Unexplainable Major Digestive Issues - Can't Properly Eat For 15 Years And Its Getting Worse

[Nighteyes]

Today I have realized that all the foods that's making me nauseous are very "sticky", and all the foods I can tolerate are are not sticky at all.

There is very clear correlation between the food's "stickyness" and my digestive issues after eating it.

Even different forms of the same food can make night and day difference - I can tolerate wheat pasta (which is not very sticky), but I can't tolerate pure wheat porridge (which is very sticky). Drinking water after something like thick wheat porridge is absolute disaster for my digestion.

The same goes for rice - I can't handle regular rice, but the "glass" rice noodles are fine.

It seems it is more the form and mechanical properities of the food that is triggering my nausea, not the food itself.

This is my experience as well! The stickier the food the worse. For me cooked oatmeal is disaster as it turns into a sort of heavy paste. But Steam rolled oats "raw/uncooked" with milk is no problem at all. Same goes for rye bread. If I cook it into sludge it just sits in the stomach and causes pain/nausea. Wheat pasta is really safe for me as well - dont even feel it digesting.

 

[CSH]

Are you familiar with SIBO? I can relate to SO MUCH of what you are sharing. When I follow the SIBO diet protocol and diet I have the greatest success at quieting my symptoms and issues.
https://www.siboinfo.com/uploads/5/4/8/4/5484269/sibo_specific_diet_food_guide_sept_2014.pdf

 

[foodandtheworld]

I agree with the suspicion from Constantine that malnutrition could be the physiological cause. You mentioned being "able to get up to 1600-1700 kcal a day", but if you're a 6.5 feet man, that sounds like starvation ( Source ). You're probably burning more calories than that just from your basal metabolic rate + various activities of the day, even if you're sedentary (though your metabolic rate might have slowed drastically depending how long you have been eating at most 1600-1700 calories). How long have you been eating that little? If it's been years, that could definitely be a huge factor in digestion issues. Not enough energy in the form of calories = body breaks down its own tissues for energy = various dysfunctions of different organs/systems (Peat clip: ). Digestive issues are common in people who have been putting themselves through a calorie deficit for a prolonged time. I had them myself (not to the extent you seem to have them), but they all cleared up after finally eating 3000 calories a day. Gwyneth Olwyn, who has written articles for people recovering from extreme dieting or anorexia, recommends at least 3000 calories a day to recover from a prolonged energy deficit (you can read my posts where I have written that going up to 4000 made an even greater improvement). Check out her post "I Need How Many Calories?!!". Her work is very similar to Peat's in it focuses on the importance of metabolism to overall health, how everything can hinge on it.

 

[BearWithMe]

Thank you, foodandtheworld! Your reply is much appreciated!

I'm eating this little for 15 years. Sometimes I eat more, sometimes less, but always around this number.

600-700 kcal is my minimum and 2200 kcal is my maximum.

What you have said makes a lot of sense. But how to reach 3000 kcal a day, when my digestion almost halted, and even after very small portions, I get that terrible nausa and fullnes, that lasts for infinite hours? It's a vicious cycle that seems impossible to break. :-(

 

[foodandtheworld]

Hi JanP, I want to leave some more comments for you, but first I want to ask:

What is your age?
What is your weight?
How often do you exercise? If you do exercise, what kind of exercise is it? For how long is each session? For how long have you been doing this kind of exercise?
What is your morning pulse? What is your morning temperature? [Please specify if it's armpit or oral]
What is your afternoon pulse? What is your afternoon temperature?
What is your blood pressure?
How is your libido?

You previously mentioned tinnitus, allergies, brain fog, digestion difficulties. Do you have any other symptoms?

[Note: I am not a medical professional in any capacity - I just want to see if perhaps I can relate my experience].
Also, I wouldn't just jump into 3000 calories a day yet. There is a risk of something called "refeeding syndrome" if you have been eating very little for a long period of time, but then quickly ramp up your calories.

 

[tara]

Trough precise fine-tuning of my food choices and timing, I was able to get up to 1600-1700 kcal a day, sometimes more. But it was at the cost of incredible nausea and pain every single day. And I feel that very soon, I wouldn't be able to eat even that. I'm 6.5 feet tall man.

I'm very sorry you are unable to sustain yourself.

Get off of the fruit and whey, both can be very hard on your gut, as well as coconut oil. I know lots of people (even including Ray) who have serious GI reactions to coconut oil, it can be incredibly allergenic. Raw fruit fiber/acids can really irritate stomach as well.

