Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The last two weeks I have felt like crap basically. If I can go 2 hours without a stomach problem than I’m feeling good that day. I changed my diet to a high carb diet 2 weeks ago and since I’ve never felt good. I was doing the Mass phase of the Anabolic Diet and now I’m doing the Get-Big diet consuming around the same calories at about 5500. I don’t think it was the change now because my body should have adjusted by now but still hasn’t. Here are the foods I eat daily: 1 cup Oatmeal, 1 cup granola, 1 cup raisins, berries, bananas, apples, peanuts, cheese, steak, salad, yogurt, 1/4 cup fat free cottage chees, 2 tbsp. flax oil, 6 scoops Grow!, 2 servings RiboseC, 1/2 gallon skim milk, 64 oz. grape juice, and 1 gallon water. What is it that causes so much problems? Is it the combination of foods?? I’m crapping 4-5 times daily. My stomach hurts after each meal. I’ve heard of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and thinking I might have it. I need help ASAP. I can’t do this much longer. The no carb diet is looking better and better each day despite the mental fogginess I have while on it. Help!!

As someone who used to have ulcerative colitis, my guess is that you might be experiencing lactose intolerance (like many people do). Simply put, lactose is the sugar found in dairy products, so you can try to cut out your milk and cheese consumtion and see if that helps.

You can also get lactase at the health food store, which should help with you dairy consumption if that’s what the problem is.

i’ve never had a problem consuming milk before so i don’t think that is the problem. like i said, i feel bad after every meal, even the ones without milk. i think it might be that i’m consuming too much dietary fiber. i just looked at my meal plan and i seem to having 5 grams or more each meal, coming from raisins, oatmeal, granola. help me!!

Just because you’ve tolerated a certain amount of milk in the past doesn’t mean you’re not prone to lactose intolerance. In fact, the minimum amount of lactose required to cause symptoms of intolerance markedly varies among individuals. Many people diagnosed with lactose maldigestion can consume the amount of lactose contained in one cup (8 ounces) of milk with a meal, and possibly two cups (16 ounces), one with breakfast and one with dinner, without developing gastrointestinal symptoms (1,2). In fact, most lactose digesters and lactose maldigesters are able to tolerate the amount of lactose (12g) in one cup of 2% reduced fat milk served with breakfast – according to a double-blind study (3) – while others can consume a good deal more without reaching the threshold level for intolerance symptoms.

You indicate that you’re consuming 1/2 gal. of milk plus a fair amount of other dairy products. I assume that’s a good deal more than you’ve consumed in the past, thus you may have exceeded your particular threshold level. Cut back a bit for a couple of days and see what happens. (How can it hurt?)

(1) Suarez, F.L., D. Savaiano, P. Arbisi, and M.D. Levitt. Tolerance to the daily ingestion of two cups of milk by individuals claiming lactose intolerance. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 65: 1502, 1997.

(2) Hertzler, S.R., B.C.L. Huynh, and D.A. Savaiano. How much lactose is low lactose? J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 96: 243, 1996.

(3)Suarez, F.L., D.A. Savaiano, and M.D. Levitt. A comparison of symptoms after the consumption of milk or lactose-hydrolyzed milk by people with self-reported severe lactose intolerance. N. Engl. J. Med. 33: 1, 1995.

I don’t know how old you are but when I got into my thirties I found that I could not consume raisins without some gastro discomfort. Not sure why, but if I ate as many raisins as you have stated you do I would blow-up or die from the pain. Another problem that I face when consuming oats, whether cooked or in granola is gut pain. Peanuts can do it as well. One thing that I have found that helps is to thoroughly, and I mean thoroughly, chew your food. If I want raisins I usually cook them a bit in water and chew, chew, chew. I found it is easier to find some other substitute foods when I suffer from stomach or intestinal pain. I hope this helps. And by the way, don’t rule out what the others are saying about lactose intolerance. I used to consume over a gallon of milk a day without ill affect but times have changed for me in that department as well. It isn’t that I cannot consume any of these foods but I just need to use moderation and look to other sources.
Bon Appetit!

I agree. Lower your dairy intake for a few days and see what happens. Try Lactase enzyme sold as Lactaid or generic. Regular grocery stores sell it in the pharmacy section by the tums. Use Lactaid milk. That is what I do, Lactaid milk and tablets for other dairy. You mentioned that you are consuming 5 or more grams per meal of dietary fiber. Yes, that can be a problem if you are not used to it. But, it is not that much fiber. You should have 20-35 grams per day. Try drinking a large glass of water after your meal. This usually helps with the cramping. Bowel movements, yes, if you change your diet drastically you will experience more movements or less, depending on the change. Hope this helps.

ibs is a condition that your given after every explanation is exhausted.now you said you were following the anabolic diet which is high fat ,you also eat a lot of raisin which are high fat,there are a number of things you eat that could be causing the discomfort and if you have ibs say goodbye to high fat diets and citrus fruit.i have ibs ,it took a day on the anabolic diet to convince me to see a specialist.
the thing is if your stomach is bothering as much as you say it could be inflamed ,so you should go see your family dr. so he can prescribe something like prevacid or prilosec.ibs is no fun but if you lucky it’s only an inflamed stomach

Why, why, WHY did you come off the Anabolic diet??? This is most deffinately the most effective diet for bodybuilders. Get back on it NOW! If the low carbs are giving you a problem do a 3 day 30carb limit and then a 1 day carb load.

For the last two days I have drink only 1/4 gallon skim milk and didn’t eat the string cheese I usually do. I made up the calories and carbs from rice and salad and other good stuff. I feel a lot better. Only 2 times a day on the toilet for both days and no stomach problems. Thanks to you who suggested to cut back on the milk. Next week though, I’m going back to the Anabolic Diet, mass phase. I’m going to use Power Drive frequently to try and relieve the mental fogginess. Someone told me that your brain can only use carbs for energy and that’s why i feel sluggish when I’m eating no carbs. Is this entirely true??