Malabsorption?

[SGWhiskers]

I'm 2 years strictly on the gluten free diet. (TMI of the digestive kind to follow). Since diagnosis, I've had undigested recognizable foods in my stool. I just figured I was still healing from stage Marsh stage 3c damage. Well, my body decided it wasn't infertile anymore and I'm pregnant (Yippie), but the undigested food in my stool has me worried about baby getting enough nutrients. What can I do to increase the available nutrients to baby. I'm taking 2 miltivitamins, 2 calcium/mag/zinc/D, 3 folic acids, and 3 servings of soy protien shake/day. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm not getting enough nutrition based on my energy levels and the huge bruises I have from nothing. Prior to getting pregnant, I would say I was still struggling to support just me nutritionally.

I'm eating as much as my mild nausea and heartburn will allow. I'm looking for ways to increase the available nutrients in the volume of food my stomach will handle.

More soy shakes?

More vitamins?

Crush the vitamins?

Liquids?

Pureed food?

Are there liquid vitamins?

Other ideas?

The docs won't see me until my 8th week and who knows how much they even know about increaseing nutrition in celiacs.

[i-geek]

Could you have a soy intolerance that's keeping your gut from fully healing? A lot of celiacs do. I don't use protein shakes so I have no idea if this is good or not, but I found this soy-free, gluten-free, dairy-free protein supplement with a Google search: Open Original Shared Link

Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in. Best wishes to you for a healthy, easy pregnancy. Celiac disease has rendered me infertile. I'm 6.5 months into the gluten-free diet and you've given me hope that maybe someday I'll be able to get pregnant and carry to term.

[mushroom]

I, too, would be inclined to try avoiding soy for a while. I use TJ's hemp protein powder in my smoothies. There are other protein powders out there too that do not contain soy.

[chasbari]

Once I got rid of gluten the next trigger for me was soy and it created reactions worse than glutening. I would agree with those observations thus far. Of course, I am no expert with anything else you are dealing with as I left the childbearing up to my wife. Congratulations!

[gabby]

I read somewhere that having too little amounts of acid in your stomach can contribute to poor digestion. They call this problem: hypochlorhydria. Here's a description from a website where they explain this problem complete with animation and some suggestions (from World's Healthiest Foods website):

"Hypochlorhydria is also associated with many diseases, such as asthma, celiac sprue, hepatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and diabetes mellitus. Signs of hypochlorhydria include a sense of fullness after eating, bloating, excessive belching, indigestion, multiple food allergies, undigested food in the stool, and peeling and cracked fingernails."

Not sure if this link will work, but go to this link, then scroll more than halfway down the page to the section called: Ways to Support Healthy Digestion. If you have time, read the whole page because there's lots of interesting info there on digestion in quite a bit of detail.

Open Original Shared Link

Hope this helps.

[Skylark]

Congratulations!

Soy is worth looking at, as is milk. You also might find a probiotic helpful. I don't know much about pregnancy and probiotics so you should talk to your doctor first.

Crushing/liquid vitamins shouldn't matter with a GOOD vitamin. They're formulated to dissolve quickly and easily and generally chelated so they're absorbed better. You can powder a One-A-Day and still only absorb a fraction of it because the vitamins are not chelated well. Good chelates are expensive and bulky.

I'd recommend going to a really high-end supplement like Metagenics. Their supplements are made with absorption in mind. Some people take the EMPowerPlus I use for mental health as a prenatal because it's very complete and it's available in a powder form you can mix into your shakes (though I think the powder might have casein). At the very least, go with the Solgar prenatal. You'll pay more for good vitamins, but it's well worth it for you and the baby.

[ravenwoodglass]

I am also going to strongly urge you to drop the soy. You should not be seeing undigested food 2 years into a strict gluten free diet. Drop the soy and if things do not improve within a short time do see your doctor again. There are liquid and chewable vitamins available I would advise you to go with those rather than crushing one that is designed to be swallowed. Some medicines have a coating that prevents them from being dissolved in the stomach to prevent ulceration or upset stomachs. I do hope you have brought this up with your OB/GYN and gotten their input, it is important that he/she knows about it.

[Ahorsesoul]

Just a thought. How large are these pieces of undigested food? If they are large enough for you to identify what type of food they are you might need to be chewing your food better. A lot of people mistakenly think they do not digest corn because they can see corn in their poo. Mainly it's because it wasn't chewed. The outer shell of some veggies is not digestible. So if not chewed well it comes out looking like it went in.

[SGWhiskers]

Thanks all for the quick responses. Milk and egg are on my allergies list. In the past 6 months with the advice of an allergist, I've been adding cooked varieties of these back to my diet. Eggs seem to go over well with good cooking. Milk products do not. I tried going beanless/soyless for 3 months a year ago and felt no better. As soon as I added the soy and beans back, I felt more nourished. I hope that is enough of a length of time for an elimination diet with soy.

chewing: I'm paying attention to how well I chew. I'M TERRIBLE about it. I'm swallowing whole peas and carrots at times. Incidentally the appearance of cooked carrots in the stool was what put me over the edge and made me post. Nuts and flax seeds & spinach are typical in my stool, but carrots is new.

The protien powder has me intrigued both with the hemp and the RAW. I like the idea of having a different/additional source of protien and nutrients other than just soy. I'll do some shopping.

