About a month ago I was wondering if I was developing an allergy towards sweet potatoes because I had this weird feeling in my throat (I have been highly allergic to raw carrots for years and my throat feels like it closes up if I eat any, so obviously, I have not been eating carrots anymore). So I left away sweet potatoes. The feeling in my throat remained and I saw the physician assistant at my PCP's office on Tuesday about it. She was wondering if it could be GERD, allergies, post nasal drip. She recommended trying Zantac (and I am so glad it came up in other posts this week or I would have been very hesitant about trying out a new medication) and if it didn't help to try Nasonex.
Anyway, I left away sweet potatoes for three weeks. The only thing that changed were my bowel movements. I went from 2-4 bowel movements a day (#5-6 on the Bristol stool chart) to only going once every 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th day (mostly #2-3 on the Bristol chart). Needless to say, very uncomfortable. I added in more veggies (overcooked broccoli, cauliflower) and even started eating one raw, peeled apple every morning. No effect whatsoever. I started feeling these weird hard bulges in my abdomen, and sometimes, when they moved, I could actually see them move, and it felt like a baby's head during the pregnancies. Last Sunday, I decided to restart eating sweet potatoes and see if it would change anything with the feeling in my throat, and hoping that I would be able to go to the bathroom again. I have had about half to one sweet potato a day since, and I have now gone to the bathroom 1-3 times every day (#4-6 type). The feeling in my throat did not get worse. Yay! By Tuesday, when I saw the physician assistant, she could only feel one hard pocket near my cecum. Other than that she declared that everything felt normal and soft on the left side of my abdomen.
Well, the last two or three days I had again more bloating and gurgling, but no diarrhea. And here is the weirdest thing yet: if I sit in my office chair and work at the computer, I can feel pressure in my lower back against the chair, like bloating in the front, but now in the back as well. Is the colon that close to the back? Have any of you ever had fullness or bloating in the back??? It sounds ridiculous. And obviously, as every weird new symptom, it popped up after my doctor's visit, not before, so I couldn't ask her about it.
Also, do you think that this bloating and gurgling is coming from the sweet potatoes or the fructose in the daily raw apple? Should I leave away the apples and continue with the sweet potatoes? Is it correct to assume that it won't have an inflammatory effect if it only causes bloating and gurgling but no diarrhea?
This board is the best thing that happened to me since my diagnosis in fall. I don't know what I would do without you guys!!!
Love, Patricia
Bloating and bulging
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
You've had some interesting experiences with those foods, but that's how we learn about them.
That's good news that the sweet potatoes didn't make your throat worse. Sweet potatoes are not considered to be a high-fructose food, but they do contain some fructose, and I wonder if the reason why they cause increased gurgling and bloating might be because of the sugar content? (IOW maybe your gut has not yet healed enough to handle very much fructose). Whatever the situation, gurgling and bloating are signs of incomplete/poor digestion. Compared with apples, sweet potatoes contain more fiber, more calories, and more total carbohydrates. But still, that doesn't necessarily rule out either one of them as the cause of the gurgling and bloating. It could be that the combination of the two adds up to a little too much fiber.
Obviously though, you need some fiber in your diet, to prevent constipation. It seems that there might be a clue missing here somewhere.
I had a lot of bloating of my gut back when I was reacting, but I don't recall noticing that it caused any bloating in back (maybe I just didn't notice).
Maybe someone else will have some better insight into the problem.
Love,
Tex
That's good news that the sweet potatoes didn't make your throat worse. Sweet potatoes are not considered to be a high-fructose food, but they do contain some fructose, and I wonder if the reason why they cause increased gurgling and bloating might be because of the sugar content? (IOW maybe your gut has not yet healed enough to handle very much fructose). Whatever the situation, gurgling and bloating are signs of incomplete/poor digestion. Compared with apples, sweet potatoes contain more fiber, more calories, and more total carbohydrates. But still, that doesn't necessarily rule out either one of them as the cause of the gurgling and bloating. It could be that the combination of the two adds up to a little too much fiber.
Obviously though, you need some fiber in your diet, to prevent constipation. It seems that there might be a clue missing here somewhere.I had a lot of bloating of my gut back when I was reacting, but I don't recall noticing that it caused any bloating in back (maybe I just didn't notice).
Maybe someone else will have some better insight into the problem.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Thanks, Tex!
