@contentandwell I also am on a low-fiber diet. I am also on a low-oxalate diet. I used to eat oatmeal every morning but cut back after being put on the low-fiber diet. After 6 years I now eat it occasionally, about twice a month. I eat strawberries with no problem. I also can eat nectarines, peaches, bananas and cantaloupe. I eat watermelon, but it does have a great deal of fiber so I pay for it later if I don't take anti-diarrheal along with it. As long you are ok with the oxilates you should be able to eat any berries you like. Good luck!

@rosemarya I believe for me no green leafies will be forever, as I believe the low-fiber diet is required by my autonomic neuropathy.

@2011panc Thanks 2011panc. I will try some of the things out that you mention. I have been told that bananas are fine and berries in limited amounts. I too frequently had oatmeal for breakfast, and I added either blueberries or strawberries, plus some ground almonds or walnuts. Now I have read that you can eat cream of wheat. That info did not come from my hospital but from googling but I believe the source that had that info was a good one. I'm not sure which one it was now but I generally only pay attention to very reputable sources.

Do you regularly take an anti-diarrheal? At the point I am taking two immodium a day and it helps but I don't know what would happen if I did eat some higher fiber foods, and I wonder how long I can taking the immodium without it being a problem. I think I may be able to reduce some immunosuppressants in September, at my one year anniversary, so I am hoping at that point if not before I will be able to discontinue the immodium.
JK

I am glad you found my information helpful. When I make oatmeal for myself I add cinnamon, raisins, salt and walnut pieces. If I feel the need, some days I add a touch of maple syrup. Real maple, not pancake syrup. I have not tried Cream of Wheat, but the Rochester hospital did have Cream of Rice on the menu and that does work for me. I use rice in place of many grain options because it works for me.
I took 10mg of anti-diarrheal daily for a while and was able to wean off except for occasionally. Now I am planning to start an every other day regimen, as I am again having problem. I am just home from Rochester following a complete GI workup. The only thing they found were abnormalities in my colon and anal muscles. That is disappointing to me, but we work with what we have, right? Or not, right? lol
Depending on your issues and physician's advice, you might do a trial of a higher fiber and then another trial of reducing your Imodium to check out your tolerances.
I use any anti-diarrheal, often store brand, if they have the same ingredients as Imodium brand because they are often less expensive. For me now, every penny counts. When I say ingredients I mean both active and inactive. I shy away from unnecessary inactive ingredients because of possible negative effects. Another area you might want to check ingredients is your vitamins or any otc supplements you may use. There are so many additives in products now and I avoid them as much as possible.
You may as well make friends with Imodium, but hopefully you don't have to remain as close as you are now. Maybe she can move a few blocks away. lol Best of luck to you. You remain in my prayers.

@2011panc It sounds like you and I could nicely have breakfast together, except no salt in my oatmeal, I try hard to keep my sodium low. I had to smile at the real maple syrup mention. I too use only real maple syrup (heck, I live in NH, nothing less does it for us). We were at a very nice Inn in Maine that my son and daughter gave us an overnight at for our 40th anniversary. They came too and at breakfast they served fake maple syrup! My daughter was completely nonplussed that a a highly rated Inn would serve that and then she could not eat her pancakes.:-) She loves maple -- maple sugar candy, maple cotton candy, and anything else maple, and puts the syrup in her coffee too. I tried it -- it is good but I usually put no sweetener in my coffee.

I dropped the evening pill the other day and sure enough I had a bit of a problem the next day. We were away for the weekend with friends, the husband in that couple is a doctor and he said that baby spinach leaves are less fibrous than other greens so I had a salad with them. I don't know if my problem was from that or from decreasing the immodium. I guess this will be trial and error for a while.
I wonder if I also have a problem with my anal muscles. What type of doctor did you go to for that?

I take no supplements, just the slew of things prescribed for me. I will check for generics of the immodium, immodium is not cheap. Good advice to watch for every ingredient in them. I never had to take any anti-diarrheal products before and very few softener/laxatives too. Hopefully immodium won't have a permanent relationship, and hopefully I will once again be able to eat salads and things of that nature. How ironic that here I was trying to eat healthy -- whole grains, high fiber, fruits, raw vegetables and now those things are denied to me.
JK

I understand. I was referred to gastroenterology for my gastric workup. Previously I had it done closer to home, but we have fewer specialties available to us now. If you have a gastroenterologist near your home, that is where I would go. FYI, I had an endoscopy, colonoscopy, anorectal manography and had to collect stool samples.
As for your trial, I suggest trying them independently and drop the morning pill rather than the evening one. Also, I have had more problems with spinach than other greens, which seems strange. I still do eat broccoli with no apparent problems, thankfully. Although I now eat vegetables cooked almost exclusively.

@2011panc and @contentandwell , I have to say that I am happy that you two have met here on Connect. By sharing this helpful information with each other, I, as well as others, are able to gain new insights into how to live successfully with complications. Your proactive approach and your desire for reputable knowledge are admirable.
I get energized by reading these conversations!
And so I want to thank you for showing us how to live:-)
Rosemary

@rosemarya Awww, Thank you. I am glad to help wherever I can. Since becoming medically discharged from the work environment I struggle to feel useful and am so pleased whenever I can be of help to anyone anywhere.

@2011panc I googled info about spinach and baby spinach and I believe our friend was incorrect. The info was a bit confusing but I think the gist of it was that spinach has more fiber than other greens and even more when it is cooked! I was told I could eat some of the other vegetables because cooking breaks down the fiber but apparently that is not true for spinach. I am going to do some more googling to try to get a complete appraisal of fiber in all of these greens.
Thanks for the other info, I do have a gastro, but he too is in Boston. I need to go to him soon for a yearly endoscopy. If they do find a problem with your anal muscles is there anything that they can do about that?
I definitely agree, I plan to try the adjustments independently, that's the only way to definitely know which is helping/hurting.
JK

@rosemarya Thanks Rosemary. When it gets sort of personal like this I always wonder if it should be taken to a one-on-one discussion but I can see where others might possibly from the info also. Some of it can be embarrassing to air publicly though.
JK