Mamas & Papas-
I eat a fairly good diet, lots of fruit and veg, whoe grains, meat as a condiment, plenty of water, and have done so for years. Recently though I feel uncomfortable, gassy and bloated, as often as 3-4 times a week, and for that matter windy too. Thought to do an "elimination" diet, where you start with little more than rice or potatoes and water and slowly reintroduce foods to see what the culprit might be. Not sure whether this is the sort of thing one should do without first speaking with a doctor.
What doctor should I consult? Do I go to a dietician, a nutritionist, a GE, an allergist?
Not feeling awful, but feeling out of sorts often enough that I think that further inquiry is warranted.
Thanks for your help.
F. B.
I'd do two things, B.. I'd get a lactose intolerance test done, and a colonoscopy. Don't let this go. You need to know what is going on with ya, dear.
Keep us posted!
Dawn
Try eliminating gluten and lactose and see how you feel.
First limit gluten for 2 weeks then reintroduce and see if it makes a difference.
Then repeat except eliminate lactose and other dairy products and see if that is the cause.
If you think that it is gluten, you should see the doctor after you reintroduce it back into your diet so that you can get tested for celiac disease.
gallbladder problems can also cause some of the symptoms that you mention - are you having any right flank pain?
It could also be from an increase in gassy foods, such as cauliflower, brocoli, cabage etc....
5 will get you 10 it's milk/dairy.
I'd try eliminating that first.
You'll know in a few days.
I agree with the prior answers. The most obvious triggers are gluten and dairy. Save yourself a trip to the doctor and the expense and effort of a true elimination diet and go gluten-free/dairy-free for a few weeks and see how you feel. Then introduce them back one at a time and see whether one or both make you feel worse.
If that doesn't help, then it's probably worth getting checked out by your PCP to rule out anything obvious and get his or her opinion. If he or she thinks it's somethng like IBS there are elimination diets for that that you can get on the web and try on your own.
I find as I get older that some things that never disagreed with me before suddenly do.
I can't eat green peppers anymore.
I use to love them raw, and cooked every which way you could have them but if I eat them now I get horrible acid indigestion and then I'm gassy for a day or so.
I use to love a sprinkling of raw onion on top of a green leaf salad - but now I can't eat raw onion anymore either.
I'm fine if they are cooked - so sauteed mushrooms and onions and French onion soup and other cooked dishes with onions in them I can still enjoy.
I'm not sure it's time to see a doctor over this.
You might try keeping a food diary (everything that goes into your mouth) and note when you feel uncomfortable.
After a week or two you might be able to detect a pattern and then you can eliminate the culprit(s).
http://www.realage.com/gastrointestinal/banish-the-bloat
http://www.askdocweb.com/bloated.html
http://www.tree.com/health/intestinal-disorders-excessive...
All adults have some degree of lactose intolerance. It's a preservative measure...we really don't need the dairy beyond infancy/toddlerhood. You can try eliminating dairy, or at least lactose, and see if you feel better. I cannot do ice cream, a lot of yogurt, or some cheeses without feeling just like you described.
Gluten can be another culprit. That's more of a change, and I have a lot of experience with it having a CD child. To truly attempt a gluten free diet, you need the advice of either a nutritionist, or someone who eats this way to help guide you. I would be glad to help if you want to try it, just pm me.
Hope you feel better soon!
Yepper, one of the draw back of eating healthy is really stinky blossoms. :) I find the more fruit I eat, the more gas I have and the quicker the BMs. I find the easiest why to have less gas is to eat less fruit and more pasta, crackers, and bread. You might want to go on a low-gas diet. Gassy foods are Lactose in milk, beans, potatoes, artichokes, asparagus, carrots, corn, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, radishes, onion, peas, celery, legumes, apples, peaches, plums, prunes, bananas, apricots, melons, grapes, raisins, oat bran, sweeteners, fatty foods and carbonated beverages, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/foods-that-cause-gas.html
Gluten (sometimes other grains besides wheat, rye and barley are culprits as well) and dairy... are the usual suspects. After you eliminate those, your diet will be mostly what is called "whole foods" - which is healthy eating. Give yourself time to adjust. See how you feel. But - it could be other things. For me, one huge culprit turned out to be eggs! I LOVED eggs! :-(
In my case, eliminating just gluten and dairy would have solved one problem (hives) but would not have solved other problems. And for some people, if they just eliminated one of them, say gluten, they might have thought gluten wasn't a problem because they were still reacting to the dairy. For some of us, we really need to get off multiple things.
And then there is often the need for probiotics. In some cases, some people may need temporary help with digestive enzymes.
Another way to start is to get an IgG allergy (blood) test and use that as a starting point. Eliminate just those foods for a few weeks. I that eliminates all your problems, add back each food one by one.
A "nutritionist" may not be the person you want to consult with as that is not (generally) a medical person, although they might be great for specific weight loss or sports training needs.
An Integrative medical MD, Naturopath, or Registered Dietitian may be appropriate. However, an IgG home blood (fingerprick) test can be obtained and mailed in if you prefer that route. Check out Food Safe: http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/ItemLCM73001/Food...
If you want to be tested for food tolerances, don't eliminate anything yet. You need to be actively reacting to get a positive result.
Your symptoms might be gluten, but they could also be dairy-related. Or if you eat a lot of things like potatos and fruit, sugar related.
I'd recommend starting with milk and lactose intolerance.
Think about it terms of every other animal on the planet - they stop drinking mother's milk before adulthood. In adulthood, we are the only animals that consume dairy (which is an animals BM).
As adult humans, many of us, over time start to lose that ability to break down lactose.
That's my guess and my reasoning why it's coming now, seemingly without any other life changes.
