Gut and digestive distress many years after gastric bypass w/gall bladder removal

I am doing keto paleo most of the time. Veggies- most of them need to be cooked. I don't tolerate cauliflower or broccoli or any cabbage type veggies. No beans of any kind. 

Even lactose free protein shake can upset the gut.  Most protein powder have some additives. some of them can be Ok - some - "just kill" me. 

when I follow a very strict diet - with IF, I am almost symptoms free. Initially it took me app 6 months to figure out what I can have and what I can't.

I have a few basic to go recipes for food when I get flare up.  a couple of days on that and I am fine.  I even can "cheat" here and there with no major setbacks.  Food that I would not dare to eat in my first year getting back to my self - now I can have a serving of it and live to tell.

my fee basic recipes: (all organic or as close to organic as I can get) 

• chicken soup - chicken thighs, carrots, celery,  salt and pepper, dill, caraway seeds (to help digestion) - cooked in pressure cooker (IP) for 30 min ( i use bone broth to make soups)
• same but with beef or bison (don't strain the fat)
• homemade egg drop soup - use the stock - boil it, mix the eggs - pour over hot stock. return to just start boiling - remove from the stove. 
• fish sauted in ghee or coconut oil... with dill and caraway ..salt and pepper. Same for shrimp
• sardines, or other good quality canned fish. 
• I eat cucumbers and NSA pickles... avocado, olives...capers..maybe a slice or 2 or ripened tomato (no skin)
• I use organic ACV, and good quality olive oil. things like organic dill, cilantro, parsley. 
• soaked and sprouted nuts and seeds - only some of them -macadamia-brazil-almond-walnuts-sunflowers..I have to rotate them. can't eat a lot of same type. I can have a few cashews..but initially - I could tolerate 2-3 pcs (pumpkin seeds are no go for me). Peanuts don't bother me...they are often my to go snack to settle my gut...

Find foods you know yoo tolerate and stick to the diet... as bland as it is.. for at least 2-3 weeks.. Then add One (1) item at a time - no more often than every 2 days.  If you don't get reaction - it is probably safe... so try some more... a little may be OK - but more - may cause reaction. I.e. I can eat 3 eggs..  but only every 3-4 days... more than that my system can't chandle the sulphur in eggs.. my body needs time to process some foods...

Initially it would take me 1-2 weeks to get back to my "normal self" when I did something I knew I was not suppose to  do.. now - unless i really go crazy - it is 1-2 days... longer if the food caused inflammation of my gut.   

When the food enters your system - the food itself can cause a reaction - gas - bloat- pain. That effect would last as long as the food is in your system.  Once we "poop it out" - we should be "back to normal". Unless we developed sensitivity to the food - and our gut got inflamed - then it may take a 2-3 additional days or a few weeks for our system to calm down and heal. I hope this makes sense to you. 

I used to be allergic to dairy and soy and other foods... over last 2 years I started healing my gut....Last time i was checked for food allergies - I no longer show reaction to most of the foods... Because I stopped eating them completely - my body stopped making anti-bodies to those proteins/chemicals. So now - I can have a slice of cheese or 2, once in awhile and not get a reaction.   I can go to a japanese restaurant and have dinner - once in a while...

butI have to remember that I once was allergic to them. And if I eat too much of  it- my body could build sensitivity to it, and as the immune system is attacking the "food portions" it can also attack my healthy tissue causing inflammation and pain and leaky gut.   In may case - I have to make sure I don't eat dairy or soy every day...   or bananas, or vanilla, or..or..

have you been checked for food allergies sensitivities?  that may be a good point to start..

I have not heard of Keto Paleo and will check that out. Thanks very much! And thank you for all of the other info.

What does vanilla do to you? I add that into my "hot chocolate" oftentimes. Also, please tell me how to get checked for food sensitivities. Really, all the doctors I have been to have not once tested me for this??? I did not even know it existed. 

Not sure if I mentioned it already but cauliflower, cooked or not, seems to kill me. Not sure about broccoli but it would seem to me that any of the cabbage family would cause intestinal distress and gas. I was told the fermented veggies are the exception as they are partly digested. They don't seem to bother me but sometimes it is tricky to learn to listen to the more subtle cues from one's body. I am going to compare the list of veggies form my nutritionist against the SIBO FODMAPS list.

I have a lot of problems with inflammation. It takes me weeks to heal. Everything swells, even my face and legs are noticeably bigger. And my gut, well forget about it. I can push on my stomach and this will make me belch. I once timed it for 30-minutes straight. 

Add to all of the physical is also the emotional. I believe that I have inflammatory bowel disease not irritable bowel syndrome that I was diagnosed with. And I know that stress and anxiety can wreck havoc on IBD. I lost several of the most important people in my life. I was very glad to say goodbye to 2016. 

