Carbohydrate maldigestion

I can't find much information on this condition at all - I have had IBS for years, since my mid-teens (I am now 21). The symptoms were much better controlled a year or two ago, when I was still on stronger meds for my panic disorder, but over the past six months or so they've gotten pretty bad (so has the panic - I went off my meds at my shrink's recommendation but now I'm trying some new ones, which aren't working too well so far) My gastroenterologist says that my low stool pH indicates a possible carbohydrate maldigestion. He said I could either try a 30-40 carb maximum a day diet or have an endoscopy and colonoscopy. I opted to try the diet. Right now I am seriously missing bread and sugar, and having moderate nausea that comes and goes - apparently a common side effect of the diet. How long should I expect the nausea to last? How long do I have to follow this diet to know the results? Will I have to do some more tests or is it based off of whether or not my symptoms go away? If it turns out I do have carbohydrate maldigestion, where do we go from there: do I have to quit carbs forever? Are there enzyme supplements I could take, like lactaid? Is there potentially an underlying cause that could be cured somehow?

[george2013]

Hello Friend.

I think you´re asking a lot of "personal questions". By that I mean, questions that need to be answered by you...

For me, in your case, I would RULE OUT all else, by doing an endoscopy and a colonoscopy... They are not so bad, considering they give you peace of mind that there is nothing major wrong with you, when you take them.

Nausea, I understand, can be caused by IBS. Since I have IBS, gastritis and GERD, I am not able to tell you specifically which condition gives it to me. My whole digestive system is out of order jeje...

Regarding impact from diets... I would say you have to give your system a couple of weeks to start feeling either positive or negative effects of a specific diet you are taking. If it´s a good diet, give yourself some time to start feeling better. Remember, the body is a system, it takes time to get used to certain new things...