Sport [LONG] Am I not eating enough? (or WTH is wrong with my stomach?)

[Charlie Golf]

I'm a 35-year old male and I weigh about 195 lbs. I was doing quite well with both my workouts and my nutrition from about May of '08 thru about mid-September, getting down to about 187-190 and cutting my body fat by about 5%, and then something strange started.

I would start to get nauseous first thing in the morning (sometimes to the point where I didn't really want to eat). After I would eat something, the nausea would subside and then return about 30 minutes to an hour later. My stomach would constantly feel like it was "digesting" -- gurgling, and whatnot.

At first I thought maybe I ate something that didn't sit well while I was out of the country and it was a mild stomach bug (it did all start around the jalapeno/tomato Salmonella outbreak), but it continued on for several days. It really started to depress me and I quit working out and wasn't eating as well because I was didn't want to feel bad. Of course, not working out made me feel even worse.

I finally made an appointment with a gastroenterologist. He did bloodwork and did an abdominal ultrasound and everything came back normal. I've had GERD (acid reflux) for a long time and take Prilosec on a daily basis. He recommended I double the dose and see if it helps any. The only other thing the Dr. said is that it could IBS which he described simply as what "Doctor's call GI discomfort which don't really have a cause or explanation."

He did recommend I cut out all the supplements except my multi I was taking to see if they were causing it -- at the time I was taking a multi-vitamin, a probiotic, fish oil and whey/casein protein.

Fast forward to today -- I finally got tired of not working out and being depressed about it even though it was hard to convince myself there was nothing really wrong. I got off the wagon workout wise around Sep. 15 and started back at it the first of the New Year (I gained all the weight and body fat I had lost back during my "break").

I'm eating well and feel awesome working out but still have the "gnawing" digestion feeling frequently. Most commonly it occurs before I eat or about an hour or so later. No nausea anymore. I'm starting to think I'm just not eating enough.

I've kept a record of what I ate over the last 3 days. As I've posted before, my work schedule creates some restrictions on when (and sometimes what I can eat).

Saturday:
1/2 pt. skim milk
1/2 wheat pita with eggs and cheese
1 medium banana
8 oz. OJ

~6-8 oz. roast
1/2 cu. boiled veggies
1 cu. boiled potatoes
1 small roll
1 pint skim milk

1/3 lb. turkey burger (onion, lettuce, tomato) on 2 slices toast
1 slice swiss cheese
1/4 small avocado
1 cu. mixed fruit

Sunday:
8 oz. OJ
1 Dannon Light & Fit yogurt
12 oz 1% milk
1 individual pkg of corn flakes w/4 oz. 2% milk

6" Subway club on wheat w/swiss cheese and mustard and all the veggies
1 medium banana

Cheat Meal
Chinese Beef and veggies
2 cups hot & sour soup
1/2 cup steamed rice
1 can regular coke

Monday:
1 cu. black tea w/1tsp honey
3/4 cu scrambled eggs
3 slices bacon
1 whole-wheat english muffin w 3/4 oz cream cheese and 2 slices smoked salmon
1/2 cu. pinapple
1/2 cu. watermelon

Tuna sandwich (big) on sourdough
1 medium apple
1 pt. 2% milk

1 large Wndy's chili
8 saltines
1/2 pt skim milk

airplane meal
1 personal cheese pizza
1.5 cu. iceberg/cabbage/carrots w 1/2 oz dressing
1 mini kit-kat

Each day I consumed between 1.5 - 3 liters of additional fluids -- either plain H2O or iced tea.

Whatcha think? Has anyone else experienced something like this? Do I need to be eating more? :eating:

 

[firefreak]

How long have you been on the Prilosec for? I spent almost 2 years on it until I realized how many issues it can cause itself. I actually feel better now that I stopped taking it (i can also digest much better if you catch my drift). I'm not a doctor and I do not want you to take me advice as such but have you considered not taking the prilosec? I do remember a knawing, constant hunger issue on occasion when I took it as well.