2017 is a new beginning. I will create the health -- physical, emotional, spiritual, mental -- that I need. I am making some major lifestyle changes and preparing to embark upon a new path. I am inspired by you and how you have taken control of your health. 

Thank you for the recipes. I drink bone broth everyday (homemade) and have been contemplating drinking it at breakfast instead of the protein shake. I think the egg drop soup would be very good in this case, a few times per week. So I am going to try that as well as slowly adding foods in and keeping a symptoms diary as you suggest.

Thank you very much and I wish you continued good health!

You can pm me for more info.  Sometimes I don't get emails if someone responded to my comments. 

It took me over 2 years to get better. What you described- the swelling, the bloat, feeling sick almost all the time - was me... And until I got better - eating off plan resulted in a few days misery. Now - I can have a bite of 2 of some foods and be fine.  But it took a long time to heal my gut.  I am still working on it.  I now can tolerate some amount of dairy and soy.  Before that - if ingested anything with soy proteins - I would be itching within 10&15 min. First my hands.and arms, them my head- skalp and ears.. - my hand would get swollen, so would my ears... My eyes would get red and itchy...  my allergist told me that my reaction to soy was severe, and that everyone I get exposed to soy - I risk getting anaphylactic shock. Now - I can eat food cooked with soy sauce. Not every day, but i now toterate some siy.  This is.huge. 

Once we get SIBO and candida- we may develop leaky gut - that may cause food allergies and intolerance.  Once we can heal the gut and eliminate the offending food even for a little while, the body stop producing antibodies to that food and we may tolerate that once in a while without causing serious reaction. 

You asked what symptoms I get when I use vanilla - I can't really tell you that.  

My detailed blood work showed highly elevated antibodies for vanilla - show that I was severely allergic to it.  Show severe inflammatory response when my blood was subjected to vanilla. 

That would cause the total body inflammation - including joins, muscles, extra mucus , body aches ....

I also was adding vanilla to my coffee...I loved that stuff...  I had bottles of natural vanilla extract.... ibaked with it, used with yogurt, cottage cheese.. etc..

Sometimes we need to step back and see what we crave - like a lot. A lot of time that can indicate allergies to those foods. Allergies caused histmine release in our body. That affects everything - even acid production in our stomach, serotonin, etc... Sometimes foods we like the most - are worse for us.

I have been careless with my diet in the last 6 months. My SIBO and candida are really in full force.  I need to treat it...But that means antibiotics and Rx for candida and..a very specific diet .... Very restricted.  Very clean. 

I know I need to do it....But I am trying to gain some weight...So I have some reserves. I am now at a very low body fat %...No reserves... I can't afford to lose 5 lbs...Plus it takes a lot of work and energy to follow the 3 weeks program ...After I do the treatment- I will have to do a few weeks of serious probiotics dosages. To try to restore the gut good flora...

SIBO and candida are linked to things like CFS, fibromyalgia, arthritis, anemia, depression, mental issues, food allergies, skin issues like  rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, etc etc etc... 

Fixing the gut can fix or dramatically improve all the above issues.  Avoiding the offending foods, providing nutrition to heal the gut tissues, allows us to get better with time. 

Thank you, again, Hala. I apologize for my tardy reply but I did not get the notification that you had replied. I will PM you as you requested but I wanted to post here as well. I am sure there are others who will benefit from reading this. 

I ate something in the last day or two that has completely wrecked my system. What you wrote above about "total body inflammation - including joins, muscles, extra mucus , body aches ...." answered the question that I had upon walking this morning, which was why does my entire lower body hurt, especially my legs and hips? My left leg is numb! My knees and hips ache. My legs in general just do not feel normal or healthy. Just a couple of years ago I was a runner! And most recently when I went on a trip, I used the wheelchair service at the airport owing to the distance that I felt I could not manage. 

I have been keeping a food diary and symptoms. There are a few things that I am allowed to eat that seem to cause some problems. And I had better just forget about eating dinner at a restaurant because even ordering seemingly healthy things sends me to my sick bed. Forget about eating anything that isn't on plan. They simply make me die a slow and painful death. It is hard to stick with such a restrictive diet for so long. But my QoL must be regained. 

Instead of Rx antibiotics, you might want to try an herbal supplement combination that according to clinical trial had the same benefits without the side effects, as well as a lower cost, than the prescription therapy. If you Google "Biotics FC Cidal and Biotics Dysbiocide and SIBO" you will find the information. There was another herbal supplement that was used in the trial called Metagenics (or something like that) but my clinical nutritionist said the formulation contained ingredients that could cause inflammation. Anyway, I thought I would share this info with you in case you are interested in trying it. 

Thanks so very much for sharing your wonderful and very helpful experience and learnings with me and everyone else reading this post. 

Oh, I don't believe that your setting allow me to PM you. You should be able to PM me though. Or you may email me at [email protected]. Hugs!

Just reading through this old post. I hope you are well and healed!