GI Issues

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chris P. on March 25, 2011 at 10:27pm

Hmm.. Are you only eating bananas?  It sounds like what happens to me when I eat nuts and fruit, or a lot of fat and fruit. Like things are backing up in you and so the stuff is rotting inside, hence the awful gas.

 

I woiuld almost say you might want to do a short juice or water fast to let things get straightened out in your gut, but if you fast too long, that can actually slow things down. Hopefully some others with more experience in this sort of thing will chime in.

 

But yeah, it sounds like things are backing up. Maybe all the cooked stuff you were eating hasn't worked out of you yet?

 

Are you doing any exercise? Things always seem to move along better when a person is doing regular exercise. In the absence of other factors, that might be just the thing to help you get past this rough spot. 

 

Anyway I hope it works out soon! 

 

:)

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Permalink Reply by Banana Buzzbomb on March 25, 2011 at 10:53pm

i definitely feel like things are backing up...just not defecating enough for what i'm putting in.  i'm doing only bananas.  i finally added in some fresh dates today in hopes of changing it up a bit...i've tried to avoid dates/bananas because the last time i attempted them together i had diarrhea...maybe it will help this time!

 

as for exercise i usually run 3 miles every day to every other day.  although i haven't run in a few days, when i had been running it wasn't helping the situation.

 

as for the water/juice fast.  i've never done that and wouldn't know the first place to start.  any helpful hints?

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Permalink Reply by Chris P. on March 26, 2011 at 1:59am

Well yeah if those dates cause that for you, they could be just the thing! Not something to look forward to, but better than backing up! :)

 

It sounds like there's nothing you are doing /not doing to cause the backup. But the other post suggesting you make sure to keep your water intake up is a good one. I'd add that eating dates can be a little dehydrating too, so be sure you take lots of water.

 

I really don't know much about fasting and whether/how it would be best to approach when backed up, but lets hope the dates do the trick and help move stuff out! You could also try prunes, I think they're supposed to be good for that also. 

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Permalink Reply by Banana Buzzbomb on March 25, 2011 at 10:48pm

Interesting.  I've always been concerned about the possibility of too much potassium given my supplementation, however I have electrolytes ran every 6 months and they've always checked out ok....high end of normal.  Sodium levels always within normal limits too.  I had electrolytes ran this week and should have results by next week.

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Permalink Reply by Banana Buzzbomb on March 26, 2011 at 2:19am

I take potassium citrate to inhibit tr cause of stone. My understanding is that the citrate needs the potassium as a catalyst to be used. I'm monitoriing my potassium not to make sure that I have enough, but to make sure I don't have too much. My citrates are now within normal limits, with supplementation. Hope this makes sense.

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Permalink Reply by Banana Buzzbomb on March 27, 2011 at 1:36pm

I ultimately think think that a balanced diet will prevent kidney stones. However, at this point my urine still shows the need for supplementation. Given that I have a history of having a stone surgically removed (pre 811) and already have 3 stones already formed in my kidneys I think it's best to continue supplementation until my urine citrates show otherwise.

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Permalink Reply by Banana Buzzbomb on April 1, 2011 at 1:55pm

This is a concern of mine. Although I am now out of the field, I was a vet tech for 8 yrs. I handled feces (with gloved hands) on a regular basis. Most zoonosis parasites reveal themselves in other ways other than GI, but it's still in my mind.

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Permalink Reply by Durianwriter on March 27, 2011 at 3:36pm

A glass or two of very hot water first thing in the morning seems to help loosen me up if I'm having backup trouble :)

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Permalink Reply by Banana Buzzbomb on April 1, 2011 at 1:59pm

Just an update: I finally broke down and took a laxative last Friday. I tried going just ware and drinking a large amount but nothing seemed to move my bowels. After clearly out by bowels became more solid over time but still thin. In addition they aren't as frequent as they had been on LFRV in the past. Although I'm not to the miserable stage yet, I'm quite uncomfortable. Guess i'mm be looking at calling the doctor tomorrow in hopes of ruling out parasites. A big concern is that he'll just say "it's the bananas." Although other have issues with bananas I know it's not the case with me. 