More people are bothered by unrefined coconut oil than refined. But large quantities can be troublesome anyway. Butter or ghee or beef fat may be good if they work.
Stewed fruits (with extra sugar) could well be easier than raw. Or well cooked starchy foods.

Have you tried potato juice as a source of nutrition? It's supposed to be the easiest on digestion.

Seems worth a try, if mashed potatoes, starch and all, and other proteins are particularly hard on your gut. There's a thread or two on how to make and cook it. But it's labour intensive - so I'd see it as a potential short term way to help heal digestion.

Refined grains such as white rice and white flour do not have any antinutrients, they are removed in the refining process. So what richie is saying about grains is only true of whole grains, which is why I recommended refined white rice/white flour.

When you are starving, getting something into you that you can digest seems like the most important thing. So trying these and seeing which works for you seems reasonable to me. Personally, I don't have obvious severe gut distress, and have no special expertise in it. But my gut seems to favour potatoes and white rice over wheat, and slow-leavened wheat over regular shop-bought bread. But my system overall seems to prefer more potatoes than rice. I tried corn to replace wheat (eg polenta etc), and it wasn't great for me. Other roots and veges go well for variety - could be worth trying if you haven't, to get a wider range of nutrition and flavour, if they are possible for you - eg sweet potatoes, pumpkin, ...

There are others who have founds different foods to be digestible - eg member Jennifer recovered from malnutrition mainly with fruit and herbs.

Every food will have its potential pros and cons, but for you at this time, you probably have to experiment to see which foods you can actually eat, even if that goes against some other theories about what is 'healthy' long term.

If you can't drink much liquid, maybe you can cook rice in the stock from leafy greens to get the minerals from them?

Try small amounts of different fruits/juices to see if there are any that agree with you? Maybe try fruit juice concentrate to increase calorie density?

Have you tried using transdermal vitamins, since it looks like you can't count on the oral route? Magnesium can also go in transdermally, if you are low in that. Mg deficiency can contribute to anxiety.

Cascara sagrada is another obvious one to try.

+1.
Cautiously - ie small amount to start with, and ideally brief/occasional use rather than lots daily. Gastroparesis/slowed transit is one of the common adaptations to chronic undereating - it's a way to get more calories etc out of the food before it is expelled. Amongst other potential issues, you don't want to speed the little food you are eating so much that your body can't extract anything from it.

If there is a physically malfunctioning valve, then that's a credible explanation for the trouble? Do your doctors say there's anything that can be done about that? Do they understand that even at your best you have only been able to eat half what you need to sustain yourself, and you are in danger of literal starvation? Have they offered you any ideas to get some nutrition into you? Have they put you on parenteral nutrition in hospital when you have got to your lowest points? Then what do they suggest when they discharge you from hospital?

You might be surprised to find out how long emotions can become stuck

+1
Anything to help release the old tensions, etc, may help.
Anything that makes you laugh may help relax and strengthen the diaphragm.
Attention to posture may help. I know that can be hard when you have little energy as a result of serious energy (fuel) deficit.
Attention to breathing habits can make a difference to digestion, and to anxiety, and to healing.
Hope you have some good support around you.
...

I agree with the suspicion from Constantine that malnutrition could be the physiological cause. You mentioned being "able to get up to 1600-1700 kcal a day", but if you're a 6.5 feet man, that sounds like starvation

+1

But how to reach 3000 kcal a day, when my digestion almost halted, and even after very small portions, I get that terrible nausa and fullnes, that lasts for infinite hours? It's a vicious cycle that seems impossible to break. :-(

There's the challenge. Make that your mission - find the most nutritious food you can eat and eat as much as you can manage to digest and see if you can gradually work it up to regain your strength. Add 100 - 200 cals/every few days. Have medical supervision by someone who knows and understands what you are trying to do, and be in regular daily contact with someone who will notice and call help if you get into trouble. If you can find anyone with experience in recovery from anorexia etc, they should be able to watch for the biggest hazards. (Eg. refeeding syndrome - not common, treatable, but dangerous if not treated quickly - involves electrolyte imbalances, swelling, etc.)

 

[deetto]

Have you taken into consideration this post: Pantothenic Acid Helped With Gut Troubles

Definitely worth a try given b5 is a substrate of CoA which picks up an acetyl group and transfers it to make acetylcholine, a major parasympathetic neurotransmitter --> also may explain the brain fog. Also some of the supplements you take may reduce b5 further namely biotin & b12, NAC (potentially due to the cysteine which is also a substrate of CoA) etc.

