Help...I'm not getting the results I hoped for :(

[thedancer]

So I posted in another thread at the beginning of my current whole 60 about my stomach issues. Basically for the past 6 months I've been having stomach aches, stomach cramps and pain and diarrhea almost everyday. I also have nausea quite often. I think its a result from the antibiotics I was put on for a UTI because it all started after that, but the doctors cant tell me whats wrong with me. I've had an endoscopy, went gluten free for 7 weeks this past summer and had bloodwork and an ultrasound done. It has improved slightly since the beginning but hasn't improved any more since I started my whole 60.

 

I am currently on day 34 of 60 with no stomach improvement. And this past week I've been having headaches and joint pain and my face has been breaking out just as much as when I'm not on whole 30 and my period was nightmare (but I understand thats pretty normal for periods to change and go a little crazy with the whole 30). I'll usually have a couple of good days and then a couple of bad days. I've been keeping a food log but still can't pin point problem causing foods because it never seems to be the same foods that give me a stomach ache. I'm also trying not drinking with my meals, only between and I've been pretty good about that this past week. 

 

For my stomach, I have added a daily probiotic in the last 2 weeks. And for about a week, I've cut out nuts to see if that caused it because before whole 30 I never ate nuts (except for peanut butter but thats not a nut), but I'm still having problems. I also bought a sample pack of chewable enzymes (bc I have problems swallowing pills :/) but I dont know if they are doing anything. I just started that a couple of days ago. I might have to suck it up and try to swallow capsules but I don't know which digestive enzymes to get :/ 

 

For my headaches, I've been making sure I drink enough water but I know I always do. I've just been keeping better track of it. Today I've already had 9 glasses of water and I know I'll probably drink another 2 before the night is over. But with all that water, I currently have a headache. And I hardly ever drink anything else...other than water, I've had one green tea, one decaf coffee and one kombucha in the past 34 days. 

 

For joint pain, I dont know what to do. I've always turned to my vitamin supplements and that has always made it go away but they aren't whole 30 complaint because of the glucose, fructose, and stevia leaf extract. I've been having joint pain in my left elbow, left shoulder and my knees. I teach dance so I need my joints to be working good  

 

So any advice on what to change or do would be greatly appreciated! Here is my food log from the last couple of days. 

 

Day 1

Breakfast: Mini quiche muffins (egg, turkey bacon, peppers, onions, spinach) and avocado. green tea

Lunch: applegate hot dogs with mustard and broccoli

Dinner: Roasted Cauliflower, avocado, ground beef with tessa maes bbq sauce.

 

Day 2

Breakfast: sweet potato hash (sweet potato, onion, apple, sausage, spinach) and one fried egg.

Lunch: Applegate hot dogs with mustard and carrots sautéed in coconut oil and seasonings.

Dinner: Romaine lettuce salad with carrots, avocado, tuna and for the dressing just olive oil and balsamic vinegar

2nd Dinner because I was hungry again and the first dinner was early: Hamburger patty with mustard and sauerkraut (the refrigerated kind) and an apple.

 

Day 3

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs and an apple

Lunch: Tuna and homemade mayo, carrots sautéed in coconut oil and seasonings.

Dinner: sweet potato hash.

 

Today

Breakfast: sweet potato hash

Lunch: tuna with homemade mayo and carrots sautéed in coconut oil with seasonings.

 

[Robin Strathdee]

I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well.  There were only a couple of things that jumped out at me:

1. Raw veggies - do you often eat raw veggies/fibrous fruits?  I might suggest cutting those out, or even taking on the IBS protocol (no raw veg, nuts, coffee), for a week or so to see if that helps calm things down.

2. Starchy veg - I see that you had sweet potato hash a couple of times, but I'd like to see you increase your starchy veggies significantly for awhile to see if that helps. Maybe as much as every meal for 3 days?

[thedancer]

I'll give that a try. I've been doing mostly cooked veggies, but I do have an occasional salad. And I'll try to add more starchy veggies. what veggies are starchy besides sweet potatoes? Will the starchy veggies help with digestion/stomach issues or the headahces or joint paint? or all? 