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Permalink Reply by Chris P. on April 1, 2011 at 11:31pm

Well even if he says bananas, it's easy enough to back off bananas for a week or two just to test the theory. Also, are you still supplementing potassium? I do wonder if at some level, potassium can cause constipation.

 

Also, a few things that always make me "move out" (LOL) are lots of oranges (I can eat 10 - 15 clementines at a time pretty easily) and also greens. I don't have a lot of patience for chewing through a lb of spinach or salad greens so I often just whir them up with water and drink them. If you're not used to it, the taste can be a bit overwhelmingly green, but it's really not bad at all, in fact I like it. You can also add some dates to sweeten it up if you like.

 

I had some real back up issues this past fall, accompanied by extreme abdominal pain. It turns out I had diverticulitis (some stretched spots in my colon that things can accumulate in and get inflamed/infected) I had no idea I had anything like that going on, but apparently I've had it for quite a long time, even back before I even dreamed of raw foods.

 

Looking back over my life now, certain things make more sense now, even some sever abdominal pain during my childhood (that they totally missed). Also, my Mom was recently diagnosed with Cronhs, so there may be a tendency for my family, if for no other reason, perhaps because we shared a similar diet. Anyway, I digress, but my point is, it's not a bad idea to check in with your doctor just to rule some things out and at least get a history started. That way, you're probably much less likely to be surprised by something down the line.

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Permalink Reply by Banana Buzzbomb on April 7, 2011 at 9:49am

Thanks again Chris!  My MIL was also concerned about diverticulitis for me.  At this time I'm about the same.  Every so many days I have "relief", but still not doing all that well.  I'll admit that I've had cooked food sporadically.  I've found that oftentimes the cooked food assists in moving things along and at this point any relief I'll take. 

 

I finally had my doctor's appt today.  Was unable to get into my primary physician until 18th so I went to my gyn, as it was faster and wondered if this could be related to my endometriosis.

 

He doesn't believe this is endo related and thankfully didn't blame anything on my diet or bananas.  To be quite honest he was kind of at a loss.  His recommendation was to try probiotics, miralax, and/or go to gastroenterologist.  I'd say without further diagnostics he would make an unofficial diagnosis of IBS.  Although I agree with this, it still leaves me to question, "why?"  IBS is a pain is the butt not only to diagnose but treat too.

 

So where am I now?  I took a trip to the local health food store to check things out.  I was unsure how probiotics fit with 80/10/10, but as stated above, I'm open to my options.  I've picked up some probiotics and they also recommended a digestive enzyme.  They said that although probiotics are important people often overlook enzymes.  They gave me a sample to try, so we'll wait and see.

 

Of course I hope this works, but once again, it leaves me the question of "why?"   My concern is that if it does work that it's just a bandaid and ultimately there's an underlying problem that's not being addressed. 

 

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Permalink Reply by Chris P. on April 7, 2011 at 11:21am

Hi Heidi,

LOL! I LOVED when you said "IBS is a pain is the butt" :) I'd say that is right on the money!
I'm sorry you are going through this right now, gut stuff is really no fun at all. To me, cooked food always went through me MUCH slower than raw stuff. In fact when I first went raw I was a little too regular before my body got used to processing all this real food. It was like "what the heck? Where is the crap you usually eat?!?"

I did have some trouble when I had the bout of diverticulitis and then the pain medication also really slowed me down. Once my gut got to the point where it wasn't super sensitive I started eating lots of raw fruit again. Snce then oranges are my secret weapon. I've since read that acid fruits, citrus, are something a lot of people with diverticula or IBS are very careful with, but it hasn't caused any problems at all for me, in fact it really makes things so easy for me. Go figure!

Your condition could be a complex interaction of various things and I think you are smart to be looking at finding out what exactly is going on with you. It would probably be a great idea for you to log all your food and sleep and activity. Write down everything that goes in your mouth, and write down when things are going well and when they're not. Do it for a month or two and I bet you'll start to see some pattterns emerge that could well help you get to the bottom of what is going on.

I hope the probiotics and enzymes help things! Def log things like that, as well as any supplements too.

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