Digestion issues - food intolerances/allegies?

some questions & comments
half a kilo of chicken? what sort of portion sizes are you having? this looks like a lot of food.
how much water are you drinking? are you drinking with meals or outside of meals
what other drinks are you drinking (specifically, diet drinks)
a major diet change will always result in an upset stomach
major increase of roughage and fibre can lead to the squirts
you are eating lots of foods that in TCM would be considered to be troublesome

i LOVE colonics. i get them VERY rarely, but they are incredible.

Romie said:

Ive been constantly changing my diet trying to see what triggers my digestion issues

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Stop doing this. Eat normal for a month or 2 and see if it goes away.

xwifex said:

You should get the breath and blood tests, go on an elimination diet, take a probiotic, have a colonic, start taking l-glutamine, see a naturopath or a traditional chinese practitioner.

OFTEN these issues are simply the result of a parasite, bacterial imbalance, or an enzyme issue and won't require a life long restrictive diet.

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Started the elimination diet today, I take Inner health plus, not sure on the colonic, l-glutamine looks interesting I might give it a go and ill look into the naturopath.

xwifex said:

some questions & comments
half a kilo of chicken? what sort of portion sizes are you having? this looks like a lot of food.
how much water are you drinking? are you drinking with meals or outside of meals
what other drinks are you drinking (specifically, diet drinks)
a major diet change will always result in an upset stomach
major increase of roughage and fibre can lead to the squirts
you are eating lots of foods that in TCM would be considered to be troublesome

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With the chicken I just love eating, that was 2 breasts, I also had around half a kg of veges with it but im not doing that anymore. I will look into TCM to see what they say.

I drink around 2L a day, I avoid drinking 15 mins before and 15 mins after eating. I dont really drink any softdrink, I might have the occasional can of coke but it wouldnt me more than once or twice a week. Might sometimes have a glass of juice but that wouldnt be more than once a week

I know a change of diet will give stomach problems but this has been on going for along time, even when I say I change my diet if im way off most of the time I was eating the same thing for at least a few months apart from the chicken which was fail.

I might have to stop IF so I can eat more smaller meals instead of 6 bigger meals as it will be easier to digest. Today my stomach has been alot better just by avoiding condiments.

Bazza20 said:

Stop doing this. Eat normal for a month or 2 and see if it goes away.

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I dont change it that often, apart from the half kg of chicken and half kg of veges which I did for 2 weeks my other diets were the same for at least a few months and still gave problems

Dude I have been hospitalised a few times due to ulcers from digestive problems. It's just a process of elimination work out whats causing the problem and remove it from your diet.

I cut out 99% of my gluten intake and switched from beer to spirits and my problems stopped took me awhile to work out that was the cause of the problem and I'm not saying gluten is the issue for you but it is just a process of elimination to work out what is.

i can't eat raw onions, cauliflower, some nasty synthetic potato chip flavours like cheese or onion or chives, leeks, soft cheese, full fat soft dairy (soft cheese, ice cream, cream etc).

condiments are full of acids, preservatives, salt and sugar - eat herbs instead!

Well had my doctor appointment today. As a moved house and changed doctors I never got the final report for my endoscopy/colonscopy so she got that faxed over. I am definitely lactose intolerant and it came back negative for celiacs. She doesn't think I need blood work at the moment because i've had it done afew times before when I had similar problems and its always come back fine. I also have history of pretty severe depression/anxiety and as that has come back pretty badly in the past 6 months she thinks thats what is aggravating my GI. The fucked thing both my mental health and GI health are connected so its hard to pinpoint anything unless you can get rid of one of the problems.

So ive been given a referral to a dietician so I will see how that goes. Ive been given medication to try and help with my depression/axiety and extreme levels of stress so if I can get that under control hopefully I will make some progress. Even with eating a basic diet I am still having lots of GI problems. Also going to try taking that gastro stop once a day in the morning to help calm my GI.

I'll still stick to this elimination diet and see if it improves over the next couple weeks with the medication or not.

Given that you have a lot of stress in your life, try to take a step back and look at the things that cause you stress.

Separate out those that you can take action on (ie to remove the cause of stress) and those you can't do much about.
The next step is to figure out a) things you can do to remove stress and b) looking to change your attitude to the ones that you can't remove.
I know it sounds flippant but it isn't. If the meds etc are to work and you want to get some GI relief and probably better sleep etc, you have to examine how you respond to stress.
Might be worth seeing someone to look at what strategies you can put in place to deal with stress better so it doesn't affect your health.

Know that our gut is part of our brain...it's known in neuroscience circles as the second brain. This is why stress and other stuff that messes with our brains, also affect our gut, and vice versa.

