food allergies or digestive disease?

[katannbrown]

Ever since my first daughter was born i am having issues eatting certain foods. Here is a list: EGGS, GRAPES, LETTUCE, TOMATOES, CUCUMBERS, CELERY, APPLES, ORANGES, ETC. Mostly they are fruits and veggies that I cant eat that contain alot of juices or water. What happens is I get pain in my upper stomach (between my ribs) Pain in my lower back and an urge to go to the bathroom (nothing happens when I do). i get bloated and cramp and it doest go away until I go to sleep. Been on meds for IBS and am being tested for celiac disease with no luck. I am a very healthy person and this is putting a damper on my diet i can only eat carbs and starches along with meats. no fruit, no veggies, im taking vitamins to keep up my energy. Sometimes i get gas  I m bothered by the fact i can eat healthy and that this has been like this for 3 yrs.Please help me.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
All the fruits and vegetables you mention can cause food allergy or intolerance and this can develop at any stage of your life. You should ideally go for a food challenge test. You should avoid citrus fruits and vegetables with high iron content like spinach, beet root etc. French beans, lady’s finger, pumpkin etc you should be able to consume without any problem. Please consult an allergy specialist.
Hope this helps. Take care!

[earthtonegrrl]

Well, that certainly sounds frustrating!  Have they ever tested you for a fructose intolerance? There is a test that doctors can run. I know apples and grapes are extremely high in fructose. The other thing I'm wondering is if it's the fiber that's bothering you - the roughage. Do you get the same symptoms if the apples are peeled?  Docs always seem to tell patients "eat more fiber", but for some people, insoluble fiber aggravates the problem. Have you had a colonoscopy?  What about allergy testing?  Egg allergies and intolerance are both fairly common... I don't see one common link through all the things you listed, but of course, many people have multiple allergies and/or intolerances.

Just brainstorming here.  One thing I'd generally recommend is to get copies from your doctors of all your test results. Just ask for a copy for your files & they'll usually think nothing of it. Read through them and look for anything unusual - test results that may be a little above/below normal don't always get reported to the patient, or sometimes inflammation is found but the doctor dismisses it as unimportant. They're not as hard to understand as you may think.

Have you seen HelpForIBS.com?  I've never purchased anything from that site, but there is a lot of information on soluble vs. insoluble fiber that may be helpful to you, if that's what your body is reacting to.

Keep pushing for answers - these digestive disorders are really hard to pin down, so it's not unusual for this to take years to figure out, unfortunately. It is possible though!