Gi Just Not Getting Better

[jasonD2]

I'm finishing up a 2 week course of medication to treat my parasites and am flooding my body with probiotics, but my GI symptoms are not going away. I can still barely eat without getting an uncomfortable fullness in my upper GI..i have had this since september and im beyonf frustrated. I have made some improvement since i cut out sugar and fruits but something is still not right and i cant get to the bottom of it and its really preventing me from enjoying my life. The only positive thing that i have experienced from taking the medication (Alinia) is no depression..my spirits have been unusually high which leads me to believe that the drug has had a positve effect on the gut seratonin levels. But i just cant eat and put weight on. Am i going to have to live with this uncomfortable fullness after i eat every meal for the rest of my life? My doc wants me to try a drug called naltraxone at a low dose since it seems to be a miracle drug for people with gut problems, anyone hear of this?

thanks

[Reba32]

what do you eat that is causing the discomfort? It is not likely everything and more likely something that you are eating regularly that you are intolerant to. I see in your sig that you have diagnosed several food intolerances, perhaps there are more that are just not diagnosed yet?

Is there any one thing that you injest every day or almost every day, that you could perhaps go without (besides meds) for a few days to see if that is the culprit?

[Katie B]

You could try the specific carbohydrate's recipe for yogurt - you'd be getting probiotics plus some calories. It's completely lactose-free (I can verify!) and easy to make if you buy a yogurt maker. I bought the Yogourmet one and it's easy - bought it off of Lucy's Kitchen and she provides a good recipe too. Not sure if the parasites feed off of carbohydrates but the diet helped clear up my infection. I found recipes made with the specific carbohydrate diet using almond flour helped put on some weight. Avocados are another good source of healthy fat...not sure what you can tolerate though!

[jasonD2]

Cant eat dairy and up until september i was fine with avocados, now they give me horrible reflux

cant cut out carbs- im already 15 lbs underweight

[jasonD2]

I dont know- if i eat spinach, brown rice and salmon all day i feel fine...used to eat chicken all the time- was my main source of protein and now i can barely eat half a breast w/o getting indigestion. gotta be careful with fruits and sugar too...all this stuff was never a problem. used to drink peppermint tea all the time and now it makes me sick

[mushroom]

So Jason, tell us what you do eat...

Sometimes, when we eat too much of anything we become overloaded with it and sensitized to it and intolerant. I overloaded myself with citrus and couldn't touch it for a year. Now, I can tolerate small amounts again. I can also tolerate small amounts of potato starch and soy and corn in pasta where I couldn't before. Potatoes I used to go really heavy on and I was itching like crazy. I do not intend to resume eating the things I became intolerant to in large quantities, but I do intend to slowly add them back in in little bits. I will never be able to go back to caffeine; that sensitization was for life

I do not think it is a good idea to eat the same things over and over, number one because you are not getting a good mix of nutrients, and number two, because of the sensitization issue. So tell us what you can eat and maybe we can devise an eating plan for you to give you the variety you need so you don't get sick of it, and also so you don't get too soon full before you get all you need.

This fullness feeling, can you describe it? It is like you are bloated and there is no room for food because of the bloating? Or what???

[jasonD2]

No its not bloating, it feels like the food is just sitting in my stomach and when it gets to the duodenum it causes pressure..sometimes there will be burping, sometimes just the need to swallow & clear my throat. in september i was on an anti candida regimen..taking artemisia (wormwood), symbion probiotics and oxypowder...ever since it hasnt been the same. when i went for an endoscopy in Dec i had duodenitis but everything else was normal. i even used to weight lift & now i cant cause it causes reflux...my whole life is destroyed because of this.

As for my diet this is pretty much ALL I eat now

Brown rice cereal w/ TJs rice milk

Brown Rice Pasta

Short grain brown rice

Brown rice cakes

Quinoa (too much causes upper GI distress - did not used to)

Canned green olives

Frozen green beans and broccoli

spinach

Yellow Squash

Swiss Chard

Romaine lettuce

Meat: Ground turkey (too much causes constipation), chicken (upper GI distress), pork, beef (moderation), salmon, sole, mahi mahi, bacon (in moderation) - alternate

Gluten free pancakes w/ brown rice syrup

olive oil

Flax Seed

Sweet potatoes (moderation- too much causes indigestion)

Luna bars (pecan + dates)

Pumpkin seeds

pecans

strawberries (moderation)

red potatoes (moderation - used to be fine now they cause GI distress)

I kid you not..this is ALL i eat..i just mix and match ingredients every single day. if i try to eat something other than whats on this list It wont sit well with me. Also several vegetables not only cause GI problems but also increase urinary frequency (e.g artichokes, zucchini, eggplant, asparagus); fruits give me bad indigestion & bloating..especially pears, apples and bananas

So what can i do if im so restricted? im probably allergic to every single food in the galaxy and i just cant heal until these sensitivities go away

What i also dont get is why do all my lab tests look more or less normal and yet i feel like crap all the time?

[jerseyangel]

Luna bars (pecan + dates)

Jason, you mean Lara Bars--right? I'm thinking because of the date and pecan. Luna Bars aren't gluten-free, they contain oats. They also contain lots of soy.

I'm also thinking it has to be something you are eating every day. Have you tried a rotation of limiting one thing at a time? Tedious, but effective.

