Hi. I know somewhere (I actually tried searching my old posts, but my brain hurt and made me stop) before, so apologies if this sounds like a re-run: that I have celiac (diagnosed a few years before all this peri stuff), 'faux thows' (throwing up gas stuck in the upper intestine), having trouble digestion certain foods at certain times of the month (mainly mid-cycle and end of cycle), sudden big gas bloating, etc... Before 'all this' started I had started having 'burp-fest' where I couldn't stop having little burps for hours and somtimes days on end. I was given a digestive enzyme that seemed to help, and I only needed a small dosage. Since the peri stuff hit full on, I have occasionally tried the enzyme, but with no luck, so its back to the drawing board, especially since my last cycle things have gone super-kaplooie again. Does anyone know of any other foods or other types of enzymes that might assist the digestive process with carbs? Higher carb stuff seems to be the culprit. and some foods I just can't eat anymore (lots of what I was eating as a gluten free diet). OR, since it seems closely tied to the hormones...I just have hang on for the rest of the ride?

Thanks everyone and Happy Valentines Day!!!

P.S.-My husband gave me YUMMY dark chocolate, but I can't eat much right now, since sometimes it gives me heartburn!!!

It's a great quesiton. Acidophillus can help....but to be honest, I've given up on all carbs, except the ones from vegetables. It's been a slow transition, but every time I eat anything made from white flour, or sugar, or even fruit, I become insanely bloated (I look 9 months pregnant--gross!) On this past Thanksgiving, my husband and I decided to 'cheat' for one day. We both ate a moderate portion of stuffing (made from white bread) and mashed potatoes. Oh. My. God. You would have thought I had ingested poision. I was rocking back and forth on my bed and moaning from the pain. The skin on my stomach was stretched so tight I thought I was going to burst open like The Incredible Hulk!

Carbs are my enemy; they make me sick, bloated, gassy, and miserable. Iradan has been touting these eating principles for years, and I finally have come over to her side. My diet is very, very simple, and I hardly every get sick anymore:

Lots of lean protein: fish, chicken, pork, some beef (limited quantities)
Hard cheeses (again, limited amounts)
Non Startchy Veggies: Raw green beans, baby spinach, broccoli (roasted with a sprinkling of parmesean cheese--yum!), cauliflower, kale, arugula, zucchini, spaghetti squash, yellow sqaush, tomatoes, peppers, celery, etc.
Good fats from: avocados, nuts (I absolutely love pistachio nuts and honestly think there must be some addictive substance in them, because once I start eating them, I cannot stop!) sunflower seeds, soybeans, pumpkin seeds,
Green tea (in capsule form and as a beverage)
Eggs and egg beaters
Very occasionally, I will have berries; blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. This is the only fruit I can go near without getting very sick.

I keep a food journal and never go over 40 carbs a day. I'm also never hungry; I eat whenever I want to, and I get a nice feeling of being satisfied, but not 'full'.

I can honestly say that I'll probably never eat pasta again (and coming from this Italian girl, that's a big declaration!) In fact, I even put my toaster oven in the basement...since I never eat bread anymore. I don't know if I have celiac disease or not...I just know that since going 'low-carb', I feel so much better.

If you ever get really sick from too many high carb foods, try eating just protein the next day. It fixes me right up. Atkins makes these high-nutrition protein shakes that have only 1 carb in them, and I absolutely love them.

Hope I helped some...

I also wanted to add that DH weighed himself this morning, and since we started this low-carb eating plan, he now weighs 185 lbs (down from 220!!!!). He is wearing a size 34 pants, and wow, does he look good!

I have lost exactly 2 pounds. But...I can fit into clothes that I coudn't a year ago. A full size smaller. I'm convinced that as long as I''m having hot flashes, my body is not going to lose any significant amount of weight (I need to lose about 20 lbs, but even 15 would be great. ) It's taken a long time to accept it, but menopause and dieting just don't go together well. As least not for me!

JDog, I gave my bottle away so I don't have the name of them but Whole Foods has a good brand of digestive enzymes that is complete or for all types of foods, proteins, carbs, fats. I usually take two of these and will feel better by morning. Also have you considered you might be lactose intolerant as well? I know soon after going GF, I also had to give up dairy. I will end up with IBS and indigestion if I overdo it.

Hope you feel better soon, I know how horrible it can be.

Thanks ladies for you comment and suggestions!!!!! It seems like I may have found my peri-food soulmates?

RoundRobin (I'm orginally from New England!), You have helped ALOT...your diet is VERY close to what I've actually ended up with (though thru trial and error/experimentation over the last couple years). It was a big change when I had to go gluten free, so still have glimmers of hope that I won't have to keep to a more limited diet from that. In general I've tried to keep the carbs low, but may try using your 40 a day as a goal, since I've had no idea what a magic number would be (Ithink I've been trying for less than 20 per meal). The problem is, there are still many occasions where I'm still hungry, and it may be attributed to when I eat. I do try to eat more small meals throughout the day, but when things aren't settling well, I tend not to eat, or get frustrated because I don't know what to eat. I do occasionally have a couple chips, A french fry, or even tablespoon of basmati rice. It seems that is the limit of what my system will tolerate, and I can only do that a couple times a week. I also used to acidopholus alot, even thru when this all first started, and i didn't notice any difference, so eventually stopped taking it.

