I lost weight and now I have stomach problems!

[WorriedOne84]

I've lost 52 pounds since June of last year, down from 214 to 162.  Did this by drastically changing my diet.  Stopped eating fast food which I was consuming in excess of 5 times per week.  Also gave up sweets, sodas, and fried foods, and white bread.  Started eating more fruits, vegetables, baked or grilled chicken, and whole grains.   Two months after chaning my eating habits I started having stomach issues.  Ended up having my gallbladder removed in December after having 3 attacks due to a gallstone.  I still have upper abdominal tenderness, burping, and hiccups. I know that something else is still going on.  Did I do something diet wise that could've caused these issues?  Prior to all this I'd never had any health issues.  Why would losing cause all of this?

[WorriedOne84]

Forgot to mention that since August, when my stomach problems started, I end up with mainly back and sometimes upper abdominal pain if I consume just one alcholic beverage.  Starts aching about 5-10 minutes into the drink then turns into like a bad cramp in my upper back and abdomen around the breastbone.  Usually lasts about 15-20 minutes then subsides.  Still have a slight ache in my back and more abdominal tenderness than ususally a week after I had a drink.  I don't drink very often but this has happened the four times I've attempted to do so in the past 8 months.  Not going to attempt to drink an alcohlic beverage again, trust me.  You mentioned allergies could that possibly be what's going on?  My doctor thinks I may have a hiatal hernia that's causing acid reflux?  Haven't had any tests done to see if he's right.

[WorriedOne84]

Thanks!  I'm still not at my desired weight but I'm getting there.  I'm very proud of what I've accomplished so far.  It honestly hasn't been that difficult.  In prior attempts to lose weight I'd get overwhelmed by saying I need to lose like 70 pounds which would make me depressed.  It took years to get to the 214 lbs so it obviously wasn't going to go away overnight.   Even the word diet would make me feel like I was punishing myself which led to me eating the vary foods that were on my forbidden list.  This time I just started out by saying I want to start eating healthy and go from there.  I think the biggest thing is to avoid fast food restaurants!  It may be convenient and easy to grab food from there but everything is so high in calories and fat, it's not worth it.

It is strange to me that the stomach issues somewhat coincided with the weight loss.  I'm sure once I get this issue resolved I will feel much better than I did 52 pounds heavier.  I do have an appointment with a gastroenterologist coming up in less than two weeks.  Hoping that maybe I'll get some answers soon because this is really starting to worry me.  Shouldn't be looking up symtoms on the internet because I always convince myself that I have some serious illness, sad but true.  Haha!

Thank you for taking time to respond to my message.  Hope you have a good day!

[James G Beckerman, M.D.]

First of all, congratulations on making so many changes - it's inspiring to a lot of people who visit this forum to see that healthy diets actually work.

I am not exactly sure why you have had these gastrointestinal issues - it's true that changes in diet can sometimes uncover allergies or intolerances, and eating nuts and grains can sometimes also aggravate underlying conditions like diverticulosis.    The fact that you only started having symptoms a few months after making the dietary changes may also suggest that the two aren't related.  I think it makes sense to see a gastroenterologist (digestive specialist) if you haven't already to see if there are other possibilities to be explored.

Take care!