Hello everyone!

A little background - I've been veggie since March and vegan since May (except for a slip up 6 weeks or so ago =/).... also I have lost around 23 pounds since March and have maintained it. :) I try to exercise regularly, but lately I have been too tired.

For the past month, after every meal I get a horrible burning pain in my upper/mid stomach area. I also feel very nauseated and bloated. I get chills and night sweats. Last night for the first time it felt like there was a rock in my belly.

A few things~

- I've been tested for an ulcer, diabetes, hyperthyroidism so far
- Dr thinks my stomach is making too much acid, but taking tums/pepto bismol etc doesnt help.
- Dr asked me to try eating "normally" (omni) to see what happens ( um NO WAY)

I try to eat a balanced diet, but some days I eat bad foods like chips etc or not enough food (not enough due to pain/nausea) It never hurts after raw fruit or raw veggies, just cooked or processed foods.

This pain is exruciating. It only happens at late afternoon/night time. Usually it keeps me up late and then I have to work in the AM (7) so I am also very fatigued.

I was thinking of going raw. Or maybe like 80%.

I would try anything to make this pain go away.

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free!!

Thank you

If you're getting the pain right after eating processed,high fat food,it could be gallstones.I would go to another doctor for a second opinion,preferably one that would respect your diet.I don't see how eating omni is going to help your stomach pains.
good luck

[QUOTE=auggieI don't see how eating omni is going to help your stomach pains.[/QUOTE]

That doctor is a retard. Eating meat will only intensify your extreme discomfort. Eat berries and drink sooooo much water. also take out as much dairy as possible from your diet and oily foods, too. Any citrussy fruits and especially tomatoes in any form are terrible, causing acid reflux and also stomache problems. eat plain dry raw foods. by the way, the berries will calm your stomache and clear your lower half of bad poo poo. the water will lower the concentration of acid in your belly. the oily foods only thicken saliva. the dairy is just plain unnecassary. have fun and good luck.

I get random stomach aches all the time, and bloating so bad i look pregnant, though no ones ever given me a cause other than "irritable bowel." I've been veg*n for 10+ yrs though so I don't really think that has anything to do with it. I actually had this problem before I went veg*n too. A low fat/high fiber diet is recommended for IBS, so if that is the problem, veg*nism is just that. I would doubt your veganism had anything to do with it since this didn't begin with the switch in diet. Fortunately my doctor has never even suggested I change my diet in any way. This was the only good thing about him, really. He was Indian, and in India veg*nism is much more "normal."

Two things that have been suggested to me are DGL Licorice and Slippery Elm Capsules. They both coat the gastrointestinal track. (Must be DGL and not regular licorice!) DGL Licorice coats the stomach, and Slippery Elm coats the intestines. I haven't tried either yet as my stomach has gotten better from when I was visiting my parents for 2 wks (did I mention stress triggers IBS??), and I haven't really needed anything. I have taken acidophilous and/or acidophilous w/ digestive enzymes with varying success.

Have you considered having food allergy testing done? Do you have any lower GI problems, or is it all just abdominal pain? Have you actually seen a gastroenterologist, or just your regular doctor? Have you tried taking Zantac for the acid or GasX for the bloating? Have you tried drinking peppermint or ginger tea? Celestial Seasonings makes a great Tummy Mint tea.

Really though, if your doc isn't helping, find one who will. Good luck.

Here are some things to think about from a non-doctor-like view. You say you consume the cooked food then your stomach burns.? One popular misconception is that oh, you have too much stomach acid. This is usually (sometimes) not true, but quite the opposite. There is a possibilty you don't have enough hydrochloric acid combined with a lack of enzymes. Raw foods contain their own enzymes which basically digest themselves. When you consume cooked foods it literally puts a strain on your organs, your pancreas for one. It releases endogenous enzymes, (produced by the body). Over a lifetime of eating cooked foods your pancreas (which excretes 3 basic enzymes), becomes (worn out) and enlarged. It then begins to pull enzymes from other parts of your body, (as your body does with many other functions if one area is lacking in a needed compound), and with it being that enzymes are the basis of life you can begin to see how it would effect your body if they are being (drawn) from other areas due to deficiency. As far as the stomach burning, a highly likely scenario is that the cooked food you are eating is causing a reaction (burning) on your stomach lining, from not being digested properly, (as many cooked foods do not digest at all). In other words look into (enzyme therapy). Also check into acid/alkaline Ph balance, (urine Ph), it shows how much organic sodium and (alkalizing minerals) your body has to work with, the higher the concentration the more alkaline you will be. Neutral (around 8.0) on the alkaline scale is a good point but If you are too alkaline your stomach acid concentration will probably be low also and could pose problems, (alkalosis). An acidic body (commonly below 6.0) is a breeding ground for health problems, (acidosis). Stay away from (acid reducers), (calcium carbonate) builds up and lodges itself in the brain and various other areas of the body, and rarely is what is needed. Try apple cider vinegar mixed with water to aid in digestion and stomach discomfort. BTW, acidopholis becomes acidic because it accerts a low Ph on your intestines.

Thanks everyone soo much!!



Have you considered having food allergy testing done? Do you have any lower GI problems, or is it all just abdominal pain? Have you actually seen a gastroenterologist, or just your regular doctor? Have you tried taking Zantac for the acid or GasX for the bloating? Have you tried drinking peppermint or ginger tea? Celestial Seasonings makes a great Tummy Mint tea.

I have thought about food allergy testing but dont know how to go about that. Mostly it is only abdominal pain, but I have had slight issues with contipation/diarrea, but only briefly. I have only seen my regular doctor so far, would I have to ask her if I could see a gastroenterologist? I have taken Tums, milk of magnesia and Pepto Bismal but it really didn't help. Maybe helped like 20% of it. I haven't tried the tea, but I definitly will now.

As for it possibly being gallstones, Doc thinks it might be and I'm going in for an ultrasound within the next few weeks. Ugh I hope not. Thing with that is that it isn't pain on the right side....like it is supposed to be....but maybe not with me ....:dizzy:

I'm going to get a new doctor. I wish there was a vegan doctor listing or a listing that shows doctors who support vegans hehe. That would be awesome.

I did pick up some digestive enzymes, but haven't used them yet. I will start now!!

lois - I'll try the berry and water thing too. Mmmmm I love berries!

And thanks for all that info Brighter. :)

Thanks !

Wow, brighterhorizon, lots of information there.

I'd like to throw out a suggestion. Speaking of enzymes, I think, Ella, you would probably benefit from eating lacto-fermented vegetables like raw cultured carrots, raw cultured sauerkraut and kimchi. Full of beneficial bacteria and enzymes, and many of the nutrients will be more bio-available since fermentation neutralizes the antinutrients present in the vegetables. Raw cultured sauerkraut has more vitamin C than the raw cabbage it's made from. It certainly won't fix your problems, especially if you have gallstones, but hopefully they'll help your recovery and be a food you'll be able to currently tolerate. You should be able to find some lacto-fermented vegetables in your health food store, if not you can make your own, even without the use of whey. You should be able to find lots of recipes on the internet.

Anywho, hope you get better soon!

P.S. Here's a link on gallstones (http://www.westonaprice.org/askdoctor/gallstones.html) you might benefit from, it will heavily conflict with your vegan diet, but it is very interesting. We'll just hope you don't have gallstones :)

Thank you Alles, and an interesting link hehe. I couldn't bear trying to eat meat again, even if it guaranteed me no pain. I'm stubborn on the issue of humans are supposed to be vegetarians (vegans really) and won't budge. My Doctor and my parents wish haha!

Last night I took Greens+ and it actually helped my tummy ache!!

For breakfast and lunch I ate raw, for breakfast I had blueberries, watermelon, and an apple. Mid morning I had fruit juice from a juicer (apples, oranges, pineapple and strawberries) and for lunch I had a huge spinach salad with kale, spinach, red pepper and cucumber, topped off with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. No pain whatsoever.

I just got home and was ravenous. I ate a whole wheat bagel with some mild jalepeno veggiewiz (spread). SO GOOD and my tummy hasn't hurt yet. Tonight I'm going to a dinner, I pre-ordered my vegan meal, so it should be good. (always is at this place) So far so good.

I'm going to start taking digestive enzymes and do some more research on eating raw. I want to be at least 60% raw this week, and go up from there. Tummy seems to like it.

Anyways, I'm ging to look into seeing a natural doctor (forgot what they are called) I'm so sick of conventional medicine.

:rockon:

Neutral (around 8.0) on the alkaline scale is a good point but If you are too alkaline your stomach acid concentration will probably be low also and could pose problems, (alkalosis). An acidic body (commonly below 6.0)
Neutral is by definition 7.0 and a bodily pH of 6.0 would be instant death.

Neutral is by definition 7.0 and a bodily pH of 6.0 would be instant death.

I said (around) neutral and I was refering to (urine) Ph and the acid/alkaline ashe that is left by all foods, beverages and moods. I'm not refering to blood Ph. Refer to the acid/alkaline food charts and bile. In an acidic body you are low on neutralizing minerals and electrolytes and do not have enough buffers. If your organs and bile do not have enough of these buffers it will begin to pull them from other sources and release them which will then deplete you of them further.
Think of it like this, it's kinda like the difference between bathing in a bath of battery acid or water. Over time the harsh conditions will have drastic effects on your health and one of them could be arthritis and progressive aging.

Brighter - What else do you suggest I do? What kinds of foods help with this? Thanks :)

First off familiarize yourself with the acid/alkaline food chart and information.

http://home.bluegrass.net/~jclark/alkaline_foods.htm http://www.goss.com/ihcs/importance_of_an_alkaline_diet.htm

I started off drinking an applecider vinegar and water mix, (2 tbs vinegar to 8 ozs water) lemons, apples, carrots, and anything I could eat off the list that was the most alkalizing. A very crucial, if not absolutely necessary part of this process is to detoxify. I began drinking only purified water (stored in polycarbonate jugs), and cutting out (ALL) additives, preservatives, food colorings, artificial flavorings, caffiene and acidic foods, (this is when I became Vegg because of the extreme acidic ashe of meat and it's tendency to hang around the intestines). I also switched to fully organic everything, (pestisides, herbicides and gmo's were history too). In the beginning I was drinking high TDS mineral water (which helped drastically with Ph), but then stopped due to calcium carbonate, (ablsolutely NO tap water). In the beginning I noticed drastic changes in my muscles, joints (they were becoming very loose) and mindset, (I was very laidback and calm). Detoxing (when done right), can take a toll at first but I found it was well worth it. It took decades to buid it up so it's not going to go away over night. You might notice a direct corelation between your Ph level and how you feel physically and mentally. As I said everything you do dictates your Ph level, in times of stress your body releases the buffers to protect you against the toxins that are produced as a by-product and the same goes with being angry, tiredness, jealousy and so forth. Organic sodium is crucial to health, do not confuse this with sub-par, inadequate, toxic table salt. After awhile now my mind is clear, some fears are dispelled, anxiety is lower, blood pressure is low and overall well-being is high.