What the heck is wrong with me?!

[MimiHi]

I'm wondering if I have a thing happen, where I need to follow a different type of food plan such as FODMAP, AIP, or histamine intolerance, or some other direction you could point me towards!

Here's what's happening:

I'm now on day 15, and have discovered that onions, tomatoes, Kale, garlic, pork, sometimes chicken, make my joints hurt and make it difficult to make a fist. I believe almonds and cashews create this to some extent as well.

I've found that almonds also create a pain in my lower right side, which feels almost like a chronic appendicitis...not full-on level 10 pain, but maybe pain around a 5-6. Eggs cause both joint pain and stomach/intestinal pain, and finally mushrooms and broccoli cause major intestinal pain/bloating/gas/and all that business.

I don't seem to have any issues with fruits.

I spent last night looking at the various alternative food lists available, and feel rather confused about which direction to take. I'm not really sure I have IBS, this seems closer to a histamine intolerance to me. If anyone could offer up some opinions regarding a direction I might turn. Obviously, I can cut out the culprits I've discovered thus far, but if what's happening sounds more like one issue versus another, I'd really appreciate hearing from you. Thanks so much!

I have had a lot of surgery within the past six years for breast cancer, hysterectomy. I've was give crazy amount of antibiotics post-op, and developed a serious stomach infection after my hysterectomy, so I had to take even MORE antibiotics. After that, I started gaining weight at a very rapid, head-spinning rate. I don't take any medications, cannot take hormone replacement or anything like that due to my type of breast cancer. 

I wish I could report that I'm feeling great at this point in my whole30, but I'm not feeling much different than when I started. I'm super happy to be here, and am appreciative of what I'm learning about the foods I eat, and how they impact my system. I guess I'm hoping to discover a more specific direction for the next 15 days. Thanks so much!

[Minimal4Me]

Hi Mimi, I have IBS with SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) which is a long winded way of saying the naturally occurring bacteria everyone has in our digestive system is imbalanced in MY gut. The "bad" bugs migrate up to the small intestine where they steal your nutrients before you can absorb them. After they eat, they give off gases that cause bloating. The levels of gas can be tested by a gastroenterologist in a breathing test. That's how SIBO is diagnosed.

Mine was caused by years of very low-carb eating (less than 20 grams a day) that depleted the mucin2 layer in my intestines, leading to leaky gut. But most people's is brought on by antibiotics.

Your bloating symptoms sound very familiar to me. Thanks to leaky gut, I also react badly to almonds - though cashews do not bother me at all. Almonds can make me curl up into a fetal position and moan for about an hour with both pain in my stomach, bloating, and nausea.

I got rid of the SIBO and am now asymptomatic, but that's a long story. Bone broth, fermented vegetables, and Atrantil all played a role.

In the beginning stages, it's very hard to know exactly what's causing your bloating. If you're very sure that you're reacting to onions, you might want to check out the FODMAPs diet. Over on the Whole30 with Health Conditions forum there are people doing W30+FODMAPs.

[MimiHi]

@Minimal4me-

Thank you for your response. My naturopath wanted me to do a SIBO test, but I wasn't interested in it because I had to eat nothing but chicken for an entire day prior to doing the test! I've still got it here at home, so I should probably just bite the bullet and do the test. Are you able to eat all compliant foods on your WHOLE30? or do you follow one of those more restrictive plans? 

I'm really sorry to hear about how almonds impact you. Sounds like what I've been dealing with. I didn't have almonds all day, and my stomach is feeling much better. Boy! This is sure getting complicated. 

How are you doing now? 

[SugarcubeOD]

29 minutes ago, MimiHi said:

@Minimal4me-

Thank you for your response. My naturopath wanted me to do a SIBO test, but I wasn't interested in it because I had to eat nothing but chicken for an entire day prior to doing the test! I've still got it here at home, so I should probably just bite the bullet and do the test. Are you able to eat all compliant foods on your WHOLE30? or do you follow one of those more restrictive plans? 

I'm really sorry to hear about how almonds impact you. Sounds like what I've been dealing with. I didn't have almonds all day, and my stomach is feeling much better. Boy! This is sure getting complicated. 

How are you doing now? 

I would think eating nothing but chicken for one day would be somewhat boring but at least then you could take a test that would help you either define or rule out what might be going on.  It's not ideal and you'll probably be starving the next day but I would suggest eating to the upper end of the template of fats and protein the day befofre, do the test and then be prepared the next day to eat to the top of the template again, even potentially having a mini meal in there to help make up for the day prior.

[MimiHi]

Thank you SugarcubeOD for your reply. I agree, I think I need to just go ahead, bite the bullet and take that darn test. 

i did print out the Histamine Intolerance pdf, and will follow that in the meantime, along with the AIP, FODMAP, and egg/nightshade... I guess I’m creating a hybrid of all the special Whole30 foodguide PDFs...hopefully this will help illeviate some of my symptoms. What’s weird is that I was feeling really great the first few days, and I’m eating the same things now as I was then, for the most part anyway.