OK, since I'm discussing my stool online, Now that I've started the prenatals/gotten pregnant, I have a new issue, very dark/almost black at times stool. I read that iron can cause black stool and this started a few days after starting the mulitvitamin. Will 2 multivitamins cause that much color change, or am I also dealing with a gi bleed in addition to my bruises. I have not taken them in the past because of stomach irritation. I know I need to talk to the doctor, but they won't see me for 2 more weeks. This kid's got a lot to overcome here. He better be tough.

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks all for the quick responses. Milk and egg are on my allergies list. In the past 6 months with the advice of an allergist, I've been adding cooked varieties of these back to my diet. Eggs seem to go over well with good cooking. Milk products do not. I tried going beanless/soyless for 3 months a year ago and felt no better. As soon as I added the soy and beans back, I felt more nourished. I hope that is enough of a length of time for an elimination diet with soy.

chewing: I'm paying attention to how well I chew. I'M TERRIBLE about it. I'm swallowing whole peas and carrots at times. Incidentally the appearance of cooked carrots in the stool was what put me over the edge and made me post. Nuts and flax seeds & spinach are typical in my stool, but carrots is new.

The protien powder has me intrigued both with the hemp and the RAW. I like the idea of having a different/additional source of protien and nutrients other than just soy. I'll do some shopping.

OK, since I'm discussing my stool online, Now that I've started the prenatals/gotten pregnant, I have a new issue, very dark/almost black at times stool. I read that iron can cause black stool and this started a few days after starting the mulitvitamin. Will 2 multivitamins cause that much color change, or am I also dealing with a gi bleed in addition to my bruises. I have not taken them in the past because of stomach irritation. I know I need to talk to the doctor, but they won't see me for 2 more weeks. This kid's got a lot to overcome here. He better be tough.

Yes the vitamin could be causing the black stool if it has iron in it. If you are worried call the doctors office and ask to speak with a nurse. Write down your concerns and speak to her/him in detail. If the nurse thinks you may have a serious issue she can and will move your appointment up.

Even though you elimated soy a while back and then added it back in without issues I would still encourage you to try eliminating it again. Just because you had no issues before doesn't mean you don't have issues now. After all you ate gluten without problems for a long time, right? Intolerances can develop at any time.

[SGWhiskers]

OK, I'll drop the soy. How long? Does that mean legumes too?

[Skylark]

OK, since I'm discussing my stool online, Now that I've started the prenatals/gotten pregnant, I have a new issue, very dark/almost black at times stool. I read that iron can cause black stool and this started a few days after starting the mulitvitamin. Will 2 multivitamins cause that much color change, or am I also dealing with a gi bleed in addition to my bruises. I have not taken them in the past because of stomach irritation. I know I need to talk to the doctor, but they won't see me for 2 more weeks. This kid's got a lot to overcome here. He better be tough.

You need to make absolutely sure you are not dealing with a GI bleed. If you have an urgent care program available on your insurance, it would be good to go in today. Some insurance programs also have an 800 number where you can call and talk to a nurse. If you can't do any of that, get on the phone with your doctor's office tomorrow.

[ravenwoodglass]

OK, I'll drop the soy. How long? Does that mean legumes too?

I would just drop the soy for at least a couple of months. IMHO dropping legumes in general isn't needed but others may disagree.

[Roda]

Yes prenatal vitamins can darken the stools from the iron. I'd bet that is what it is from, but if you are worried discuss it with your doctor. I had terrible bruising on my legs during both of my pregnancies. I still have that problem. I have had everything known to man checked out for it and can find nothing. I do have alot of spider veins and I believe this is what is breaking and causing all the bruising.

[vbecton]

OK, I'll drop the soy. How long? Does that mean legumes too?

Glad to hear you are stopping the soy while pregnant. There's much research that suggests soy intake during pregnancy is harmful. Google: soy dangers in pregnancy. There is also much reserach regarding soy intake as an infant and later predisposition to chronic diseases, especially for male babies. Google will give you tons of info to consider. Good luck and congratulations on the pregnancy!!!!

[GFinDC]

I really don't know why people eat soy. I guess because it is easy to grow and cheap. And they put it in about every processed food.

If you want to research it yourself, try googling "soy infant thyroid", and read some of the links. Or google "soy rat intestine" , and read some of the research links.

I think soy is bad stuff for babies and adults alike. Waaahhh!

[mushroom]

I would just drop the soy for at least a couple of months. IMHO dropping legumes in general isn't needed but others may disagree.

Twp years after dropping soy I had to toss all legumes, even including green beans and green peas. Bummer! Mind you, I had not been consuming many legumes other than the green beans and peas for quite a wile Your mileage may vary.

[brendab]

I just wanted to add that fermented foods (except alcohol) are EXCELLENT for your digestive and your immune system. These keep your digestive track in order (aside from any issues like allergies, celiac, intolerances, etc. you may have). So yes, taking probiotics is a must and it's a food so you really cannot overdose on it.

(Midwife in training speaking here )

[sb2178]

I just wanted to throw in that soy is not necessarily evil. It is a common allergen, and the proteins can be difficult to digest, but it has a solid place in traditional foodways across Asia. Traditional food like tofu, edamame, miso, etc are all whole foods that are perfectly good sources of nutrients (assuming you can digest them). They do not cause crazy baby development or breast cancer. Now, if you go and eat massive amounts of soy protein powder or take massive amounts of soy supplements that could potentially be an issue. Fake/reduced foods = problems pretty often.

The other thing to consider is that you should not be taking multiple minerals at one time for the best absorption. They compete for absorption. So, take calcium with breakfast, iron with lunch, etc. It's worth eliminating soy for a few weeks though. But some people do just have unpleasant tummy pregnancies (protective mechanism against poisoning from back in the day).