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Upper stomach pain


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FTR, I'm not seeking medical advice and will call my doctor Monday. I was getting ready to go to the ER when the pain subsided, or I'd be there already.

Twice this week I've woken up in the middle of the night with severe upper stomach pain (under the sternum) and bad diarrhea. I've actually had quite a lot of diarrhea all week. But the pain episodes, just the two times, and lasting about an hour or two each time. Obviously not a doctor, but I'm suspecting gallbladder stones or inflammation or something.

I did have a fairly high amount of fat yesterday.

I'm on day 22 and really considering throwing in the towel, but I really want to finish, too. :( But I'm struggling with always feeling hungry, having diarrhea, my breastmilk supply has taken a big hit, and now these severe pain episodes....

I don't know if I can handle any further food restrictions. If I need to lower fat, I don't even know what I'll eat for the next 8 days. (I have diet restrictions for interstitial cystitis, too, so I have to limit anything acidic).

I do have some digestive enzymes I could try later today before I eat. But last time I tried them (a year ago) they seemed to increase diarrhea.

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I'm sorry you are having such a tough time of it. Hopefully you will get some answers from a doctor. Remember that we don't do Whole30 in a bubble, lots of things can affect our health and well being. If you want feedback on your food that might help you finish your Whole30 better give us an idea of what you have been eating including water, stress, activity, sleep, and serving sizes as they relate to your hand size.

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On day 22.  I've worked out every day except the days of my two upper GI (gallbladder or whatever is going on) attacks.   I'm breastfeeding a one year old, who feeds at least 8 times a day and I'm her primary source of food still.  I'm typically in bed 9 hours a night, but my baby nurses typically a couple times a night.  Not having any acute stress issues.  I do have three kids--5,3 and 1--so some days are a little overwhelming, but my norm.  I drink about two liters of alkaline water a day.  I occasionally drink some Mother's Milk Tea (but did not on the days of my GI attacks), and sometimes drink Mountain Rose Herbs Fidnemed Nighttime Tea (Contains: organic Lemon Balm, organic Hibiscus flowers, organic Skullcap, organic Passionflower, organic Hops flowers, organic Valerian root, and organic Lavender flowers).  I have to avoid almost all acidic foods for a bladder condition (interstitial cystitis).  

 

A don't find food very palatable in the mornings.  I often eat a banana first thing.  Then I'll often workout.  After my workout I often make some scrambled eggs.  Lunch is almost always leftovers of dinner, often lots of greens, some meat.  Dinner is typically a large helping of veggies, often a potato or sweet potato side, and definitely a few handfuls of protein.  I often have apples or carrots as snacks.  Sometimes a Lara bar if I'm out and get hungry.  I found that I really need more food after dinner because I can't get enough earlier in the day and I'm extremely hungry then, and I typically go 14 or 15 hours between dinner and breakfast and don't do well at all fasting that long.  So I'll either have eggs, or an apple with cashew butter, or sweet potatoes, etc., depending on what I've had earlier in the day.  I sometimes have nuts, but I've been trying to take it pretty easy on nuts to help my digestion.   I have some links with pictures of typical dinners, which are then often my lunches, too (sometimes with a salad side instead of the veggie from dinner)

 

Yesterday before the problems, I did have a larger amount of fat that usual that day.  My husband cooked hash browns and apple chicken sausage for breakfast.  Then I had a workout.  After my workout I had about 4 eggs.  Then I ate leftover riced cauliflower with chicken cashew veggie teriyaki stirfry.  I was out in the afternoon and had a cherry Lara bar.  Dinner was a chicken thigh, a baked potato with clarified butter, and a mushroom tomato veggie side.  After dinner I made sweet potato hashies (grated sweet potatoes, cinnamon, and egg, sauteed in ghee).  

 

After the hospital today, I was very hungry and had already eaten two bananas because I was scared to eat anything with fat and wanted bland food, but I needed food and calories.  So I decided to eat some rice.  At this point, I'm tentatively planning on continuing with the whole30 with the addition of white rice for the last 8 days.  I need bland food and calories, and I'm not willing to lose my milk supply (which has already been a struggle) and I'm fairly certain that my body tolerates rice well.  I'm a little scared to eat eggs and fatty foods in case it is a gallbladder issues.  The ER doctor basically sent me home to check with my primary doctor since my bloodwork was normal.  It's possible it's norovirus, or food poisoning, or the gallbladder not working correctly.  But it'll take some time to figure out what it is.  

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_bMqSaKmFmgMWROSDIyODVzMWs

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_bMqSaKmFmgRFAzcEpORzZwTFU

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_bMqSaKmFmgeE1HaEI3Qm9udzQ

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Sorry to hear you're not feeling well still... it does sound like something that may be outside the realm of Whole30.

That said, now that you're talking about eating rice daily, we need to move this discussion to the after whole30 section of the boards. We don't host discussions of non compliant ingredients on the main boards. I understand how it got to this discussion and I'm not judging but unfortunately if someone comes along later and has stomach pains and sees you ate rice without us saying something, that could be very confusing.

