Sick And Not Sure Why

[WinterSong]

I'm a little over two months gluten free, and I'm getting stomach aches every few days. I'm in the fitness industry and know a lot about nutrition, so I'm making sure I'm doing it right. Lots of whole foods, no dairy, and no processed foods. I'm being very careful with my kitchen utensils and CC issues, too.

For a few of these stomach aches, I found possible CC issues, but I am at a total loss for this one, and it's the worst so far since going gluten-free. Wednesday I had really bad acid reflux (which went away as I began taking a medication my Dr recommended - gluten-free of course), and Thursday/Friday I've had really bad bloating and some stomach pain. All the pressure hurts a ton because my stomach is pretty small to begin with, and I've been having a really hard time eating. I was having some lose BMs several days ago, but I haven't been able to go to the bathroom in two days. It's making me pretty miserable.

I know CC can happen easily, but could it simply be that my body is healing but is still having a hard time digesting normal foods?

I'd appreciate any input. Thanks so much. Love this forum.

[mushroom]

Are you taking probiotics, and have you trialled digetive enzymes? I can't remember. Do you eat a lot of raw stuff that could be hard to digest? Skins of apples, pears, tomatoes, e.g. Some people have problems with all raw foods initially, salads, carrots.... just thinking at random here.

[Skylark]

That sounds a lot like Mom's fructose malabsorption symptoms. Have you started eating a lot more fruit since you went gluten-free?

[WinterSong]

I had stopped taking my probiotics after my biopsy. My doctor said I probably wouldn't need them, and I figured that I wasn't taking in the nutrients anyway. But I did start taking them again about a week ago to see if they would help (they are gluten-free).

I stopped eating raw vegetables a few weeks ago and cook them to help digest easier. Also gave up quinoa and Udi's bread.

I think I'm eating about the same amount of fruit than I was before going gluten-free, so I don't think that's the issue.

Maybe I'm dealing with constipation because of dehydration? The weather got ridiculously hot all of a sudden, and sometimes I forget to drink water. Haha, maybe it's not gluten at all and is a normal reason?

[GFinDC]

Hi Jessica,

It's good you are eating whole foods and avoiding processed foods. Probiotics are a good thing and avoiding sugar is another helpful thing. You may need to avoid all dairy for a while also. And it wouldn't hurt to avoid soy too.

Now, the thing is there are plenty of healthy whole foods that can cause us problems beyond wheat, rye, barley and oats. Lots of us have other food intolerances beyond those. A sensitive gut is sensitive, and can start reacting to a lot of things. So think about doing an elimination diet at some point if you don't get better. But remember you are just starting out and it takes time to heal and get better too. So be patient with your body while still actively pursuing a solution.

You might want to try eliminating food groups one at a time for a couple weeks each and see if that helps. Food groups like legumes, fruit, nuts, eggs, grains nightshades etc can be eliminated and then if there is no change added back in. The only trick to this approach is you may be reacting to more than one food group, and then unless you eliminate both at the same time your symptoms don't go away. That's where a very simple elimination diet can help, starting out with no more than 5 foods and adding in slowly.

Anyhow, at this early point in your gluten-free diet, it may just be that your system is still adjusting, and your gut flora is not stable yet. You are making lots of dietary changes and that affects your gut flora balance. So it is good to keep taking pro-biotics and maybe some digestive enzymes too. Some psyillium husks or other fiber might help also.

[mushroom]

Digestive enzymes can be a big help because gluten has a very negative impact on the pancreas, which can stop putting out many digestive enzymes (think of it as an enzyme factory which has laid off two shifts ) and that is why your food is not being properly digested and you are not getting the nutrients out of it. Helping your GI tract out by giving it some extra enzymes to work with can work wonders.

[viviendoparajesus]

apparently low stomach acid and too much stomach acid can have the same symptoms (allergies by carolee bateson-koch) but of course they are treated differently. so it occurred to me that the acid reflux medicine could be making things worse or masking the root problem instead of treating it.

i have been gluten free for about a year now but i am still struggling with some issues similar to your bloating, stomach pain, lose BM.

going gluten free and taking digestive enzymes helped my constipation.

i have heard to take probiotics but i have never noticed them helping. as a matter of fact i think the dairy ones made my symptoms worse since dairy has so many things in it we can react to and i was told i am casein (protien in dairy) intolerant.

i have heard it takes time to heal, but if you eat raw unprocessed foods everything seems to say we should feel good. *confused*

sometimes i think cc is what doctors tell us because they do not know what is really fully going on. i mean sometimes cc is a legit issue but other times it seems like an easy cop out well you cheated or got glutened but we did not cheat and cc does not seem to be the issue.

hopefully someone has ideas that will help both of us.

[WinterSong]

So I'm feeling out what's been going on in my body, and my gut is telling me that my body is very sensitive since it's healing and is just having a hard time digesting food, in general. I've done some research and here's my new plan:

I've been reading about food combination theories for healthy digestion. The book that I have explains the order in which our bodies digest foods, and which combinations of foods are best for easy digestion, particularly if you have Celiac or leaky gut issues. I'm halfway through the book, and I can already pinpoint one or two meals that I normally have, which may not be the best choices while my stomach is so sensitive. I generally don't combine a lot of different foods into a meal anyway, but I'm going to try making a few little changes to see if it helps.

A side note - some of theories are a little tough in today's society. For example, it says that proteins and starches don't mix well together in terms of digestion time (there goes hamburgers with buns, pizza, peanut butter sandwiches, french toast, ect). It does advocate (especially during the healing process) eating very simply, possibly eating only one type of food at a time.

Anyway, that's the plan. I'll post something about it if it helps.