Wishing you all the best, Romie. Get some lactase as well as if you are lactose intolerant, it can really help. This is the enzyme you would be lacking if intolerant to lactose. It will help you digest anything with traces of lactose much better.

Good to see your getting some help. I also came back negative for celiac which mainly relates to gluten, however am intolerant to wheat, get tested just to be sure.
Don't take the gastro stop each day, it will back you up bad if you have too much.

Good to see you have an answer that at least makes sense. Now you know what to do and can take the necessary steps to getting everything under control.

I appreciate your honesty about your depression and anxiety issues. It still seems such a taboo topic. Even though it's such a common and prevalent illness in this day and age, it's still the elephant in the room for many people when the topic comes up. More power to you.

I'm sure with the new meds and some guidance from the dietician, you'll be eating like a horse in no time. Keep us posted.

+1 on the lactase. Did your doctor mention it to you ?

Ask you chemist about it. It can be a life changer!!!

What exercise are you doing ?
Use the natural high from a good workout to help boost yourself.

chocchillimango said:

Given that you have a lot of stress in your life, try to take a step back and look at the things that cause you stress.

Separate out those that you can take action on (ie to remove the cause of stress) and those you can't do much about.
The next step is to figure out a) things you can do to remove stress and b) looking to change your attitude to the ones that you can't remove.
I know it sounds flippant but it isn't. If the meds etc are to work and you want to get some GI relief and probably better sleep etc, you have to examine how you respond to stress.
Might be worth seeing someone to look at what strategies you can put in place to deal with stress better so it doesn't affect your health.

Know that our gut is part of our brain...it's known in neuroscience circles as the second brain. This is why stress and other stuff that messes with our brains, also affect our gut, and vice versa.

Wishing you all the best, Romie. Get some lactase as well as if you are lactose intolerant, it can really help. This is the enzyme you would be lacking if intolerant to lactose. It will help you digest anything with traces of lactose much better.

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I know what stresses me, what causes it and I know its 100% my reaction/attitude which is the problem. My work environment isnt that great anymore as the company I work for are just fucked. Working for a major corporation that is to be expected as they only care about maximum profit and not the health of their workers. I could write a book about this but I wont. Work is a major cause of pretty much all of my stress and the rest would be causes from my fairly crappy health at the moment. I am definitely burnt out of work which is not helping and a holiday or some time off is definitely needed. Most of my fellow workers are stressed out and look pretty depressed which isnt a good thing.

I do have a therapist which I have been seeing for afew years now and as you mentioned about stress she has informed me and taught me ways to cope with it but sometimes you just dont implement like you should. There is also things that happened when I was younger which also contributes to my mental problems which I dont really want to go into on a public forum.

Grippy said:

Good to see your getting some help. I also came back negative for celiac which mainly relates to gluten, however am intolerant to wheat, get tested just to be sure.
Don't take the gastro stop each day, it will back you up bad if you have too much.

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I will ask the dietician about further testing as im abit iffy about my doctor. Thanks for the heads up about the gastro stop I wont take it daily.

GUZZLA said:

Good to see you have an answer that at least makes sense. Now you know what to do and can take the necessary steps to getting everything under control.

I appreciate your honesty about your depression and anxiety issues. It still seems such a taboo topic. Even though it's such a common and prevalent illness in this day and age, it's still the elephant in the room for many people when the topic comes up. More power to you.

I'm sure with the new meds and some guidance from the dietician, you'll be eating like a horse in no time. Keep us posted.

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Thank you. It makes sense why sometimes I can eat something an be fine and a week later the same thing will upset my stomach. Also my stomach is generally alot better when im not at work.

lex said:

+1 on the lactase. Did your doctor mention it to you ?

Ask you chemist about it. It can be a life changer!!!

What exercise are you doing ?
Use the natural high from a good workout to help boost yourself.

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No she didnt mention it but I have the lactose drops and tablets at home use to use them all the time when I was training as I was having around a litre of milk a day.

Im not doing exercise at the moment as I really dont have the energy to by the end of the day. I could do constant state cardio but it doesnt really interest me. Im going to try some skipping as it looks challenging. Im more interested in weights but dont want to restart until I get some normal GI activity back. Past experience shows stomach problems fucks recovery which equals injuries. Ive I see a improvement over the next couple weeks I will definitely resume lifting.


Thanks guys for the responses its been great to get other peoples feedback. When I get more information or learn something I will keep you guys posted with my progress.

Romie, before these digestion issues when you were exercising regularly, do you thing the exercise helped aid as a stress reliever, making the work situation easier to deal with?

If you really don't see your work situation changing for the better, are you in a position that allows you the opportunity to consider a career change so you can relieve yourself of all the current work pressure.

Even annual leave or long service for that time off to clear your head and make some decisions?

