Indigestion - what to eat? (sorry, long post)

[Starrmum]

Hello. I'm a newbie, and I've been lurking for a couple of weeks now, and have been very impressed by the forum and how helpful and knowledgeable people here are! Perhaps someone here can help me? I've been suffering from indigestion now for about a month. It came on very suddenly and it's something I've never suffered from (apart from one very brief episode during my second pregnancy, about 12 years ago). As far as I know, I hadn't been doing/eating/drinking anything out of the ordinary, except for the fact that I'd been in a very busy patch at work and had been drinking much more coffee than normal, and substituting (low carb/no added sugar) chocolate for breakfast on 2 or 3 occasions.

Have been to the doctor who was very good, and he has advised me to cut out the key culprits - caffeine, chocolate, red wine, cheese and chillis. We decided to start very simply by using Gaviscon to help reduce acid production in the stomach, and I have to take this for 2 weeks.

I also have to cut down fat. However, for the last year or so I've been following a low carb WOE/diet, which is not a low fat WOE.

Consequently, I've found it very difficult to know what to eat as I'm focussing - in the short term at least - on getting this indigestion gone/under control. I've started eating carbs again, although I don't feel very happy about this as I know my weight is going back up again. But I just don't know what to eat that will really help me. It's all very well telling me what not to eat, but what should I eat? And is it possible to have a diet that is low carb but doesn't trigger the indigestion?

I've found myself during my first week of treatment making all sorts of strange food choices, and sometimes making silly mistakes, because I keep forgetting what I can/can't have. My symptoms are sometimes better but sometimes, like yesterday, even worse. A particularly painful 20 minute episode seemed to be triggered by a cup of decaff coffee and a handful of sugar free sweets.

I'm sleeping propped up in bed, but find this very hard as it's so uncomfortable. I'll have to prop the bed up itself, but will have to check with DH that he's OK sleeping like that!

This week, my second since I saw the doctor, I'm doing what's called (on my low carb site where I also post,) the 3 day experiment - it's low/no fat, high protein and low/no carb. It's partly to get shot of some of the weight that's piled back on, but mainly to see if cutting out fat will help. I'm also cutting out all alcohol and not even drinking decaff coffee.

If anyone has any thoughts/suggestions/their own experiences to share I would be very grateful.

Hi, starmum. Welcome. Indigestion is horrible, isn't it.
I tend to keep to very bland food like boiled rice, skinless chicken and unchallenging vegetables. Tomatoes and onions are very acidic and should be avoided. I also keep to a low fat diet and try to eat small amounts every couple of hours. The trick is not to eat large meals and to have your last meal 2-3 hours before bedtime. Don't drink lots of fluids before bedtime either. After meals, avoid bending down as this makes indigestion worse.
Someone here suggested Zantac to me. Worth a try if Gaviscon doesn't work.
Definitely go back to gp if symptoms persist.
HTH

Hi, i think your indigestion sounds extreme and i can only tell you what i found helpful when i had bad indigestion when pregnant - don't drink too much water (made it worse for some reason), and eating papaya i found fantastic.
what kind of indigestion is it? acid reflux or tummy pain (with trapped wind)? A tablet like zantac or pepcid AC may be more useful as they reduce the production of acid (can't take when pg). Gaviscon just produces a barrier to stop the acid rising in your throat.

It started with a pain which felt more like it was in my back than in my chest, although sometimes it moves to the front. I can sometimes feel it in my throat as well, so I'm assuming that it's acid reflux.

I have to say that yesterday when I had a really painful episode that the Gaviscon didn't seem to help. I took a Zantac as well which seemed to ease things.

I have been drinking more water, which the doctor said was good! My thinking was that it would dilute the acid.

I am also beginning to think that painful episodes may be related to food/drink consumed some hours beforehand, rather than being related to more recent meals. On Saturday we went to a wedding and then a party in the evening, and the food was quite fatty and I may have the odd drink of wine too many!

So this week is kind of a hair shirt week to make sure that if I drop everything potentially harmful then I can at least get rid of it for now. I'm really concerned, of course, about how to deal with it long term, and especially how to continue to lose weight - I only have (had, rather!) about half a stone to go before I reach my long-desired target of 9 stone so it's very frustrating to start going backwards!

First of all, I think you need to go back to the GP (I assume you were after the 2 weeks but just in case you weren't!) because I think it sounds quite severe (your indigestion) and I imagine the doctor is waiting to see if the Gaviscon and lifestyle changes work and if it doesn't, he will put you on something that helps reduce the acid in your stomach. Whatever happens, you need to be totally honest with the doctor about how bad it is.

Secondly, I find that I HAVE to load with carbs to stop mine affecting me. Lots of rice, potatoes, pasta - that sort of thing. I love curries so I still have them a few times a week but just not as spicy or creamy as before. I find tomato based foods or very rich, creamy foods affect me just as badly.

If you miss alcohol, I find a glass of wine/beer is OK as long as I'm eating at the same time. It's having it on an empty stomach that's a killer.

The best meals (in terms of how my stomach tolerates them rather than how much I like them!) are small meals frequently throughout the day. I feel far worse if I haven't eaten for a while so I try to snack on things like nuts or ryvita that sort of thing. In terms of weight loss, I find that just because of my stomach not managing a lot of the normal food I like (even though I eat loads of carbs), I have lost a fair amount of weight without even trying so you may find this works for you.

Thanks foxinsocks - I'm definitely going back if it's not sorted!! Can't bear it. I'm also concerned, of course, that it might be something more serious, but trying not to be too melodramatic about that.

I'm trying to make sure this week that I really do make the necessary diet/lifestyle changes. I'm getting there, but the one thing I haven't quite managed to sort yet is relaxation/chilling out. GP does think it might be stress related, but it's not easy to just drop everything and spend a week at a spa!