veggies triggering abdominal pain

[ScottS]

i can't figure out why, but certain veggies are triggering my abdominal pain. in particular i've noticed that roughage does it. if i eat a salad, i'm miserable an hour later, and it lasts for a couple days afterward. anyone else have this problem?

fruits seem to be ok, as long as i avoid citrus. this doesn't make sense...

any insight?

[Sue Pendleton]

This normally happens only with legumes or beans. But the body produces enzymes to breakdown certain materials. If you eat these things every day your body keeps making the enzymes. If you pig out on ham and bean soup twice a year there's no enzymes and you hurt and get gas. It's best to add small amounts of new foods to your diet over time. Your body can then adjust accordingly.

And I think SCI just plain messes you up for somethings. Like me and fresh orange juice with pulp. I love it but, well, it causes nightmarish disasters that scare even the dog away. Never had a problem pre-SCI.

[ScottS]

This normally happens only with legumes or beans.
funny that those things don't cause trouble for me, but anything leafy tears me up inside. makes it hard to keep my diet balanced.

[SCI-Nurse]

SCI causes the digestive tract to slow down. This in turn can make it more difficult to digest roughage and those veggies that can cause you to have gas. Then, it just builds up. Since SCI slows down even the release of gas, it can cause a ton of problems.

The advice I usually give is that any food or beverage that gave you problems in the past, will probably still do that. However, the list can grow, not only from SCI issues, but also as you age.

CKF