Stomach Problems- What to do?
 

To start off, I have done low carb (south beach specifically) before and had great success. Felt great, no problems.

This time around I have been at it since September and I have been having some significant discomfort for the past few months. I thought I had a hernia, the pain was so bad and parts of my stomach are bulging out! I went to a doctor who was a total quack and a waste of time and money and then went to the ER when I was in so much pain I couldn't stand it. The ER doc told me it was severe constipation and recommended starting to eat hummus. She approved of low carb but said to stay away from iceberg lettuce, eat lettuce only every second day and to add in the hummus. Well, I am still in agony! The past few days I have been doubled over with this weird hunger pains/nausea/stomachache.It was awful. Finally I threw in the towel and made a whole wheat pizza. No joke, I felt better within the hour and am back to feeling fine. For some reason eating some whole wheat helps? But when I ate cauliflower or brocolli to try to "fiber up" in hopes of easing the discomfort, it didn't do anything.

What is going on?? I am eating lots of veggies and eating very well. I am sick of being in discomfort and don't want to give up low carb but this is getting really terrible for me.

Just wanted to see if anyone found themselves in a similar situation and what helped?

I'm so sorry for you; I know how discouraging this can be. I can't eat ANY raw vegetables or I get diarrhea. Same with coconut oil and too much of any fat, cream, or cheese. My doctor can't find any cause for this, but it makes low carbing very difficult and boring, and boring = hard to stick with. I never have problems when I eat carbs. I hope someone has an anwser for you, I'd love to read it. Hang in there...hope you feel better soon!

Sorry to hear that :( You are very right, boring=hard to stick with.

I am starting to worry that maybe my body and how it processes food has changed and that maybe I need to find another WOE. I really don't want to just because of how successful I am on low carb.

I was thinking of cutting out cheese and eggs. Maybe too much fat is the culprit? Or too much protein? I am having such a hard time finding answers!

I am going to try South Beach Diets Phase 2 and see if that helps me at all.

I have been taking psyllium husks on and off for a few weeks now, does not seem to help at all.

Cheese (dairy, in general) can bind you up. Adequate water and fat keeps things moving and fiber doesn't hurt, so long as you're well hydrated. Otherwise it makes things worse.

It sounds serious enough that you should find a competent doctor to figure out what is going on.

Fat is far better than fiber for regularity.

Magnesium is a very important supplement and it will help with regularity. Google 'jimmy moore robbins magnesium' for an excellent podcast on this mineral. Most people are deficient.

Jimmy Moore has another podcast on LC supplements. Google 'jimmy moore bowden vitamins'.

Is it possible that you have Crohn's disease or Celiac disease? Usually Crohn's biggest symptom is the opposite of constipation but constipation can be a symptom.

I doubt food sensitivities.
nuts,sugar alcohols,soy,eggs ,diary,whey,some lc bars made with all those hard to say ingredients.
maybe you can post what menu you ate prior to this happened.
it would be wise to keep a food diary and add in comments at the end so u can go back and analyse it later.
I have food sensitivities and fat driven diarheea so it has been hard to LC,but I try to workaround.

The things that help me with regularity are: coconut butter/oil, magnesium supplements, nuts, and lots of water.

I agree that keeping a food diary and noting when you have symptoms might help pin down what you can and can't eat.

I hope you get this resolved soon.

This sounds so much like my DD before she was diagnosed with IBS w/constipation AND lactose intolerance. She was miserable until she started taking Miralax twice a day and totally cut out dairy. Her stomach would bloat up and we took her to the ER twice. She's perfectly fine now.

Hmmmn gall stones maybe...from losing weight rapidly...the pain can come and go...

Well, I do have an autoimmune condition but have been reading the symptoms of chrohns and celiac and don't *think* I have them. I know they are tricky things to diagnose though.

I have actually been controlling my autoimmune disease through diet. I cannot drink milk but CAN tolerate cheese. There is an enzyme in milk that I am sensitive to. I have not had this problem since I posted this thread but I am thinking of eliminating cheese from my diet anyways. However I have seriously cut back on cheese in the past month since I had the hernia/stomach/constipation/whatever it was problems. I eat cheese very infrequently.

I have been eating quite a bit of cauliflower. Salad once every few days (doctor told me to limit my salads to every other day and never iceberg lettuce). I eat butter, meat, and either cauliflower, brocolli, spinach and romaine as my veggies. I also eat avocadoes every few days. I try to eat a lot of garlic and eat mushrooms once or twice a week.

Sorry I can't give a perfect list of what I ate right before this started but I really only eat those things and meat of course.

I have been feeling better since this last episode but I also had to eat a whole grain pizza to get relief! Since then I have been ok. When the bad hunger feelings come on I make sure I eat right away. I have been eating some nuts when the hunger comes.

Sorry to hear about your sensitivity to fat :( I have been so thankful that I no longer get diarrhea. It used to be a semi frequent occurrence.

Yes I was worried about that. BUT I don't seem to have any symptoms besides the pain/nausea. I will go for an X ray soon if it keeps happening.

I don't have a family doctor and I am at the mercy of either emergency room doctors or walk in clinic doctors. :(

Those are the only symptoms I had, right side pain mostly. Ultrasound is used for diagnosis, not xray. There is also a virus going around with tummy problems that lasts for weeks.

Keep a log of every pain, when it happens, what you ate, everything you can think of and present it to whichever doctor you see.
Sorry you're in such pain, and I agree with Darin that it sounds serious and you need to follow up, even if that's just the ER every time you have an "attack". The bulging part really concerns me :(

Wow! That is a great idea Dottie! I'll remember that. :)

I have lots of problems when I eat too much protein. Maybe that could have something to do with it?

Are you feeling bloated as well? It could be nothing, but could also be a blockage in your colon or something else. If it continues... please go to another doctor to be checked out thoroughly. So many illnesses have the symptoms you describe... best of luck!

Please go have this checked out thoroughly since it's been going on a while. Is there a way for you to get a family doctor or even go directly to a gastro-doc?

I've had stomach issues and ended up having both an MRI and colonoscopy. Now I know what the issues are and also know what to do about it. The docs really scared me about what it COULD be but thankfully, it was nothing dangerous.

As a MD, can I say that if you showed up in an ER and I was called, I would order a CT scan to rule out any acute problem, first... and if that showed nothing, and you were reasonable stable, I would order a colonoscopy to be done as an outpatient. And there are some tests beyond if the colonoscopy showed nothing... eg, to eval colon transit time, etc.

Whoever recommended HUMMUS is an idiot. Thats not a recognized medical treatment for ANYTHING, even constipation.

Assuming you do have *only* constipation, that itself can be a serious sign of all sorts of things, even colon cancer. So you need a thorough evaluation.

We can offer up suggestions all day on the internet - maybe its too much protein, too much iceberg lettuce, gallstones.... but none of this really helps you. You need to see a qualified MD. Start hunting for how you can obtain health care... eg, where I live, uninsured patients are covered in the county hospital (courtesy of property taxes). Often larger acedemic centers associated with a university can offer free or low cost care. As a medical student, I participated in student run clinics, where we had board certified attending physicians supervising us, and we could often refer them to other MD/specialists who taught in the medical school or personally request and plead the patients case to one of our teachers (MD) to see the patient for free. So there ARE ways,... you need to start really hunting and getting creative. Perhaps you qualify for Medicaid? Perhaps you can work out a payment plan with a gastroenterologist? (they will often reduce the price significantly if they know someone has no insurance, but it willing to pay out of pocket)