help?

[flea]

hey everyone,

ok ill try to make this as short as possible--

when i wake up in the morning i dont eat till later in the day, and my stomach always seems to be doing something - growling, moving around, its clearly active (elimination?) but its not hungry (despite what i thought when i first went raw which = me way over eating) so i dont eat. this is usually cured by just fillling my stomach with water.

ive noticed that recently, more so than usual, nothing digests well for me. i dont eat till about 1pm, and even just a melon by itself gives me bad digestion. i thought it must have been food combining, so i read up on food combining and started doing it to a T and my stomach was STILL acting up - even green smoothies, or well combined meals - even leaving an hour or two between meals and fruit, my digestion is still bad.

by this i mean i get everything from bloating, to bad gas, burping, hiccups, stomach pain, to sharp stabbing pains in my stomach, sometimes my stomach unease is so bad i have to lie down and stretch out for half an hour. i think this is becoming more and more common and dont remember it happening this badly when i first went raw..

is this normal? does anyone else have this? (i can also get this just from eating well-combined fruit)

im eating organic, and 90% raw fruit and veg - very very few nuts and seeds, no raw treats/processed foods etc, i have a really good diet, so i dont see why this should be happening.

even by the time i go to bed (10-11pm) my stomach is still moving around/complaining/giving me gas, after eating dinner at 6pm.

is this a case of food combining and me having a really sensitive stomach, or is it something else? is this normal?

i first thought it was food combining related but now im beginning to think its not normal but ive just grown accustomed to it cos ive had it for a while...but could it be a stomach bug or parasite? basically, as soon as i put food in my stomach it starts reacting and making me gassy and uncomfortable for hours, generally sleep is my only repreieve.

----

the other day, i ate a papaya - and then today i got diarreha which smelled papaya-esk (and i recall this happening before with papaya - i also jus read papaya is apparently great for getting rid of parasites) and i noticed in 1 of my stools a little white line - and i didnt think anything of it and thought i must have eaten shredded coconut the day before (which i hadnt). then when i *THINK* i saw another one in another stool i thought i may have parasites which are doing this? im not 100% on the white lines in my poo as i didnt think anything of them at the time but the more i think this degree of stomach unrest isnt normal on a complete and healthy raw food diet (even juices make me feel funny) im beginning to think it must be parasites.

what does everyone think? and what does everyone think i should do?

i could go to a doctor, but shell probably just tell me raw is bad and give me pills..

i could go to a naturopath but there are no raw food naturopaths in my area and i dont know if she'd understand/know food combining etc..

are there tests you can do for parasites? or should i hit the garlic straight away? i know fasting may help but i lead a pretty busy life and dont know how id manage to fast while at work etc..

ADVICE??

thanks so much everyone! im sick of feeling ill! :)

[sport]

Are you allergic to something you eat.
Are you eating any grains.

[flea]

no grains, no allergies to my knowledge :)

[edelweiss]

Maybe you can try eating smaller amounts more frequently. Like starting the day with something small, even just 10-15 baby carrots or just something so that you're not on an empty stomach, then having a snack before your meal.
Usually I always get really bloated and gassy if I eat a lot of food in one meal, and green smoothies used to cause the same thing for me when I first started drinking them, but gradually my stomach got used to it.

[skier2]

Maybe you can try eating smaller amounts more frequently. Like starting the day with something small, even just 10-15 baby carrots or just something so that you're not on an empty stomach, then having a snack before your meal.
Usually I always get really bloated and gassy if I eat a lot of food in one meal, and green smoothies used to cause the same thing for me when I first started drinking them, but gradually my stomach got used to it.

If you see white streaks in your stool, this can be a sign of parasites, but also of white blood cells in mucus, which can be caused by things like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. I would keep an eye on it, and if your stool continues to look odd, and your digestion remains poor, go to your doctor. You may need a referral to a gastroenterologist. This is not a bad thing--exploration is better than medication. In the mean time, ensure that you are replenishing your intestinal flora, by drinking kombucha, eating raw sourkraut or kim chee, and you can even buy those little containers of Bio-K dairy-free culture at Whole Foods or your local market and blend them with water and young coconut meat (and a bit of agave) to make a great and easy raw yogurt. This will be easy-digesting and, if you do have a parasite, taking probiotics can fight the invasion.

[flea]

hi everyone,

thanks for your responses.

i saw the doctor today and got a blood test and some worming tablets to at least rule out threadworm.

she was against colonics as she said it would flush out good and bad bacteria and also possibly perforate intestinal walls etc.

she seemed to think it was more of a problem with my bowels rather than my digestion, which makes sense, as i used to have like 4x bms a day, and now i seem to have like 1-2 if im lucky - and im eating almost no fat and basically fruit and greens all day (today i ate some grapes, 2 peaches, 4 apples, 2 dates and a banana - its almost 5pm and i still havent had a bm, and all day my stomach has been in pain/gurgly despite good food combining etc).

the doctor suggested taking a tablespoon of psyllium husk before each meal - and a naturopath told me to take slippery elm - does anyone know the difference, or which would be better?

i also think i must be constipated for some reason - what foods do people here use to make them go?

i was told by another naturopath to start taking enzymes but i just dont see why i should have to do that if my food already contains enzymes..

any advice much appreciated :)

bloated and in gurgly pain :(,

flea

[skier2]

hi everyone,

thanks for your responses.

i saw the doctor today and got a blood test and some worming tablets to at least rule out threadworm.

she was against colonics as she said it would flush out good and bad bacteria and also possibly perforate intestinal walls etc.

she seemed to think it was more of a problem with my bowels rather than my digestion, which makes sense, as i used to have like 4x bms a day, and now i seem to have like 1-2 if im lucky - and im eating almost no fat and basically fruit and greens all day (today i ate some grapes, 2 peaches, 4 apples, 2 dates and a banana - its almost 5pm and i still havent had a bm, and all day my stomach has been in pain/gurgly despite good food combining etc).

the doctor suggested taking a tablespoon of psyllium husk before each meal - and a naturopath told me to take slippery elm - does anyone know the difference, or which would be better?

i also think i must be constipated for some reason - what foods do people here use to make them go?

i was told by another naturopath to start taking enzymes but i just dont see why i should have to do that if my food already contains enzymes..

any advice much appreciated :)

bloated and in gurgly pain :(,

flea

That happened to me a few days ago and I finally took castor oil and eliminated everything and I had some undigested corn in my stool so I suspect that every once in a while the body just get ahold of something it can't process very well and the digestive process is hindered.

[flea]

really? wow!

how much castor oil do you take? on an empty stomach?

what is it about castor oil that promotes bowel emptying?

thanks so much!

[jeni jolt]

My digestion has been pretty bad since I went raw on New Years. It was also bad before that..An Ayurvedic doctor recommended an herbal mixture called triphala and kapalabhati breath to me. I haven't tried either yet. Maybe you should try eating more veggies and less fruit.