Can't eat meat?

[wattle]

I'm wondering if anyone else suffers from this....

Every time I eat meat, shortly afterwards I get really bad (excrutiating)stomache/bowel pains then get bad diahrrhea. (Sorry if TMI)

It happened to me last pregnancy as well during the 2nd trimester.

It's really frustrating as I'm craving some meat. I presume it's meat that's causing this as it mostly happens after I eat meat, but perhaps it's something else that I'm missing...:confused:

Any suggestions?

[ozzysmum]

i get this quite often with meat but usually the opposite of diaorhhea. the stomach pains will keep me awake half the night :( i've found eating processed meat like sausages and burger patty/rissole type things makes it way better than steak or even chopped up beef or anything. it's probably your body processing the iron that is making you feel ghastly and it's generally your body craving iron that makes you want meat. are you taking a pregnancy vitamin with iron in it? at least then you know your getting enough even if you don't eat meat, or eat crappy meat like sausages!
just my opinion... good luck!

[jessgray]

im 8 weeks pregnant with bub#2 and i have found i feel ill after eating red meat. and i also get the runs :confused: this didnt happen at all in my first pregnancy. every other meat seems fine bu not red. i am taking iron tabelts to be sure i get enough iron for me and bub :) during my first pregnancy i couldnt drink diary milk from about 20 weeks onwards till about 36 weeks. i had to drink soy milk. could this be a smiliar thing?

[shed]

Wattle, how annoying!!

I am only just back on the meat after totally going off it from about 6 weeks till just a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't even stand chicken.

I don't have any advice sorry, just tea and sympathy!!

[mrsrobo]

I am the same I am 29 weeks and some days I just stand the smell or taste of meat makes me feel like I going to sick but I eat it anyway because bubbs need it.

[giggles]

I got the usual "can't stand that smell I'm going to be sick" thing but I also got stomach cramps and diarrhoea whenever I ate mince or sausages. Weird!

[Miss_Vicki]

when i was preg with my last bub i Could'nt eat beef the smell or it Cooked or Uncooked would male me :barf: till about 20 or so weeks , even then i struggled to eat it for a while.
From what the midwife told me thats a pretty comman uccurence with most pregnancey . But with Both pregs once i was over that part i craved it like no tomorrow.

[nicoleE]

It sounds like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), in some people it is when they eat certain foods, in others it can come on with anything. For me it is mainly lactose but can also happen when I eat a really rich meal. When it happens to me I get really bad stomach cramps about 20-30mins after i eat and they stay for anything from one to a few hours, they go on and off and can get so bad that i feel like i cannot move. The only thing that you can do is wait for the diarhoea to come and then it all feels much better! Some people get it, some get constipation, it can also give some people bloating and bad wind.

I suggest you speak to your GP and do some research to see if this is what you have. If so you cant really do much about it other than look after your digestive system and avoid the foods that make you feel this way. Luckily for me it does not happen very often (i stick clear of things with a high lactose content) but if i eat a rich meal i take one or two Buscopan with the meal and that seems to stop it before it starts. Once it is coming on for me it is too late for any pills to help! My nutritionist has also got me on some herbal drops called Iberogast to improve my digestive system however I am not sure where you can get them from as these are practitioner only drops, i think.

Good luck. Hope that helped.

[nicoleE]

Oh and on a couple of really bad occasions I also threw up, and one of those times I also nearly fainted... it can get pretty harsh. I am glad i dont have to go through it very often.

[madvoice]

When I was about 12wks pregnant I could no longer stomach red meat. It would make me hurl and even the smell put me off. I had to regularly munch on iron tablets to keep my anemia at bay. Now its a different story. I can eat red meat again but I can't eat particularly fatty meat as I no longer have a gallbladder and really fatty foods do not agree with my digestive system.

[jessgray]

NicoleE- you described to a T hat has been happeningto me after i eat tinned spaghetti :confused: its never happened before. would it be a wise descion to mention it to my gp?

[wattle]

Thanks for your advice girls.

I'm over the morning sickness part of my pregnancy (hip hip hooray) so it's not a nausea thing. I really enjoy a bit of meat, but that's true, it definitely seems worse after a steak or roast rather than a hamburger.

What a mystery our bodies are! I'll look into the irritable bowel syndrome a little more.

What a bummer I cooked a beautiful lamb roast a couple of days ago. Dh has been enjoying lamb sandwiches and I'm very jealous.

[nicoleE]

Jessgray, I would mention it, but if they dont seem to listen to you or tell you you cannot do anything to help it, go to another GP or a nutritionist. IBS is one of those things which is hard to diagnose as it is not something you can technically have a test for, it is based on your symptoms, which can vary from person to person!

At first i was told that you cannot do anything for it, i went to another GP who explained that you have to find out what triggers it for you and try to avoid those foods, by the way what might trigger it one day may not the next... I thought i was lactose intollerant but then i started having symptoms after eating my evening meal when there was not any lactose in it, that is what made me seek help on what else it could be.

My nutritionist now has me on Iberogast, which I have just found out is available from some chemists. To be honest I am not sure it it is helping as i dont suffer very often, although I do feel a bit more 'regular' if you know what i mean! :o
It is a concoction of herbs specifically for IBS and is taken in a small amount of water after each meal and is meant to help digestion. I personally have an overactive bowel which basically means my bowel wants to digest the food before my stomach has finished breaking it down! This probably explains why my symptoms start early on after eating because it is like clockwork. I could be still sitting at the dinner table when i get the first notions that i am going to soon be in pain! Might be worth a shot to speak to your GP and also perhaps a pharmasist... Also, perhaps try Buscopan straight after you eat something you think may set you off, it seems to stop it for me. (check if Buscopan is safe for pregnancy though if your pregnant)

[jessgray]

thanks fo rthe advice i will mention it to my doctor :) and in the mean time i will avoid tinned spaghetti (even though i like it:laughing: ) if i had to avoid choccie i think i'd die lmao:laughing: