Lyme Disease Support Group

I went to a picnic with husband and friends on Saturday and expected that I would have to go off my diet for one time as it was a potluck sort of affair. I didn't eat big helpings, but sampled maybe a tablespoon of what was being offered along with a hamburger. I have to admit that eating "real" food was fantastic, but what happened an hour after we ate wasn't. I started having severe stomach and intestinal cramping and shall we say, spent a lot of time rushing to the park restroom. After the diarrhea eased off and by the time I got home, I had severe heartburn, indigestion, bloating and mild nausea. I finally took nausea meds I keep on hand, a Tagamet and chewed about three tums to make it tolerable. Finally about 8 pm things had settled down enough that I was able to eat a serving of low fat cottage cheese and a banana. I woke up the next morning feeling perfectly fine.

I am trying to figure out what happened. I have been on my low carb, high protein, no sugar diet for almost a month now with good results. Was the response because I went off my diet and had a flare almost immediately? Was it because of the high levels of Doxy I am taking or was it just not being used to eating rich foods after a month of eating a Lyme sensible diet?

I don't plan to do it again at any rate but would like to know what triggered the digestive disaster.

In my experience it is like that whenever I "cheat" on my diet. I do it periodically, same reason, somewhere too difficult to stay on the diet. It is always a problem for me as well.

It's likely not the burger, especially if you've been eating protein (beef) all along, unless it was piled with mayo and other stuff. I splurged on an In N Out burger this weekend (protein style, lettuce wrap with no bun) and felt fine after. I also went off the diet a bit as well over the weekend and ate some Ezekiel bread and rice pasta, which put on some weight and had me feeling not so hot last night. I was feeling sooo bored with the regular diet!

Actually I eat very little beef. It was the first I've eaten in about a month but was really lean and grilled. Mostly I eat chicken fish and turkey. Lots of it! With eggs and low fat cottage cheese for added protein. I also found that I feel a little more energetic if I eat a little rye bread once or twice a day. My big splurge on my diet is a whole grain thin hamburger bun when I eat a burger. So far the occasional 'cheat' hasn't caused me too much discomfort. I did eat potato salad and a pasta salad. In the past pasta hasn't settled too well with me so the indicators point in that direction.

You're right. Sometimes you just can't avoid going off the diet. A friend had a cook out recently and I brought my own turkey burgers. I don't think she was too thrilled with them as she made it a point to say how hard turkey was to grill. I just smiled and said, sorry, I gotta do what I gotta do to feel good.

I wish peeps would understand that we don't want to eat this way, like diabetics, we HAVE to eat this way sometimes.

Perhaps it was the gluten in the pasta or bun? It seems to be quite the enemy of lymies!

You are so right dingosmom...peoples attitudes about our food choices are a bit absurd. I have a girlfriend fighting lyme and people treat her as though she is food/weight obsessed...she tells them "I just don't want to be in pain" and they don't get it. People need to mind their own damn business!!LOL Why do they care what we eat...I think its a reflection of them knowing they should eat better!

I don't see what the big deal was if you brought your own turkey burgers - it's not like you asked her to do special shopping for you! I follow fairly closely to the blood type diet, where beef and turkey are fine but chicken is not. So a burger for me isn't a baddie as long as I leave off the bun. Even the bun isn't so bad once in a while, I just can't go crazy on that stuff.

The blood type diet makes me a little nuts. I'm an O and a lot of the stuff they tell me to eat is contrary to the alkaline/acidic diet that was recommended to me. I try to blend it a little and stay away from high carb, refined sugars, etc.

The gluten will do what you described to the guts...

When lyme gets in the digestive tract - it causes us to experience what those with Celiac experience...

I spent a lot of time in Celiac forums and such - and I had fit it to a tee when I was my sickest with digestive issues...going gf for a couple of years, and the disease changing its course has changed my reactions...

now, if I do end up having gluten foods - my reactions are minimal compared to what they were those years ago...I would get so sick...I would lay face down on the floor for hours, crying in agony...now, certain things may make me a bit gassy, and feel somewhat uncomfortable...but I take some turmeric, and it helps to settle and pass...if I consume a lot of something, and my reaction is more then I can tolerate, I take 2 pills of activated charcoal and that helps...

OH - here is another tip...

Go to a healthfood store and ask for digestive enzymes...always keep some with you, so that if you cannot be sure if there is gluten in your foods (or other things your body has difficulty with) taking these will help....

I do acidophilus now which does seem to help as I can tolerate a little gluten in my diet, a slice of rye toast with my morning eggs,for example, without too much discomfort. I just overdid a good thing on Saturday and learned a lesson the hard way.

Thanks for the tip on the tumeric, which I have in my herb collection.

What other digestive enzymes are out there besides acidophilus?

I have to admit that staying away from the high gluten, high carb foods has made a difference in how I feel.