I know you're on it for a reason and almost all doctors will prescribe it to help the condition but does it help? is there anything to help anymore? I will warn you though, the first few days will be rough. your stomach acid will flare up and cause a considerable amount of discomfort but its manageable. Have you taken the other steps to help with your GERD? Have you elevated the head of your bed a few inches? do you try to sleep on your left side or oriented so that you are more or lying towards your left side? Have you tried other remedies like mixing 2 oz of apple cider vinegar with 8 ounces of water? Aloe vera juice? Eating apples? Cutting out greasy foods (Wendy's chili for example). Cut out carbonated drinks (soda...)

Cutting out certain Vitamins might be of help to you but if you are taking them with food and not by themselves they shouldn't bother you. I actually find relief by drinking my Whey/Cassein protein shake post-workout (i usually get a flare up from breathing heavy while lying down).

Also a big thing with GERD that some people don't realize is that excess weight can put just enough extra pressure on the stomach to create the problem.

OR you could just be hungry due to getting back into exercise after a hiatus and needed more calories than you are taking in.

 

[Charlie Golf]

With regards to the Prilosec, I have taken it for a VERY long time. I started out on the prescription version when I was diagnosed with an ulcer and erosive esophagitis caused by constant heartburn GERD in college. When the patent on the prescription expired, the Dr. immediately transferred it to Nexium.

As soon as Prilosec OTC came out my insurance stopped covering the co-pay for Nexium unless "step therapy" was used first so the doc switched the prescription to Zegerid...which has a large amount of NA+ in it and caused a spike in my BP. So I went back to the Prilosec OTC. BP dropped right away back to normal BTW if there is anyone out there taking Zegerid who is having the same issue.

Interestingly enough, I never had the stomach "issues" with the capsule version of either Prilosec or Nexium and wonder if it could be the wax in the OTC version that causes this. I've tried stopping it and it just ain't happenin' I've also tried "alternative" remedies like Apple Cider Vinegar w/Mother, etc. Tried elevating the bed...made my lower back hurt...LOL I'm a mess!

Cola's are rare (definitely less than 1/week average) and I if I have to eat fast food (choices are usually only airport vendors) I try to find things that are high in protein and fiber, hence the Wendy's chili, which interestingly is really not that bad for you except maybe the sodium really if you consider gov't dietary guidelines of 20-35% fat and <10% Sat. Fat.. It's 280 Cal., 29% FAT (11% SAT), 30% PRO, and 41% CHO (7g fiber).

Also a big thing with GERD that some people don't realize is that excess weight can put just enough extra pressure on the stomach to create the problem.

One of my biggest reasons for losing weight is to get off of the med because ironically I really have no "triggers" for the GERD with the exception of alcohol. Spicy, greasy, tomato, salty, fried, etc...foods don't really affect me although I still do take them in in moderation.

This most recent GI doc did finally support the stuff I have read that abdominal body composition can place just enough pressure to cause a simple mis-alignment of the pyloric sphincter and said with my general good health otherwise and apparent lack of triggers that could very well be my issue. The men in my family do carry the majority of BF% basically between the pecs and above the groin and are very lean elsewhere. Mine is basically ALL between the bottom of my rib cage to my hip bones...kinda like a fat life perserver (?)

I'm gonna get down to my target weight and BF (175 & 15%) and then try to cut out the Prilosec again or at least try to reduce the dosage needed.

Of course I have really increased the amount of fiber I intake too which the doctor said could cause "IBS" as well as the probiotic and fish oil supplements.

 

[firefreak]

Ok you seem very well educated on the GERD issue. I tend to think it's a doctors easy way out when assessing a patient with frequent stomach issues and that Prilosec is being overprescribed as an easy fix when simple alterations in diet and simple (AND CHEAPER!) remedies exist. I personally just listened to my first doctor, started taking prilosec and was relieved enough from the heartburn that i never asked any questions. it was later when i started having stomach issues again despite being on the prilosec that I decided i needed to switch off of it (plus reading some of the side effects...like possible weight gain...ummm durrrrrr). I've been off of it since last September and haven't looked back. I have the occasional rough night if I drink some beer or eat too much, but otherwise I am symptom free.

I also eat a lot of fiber, have 1 yogurt daily and take fish oils. It helps me "digest", which I find helps me from suffering and GERD symptoms. Prilosec actually caused me to get backed up on a few occasions, which obviously doesn't help when you eat and the food has no where to go.

I still don't know what to tell you about your "churning". Maybe you really are just hungry?