 

[BearWithMe]

foodandtheworld:
I'm 25 years old, my weight is 50 kg now. I'm not exercising at all, it feels impossible because of the terible fatigue and stomach pains. Also, I'm crashing really badly a day after exercising. I'm generally extremely sedentary in the recent years. My blood pressure is low-ish, somewhere along the lines of 80/50.
I was somewhat hypersexual all my life, even after my eating problems started. But in the last year or so, I have absolutely zero libido. This scares me, honestly.
I have never measured my morning/afternoon pulse and temperature. My sleep pattern is a total mess right now (I'm going to sleep in the morning and waking up in the evening), so I guess the measurements won't have much of a value. I try to get myself together as soon as possible and then I'm going to add those details. Please, give me few days. But I'm definitely on the colder side.


deetto:
This is interesting. I'm using Jarrow B-Right B-Complex, which have 100mg of Calcium D-Pantothenate and 25mg of Panthenine. Do you think I need to add more Pantothenic acid, to counter the effect of extra biotin and B12?
Choline supplementation was very beneficial to my condition in the past btw.


tara:
Oh my god, this is wonderful post! So possitive and encouraging, with so many great tips. Thank you!
Jennifer's story is very inspirational.

Every food will have its potential pros and cons, but for you at this time, you probably have to experiment to see which foods you can actually eat, even if that goes against some other theories about what is 'healthy' long term.

This is super-important point. I'm realizing this just recently, but it is probably crucial to my healing.

Have you tried using transdermal vitamins, since it looks like you can't count on the oral route? Magnesium can also go in transdermally, if you are low in that. Mg deficiency can contribute to anxiety.

I have the luxury getting regular vitamin shots and IV drips of very well balanced nutrient formulas. The kind they use for cancer patients. I'm very lucky to get this kind of care and I'm very grateful for that! Beside the shots, I'm using my regimen of oral supplements, which include high-quality magnesium supplement. I'm very particular about balancing my IV and oral supplements, so I'm not getting too much/too little of any nutrients.

If there is a physically malfunctioning valve, then that's a credible explanation for the trouble? Do your doctors say there's anything that can be done about that? Do they understand that even at your best you have only been able to eat half what you need to sustain yourself, and you are in danger of literal starvation? Have they offered you any ideas to get some nutrition into you? Have they put you on parenteral nutrition in hospital when you have got to your lowest points? Then what do they suggest when they discharge you from hospital?

Yes, I was on parenteral nutrition in hospital many times. My official diagnosis is idiopathic anorexia. Doctors have tried everything they could and won't find anythnig in all the years, so they probably gived up (I'm not blaming them!) and now they are just trying to keep me alive by IV nutrients and symptomatic treatment.

I'm not sure the pyloric valve malfunction is an official diagnosis in my country.

Anything to help release the old tensions, etc, may help.

My tensions seems to be hidden so deep in my unconsciousness that it is hard for me to even realize I have them, not to mention realizing the source/reason of the tensions and fighting them.

find the most nutritious food you can eat and eat as much as you can manage to digest and see if you can gradually work it up to regain your strength. Add 100 - 200 cals/every few days.

Now this is the hardest part. My stomach is very resistant to this. Every time I add more calories, even in extremely small steps, I just end up with worse and longer nausea and not being able to eat for the rest of the day. It is not possible to break this. It won't move a bit no matter how much I try. My stomach NEVER get used to larger portions. I have tried really hard. It works quite the other way, every day I'm able to eat even less and less no matter what I do. This month I can't eat the portions I have eated last month and I don't know why.

 

[Daniel11]

Hydrogen Water could be very helpful.

27 Surprising Hydrogen Water Health Benefits - Selfhacked

“The present study found that hydrogen-rich water (HRW) has a significant therapeutic potential in IBD by inhibiting inflammatory factors, oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress and by up-regulating heme oxygenase-1 expression.”

Hydrogen-rich water protects against inflammatory bowel disease in mice by inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress and promoting heme oxygenase-1 expression

“Research on the health benefits of hydrogen-water has demonstrated that hydrogen-water has long-term effects; clinical studies on humans indicate that hydrogen-water may be used to treat metabolic syndrome and diabetes”

Hydrogen-water ameliorates radiation-induced gastrointestinal toxicity via MyD88’s effects on the gut microbiota

This is a nice hydrogen water device.

https://hydrogen4health.com/product/spe-h2-hydrogen-rich-water-bottle/

 

[Daniel11]

“Drinking H2‐water reduced hepatic oxidative stress, and significantly alleviated fatty liver.”

