New And Hope To Get Some Feedback

[JTbike]

Hello!

My name is Jim and I am 46 years old. My fitness level is above average ( I race mountain bikes and train 7 days a week), but on July 1st, 2012, after a training ride, I came home and had lunch. Later that day I had excruciating abdominal pain. The next day it felt a little better but I went to my family practice doc. He just said it could have been an adverse reaction to a sports drink I used the previous day.

On July 4th, my stomach was still sore. I didnt eat that day until dinner time. I ate one banana, and that excruciating pain came back, so I went to the ER. They did a CT scan and blood work. Everything came back normal. They put me on a proton pump inhibitor but are started to get really bad anxiety from it, and my stomach didnt feel any better.

I went back to my family practice doc a few days later and they did a stool test. That was normal also. That night, guess what I ate? Yes a banana. And yep, I ended up back at the ER

Fast forward to September. I finally got to see a Gastro doc. Of course he wanted me to take another type of PPI. I said no. So I started taking Zantac.

Fast forward to November. I have been eating crackers, sweet potatoes, green beans, boiled chicken, toast, and occasionally some whit rice. Still taking Zantac. I still have some abdominal pain and now more anxiety.

A week ago I stopped the Zantac, and the anxiety is way better. Still have some stomach pain.

Three days ago I stopped eating gluten. My stomach did feel better the next day. Still sore but not as bad. The anxiety is even better.

Today I ate chicken, lettuce and cucumber salad with olive oil, rice vinegar, and a splash of lemon juice. Oh I forgot, I had a slice of apple, and a small slice of banana this morning. Felt a little anxiety and of course a bit of stomach upset.

So for a snack before my training ride, guess what I tried again? A whole freaking banana. And guess what? Yeah duh you already know the answer.

First, thanks for reading this novel i just wrote, and second, anyone have any opinions on this? Is it a fructose problem, a gluten problem, gastritis, what????

Any thoughts would be most appreciated because this sucks!

Thanks!

[kareng]

Maybe a banana problem? Seriously, if bananas keep making your stomach hurt, stop eating them. Might be as simple as that.

[shadowicewolf]

bannanas seem to be an issue for you. Drop them for a while (6 months) then retry them. Eat to much of one thing and your body will protest.

[1desperateladysaved]

Maybe try strawberries, raspberries, grapes, or pears. But try a little bite or two and see how it goes.

[GottaSki]

First step - as others have already said - drop the bananas and do not retry them for six months.

If you improve - great!

If you do not - ask your doctor to order a full celiac blood panel - you must keep eating gluten for these tests to be accurate. The tests measure the antibodies created in reaction to gluten ingestion.

The problem is you may have a combination of several food intolerances - given you felt a bit better when you removed other foods - but since banana seems the most obvious - it is the place to start.

Another thing to do if removing bananas doesn't solve the problem is keep a food/symptom log.

Hope you feel better banana free

[JTbike]

First step - as others have already said - drop the bananas and do not retry them for six months.

If you improve - great!

If you do not - ask your doctor to order a full celiac blood panel - you must keep eating gluten for these tests to be accurate. The tests measure the antibodies created in reaction to gluten ingestion.

The problem is you may have a combination of several food intolerances - given you felt a bit better when you removed other foods - but since banana seems the most obvious - it is the place to start.

Another thing to do if removing bananas doesn't solve the problem is keep a food/symptom log.

Hope you feel better banana free

Thanks Lisa,

I did or do now know the banana problem, but never knew of possible problems with sugar. Do you think i should not have any gluten and sugar, or try gluten again but leave out sugars. Then see how I feel. Not sure how to tackle this weird new issue.

Thanks again!

[GottaSki]

Thanks Lisa,

I did or do now know the banana problem, but never knew of possible problems with sugar. Do you think i should not have any gluten and sugar, or try gluten again but leave out sugars. Then see how I feel. Not sure how to tackle this weird new issue.

Thanks again!

I'd keep gluten in for now because it is really important to do so if you decide to get tested.

Elimination Diets can be done two ways:

The first is to remove one food or food group at a time for at least a week - then re-try the item. If you have removed an entire group - let's use dairy as an example - re-try each dairy item (milk, yogurt, butter, cheese) separately at least THREE days apart (a week is better) because not all reactions are immediately apparent. This is the easiest and best way IF it provides clear reactions.

