I told my 3rd GI that I knew it sounded a bit crazy, but the only pattern I picked up on from my numerous rule-out diets was commercial foods. He responded that it didn't sound crazy at all, for he himself suffered from food-additive sensitivities.
He advised me to eat only 100% whole foods for a few days to see if I didn't suffer an IBS attack, then challenge myself with one commercial food, then revert back to whole foods again for a few days. It might take a few different commercial foods before it was noticeable, but it would be easier to detect patterns with just one commercial food at a time.
I did as he advised, did have an IBS attack after eating a commercial food, and wrote down the ingredients. Over many months, I was finally able figure out that Carrageenan was my very worst IBS trigger. Oh the pain and inflammation it caused, usually starting about 20-60 minutes after eating a food with carrageenan, then swelling and hurting more and more over the next 12'ish hours. The ONLY thing that relieved the pain and swelling was to sleep, but I couldn't fall asleep while in so much pain. I ended up taking mild narcotics just to get to sleep, although stronger narcotics might have been better for sleeping, but most narcotics nauseate me—nothing worse than throwing up when your gut is already super-swollen and burning.
I did notice some minor IBS triggers too: Annatto and Nitrates, and something in commercial broths/bouillons. Carrageenan, Annatto, and nitrates are listed as excitoxins, so maybe there's something with that, but I'll have to study more before I decide if that matters to my body.
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