“The mitochondria are a major source of reactive oxygen species during energy production metabolism and H2 directly protects mitochondria that are exposed to reactive oxygen species.”

“Indeed, H2 stimulated energy metabolism as measured by oxygen consumption. The present results suggest the potential benefit of H2 in improving obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.”

https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hep.25782

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2011.6

 

[deetto]

I really think this is a big part of your issue, i'm sure something precipitated it, but you are almost likely b5 deficient. Your exercise intolerance points to this. When you say you feel stomach pains when you exercise, could they be your adrenal glands? b5 (and vit c amongst others) are well known for helpen "weak" adrenal glands. also your lack of libido is relevant as well as some sex hormones are made by the gland. CoA is needed to make cholesterol which is the precursor to the sex hormones.
In the link i posted, i think the person took 200mg daily. But I've taken multiple grams when needed. I'd suggest getting the more bioactive Panthetine at least initially although it's more expensive than the calcium pantothenate which you can switch to later.

Alternatively you may need to look at the pathway to CoA creation to see what may be blocking it.

 

[DDK]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this already because I haven't read the whole thread, but 2 issues that come to mind are gastritis and bezoars. Someone had mentioned mercury and heavy metals, that is most likely not the issue, also I don't think its a vitamin deficiency necessarily.

Now this is the hardest part. My stomach is very resistant to this. Every time I add more calories, even in extremely small steps, I just end up with worse and longer nausea and not being able to eat for the rest of the day. It is not possible to break this. It won't move a bit no matter how much I try. My stomach NEVER get used to larger portions. I have tried really hard. It works quite the other way, every day I'm able to eat even less and less no matter what I do. This month I can't eat the portions I have eated last month and I don't know why.

You said you couldn't tolerate liquid well, right? Liquids keep things moving out of the stomach, simply because of gravity. Maybe try increasing some tolerable liquid like stocks and broths? People keep mentioning vitamin deficiencies but with all the supplemental nutrients you are taking this is unlikely. Did you ever consider any one of the multiple supplements you are taking could be causing these issues? Did you have these issues when you were taking no supplements? Like I said above gastritis and bezoars will cause these symptoms you are describing. Also, this could be psychosomatic/psychological, did you ever consider that? Not saying that it's "all in your head" but saying that worrying and constantly stressing over your digestive situation may be exacerbating the issue.

Did you ever consult a gastroenterologist to see what may be going on? I don't think they are much good for treatment options, but they are decent for at least obtaining a diagnosis.

 

[tara]

I have the luxury getting regular vitamin shots and IV drips of very well balanced nutrient formulas. The kind they use for cancer patients. I'm very lucky to get this kind of care and I'm very grateful for that! Beside the shots, I'm using my regimen of oral supplements, which include high-quality magnesium supplement. I'm very particular about balancing my IV and oral supplements, so I'm not getting too much/too little of any nutrients.

Glad you have a way to cover basics. I think sometimes people have specific needs that are more in particular areas - it maybe that the standard amount of the nutrients does not fit all.
For instance, when metabolism is low, we can have more difficulty retaining some minerals and so need more of them than if we are healthy (eg sodium, magnesium).
From reading about RBTI a while ago (there's a thread), I remember Reams saying that some supplements were useful or not depending on whether the person's UpH was tending too alkaline or too acid (eg vit C, vit -D).
If you want to post about the details about your mineral and vitamin supplementation, you may get more ideas if you want them (and some of them may even be relevant :) ).
Did you see this recent thread of Amazoniac's? Seems to suggest that a bit of liver or liver extract to go with supplemental vitamins could make a great deal of difference:
"The Fallacy Of Administering Mixtures Of Crystalline Vitamins Alone In Nutritional Deficiency"

How I wish I could do that. My tensions seems to be hidden so deep in my unconsciousness that it is hard for me to even realize I have them, not to mention realizing the source/reason of the tensions and fighting them. :-(

You are dealing with significant ongoing and current physical issues, so I don't mean to imply that there is any simple psychological fix to old issues that would fix it all. But sometimes there are emotional tensions that have contributed to stresses, and that interfere with healing. Sometimes people find various ways to help lessen these. I don't think it always necessarily needs to involve beginning with remembering and understanding what they all are. And when energy is low, it can be hard to look beyond current daily survival. I'd be going for approaches that seem gentle enough to not stress you out intolerably at this time.

There are many ways to approach it - Xisca has some posts pointing to the mode she knows about - you could look them up.

