Dealing with an IBS Episode

Welcome. Today I’m going to talk about when you have an IBS attack, and I’m going to give you a few tips on how to handle that. Let’s say you’ve got pain and you’ve got trapped gas – that’s normally what causes the pain and your muscles are cramping around that – or you’re having to rush to the toilet all the time.

Stay Calm

The very first thing and the most difficult thing is to stay calm, because, as we know, stress irritates irritable bowel syndrome. It makes it worse, because those gut-to-brain signals get all very confused. If possible, stay calm. Don’t just expect yourself to stay calm. Use some of those techniques, like deep breathing. That’s the most immediate one that you can use. Deep breathing down into the base of your stomach confuses your body and makes it think that there is no emergency, so then your blood pressure goes down, your breathing calms down, and so on. That’s the first thing, to try to keep yourself calm. If possible use some self-talk. Just talk to yourself kindly and calmly as if you would to a friend who was in trouble. Always treat yourself as if you were a friend in need.

Warmth

Now, there are some very practical things that you can do like a heating pad or a warm bath. Psychologically, it’s really useful, but also research shows that low level continuous heat speeds up pain relief. It relaxes the muscles. That’s really a very good thing to do. Instinct kind of tells you to do that, but definitely move on that one fairly quickly.

Herbal tea

Now, herbal tea is very soothing as well, as long as you use good ones like peppermint tea or ginger and lemon tea. Just be careful not to use any of the ones that are high Fodmap. But those two that I mentioned are low Fodmap and they’ll be fine for you.

Visit the Toilet

If possible, obviously go to the toilet. The problem is that the gas is trapped and it’s trapped by feces in the bowel. So if you can go to the toilet and you can get things moving, that gas is going to get moving as well.

Exercise

Another thing that is really useful is exercise. But sometimes when you’re in pain, you’re not wanting to move too much. So perhaps just something like– there are quite a few yoga poses, which are really good for getting things moving. You can google those quite easily.

Those are my tips for today. If you have an episode, just know that it will pass, and you’ll be okay again. But meanwhile, please stay on the low Fodmap diet. That is your very best answer to reducing the symptoms of IBS. Thank you for listening and good bye.

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Cheese Pockets

We still have our glass of wine in the evening on the weekend, and today I made these tasty little cheese pockets to go with it. They are definitely better eaten hot and fresh, though you could re-heat them but the pastry toughens up a bit. Spice up the filling with cayenne pepper to give it some punch, and you could add all sorts of herbs, but I was out of herbs and didn't want to do to the green grocer's because it was about to rain. The recipe made about 16 but, to be honest, we had eaten most of them before I remembered to count them.

Low Fodmap Cheese Pockets - Gluten-Free

 

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Author: Suzanne Perazzini

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 1.25 cups white rice flour
• ¾ cup tapioca flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 30gms/1 oz butter
• ¾ cup + 1 tbsp water

For the filling

• 12gms melted butter
• 50gms grated cheese
• 1 egg
• Salt
• Pinch of cayenne
• Juice of ½ lemon

Method

For the pastry

1. Heat oven to 180°C/350°F.
2. Put all the dry ingredients in a food processor.
3. Add the butter and process.
4. Add the water slowly until a dough is formed.
5. Roll it out between two sheets of baking paper until it is thin but not too thin or it will break and the cheese mixture will ooze through.
6. Cut out rounds of the pastry and place a small amount of the filling in the centre.
7. Gently pull up the edges and create a wonton shape by pinching the edges together. There is no gluten so the pastry can be fragile - treat with respect.
8. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the pockets on top.
9. Bake for 13 minutes.
10. Serve hot.

For the filling

1. Mix everything together.

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