[mushroom]

Okay, what did the doc say about that duodenitis, since that seems to be the location of your discomfort. No ulcer? Did he treat it? Consider it to be significant? After you burp, clear your threat, does the pressure ease? Can you resume eating?

Your diet seems very heavy on brown rice. Is there nothing else starchy you can substitute in place of some of this? It is also pretty light on protein. Can you do any of the protein powders in a shake? Eat any white fish? Poached sole fillets stuffed with spinach go well together and are easy. Just thinking out loud here...

[Indiana Joan]

It appears to me that you are eating an awful lot of rice. It might not contain gluten but it is high in lectin. Lectin is a hardy protein that does not break down easily. It is resistant to stomach acid and digestive enzymes. A good article about it appears at krispin.com. You might also want to search for the keyword

[mushroom]

It appears to me that you are eating an awful lot of rice. It might not contain gluten but it is high in lectin. Lectin is a hardy protein that does not break down easily. It is resistant to stomach acid and digestive enzymes. A good article about it appears at krispin.com. You might also want to search for the keyword

[jerseyangel]

Worth thinking about, Jason.

I agree with this line of thinking, too. I don't do well with lectins either, except dairy which I was completely off of for over 5 years before trying it again. I positively can not do brown rice.

Jason, maybe try omitting that first and see if it makes a difference.

[jasonD2]

yes Lara Bars

[jasonD2]

but if i eliminate brown rice how will i get my carbs? i cant eat white rice constantly..too starchy

honestly, i dont think its brown rice...if i just eat brown rice or brown rice pasta i feel fine after...its the other foods that cause the distress

[mushroom]

At least read about lectins, Jason. Just for your own enlightenment

[jasonD2]

well ill try rotating out brown rice for a few days..what can i eat in its place? white rice?

[mushroom]

Yep. But do *do* the reading too. It is very interesting. You will find there are lectins in most of the things you have eliminated from your diet.

[ravenwoodglass]

I'm finishing up a 2 week course of medication to treat my parasites and am flooding my body with probiotics, but my GI symptoms are not going away. I can still barely eat without getting an uncomfortable fullness in my upper GI..i have had this since september and im beyonf frustrated. I have made some improvement since i cut out sugar and fruits but something is still not right and i cant get to the bottom of it and its really preventing me from enjoying my life. The only positive thing that i have experienced from taking the medication (Alinia) is no depression..my spirits have been unusually high which leads me to believe that the drug has had a positve effect on the gut seratonin levels. But i just cant eat and put weight on. Am i going to have to live with this uncomfortable fullness after i eat every meal for the rest of my life? My doc wants me to try a drug called naltraxone at a low dose since it seems to be a miracle drug for people with gut problems, anyone hear of this?

thanks

If you are just coming off of the meds you may find when you stop them things get better. Also you mention being lactose intolerant, most of the probiotics I have checked have casien in some form, do yours? I would drop them for a bit and see if that makes a difference.

[jasonD2]

No I use 100% dairy free probiotics

[gabby]

Hi,

Is it possible that you are not reacting to the food....but instead you are reacting to other things like the chemicals sprayed on the food, or other types of things in the environment that are having a bad effect on you? There's a name for this, it is called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Here's a description from one MCS site: (Open Original Shared Link)

"What is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?

With Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, (MCS), a person develops markedly severe or allergy-like reactions to everyday chemicals. These include pesticides from buildings, gardens, food, pets; chemical cleaners; petrochemicals, (petrol, diesel); paints; perfumes; etc..."

I don't know much about it, but recently heard about it. Not sure if this is a blind alley or not, but just thought I'd throw it into the mix as something to maybe look into.

Personally, I have lots of difficulty with various fruits and veggies and rice too. But I found that it isn't the food that affects me, it is the stuff added to the food after it is picked, or sometimes what is added as the food is being transported that is affecting me. For example: anti-fungals and anti-bacterials, rodentcides and pesticides sprayed on grains/fruits/veggies as they are sitting being transported.

Anyways...I hope this helps somewhat. Good luck with tracking down the cause of your misery.

[jasonD2]

Well i was my fruits and vegetables very thoroughly & by mostly organic so dont thinks its that- although its interesting cause when i was in France last year I felt better eating the food over there

[dilettantesteph]

It sounds to me like it might be sensitivity to very low levels of gluten. You could try eliminating processed foods, watch out for produce coatings and wash everything like crazy.

[jasonD2]

Trust me...its not gluten. I eat almost 100% organic and am obsessive about what i eat, how i eat and where i eat

[weluvgators]

Trust me...its not gluten. I eat almost 100% organic and am obsessive about what i eat, how i eat and where i eat

From your list of foods, you seem to be trusting food manufacturers a fair amount. There is gluten in an unfair amount of processed food. They are considering regulating it at 20 PPM. My family gets sick at levels well below that. *AND* that recommendation is based on a study that accounted for only a *portion* of the daily diet as being from "gluten free" foods. I think it is very important to evaluate the *total* amount of gluten consumed, and using processed foods in the daily diet will add up little bits very quickly. We had to better evaluate several similar items that are on your list of foods because we continued to struggle with gluten symptoms from those processed foods, including cereal, pasta, and milk. It sucks!

[jasonD2]

I dont really eat processed foods...also my recent stool anti-gliadin was 0 so i must be doing something right