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Stomach issues no meds

Peadair O Brionn

Well-Known Member
Messages
451
Location
london
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
having diabetes...... people who wear backpacks on the tube
Hi I’m T2 since Feb 18 my last HbA1c was 39 I’m low carb since Feb and have lost over 4 done in weight but recently my guts have been giving me a hard time . I keep getting bouts of really bad diarrhoea . It lasts for about 24 hrs then goes . But it seems to return after about 2 to 3 weeks . I’ve never had a problem with this until diagnosis . It’s really messing me about at work. Could this be related to the LCHF diet or could it have something to do with ketones . My bloods were in the mid 5s to low 6s for ages now they are in the low to high 6s . I’ve been on hols and maybe ate or drank a few more carbs than normal but I think it was still under 50gr a day . The other thing I thought it might be is . I drink Coke Zero and I’ve been reading stuff that the aspartame in it can affect your guts bad .
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly received . The doc wants me to have a colonoscopy , but I’d rather not
 
As a quick experiment quit the Coke Zero for a couple of weeks and see if it stops? Maybe try sparkling water instead?
Might be less uncomfortable than a colonoscopy?
 
bulkbiker said:
As a quick experiment quit the Coke Zero for a couple of weeks and see if it stops? Maybe try sparkling water instead?
Might be less uncomfortable than a colonoscopy?
Click to expand...
I’ve been thinkin along those lines to .
 
Peadair O Brionn said:
I drink Coke Zero and I’ve been reading stuff that the aspartame in it can affect your guts bad
Click to expand...
I have been consuming Hartley's 10 cal. low carb jellypots. I was enjoying them so much, I was eating 3 and sometimes even 4 pots daily. They contain aspartame. I was also drinking the occasional cup of herb tea with saccharine. Then I read some recent research suggesting that artificial sweeteners, including aspartame and saccharine, can worsen a tendency to diabetes. As a result, I have cut down my jellypots to 1 daily and cut out the saccharine altogether. To my surprise, I have stopped suffering from mild diarrhoeia, which I was attributing to the meds I take.
 
Thanks for that .I take Splenda in my coffee and double cream and drink about 4 cups a day also drink Coke Zero in my vodka if I go out . So maybe I’ll give it all up and see where it goes . Thanks for the reply
 
I upped my tea-intake when I started intermittent fasting. Loads and loads of tea, with 3 to 5 little sweetener-pills per cup. Plus coke zero/lite. I couldn't explain what happened next until I read the same pieces you read.... I got diverticulitis, bleeds, other inconveniences, and was constipated for about 6 weeks. Immovable, just blood. 24 hours after quitting the sweetener and having probiotics and sauerkraut, things went back to normal. The sweetener had killed off all gutbacteria, including the probiotics I'd been taking beforehand. That was solved right quick, now I "just" have to heal, and that's taking a while. So yeah... If the gut flora isn't happy with sweeteners, it can go either way: none or runs. (And if it's really watery, you're constipated too; water is all that can get past the blockage). Good luck!!!
 
Thanks fro the reply > Is it ok to take that probiotic stuff in the mornings is it like Actimel in them little bottles im not very well up on them always thought they had loads of carbs/sugars in them . Or maybe you couls recommend something to take .im ditchin the sweeteners and the coke zero . So I will need to get my guts back to normal
 
If you look at the ingredients, there are sweeteners in most things. Anything that says low fat or low cal will have them, and many surprising packaged food too. Aspartame seems to be the worst, but is widely used because it is cheap and convenient for manufacturers and processors. I have used saccharine tablets for 30 odd years in my cuppas. I don't have sweeteners for anything else unless unavoidable. So far, I have no gut issues. Maybe it is more a question of portion control?
 
I had a similar issue from Feruary till June this year. All of a sudden I was having typical symptoms of IBS. No change in diet or meds, so couldn't understand what was causing it. .I take probiotic supplements regularly and plenty of plain yogurt. My GP decided to order some bloodwork and tests.Just 2days before them I started feeling better. The diarrhea and bloating disappeared as mysteriously as it came. Greatly relieved! I now think that must have been a stomach bug problem.
 
Is there anything that you do on a 2-3 week cycle that could be having an effect? Meet up with mates go for a curry something like that?
 
Peadair O Brionn said:
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly received . The doc wants me to have a colonoscopy , but I’d rather not
Click to expand...
Do you have anything sweetened with polyols? these cause gut problems for many people.

There are other food stuff that you might not have considered, such as cinnamon, I discovered that a high consumption of cinnamon can cause diarrhoea, took me ages to pinpoint the cause as it wasnt consistent. I added cinnamon to my breakfast every morning, but a larger portion caused a very upset tummy
 
I’ve just had a colonoscopy last month because of bleeding from the bowel. Since diagnosis I have been more constipated and had problems because I no longer drink fresh orange juice or eat licorice- my go to instead of laxatives. I’ve recently started on a supplement called Inulin. It’s a probiotic and has really helped me.. The colonoscopy was unable to show the cause of my problem so I am now wondering if it could be sweetener related- I drink a lot of Diet Coke and other pop.
 
I'm sorry, I didn't see this until just now. I don't know about actimel's content, though as it's milk based it's probably got lactose and thus, milksugars in... I do know Yakult is carb-heavy. It's much easier to just go for probiotic capsules from Holland & Barrett. Just don't take them with something warm to eat or drink, because you'll kill them that way.
 
Personally I would get the colonoscopy done...
 
I agree with Donnelly, get the colonoscopy done. Look at you, a great strapping lad, stop being a baby! Think of what us ladies go through giving birth.
 
If you eat anything that is Sugar free check the substitute they’re using as some cause the problem you have.
 
I have never been able to take any kind of sweetener, especially aspartame and was always told I was just fussy, but these products have always made me ill for days after accidentally taking the (not reading labels properly). I have recently tried Stevia and that was even worse! A tiny amount on the end of my finger, just to try it and I was flattened for 3 days. My daughter-in-law, also T2 had the same result. This, then, is not the reason for my bowel problems.

After a colonoscopy some years ago (which actually did find cancer, but that was fixed, and so far hasn't returned), the surgeon suggested that the problem was Metformin. I stopped taking it, the problem didn't go away very much and my blood sugars skyrocketed, and I developed even worse liver problems than I'd had before. So, I went back on Metformin and, for a while, the bowel issue remained quite calm, but it's all back now and only controlled by taking Loperamide - which a doctor, some years ago now, told me was safe to take regularly and long term.

However, recently I've been wondering about that advice since she also recently told my daughter-in-law that my grandson, aged 12 and very much overweight and totally unable to stop himself finding/obtaining somehow, anything sweet, including packets of sugar from the store cupboard or shop, was absolutely fine and she should just let him eat sweets etc until he decides not to, all by himself! His late father (not my son) was also T2 which we figure places him at high risk. That can't be right and so I wonder what else she was not right about.

Does anyone know anything about Loperaminde?
 
To improve your gut bacteria you can also try fermented foods e.g. saurkraut, kimchee (I probably misspelt that but its the Korean 'superfood').
Probiotics may need to be more personalised than the off she shelf capsules you can buy. I believe it is possible to get your poop analysed to check the diversity of your inner 'ecology'.
Prebiotics are supposed to re 'plant' lost healthy bacteria whereas probiotics are supposed to feed them therefore unless you have healthy bacteria balance in the first place, you could merely be feeding the bad guys by taking Yakult etc.
 
I take it your bloods haven't shown up an infection?
 
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