Food causes of diarrhoea?

[Flakie]

Not a nice subject I know but I need some advice please. Every week or two I get a day where I feel a bit nauseous and then during the morning I develop sudden trots which are very urgent and uncontrollable. I take a couple of Imodium and usually have to take a third to get it under control. This is fine if I’m home as it sorts it out and so far that has been the case. But now I’m getting a bit nervous about going out where I might not be able to access the loo quick enough. It’s very loose so I wouldn’t be very secure if you get my drift! I’ve looked at my diet and can’t see any common triggers though I am going to start a food diary I think. I don’t take Metformin in case you’re wondering! One vice I have is Tuc crackers and I have been known to eat half a pack at a time - really as a substitute for the crisps I now can’t have. I’ve attached a pic of the nutrition info so can anyone tell me if there are any triggers in there that might be causing this? Or any other things that I can look out for? I used to get tummy problems pre diabetes and I put that down to the carbs and sugar overload going on at the time but that is no excuse this time round. Many thanks.

 

[silentsquirrel]

Sweeteners are a common cause.🙂

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I think you need to look at what you eat specifically in the hours before, unless it only happens after you eat the tuc crackers?

As you say, a food diary is the only way to go.

 

[Flakie]

Sweeteners are a common cause.🙂

Thanks. Can you elaborate on that? The only sweeteners I use are the ones in my morning cup of tea, and I have to admit to using several in there as I’ve never got used to having tea without sugar! But it’s the only cup of tea I have in a day. We have no added sugar squash all the time and diet pop. What should I be looking for please? I know some are added in to drinks to make up for the lack of sugar. Any guidance you can offer would be great.

 

[Flakie]

I think you need to look at what you eat specifically in the hours before, unless it only happens after you eat the tuc crackers?

As you say, a food diary is the only way to go.

I will start one right away. No it doesn’t just happen after the crackers, as I eat some every day and the problem only occurs every week or ten days. I will start the food diary and also flag up any days I have the problem. Just wanted to get a head start on any possibles. Thanks.

 

[Ljc]

A food diary is a good idea as well as recording the Er um ..... results 😉 . In time you may notice a pattern.
A food diary will help the Gp too
When I was doing research for my back door trots , I found their were many things that caused the same symptoms, it’s so very confusing . I did eventually discover the cause of mine, Lactose intolerance was the culprit.

 

[Ljc]

As the prob is intermittent, start looking for triggers a couple of days before the symptoms start.
I used to get symptoms 40 mins after having too much milk products now it’s a day or two. I’m just thinking it this will help you narrow things down more quickly. You should also talk to your gp about it sooner rather than later

 

[silentsquirrel]

I use saccharine in hot drinks, no problem for me with that except getting hard to find. If I use sucralose (Lidl's yellow top container) where a powdered sweetener is needed, I have to be careful. Must admit I haven't tried the more expensive sweeteners, too tight/careful!
Polyols in "no sugar" sweets have a warning on the packets about excessive use having a laxative effect, how many is excessive will vary for each of us.
It could be the sweeteners in your drinks, might be worth experimenting with reducing quantities.
I'm sure others will know far more about this!

 

[Flakie]

As the prob is intermittent, start looking for triggers a couple of days before the symptoms start.
I used to get symptoms 40 mins after having too much milk products now it’s a day or two. I’m just thinking it this will help you narrow things down more quickly. You should also talk to your gp about it sooner rather than later

Good advice. Would still like to understand about the sweeteners as well.

 

[trophywench]

Sweeteners have been said to interfere with the gut biome apparently but how much of which ones and whether the person is affected is different in every case. Were you drinking the same drinks before Diabetes but when you had the gut prob?

Whether or not - off to the GP with you! Need to rule out anything else, don't you - exactly the same as you would were you not diabetic.

 

[mikeyB]

80% of Sucralose passes out of the gut unchanged, so it appears to be being ignored by the gut biome, but can still cause a touch of hurry. The bit that’s absorbed can increase BG to a degree.

Saccharin gives me a stonking headache.

 

[AndBreathe]

@Flakie - In terms of starting a food diary, along with the undesirable results (ahem), I think it is worthwhile noting what happens in the small room department every day. I might even suggest reference to the Bristol Stool Scale when doing so, and mention any discomfort or bloating you have on a day to day basis. You could find all sorts of things, like that in between "unwanted events" you visit the small room, but slowly become more constipated, until the next unwanted event.

Alternatively, if you record everything you eat and drink, you may find the events are a day (or whatever) after something you might never have suspected.

I appreciate what you are recording is being expanded in my suggestion, but food intolerances can be tricky to track down.

 

[Flakie]

Great advice and thanks all.
I think this latest thing might have been a bit of a virus as been feeling off colour since then with headaches and so on but the diary has been started anyway. And by coincidence I received my bowel test kit in the post yesterday as I’m past 60 now so that will get done!

 

[KARNAK]

Its worth lu

Lactose intolerance was the culprit.

Its a major issue with a lot of sugar free products, especially sweets.

 

[Drummer]

Tuc crackers are quite high carb if you are eating a lot at once - can you cope with so much at once?

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Tuc crackers are quite high carb if you are eating a lot at once - can you cope with so much at once?

Do carbs give you diarrhoea?

I honestly can't say that has been said anywhere before?

 

[PURPLESALLY]

Not a nice subject I know but I need some advice please. Every week or two I get a day where I feel a bit nauseous and then during the morning I develop sudden trots which are very urgent and uncontrollable. I take a couple of Imodium and usually have to take a third to get it under control. This is fine if I’m home as it sorts it out and so far that has been the case. But now I’m getting a bit nervous about going out where I might not be able to access the loo quick enough. It’s very loose so I wouldn’t be very secure if you get my drift! I’ve looked at my diet and can’t see any common triggers though I am going to start a food diary I think. I don’t take Metformin in case you’re wondering! One vice I have is Tuc crackers and I have been known to eat half a pack at a time - really as a substitute for the crisps I now can’t have. I’ve attached a pic of the nutrition info so can anyone tell me if there are any triggers in there that might be causing this? Or any other things that I can look out for? I used to get tummy problems pre diabetes and I put that down to the carbs and sugar overload going on at the time but that is no excuse this time round. Many thanks.

Yep food diary would be a great idea, it worked for me. Turned out mine was when I ate certain combinations of foods. PS Not understanding changing from bag of crisps to a pack of TUC, Crisps 13g that's the same as about 5 biscuits????

 

[Drummer]

Yes, about the same - but half a packet of Tuc biscuits is over 40 gm of carbs, or a whole day's carbs for me - plus, if a sensitivity to gluten, or palm oil it might explain why there is a problem.
There local fish and chip shop changed from ground nut to palm oil and I could no longer eat the fish they coked. Luckily the new management switched back.

 

[Flakie]

You’re all absolutely right - I think I’ve got a bit carried away with the snacks! Will have to rein it in. There’s so much to think about when balancing foods that I don’t see the wood for the trees sometimes. Thanks all for the advice and comments.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

You’re all absolutely right - I think I’ve got a bit carried away with the snacks! Will have to rein it in. There’s so much to think about when balancing foods that I don’t see the wood for the trees sometimes. Thanks all for the advice and comments.

Don't get sidetracked on carbs.
Your figures are excellent is such a short time.
Repeatability is the thing you need to look for.
Keep a food diary, and it will hopefully give you a guide to the actual cause of the issue.