Day 28: Stabbing Stomach Pains

[zeenoda]

One of the key reasons why I embarked on the Whole30 was to figure out if food intolerance was the cause of my frequent stomach pains and bloating. I even had a scope done, but the doctors couldn't find anything wrong.

 

I've had a fantastic run (finally solved my morning slump with more fats at breakfast!, no stomach issues, no pain for the first time in months!) right until today, Day 28. My diet hasn't changed, I've been eating compliantly, so I'm perplexed, stumped and honestly quite gutted that even such a "clean" diet might still be raging destruction within. I know I'm not fully done with the Whole30, but with the 30 days being almost over, is this even normal so late in the game?

 

Just thought I'd post my meals for the last few days here for an indication:

 

Monday:

Breakfast: 7x Tuna and Sweet Potato cakes (slightly larger than macarons), 1 hard boiled egg, steamed carrots and guacamole

Lunch: 5oz baked chicken breast, roasted pumpkin, 1 hard boiled egg, 4 packed cups of mesclun salad and homemade cranberry and apple sauce

Afternoon Snack: Larabar - Key Lime Pie (not encouraged, and it bums me out that I'm still going 'off-plan' with this snack)

Dinner: Poached chicken salad, olive oil as dressing and 1 medium sweet potato (baked and drizzled with olive oil)

 

Tuesday:

Pre-Workout: 1 tbsp cashew butter

Breakfast: 7x Tuna and Sweet Potato cakes, 1 hard boiled egg, steamed carrots and guacamole

Lunch: 6oz Baked salmon fillet,roasted pumpkin and 4 packed cups of mesclun salad with compliant capers

Afternoon Snack: Larabar - Key Lime Pie

Dinner: Homemade pull pork, served on 2 Portobello mushroom, sauteed bell pepper and onions in coconut oil, side salad, 1 fried egg, guacamole and 1 medium sweet potato (baked and drizzled with olive oil)

 

Wednesday (Today):

Pre-Workout: 1 tbsp cashew butter

Breakfast: 7x Tuna and Sweet Potato cakes, 1 hard boiled egg, steamed carrots and guacamole

 

*I also drink lemon with warm water before eating breakfast and at least 2L of water a day.

 

I had breakfast at around 845am and somewhere around 11am, I started having those pains. I thought it might be hunger induced, so I had a Larabar (Carrot Cake), but it didn't work. It's the same pain that I've felt pre-Whole30 so this has really stumped me.

 

Has this happened to anyone else?

[kmdchuckles]

I was having a similiar problem and someone suggested digestive enzymes. I found one with probiotics too and it seems to help.

[ShannonM816]

Stomach pain is definitely not a normal thing on a Whole30. It's always possible that it isn't related to food, since it's something you've experienced prior to Whole30 -- in that case, you would need to talk  to your doctor about it.

 

The only things that stand out to me in your food are the Larabars -- in addition to basically being candy bars and propping up your sugar dragon, they actually contain a fair amount of nuts. Some people find that nuts cause digestive issues like gas and bloating. That could be a possibility.

 

There's also the possibility that you're having a reaction to something that is completely fine on a Whole30 but isn't so great for you. Is there some spice in the tuna cakes that might be affecting you? Are you eating a lot more of something than you used to -- maybe nightshades like peppers? or FODMAPS which include onions and mushrooms?

[peace_positive]

I thought FODMAPS too; look at your avocado, apple and dates, even sweet potato can cause a reaction if too much. I had to go off all FODMAPS after my first w30 and now I'm figuring out which ones or how much of them daily are a problem. Avocado was the first for me to see a clear connection. Then apples and larabars...i'd have intense pain in lower ab soon after eating it.

[zeenoda]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

I'm axing Larabars and will taper off the avocados/sweet potatoes to see how my body reacts. I know for sure that nuts used to give me so much bloating problems, which was why I cut them out of my Whole30. Furthermore they were a food with no brakes for me so I feel rather foolish that I've let them sneak back into my diet through those Larabars!

 

Pre-Whole30 I never used to eat avocados or sweet potatoes much, so it bugs me that when I started eating them on the Whole30, I had no problems until Day 28. Otherwise my diet on the Whole30 has more or less been the same apart from the restriction of dairy, soy and grains. I've also axed fruits from my diet from Week 2 cos they were feeding my sugar dragon and morning/afternoon slumps.

 

And as a precaution, I've also scheduled in a doctor's appointment just to be on the safe side.

[cathycavin]

I know these posts are years old, but I am frantically searching the whole30 forum becuase i started having this same problem a week ago and it is very painful.  My energy went down after noon saturday and sunday, when i woke up monday (day 29 of whole30) i was tired and had stomach pain that is really bad.  i do not believe it is just me, due to the number of others who have gotten this at the end of their whole30's.  I had to take pepto bismal for the stomach pain the night of day 29.  I looked to see what others were doing for the low energy at the end of the whole30, and started eating sweet potatoes at each meal.   This made my energy start coming back on day 29, fully  on day 30 and on day 30 no stomach pain. 

Stomach pain came back two days later and has pretty much continued.