GUZZLA said:

Romie, before these digestion issues when you were exercising regularly, do you thing the exercise helped aid as a stress reliever, making the work situation easier to deal with?

If you really don't see your work situation changing for the better, are you in a position that allows you the opportunity to consider a career change so you can relieve yourself of all the current work pressure.

Even annual leave or long service for that time off to clear your head and make some decisions?

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I would agree with the statement that exercise is the best form of medicine. The only problem is though if you have stomach stress and then the stress for weight training on top it can sometimes be abit to much physically.

Career change would be difficult as I dont really have any qualifications so it would have to be a crappy job.

With work I have the option of taking holidays but it probably wont be until next year, I do have 4 months of leave owed to me. I could step down from salary and just work full time but I would lose alot of money from paycut. If I want to play this smart I should take most if not all my holidays then step down so I get holidays payed out at my salary rate instead of the normal adult rate. I could try speaking to the boss saying I got health problems so I need a month off asap but im not sure if they will help me out or not.

what about walking ?

A good walk on the beach is a great way to destress.
Or just some body weight training at home ? pushups, situps , dips, squats

I walk enough I walk 20 minutes to work, 20 minutes back home + my job is fairly physical and I walk around alot at work, I reckon I would do close to 10000 steps a day during the week.

Bodyweight exercises are a good idea. My stomach has been alot better today with the gastro stop so if my digestion is improved by next week I will go back to my old gym and restart training. I got a good coach to look after me once my health is in a better place.

What anxiety symptoms? Was this before or after bowel symptoms?

Mucous blood in stools ever?

Where is the bloating?

Any blood tests so far?

Christian said:

What anxiety symptoms? Was this before or after bowel symptoms? I dont even remember how long ive had these bowel problems for but its definitely been on and off over the past couple years possibly even longer.

Mucous blood in stools ever?

Where is the bloating?

Any blood tests so far?

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Im just an anxious person, ive had depression + anxiety for longer then I can remember and panic attacks for atleast 4-5 years now. I cant even remember how long ive had these bowel problems for but its been years now, on and off.
Anxiety depends how bad it is. Can be any of these symptoms and/or combination.
Difficulty breathing
Tightening of chest and/or throat
Light-headedness
Heart palpations
Blushing of face
Difficult to calm down
Overwhelmed
Feeling like im going crazy or going to die
Difficulty speaking
Pounding heart
Nausea
etc, sometimes it feels like a heart attack

Dr hasnt done blood work yet as she thinks I dont need it at the moment but she will be reviewing me in 2 weeks time. Ive had plenty of blood tests done over the past 2 years while ive had these problems and theyve came back alright except for the last one where my iron was abit of the high side.

Occasionally I get mucus in stools but its would only less than a handful of times a year.

Bloating in the stomach.

I have a referral to a dietician at the moment so ill see what she thinks.

Christian if you havnt read through all the pages I also have lactose intolerant, cealics came back negative, this was tested when I had my stomach checked out in hospital, Ive been eating dairy which doesnt help but I have cut it out this week which is helping.

I understand you are a nutritionist? If I dont like what this dietician says I may come and see you as you arnt to far from me.

Romie said:

Im just an anxious person, ive had depression + anxiety for longer then I can remember and panic attacks for atleast 4-5 years now. I cant even remember how long ive had these bowel problems for but its been years now, on and off.
Anxiety depends how bad it is. Can be any of these symptoms and/or combination.
Difficulty breathing
Tightening of chest and/or throat
Light-headedness
Heart palpations
Blushing of face
Difficult to calm down
Overwhelmed
Feeling like im going crazy or going to die
Difficulty speaking
Pounding heart
Nausea
etc, sometimes it feels like a heart attack

Dr hasnt done blood work yet as she thinks I dont need it at the moment but she will be reviewing me in 2 weeks time. Ive had plenty of blood tests done over the past 2 years while ive had these problems and theyve came back alright except for the last one where my iron was abit of the high side.

Occasionally I get mucus in stools but its would only less than a handful of times a year.

Bloating in the stomach.

I have a referral to a dietician at the moment so ill see what she thinks.

Christian if you havnt read through all the pages I also have lactose intolerant, cealics came back negative, this was tested when I had my stomach checked out in hospital, Ive been eating dairy which doesnt help but I have cut it out this week which is helping.

I understand you are a nutritionist? If I dont like what this dietician says I may come and see you as you arnt to far from me.

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No problems mate. I also have panic disorder anxiety ect. And from my research the gut is very much involved and from personal experience can worsen the condition.

Email me if you want to speak privately info@spnh.com.au

Christian said:

No problems mate. I also have panic disorder anxiety ect. And from my research the gut is very much involved and from personal experience can worsen the condition.

Email me if you want to speak privately info@spnh.com.au

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Will do when the time comes, it wont be for awhile though.