 

[firefreak]

How much water do you drink a day?

 

[tic]

What time of day do you eat each of those meals?

I am guessing here but I think you might have developed an assoication with food = bad; so that when you eat, you feel guilty. I am no pyschatrisct or doctor but that is just my guess man. Maybe, tell yourself that it's okay to eat and you need to eat.

or maybe you should see an ENT (ear, nose, throat) specilist about the naesa. Might be food induced vertigo (if there is such a thing, LoL). From someone who used to have vertigo / nausea, I feel your pain and sorry to hear about it. Mine just disappeared with clean eating, de-stressing, and time; weird, I know.


Hope you find the remedy,
--tic

 

[Charlie Golf]

How much water do you drink a day?

I usually drink between 1.5-3 liters per day.

I'm a pilot and pressurized cabins have very low humidity so I drink additional water to offset some of the dehydration due to working in the rarefied environment.

What time of day do you eat each of those meals?

I am guessing here but I think you might have developed an assoication with food = bad; so that when you eat, you feel guilty. I am no pyschatrisct or doctor but that is just my guess man. Maybe, tell yourself that it's okay to eat and you need to eat.

Actually I look forward to eating. It's one of my favorite activities Seriously though, I consider food a fuel source so I rarely feel guilty about anything I ingest...unless I eat so much in that rare occassion where I end up feeling miserable or everything I ate was crap nutritionally.

The challenge for me because of my schedule is the "when." I usually try to eat something (meal or snack) about an hour to 90 minutes after I get up, an hour before I workout (which occurs at random times due to schedule), within an hour after working out. Those are the things that have any relative consistency...other than that and because of minimal refrigeration, US Customs regulations (fruits/veggies/nuts), and poor selection of on-board meals, I usually eat whenever I get a chance and that is usually from an airport vendor. I try best I can to use Men's Health "Eat This, Not That" or the South Beach guidelines to "fast food." That's actually where the Wendy's chili came from -- lesser of evils.

I've recorded everything I've eaten for the last 4 days and am about to lay it all out for review. I'm starting to suspect that my caloric intake is simply too low and my body is hungry. :eating:

or maybe you should see an ENT (ear, nose, throat) specilist about the naesa. Might be food induced vertigo (if there is such a thing, LoL). From someone who used to have vertigo / nausea, I feel your pain and sorry to hear about it. Mine just disappeared with clean eating, de-stressing, and time; weird, I know.

Yeah, I've gone to an ENT too. I don't actually have inner ear problems but I do have chronic sinusitis and post-nasal drainage. This can be a common cause of acid reflux as well which I forgot to mention above...so this could be my possible trigger vs. food actually. I mentioned this to the GI doc when I went but he said it is unusual that this would start these symptoms now when I have had the ENT issue even longer than the GI one.

Lately I've been using a Neti Pot and it has really helped. If anyone on here has sinus problems and haven't tried one yet DO SO IMMEDIATELY!!! I started out using a hypertonic (high sodium) rinse and now "maintain" with a daily isotonic rinse.

Do it daily for 2 weeks and I swear you will become addicted. Not a bad "pot" to be addicted to either

 

[njtp]

Have you had a gastroscopy (camera tube down your esophagus and into your stomach)? I have reflux and pain between my ribs where they meet, I thought I had a stomach ulcer for a long time and was even more convinced once I started to vomit blood! I had a gastroscopy and it was discovered to be a hiatus hernia (stomach sliding up through the diaphragm), which was causing a low pressure LES (Lower Esophageal Sphincter), which allowed the acid to escape even if I bent over to tie my shoe laces for example.

I also find that despite having medication to lessen the production of stomach acid, a PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitor) called "Omerprazole" I still get significant nausea often, and I can't do much exercise else I feel very ill. I also have permanently blocked sinuses and struggle to breath out of my nose, at night I end up sleeping with my mouth open which dries my mouth out, which causes me discomfort as I am prone to mouth ulcers (most people have had upto 5, I've had over 50 mouth ulcers). I find that Tramadol works well for unblocking my sinuses, it's a moderate strength painkiller about 1/6th the strength of morphine so you wouldn't be able to get it OTC (Over The Counter), I get it for my ulcers when they flare up.