There is also some pretty big gaps in your meal plan that we could help with, specifically your eating schedule... let us know if you want this help/advice or if you're committed to having today as your last Whole30 day until this is resolved.

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I'm honestly feeling really really upset. I have been super committed and so determined to finish the 30 and continue a healthy lifestyle after. I'm doing it for health. Interstitial cystitis is an inflammatory condition, so I thought this diet would help.

But I feel worse on day 22 than I did the first week. And it seems like my gi system can't handle the higher fat paleo diet.

It kind of broke my heart to eat the rice today. But I honestly didn't know what else to do.

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I'm sorry to hear that... it really is a tough thing to do and then add in a random medical mystery to the mix and it can be really hard and really upsetting when it doesn't work out the way you want it to.

My advice is to not choose to eat rice for 8 days... there are things you can eat that are Whole30 that will provide the same tummy comfort as rice but be nutritious...

You need to start eating within an hour of waking... the fact that you want to eat at night and not in the am tells me your hormones are all messed up... balanced hormones means you wake up hungry and you stop eating a few hours before bed with a fast of somewhere around 8-10 hours depending on your particular lifestyle.

I know you say you can't, but you can... you're not alone in this endeavour and the ONLY way to fix it is to start eating within an hour of waking... a template meal, not a banana... eat as much as you can from the plate in equal portions and then wrap it up and take it with you so that the moment you're able to stomach more, you eat... don't wait to be hungry, that's not going to fix the problem.

Your meals are also on the small side... you mention one chicken thigh for dinner... I'm not sure how big you are, but that's barely a palm sized serving of food... if you need to 'snack on larabars' then you're not eating enough.

You're a bit heavy on the fruit and nuts, which can cause digestive problems in people, especially nuts... try ditching those.

I am wondering if possibly you have a new or yet undiagnosed sensitivity to eggs... you eat a lot of eggs... did you eat this many eggs prior to the Whole30?

I think, considering that you have an inflammatory condition along with this current situation that you would be well suited to start over on Day 1 tomorrow. What's done is done, the rice is eaten, but I think if you take these suggestions, read the meal template again and start again, you can probably see better results and maybe some relief from not feeling well...

Oh and for your tummy, if you are not feeling well and think you need something to settle it, bone broth is good, ginger tea, sweet potato... there are options outside of rice and banana.

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Yesterday's food wasn't really typical. I was not feeling well. Other days we've had chicken thighs I've had at least two, sometimes three. If we eat fish, I'll eat two filets.

I do eat within an hour of wake up. Most of the first two weeks, I would eat a larger breakfast meal. But I really did not like workout out after it. So I went to something easier that seemed to give me a lot more energy before my workout, and then eating a real meal after my workout.

I think most of my meals match the template. I don't know if the pictures I linked a few posts up maybe are a better indication of a more typical meal for me. They seem pretty close to template meal to me. I didn't even eat a single Lara bar for the first almost two weeks. I'm not just snacking on stuff all the time. But I'm ridiculously hungry half the day, even shortly after eating a huge meal. My hormones are probably all out of whack. I've had three babies in the last five years, and have thyroid issues. But I've really never been someone who has enjoyed much for breakfast. And I tried not eating after a large dinner a week or two ago, and I woke up shaking. I could barely function to get the kids to school. We eat dinner at like 5:30. And I wake up at 7:45 and eat around 8:15 most days. That's a really long time without food.

I am curious if the eggs have caused some issues. I've never been a huge egg person, but have been eating quite a lot of eggs during the whole30. But if I cut eggs and nuts, and lower my fat intake for my stomach issues, it's going to be a serious struggle to eat enough. I also can't eat anything acidic.

Right now, after this day, I have no desire to start over on day 1 after going to the hospital today. Maybe I'll feel differently after some sleep and the frustration of the day wearing off. Right now I'm thinking I will try to avoid rice tomorrow and try to finish the 30 days without it. I think one day with rice isn't the end of the world. I do want to find a healthy diet and lifestyle so my body can heal from stuff that's going on. I talked with a midwife friend a little bit ago, and she's going to see if she can find a dietician who is knowledgable on some of these issues to refer me to.

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I also work out in the morning and don't like to eat an actual meal before, so I took advice from another person and started having one hard boiled egg. If you eat a banana before a work out then your body uses the sugar from that instead of actually learning to become fat adaptive. The HB egg has worked out great for me, small enough to not impact my work out negatively but it did give me the fuel I needed. Then I came home and had a few bites of potato and a bit of chicken while I cook my breakfast. I find that by this time, takes about 20 mins, I am really hungry and have no issues eating all my food.

 

I did have gall bladder disease, and when it was at it's worst I couldn't eat any fat without having pain under my right ribs and diarrhea. I suggest you go to an Internist to be properly diagnosed. I had gall bladder disease with no stones, not very common, but when they tested me my gall bladder was working less than 27%. I had it removed and have been able to eat all the foods I was previously. I am having no issues with the higher fat W30 meal template. 

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