It was funny of your mention of the hulk....just the other day I literally looked like a big balloon was getting filled up, and I was hoping it would stop before I floated away or something. I try to to 'twist' and some stretches to try and 'encourage' the gas to come out, but sometimes I just have to complain and wait it out! And...wow, I wish my DH would try a low carb diet for a while. I think he sometimes eats totally opposite of me...because he can!!

Fellow GF-er CarolH...thanks for your info on the enzyme. I'll look up online and see if I can track it down, so I can compare it to what I was trying...It certainly may be worth a shot! I was tested for lactose intolerance a few years back, but it didn't show anything. Dairy has always been a 50-50 thing digestion wise. I don't eat as much as I used to, but its hard to give it up completely (like ice cream...mmmm....ice cream....). I'm still (even after a couple years) trying to get out of the mindset that I have nothing to eat.

Oh yeah (a sort of related P.S.), weight wise, I had gained about 20-25 pounds about 6 months after the peri stuff first hit. After saliva tests, found my estrogen was elevated, so took a supplement from my ND to 'flush some it out', and the weight came off in about 6 months, along with the estrogen levels coming down to almost normal. It was weird. I was told estrogen gets put into a 'reserve' as the body starts the whole menopausal process, adn that can cause weight gain that likes to hang around.

Thanks again for your thoughts!!!!

JD, I would love to know what these supplements were and if by taking estradiol I am making my situation worse, same or better. ??

I've gained about the same during peri and can't seem to lose. As you know the GF diet is pretty clean so it's been very frustrating not to be able to get the weight off.

i can so relate. i am 48 and i have a constant trouble with gas and bloat. i do believe it is my ingestion of carbs, and i am going to severely cut them back. I get bouts of heartburn that burns my esophagus where I feel a sore spot. the culpret is the belching I do lately and the nausea. I hope i don't get barrets esophagus, or an ulcer. I had a lot of stress due to my husbands accident but i had this before when i was diagnosed with uterine hyperplasia. I was so bloated then and I took DGL tablets for two months and it cured my heartburn, and then I only took it occasionally if I had a flareup. I have to take prometrium 10 days every month to bring on a period and the pregesterone makes the whole heartburn, bloat worse. It relaxes the sphinctor from your stomach and the acid shoots upward. this has been the worse month with the nausea. has anyone tried beano? I am sick of it all I just want it to end!!! It just seems that nothing digests anymore. I take a digestive enzyme and also psyllium fiber, but maybe that causes a lot of gas, so i may try accacia fiber. Some times I wonder if irritable bowel plays a role. it is very frustrating, i never had any problems till I turned 42. My doc says well if you don't want to take the prometrium pills we will do a hysterectomy, but i don't want that either, I am trying to hang in for menopause when my fibroids will shrink!!! thanks for letting me rant.

The stuff I've been taking is called Bio-cleanse by Biogenesis (I got it thru my ND). I'm on a lower dosage now because the estrogen has come down and is a little more 'normal'. You may want to do a saliva test to check hormones during your whole cycle first just to make sure where your levels are at, but if you are adding estrogen to your system and its already elevated, its possibly bothering your system. My cortisol was also super elevated (that was checked through saliva and blood tests), and is now only high-elevated, but I noticed more of the weight difference in relation to the estrogen. For the cortisol I take Seriphos (neesby) which I got thru my ND too.


Its certainly worth a try!!!

I hear ya sister!!!! I've done the GI thing, and even had a CT scan, and they couldn;t figure it out...this was before I happened upon the fact that this is probably perimenopausal. I was told it probably wasn't IBS, but I may have a mlld gastroparesis (which probably explains the 'gut-zilla' sounds in my intestines, mixed along with gas backup) and maybe try changing my diet...they didn't tell me how...it was left to me to figure out. At one point I was told to try pepto or the like, but I had taken the stuff before to no avail. I was then told to take Pepcid or something like that, but my ND like to be cautious with antacids in a case like this (and I agree). Sadly, she is stumped now too and is realizing this is part of the peri process. I don't think she's encountered someone with symtoms as bad as mine (I've told her about this site, and that I can always find some comfort and some with a very similar symptom here!). But luckily she always open to ideas and we can discuss things very openly. The 'faux throws' have surely stumped the docs too. AND, I too was told I may want to have a hysterectomy by one doc (I've even been offered estogen....without having my hormone levels checked first!)...but again, in discussing with my ND, it is NOT something I want to do, there are other things to try frst, and unless I really really need to have an operation, I should try to avoid it if I can.

Tonight I'm going to look up the enzyme CarolH refered to, and see how it matches with what I tried. I did look up beano, but it technically isn't Gluten Free, and that is the only reason I didn't try it. My ND said the enzyme I was taking would be a close match (and it was GF). I've already done some math, and it looks like I was still having alot of carbs daily, even with a limited diet, so I'm already trying to adjust the carbs further (I think my system is a little mad about that but....) and trying to at least get to 1/2 of what I was doing.

We're all hanging in there with ya.

I can totally relate, I am bloated a lot but then my doc says my uterus is very large so who knows what is going on in there. I have so much gas its like nothing digests. i take enzymes and probiotics and dgl tablets. the heartburn reponds very well to the dgl, but after I ate last night it was like the food just sat there 4 hours later. I am going to try another fiber and I am wondering if the fish oil makes me nauseas. who knows, I am trying to guess about what to do. I work in a doctors office and all the people that come in for symptoms like mine are having all these tests and i naturally think the worst is wrong with me, but my gut feeling says its just the perimenoopause, the prometrioum and my enlarged uterus and fibroids. side effects of prometrium are nausea and heartburn. well I will keep on trying till I get it right.