Anyone Have Sensitive Stomache After Giving Birth?

Count me in as someone who recommends you have your gallbladder checked. I actually had mine out 9 years ago so I didn't experience any of these common symptoms AFTER my pregnancy (painfully severe symptoms prior to having it taken out, though), but I hear that this is a very, very common occurrence after childbirth.

If you do end up needing to have it removed, I believe it's now considered an outpatient procedure; go in the A.M. and be home in time for dinner :)

Good luck to you!

When I was preg I could not drink Apple juice or orange juice and any drinks with red food coloring in it.

To this day i cant drink Apple juice or Orange juice...makes me sick to my stomach and will throw up.

having a baby changes your body...some meds i used to take I cant take now they react differently to my body.

Have you had your gall bladder looked at. A lot of the symptoms you describe are generally related to gall bladder. It is not uncommon for pregnancy to affect the gall bladder. I can't tell you how many pregnant women I have taken care of with cholecystitis (inflammation of the gall bladder). Good luck and always seek a second opinion when you feel like your aren't being listened to.
A.

I agree with the idea of getting your gallbladder checked. However, I was diagnosed with Irratible Bowel Syndrome in my early 20's and basically had to give up pizza/cheese/any types of heavy foods. After 5 years of eating a pretty restrictive diet, I tried some of those foods again and I am now fine with eating anything. If it is not your gallbladder, I recommmend just giving your system a break for a while and letting your system heal. then, start adding foods back in (do a food diary) and see what bothers you.

you may want to get tested for food allergies/intolerances. I found out this summer (after having an extra sensitive GI system one year after giving birth) that I am gluten and soy intolerant. I never had such BAD gas and bloating issues until after pregnancy. I had some before, but they would resolve on their own after a couple of days. Nothing like this. I feel so much better now that I eat gluten/soy free. Check into this angle, it might help! Good luck.

"a lot of women have gallbladder issues after having children - fatty foods can aggravate the condition. Watch your triggers - you may need to get it checked."

I sooooo agree with this post. You have the exact symptoms I had and I did end up having my gall bladder taken out and things were much better.

Also, since childbirth (we are talking it started days after I gave birth) my esophagus started spasming (food won't go down; it hurts awful). I don't know if having a C-Section had anything to do with it, but I have always told my mom that my insides just don't feel the same anymore. I now take digestive enzymes (from a health food store) and that has really helped me a ton!

You might want to have your gallbladder checked .... i did that and went through pain for 10yrs before i found out what was wrong

My stomach always was sensitive to motion, & it got worse after I had my son.

It sounds like you are lactose intolerant. You could get tested for that. And you can also take meds in order to eat your favorite foods.

You could have some degree of lactose intolerance, irritable bowel that seems to be aggravated by that. We do change with the pregnancies. I wore the same perfume for 20 years when I had the last one, it made me ill. Now there is one perfume that I can tolerate and I guess I will be in trouble if my system starts saying no to that.

You might want to try googling. I have seen several television programs with peope that were ill to the point that it started creating significant problems and they were able to find others and piece things together to seek treatment.

Also, you might want to try stocking up on lomotil. If I know I am going to be someplace like Six Flags, I will take it the night before and again that morning to make sure my stomach doesn't start acting stupid. If you know pizza is in your future, you could take it and see if it helps you enjoy the pizza without the aftermath; Wal-Mart makes its own version (interestingly enough nearly identical in appearance to the brand name product) but it works well.

As I age, the things that seem to irritate my system increase. Lettuce has always been iffy with me and like you, sometimes it seems okay others, not so much. It has gotten to the point that when I remember, I order tacos without the lettuce. I now seem to have heartburn the last couple of years fairly regularly when previously the only time I ever had it was when I was pregnant.

You could try to investigate what the below poster suggested by figuring out if low fat cheese seems any better and can you drink milk without hazard? Also I think that Feta cheese, goat rather than cow products, are easier on the stomach.

On a lighter note, you never know, if you have another child the cheese trend could be reversed. I sympathisize, life without cheese includig pizza and lasagna would really suck. At least you weren't diagnosed with arthritis in your back, which followed on the heels of my third child's birth, lol.

a lot of women have gallbladder issues after having children - fatty foods can aggravate the condition. Watch your triggers - you may need to get it checked.

I had the SAME problem! During my pregnancy I couldn't get enough dairy, ate it all day long. After having the baby, I would have stomach pains so severe I thought I had an ulcer. I had an endoscopy that found nothing and then a sonogram of all organs. No problems. Then I started to notice that the pain came every time I ate large amounts of dairy. After all of those doctor tests, I think I've solved my own problem. I have cut back on dairy and even still if I forget to take Lactase, I get bad stomach pains. Good luck to you, I know it's terribly frustrating.

Look on the aisle at the pharmacy with the antacids and antidiarrheals and stuff - Pick up a bottle of Lactase (for Lactose intolerance). Follow the directions on the label.

That stuff works WONDERS. What you (probably) have is Lactose intolerance - your body isn't making enough lactase (the enzyme that breaks it down), so the lactose is fermenting in your intestine - creating gas and feeding bacteria there.

You may still have to moderate - i.e. don't follow your cheese pizza with ice cream, but you should still be able eat what you enjoy.

HTH
S.