The second is to remove all but a few safe foods for at least a month then reintroduce items one at a time - again at least three days apart. To complete this properly takes a very long time -- this was the only way I could find my list of problem foods - but I DO NOT suggest this as a first step.

A food/symptom log is essential for either method. Any foods that cause an obvious reaction should be removed and re-trialed at six months intervals as many intolerances are temporary. I'm confident that I'll get many healthful foods back one day.

How long did you remove all fruit? Did you notice improvement? If so, perhaps start your elimination with removing sugar including fructose. There is also a Hydrogen Breath Test to test for fructose malabsorption. If you do so, remember to trial fruits separately - many people have problems with select fruits rather than fructose.

If you really want to try removing gluten - I strongly urge you to get tested for Celiac Disease first. Once you remove gluten - if you improve it can be very tough to add it back into your diet in order to be tested.

IMO laying off the PPIs and Zantac for now is a good idea - if they have not been of any help thus far (for anyone else reading along - I am not suggesting that no one should take them - just use cation if they do not produce positive results). Many digestive issues actually stem from low acid rather than too much acid that most docs prescribe PPIs for. My son was given increasingly strong ones for several years to treat reflux - none ever worked and several had serious side effects - including anxiety. Removing problematic foods was the answer for him.

Doing a proper elimination diet takes time....perhaps read some of the other threads regarding other folks experience with elimination - you can use the search window in the upper left corner of the forum screen or feel free to ask more questions.

[mushroom]

Many digestive issues actually stem from low acid rather than too much acid that most docs prescribe PPIs for.

This is so true!!! I cannot count the number of times I have mentioned digestive problems to doctors and the response was always to suggest an acid inhibitor. I have never had acid indigestion in my life, but none of them ever hear this part!! Everyone has acid indigestion, surely??? I have always taken simethicone to break up the gas that is my indigestion

[IrishHeart]

I subscribe to Occam's razor. You know, go for the simplest explanation rather than speculate on all the possibilities.

Bananas = stomach pain.

No bananas = no pain.

However....if you do have a gluten intolerance, it could be making your stomach feel bad and you just associate the banana as the trigger.

I had all awful stomach pain pre-diagnosis and beets, fruits, beans, orange juice, coffee chocolate, soybean oil and about 25 other foods made my stomach hurt.

It wasn't the food--it was my gut. See what I mean?

Have a celiac panel done before you eliminate gluten.

[GFinDC]

Hi Jim,

Celiac diseae damages the small intestine. That damage can lead to people devloping somewhat random food intolerances. In celiac the damamge (an autoimmune response) is kicked off by eating gluten (wheat, rye, barley and possibly oats). But once your system is sensitized to other foods, they can also cause symptoms. Those other food intolerances may go away or get less severe once the gut is healed. It is the inflammation process in the gut that causes the problem.

If you want to know if you have celiac disease you wil need to get back on gluten right away and get testing scheduled. The usual practice is to take blood samples for antibody testing and then possibly an endoscopy to collect biopsy samples. They check the biopsy samples for damage to the microscopic villi that absorb nutrients. The antibodies start to decline after gluten is removed from the diet and then the antibody tests are no use.

Bananas are associated with latex allergy. If you a have a latex allergy you may need to avoid other foods that can cross react for latex allergies. You also may need to carry an EPI pen. It would be a good idea to be tested for latex allergies. Allergies are an immune system IgE response, while celiac is an IgG or IgA response. Different kinds of immune cells. I had hayfever that became much less of a problem after going gluten-free, so the different kinds of immune cell responses can affect each other iIMHO.

Latex allergy cross reactive foods:

Open Original Shared Link

[Vegemite toast]

Hi, I agree with doing the elimination diet. We just did it in our family and I discovered my daughter was gluten intolerant or celiac (unfortunately not really thinking gluten was the problem I didn't get her tested first so take heed in that advice also).

Bananas contain high amounts of amines along with chocolate and many more foods. Sure sounds like amines. But reactions can be delayed by up to a day or 2 which is why the diet is so helpful. Open Original Shared Link has some great information about getting started on an elimination diet. Good luck.