The bloating is not bloating of the entire abdomen, as I have had it in the past. It is in very specific places, more pronounced on the left side. I feel the intestines moving and snaking around, like certain parts are being inflated and deflated with air, and during the inflation I can feel it in the back, too. So weird!!! I never thought I would post things like that online.....
I think for now I will keep eating small portions of sweet potatoes so I can go to the bathroom without too many issues. I will decrease the apples and see if that makes a difference. I won't leave them away because I really, really want to try out the Morning Glory muffins for tomorrow so I can bake something for my family and me and we can actually all eat the same food. And so I can get more calories into my diet.
Happy Easter to everybody!
Love, Patricia
The bloating is not bloating of the entire abdomen, as I have had it in the past. It is in very specific places, more pronounced on the left side. I feel the intestines moving and snaking around, like certain parts are being inflated and deflated with air, and during the inflation I can feel it in the back, too. So weird!!! I never thought I would post things like that online.....
I think for now I will keep eating small portions of sweet potatoes so I can go to the bathroom without too many issues. I will decrease the apples and see if that makes a difference. I won't leave them away because I really, really want to try out the Morning Glory muffins for tomorrow so I can bake something for my family and me and we can actually all eat the same food. And so I can get more calories into my diet.
Happy Easter to everybody!
Love, Patricia
That is very characteristic of an MC reaction, so you are either reacting to something or getting over a reaction. Some members here have described it as feeling as though they have an alien inside. I've previously posted that it sometimes felt as though a snake were writhing around in my gut.Patricia wrote:It is in very specific places, more pronounced on the left side. I feel the intestines moving and snaking around, like certain parts are being inflated and deflated with air, and during the inflation I can feel it in the back, too. So weird!!! I never thought I would post things like that online.....
Happy Easter Patricia.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
That's the perfect description!!!Tex wrote:Some members here have described it as feeling as though they have an alien inside.
Interesting what you wrote about getting over a reaction. For the past few years I have been organizing a monthly luncheon at any local restaurant for a group. The past few months, I would eat before showing up, and just order a cup of tea, interact with everybody, enjoy their company, but not eat anything. I think the fact that I was a known foodie and now was not eating with everybody else was bothering the members of the group more than myself. This past month, March 25th, we had another luncheon. I decided that I would be brave and actually eat out since it was at a restaurant that makes everything fresh. I ordered ahi tuna with boiled potatoes and gave the waitress the "card to the chef". She was super nice, kept coming back to ask more questions from the chef, proposing different vegetables to go with it. One of the suggestions was green asparagus. I thought that should be okay. She asked whether olive oil was okay to be used and I said yes. The plate arrived, a circle of beautiful ahi tuna, in the middle thinly sliced boiled potatoes, but with the (very thin) skin on, and a few green asparagus diagonally across. I was so happy to eat out and not have to prepare my own food for the first time in months! I felt fine that afternoon, and was still very happy. The next day, however, I did not feel great, had 6 bowel movements in a row, AND, the pain in my ribs that I had for a few months when I was first diagnosed, came back!!!! It took 6 days for the rib pain to disappear again. I thought the reappearance of the rib pain to be really interesting. Initially, I was not sure whether the reaction was due to the green asparagus, but I only had 3 or 4 of those, or the little bit of thin skin of the potatoes. But once the rib pain appeared I thought to myself, maybe the olive oil was not pure, maybe it contained soybean oil. It's such a shame because I know how hard the waitress and the chef tried their very best, and in such a kind way, too.
We will be out of town all of next weekend, eating out, which has me a bit scared. I might just order everything without any oil at all, to be on the safe side. And if I do well with the Morning Glory muffins tomorrow, I will take some along for extra calories and snacks.
Love, Patricia
Patricia wrote:But once the rib pain appeared I thought to myself, maybe the olive oil was not pure, maybe it contained soybean oil. It's such a shame because I know how hard the waitress and the chef tried their very best, and in such a kind way, too.
that could be the problem. There is a lot of adulterated olive oil in this country, usually watered down with soybean oil or some other cheap vegetable oil. It was all over the news more than once during the past few years. I doubt that it was the restaurant's fault, because most of that adulterated olive oil comes into the country that way. IOW, it is watered down in the country of export.When I was reacting, I alternated between D and C. Whenever my guts began to writhe like a snake (usually indicating that a lot of gas is suddenly beginning to move) I knew that the D was coming to an end, and in a day or 2 I would have Normans for a day or so, followed by C. So that information might not apply to everyone.
Enjoy your trip. You might need to take your own olive oil (that you know is safe) or use coconut oil or a nut oil.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.