 

Also, has anyone here taken the American Health Super Papaya Enzyme Plus chewable? I'm curious as to whether or not they work. Here's a link to them. Let me know what y'all think. http://www.vitacost.com/american-health-super-papaya-enzyme-plus-chewable-180-chewable-tablets/?csrc=SITEREF-linkshare 

[GFChris]

Other starchy veggies include carrots, onions, beets, acorn squash, butternut squash, parsnips, jicama and rutabaga.

 

The supplement you listed is not Whole30 compliant, as the first two ingredients are sugar alcohols.

[thedancer]

Ugh...why does sugar have to be in everything? 

 

Ok, I'll try to incorporate more of those veggies. 

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good whole 30 compliant digestive enzyme?

[pjena]

Hi - Sorry I don't have any advice on anything but the enzyme question.  I use NOW Super Enzymes and HLC enzymes - one with each meal.  My son takes a non-compliant chewable enzyme/probiotic and also the papaya enzymes you mentioned, but those aren't compliant.  When he was younger and on much stronger doses of enzymes, we opened the capsules and mixed the contents in apple sauce or sunbutter because he was too young to swallow a pill.  You might try that if you aren't able to swallow a pill.  With your more serious symptoms, you may want to take higher doses of enzymes than I do.  We had my son on up to 3 capsules per meal at one point for his stomach issues.  He was on pretty high doses of probiotics, too.  Build up to it, though, and then wean down slowly if you feel you can.  A Naturopath was guiding us.  If you are able, it might be worth finding one.  Good luck!

[thedancer]

Ok, So today is day 46. I've added a digestive enzyme (I'm able to swallow it if I take it with a spoonful of applesauce) at every meal (except for a few that I forgot...still trying to get into the habit). I haven't had any raw veggies since my last post except for one salad which I only had because I was out of town. And I've been eating starchy veggies everyday usually 2-3 times a day....and still no improvement. It's the same. I'll have 1-3 good days and then 1-3 bad days...back and forth :/ Any other suggestions? I'm thinking I might need to have another doc appointment to see if there is anything else it could be that maybe they haven't checked yet. I was only planning on doing a whole60 and then adding stuff back but I dont feel like I'll really be able to tell what foods I have issues with if my stomach isn't better. Like if I react badly after eating dairy, how will I know if it was the dairy or if it was just one of my bad days?

[melbournegirl]

Sounds awful, only thing I can think of is a persistent hard to diagnose bacterial infection

Or fodmaps sensitivity (onion and avocado in particular)

Your joint pain implies inflammation but hard to know what from.... If it was jut that it could be auto immune but the upset stomach implies an infection or intolerance...

Disclaimer... Sorry... I m not qualified to give medical advice, just offering an opinion.... Hope you figure it out.. I had persistent upset stomach for 12 weeks doing WW before I twigged it was from artificial sweeteners... Never again!

[Robin Strathdee]

Have you considered finding/working with a naturopath or someone familiar with probiotics? If the trouble started after antibiotics, perhaps your gut is completely out of whack? I know you started on a probiotic not too long ago - I wonder if it needs more time to add up?

 

Here's a great article from Dr. Tim Gerstmar:
http://www.whole9life.com/2012/04/probiotics-101/

[thedancer]

The joint pain has gone away. It's just the stomach aches now :/ I should look into a naturopath. i really do think its something related to the antibiotics. I just dont understand why the doctors cant seem to tell me whats wrong after several appointments. 

[Etoile]

Know it's a bit late to join in....I am on week 7. Sailed through the first 30 days, somewhere around week 5 started having stomach aches and diarrhea/ constipation bloating. Betaine HCL stopped the stomach ache almost immediately. Then it would kindof wesve it's way back after some meals, Started taking apple cider vinegar around meals. Tablespoon in water earlier in the day, then a teaspoon or so, always mixed in water later in the day. Stomach aches are gone. Still bloated if I eat too late at night, but a vast improvement.

Drinking kombucha, making sauerkraut so I am not eating it all the time, so on and off sauerkraut, also coconut water kefir but I am not convinced this last one is doing anythiing. It was good to hear that it can take longer than a whole30 to bring out digestive issues.