Really, any thing that gets you laughing properly improves circulation and tone in the digestive area - hanging ou with peole that make you feel relaxed and good, watching comedies with other people, ...

Do you want to describe your breathing? Relaxed, nasal, diaphragmatic at rest, including in sleep? Or laboured, mouth, chest? If there are difficulties here, there may be something relevant you can do about them.

Are you getting regular sunshine?

Now this is the hardest part. My stomach is very resistant to this. Every time I add more calories, even in extremely small steps, I just end up with worse and longer nausea and eating even less. It is not possible to break this. It won't move a bit no matter how much I try. My stomach NEVER get used to larger portions. I have tried really hard. It works quite the other way, every day I'm able to eat even less and less no matter what I do. This month I can't eat the portions I have eated last month.

This is obviously the 'guts' of it, so to speak. Sorry. Is there any food that does not usually give you nausea?I don't have your troubles, but I get nausea and lack of appetite occasionally with my issues, and sometimes there are just one or two things that seem tolerable - and they are not always things that I think of as delicious the rest of the time.

Good luck.

 

[BearWithMe]

deetto: I have bought high dose B5 tablets in highly bioavailable form and it actualy makes a lot of difference! I would say it is better than taurine in relieving my symptoms. This is huge for me. I think B5 have direct prokinetic and laxative properities and this is the reason why it is so helpful with this kind of digestive issues.

DDK: Gastritis and bezoars really does have very similar symptoms to mine, you are right. But these problems would be revealed during gastroscopy/colonoscopy/CT Scan, right? I'm trying to cycle supplements and brands as much as possible and pay close attention to reactions of my body. I belive I have eliminated everything, that caused problems. By the way, I have replaced all the wholegrain products with white flour products and I feel better now!

tara: Breathing is a huge problem for me. My breath is ultra-shallow. I would say I'm breathing just to upper 1/10 of my lungs. I have adopted this way of breathing, because deeper breathing increases the pressure in my stomach and is very unpleasant to me, I would even say it makes my digestion worse. It definitely causes nausa.

 

[BearWithMe]

Just have realized that my symptoms are identical with sympoms of hypercalcemia.

Kidneys. Excess calcium in your blood means your kidneys have to work harder to filter it. This can cause excessive thirst and frequent urination.
Digestive system. Hypercalcemia can cause stomach upset, nausea, vomiting and constipation.
Bones and muscles. In most cases, the excess calcium in your blood was leached from your bones, which weakens them. This can cause bone pain, muscle weakness and depression.
Brain. Hypercalcemia can interfere with the way your brain works, resulting in confusion, lethargy and fatigue. It can also cause depression.

Also, everything, what makes my symptoms worse, affects calcium levels in some way.

It would also explain, why is my issue getting progressively worse - my sedentary lifestyle is making my hypercalcemia worse, which causes more nausea, which causes less eating, which causes less energy and more sedentary lifestyle, feeding possitive feedback loop.

But it doesn't explain why it have started in the first place.

 

[InChristAlone]

Sounds like you are stuck in fight or flight. I feel like I have been saying that a lot on this forum, but the symptoms always fit with these chronic issues. With a history of family issues I would look into somatic experiencing. It can help your body to regulate autonomically again and digestion will then be easier.

 

[facesavant]

This is almost certainly mercury toxicity. Look into the Cutler Protocol:

Adult Stories
Cutler protocol - OnibasuWiki
Index to posts by Andy Cutler



Particularly, this -- all the symptoms coming on at the same time, NAC especially provoking it -- sounds like issues with thiols, of which NAC is a straight source, that are typical in the mercury toxic:

Explanation of some symptoms, and the days long recovery:

Re: cysteine/sulfur, low immunity, allergies, ALA


Explanation of why all the symptoms increase together. The symptoms, in addition to being those of high thiols, are also the general symptoms of mercury toxicity -- brain fog, tiredness, urination, sleep problems, anxiety and so forth -- aggravated by the thiols. Also note that high thiols cause immune overreaction, and might play a role in the mucus:

Yahoo! Groups


Read more about thiols here:

Cysteine status - OnibasuWiki
Index to posts by Andy Cutler

Hi There,
I see this is an old post, hopefully you've accomplished healing. Have you tried taking hydrochloric acid to break down food in the stomach? I took it for a few weeks several years ago because I had been getting what I call gurgles for several years. I tried the HCL lightly. Some people would take many capsules with each meal but for me two in a day was plenty. I'd love to hear feed back if you or anyone has tried and if its peat friendly. Take care